Contents
1. Before you start looking
Three things should be in place before you look at a single property, otherwise you lose it to someone who is prepared:
- NIE number — takes time to get and is required for everything.
- A Spanish bank account.
- A realistic budget that includes the costs on top of the price. If you need a mortgage: get an agreement in principle first.
2. Reservation
When you have found the right one, a reservation fee takes the property off the market for a short period, often a couple of weeks. The amount is limited but changing your mind is not free — and the reservation agreement is binding. Always let your lawyer read it, even when the agent says it is standard.
3. The checks — the most important step
This is where the deal is decided, and where an independent lawyer earns their fee several times over. What must be checked:
- Nota simple from the land registry: who owns it, which loans and debts are attached to the property, and whether there are disputes.
- That what has been built was built legally — glazed terraces, pool houses and extensions are far from always registered.
- The community: unpaid fees, minutes of the meetings and works approved. Debts follow the property, not the seller.
- IBI and other municipal charges.
- Energy performance certificate, which the seller must provide.
- A technical survey — not required in Spain, but a matter of course for villas and for anything older.
4. Arras: the deposit contract
The contrato de arras is the binding agreement between you and the seller. Normally around ten per cent of the price is paid and a completion date is set. In the most common form, arras penitenciales, you lose the deposit if you withdraw — and the seller pays back double the amount if they pull out.
This is the point of no return. Never sign an arras before the checks are complete and, if you need a mortgage, before the bank has said yes. An arras signed “so as not to lose the property” is the most expensive shortcut in a Spanish purchase.
5. Notary and completion
The deed, the escritura, is signed before a notary. That is where the balance of the price is paid, the keys are handed over and the notary reads the document aloud — in Spanish. We come with you and translate, line by line.
If the seller is not resident in Spain, part of the price is also withheld as an advance on the seller’s capital gains tax. That is the seller’s concern, but it affects how the payment is structured.
After the notary, the taxes are paid and the purchase is registered at the land registry. Only then are you formally the registered owner.
6. After the purchase
- Electricity, water and internet in your name.
- Notify the community and set up a direct debit for the fees.
- Home insurance.
- Modelo 210 — the annual return if you are not resident here. Almost everyone forgets it, and it becomes expensive to sort out at a future sale.
Want us to go through your situation before you start? Send a search brief — it costs you nothing and commits you to nothing.