The Purchase and Conveyancing Procedures

The following is a detailed explanation of the procedure of property purchase, specifying all conveyancing, paperwork and tax duties involved in the purchase of property in Spain.

Our assistance is not limited exclusively to finding the right property for our clients but also and most important is conveying the sale all the way through which entails the following:

Drafting and preparing the private purchase-sale contract, with the appropriate translation, to include clauses and stipulations according to agreements reached between the Vendor & Purchaser.

A full and complete search, checking at the land registry, the Town Hall and the Tax Authorities that the property under contract is sold free and clear of all charges and encumbrances with all relevant receipts and statements.

Supervising bank transactions to prepare for the signing of the title deed, which o­n average takes 2-6 weeks after signing the private contract.

Preparing appointments and drafting documents for the Notary Public relating to the new Title Deed (Escritura).

Accompany Vendor and Purchaser to the Notary and give a translation of the Title Deed.

Convey registration of the new Title Deed at the Land Registry office, apply for tax identity number and payment of the Purchase transfer Tax (7% of declared value) o­n behalf of the purchaser.

Transfer of name for Rates, water, electricity, home insurance policies and telephone contracts.

Collection of Title Deed from the Land Registry after full registration, (normally 4-6 weeks after presentation).

Once the Title Deed has been registered, our conveyancing job will be completed. Thereafter as the owner of a property in Spain you will be contracting certain Fiscal obligations relating to the property which have to be met o­n an annual basis, namely the payment of Ground/Property rates; Wealth Tax and Income Tax.

Spanish Tax authorities do not normally correspond with property owners abroad. In order to avoid any Fiscal non-payments o­n the due dates and the complexity of the paper work involved, we recommend that you nominate a professional Fiscal representative who can undertake the form filling and the payment of annual taxes o­n your behalf.

There are a number of good reliable Fiscal Agents in the area. We would be pleased to put you in touch with them.

If you wish to proceed with the purchase the following steps must be adopted:

We must draft a Private contract to secure the sale and you would have to transfer a deposit of 10% of the purchase price, first to your account in a local bank and from there an internal transfer to the account designated by the Vendor.

Set a fixed date for the Completion before the Notary Public for which you must either come to Mojácar to sign yourself or issue a Power of Attorney to o­ne of us, to buy o­n your behalf. This is a very simple procedure for which you would have to go to a Spanish Consulate to sign the Power of Attorney and we would send you all the relevant details. Obviously if you combine a short holiday with the completion date, all the better. The normal time between the signing of the private contract and the Title Deed is 4-6 weeks.

Payment of the Balance: The balance must be paid simultaneously to the signing of the Title Deed. If you were still interested in taking o­n the existing mortgage then obviously the balance would be reduced. This amount must be in your account by the date of completion.