What do I need to do if I want to buy a property in Spain?
1. Set your budget
You will need to set your budget knowing the costs related to the purchase. Apart from the property price you will have to pay professional fees and taxes that come to approximately a 13-15% of the purchase price of the property.
2. Find your property
You will need to prepare a list of the characteristics that you want your property in Spain to have and contact a specialized real estate area where you want your property.
3. Lawyer
You should always ask for professional advice from a legal adviser with great experience in the real estate business. Your lawyer will make all the arrangements to guarantee a legally safe conveyance avoiding any unpleasant surprise.
4. Purchase contract
Once you have chosen the property, you will need to sign a reserve contract and pay a deposit to reserve the property. It is common practice to pay instalments on account of the property until the handing over of the property.
5. NIE.
If you are non resident and want to buy a property in Spain, you will have to apply for a NIE (Foreigners ID number) for each of the owners to get the property finally registered into your name.
6. Property Inspection
Remember to visit the property before the signing of the Title Deeds and handing over of the property to check that everything is right.
7. Mortgage
If you need financing to buy a property, you will need to have all updated documents ready in relation to income and expenses (last payslips, last mortgage bills, last bank movements, etc).
8. Spanish bank account
Once you have decided to buy a property, it is important to open a bank account in Spain to transfer money from your country and to pay bills like water and electricty.
9. Notary
To complete the purchase transaction you will have to go with the seller to sign the Selling Title Deeds before a Public Notary. If you do not speak Spanish you will need to have a translator that can translate the documents for you.
10. Registry
Once the Selling Deeds are signed and the taxes related to the purchase have being paid, the Deeds will be registered in the Land Registry into your name. This last step is used to last some months but your solicitor will inform you once the Deeds are ready to collect. At that moment, you become the official owner of a property in Spain. Congratulations!
11. VAT number
If you are a company, so you will need a VAT Number; our Spanish CIF.
