Our mission as a team of lawyers is to ensure that our clients always feel safe and well advised. That is why the team of Tech&Lex has created this guide, to help anyone looking to buy a property in Spain. We highly recommend having a legal advisor to look after your interests and protect you from potential scams.

Now let’s take a step-by-step look at the whole process of purchasing property.

1. Pre Purchase:

Once you have found your ideal property (house, flat or land) it is time to contact your legal advisor. Tech&Lex will check the property status and see if there are any problems for you at the time of purchasing the property or in the future, such as debts, liens, long-term tenants, community charges, etc.

After we are sure that everything is correct, we conduct the negotiations with the property seller and we will explain you how to make the reservation agreement. The amount can be something  between 3000€-6000€. The payment guarantees the purchase, takes the property off the market and keeps it at the agreed price.

It’s common at this stage to give a power of attorney to your appointed lawyer to act on your behalf. This requires a visit to a public notary to make the power. This power of attorney is usually valid only for the duration of the purchase, to carry out administrative and tax formalities on your behalf. 

During the process you usually must provide a provision of funds for the expenses, such as taxes, and other public fees which can be paid by yourlawyer in order to continue with the purchase. For example, the public notary and the Land Registry fee. The provision of funds will be requested when necessary.

2.During purchase:

After the reservation agreement has been paid, it’s time to sign a deposit agreement or ‘contrato de arras’. This means that you will have to pay the remainder of the deposit required, usually a 5-10% of the property’s price. You can rely on your lawyer if you are unable to attend.

Tech&Lex will explain everything in detail to you and will answer any doubts about the contract and the process as well. We will also accompany you and review all the documents you need to sign and we will translate and solve any issues that may arise during this step.

If you don’t have a NIE (Identification Number for Foreigners), Tech&Lex will help you obtaining one and, if necessary, we will help you opening a Spanish bank account. These formalities will not entail any extra costs, except for the mandatory public fees.

3.Completion:

On the assigned day, the buyer and seller (or their authorized representatives) will meet at the notary to sign the purchase contract or deed of sale. The notary certifies that both parties have agreed to the terms stated (the notary witnesses both parties signatures and it could be possible that the notary doesn’t speak English). At this stage, your lawyer from Tech&Lex will make a final review to check everything is correct and the property will be yours from now on.

If the notary requests the presence of an impartial translator because she or he doesn’t speak English, Tech&Lex will provide one without any extra charge.

4.After purchase:

Your lawyer from Tech&Lex will take care of all the tax and registration paperwork to register you as the new owner, and will help you with the utility services ownership change. Also, if needed, your lawyer will help you signing up to the tax authorities, to be able to pay the taxes as a property owner in Spain. 

Please note that this is only a brief guide on the steps taken when buying a property in Spain. Of course, we understand you might have many more questions, so please do not hesitate to contact us. 

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Enjoy your property!