Checklist: what must be done before you sign

Save the page or print it. These are exactly the points we go through with you, in this order.

Before you start looking

• Apply for an NIE number — now, not when you have found the property. How it works.
• Open a Spanish bank account. Requires an NIE and a personal visit or power of attorney.
• Set a budget in euros that includes the costs on top of the price and room for the exchange rate to move. On currency.
• If you need a mortgage: get an agreement in principle from a bank before you look at a single property.
• Gather documents showing where the money comes from — bank statements, completion statement, probate, deed of gift, loan agreement. The bank and the notary will require them.
• Decide what the property is for: your own holidays, permanent living, letting or a mix. It determines which checks are needed. On letting.
• Choose an independent lawyer who works for you, not the seller, and whom you can speak to in a language you are comfortable in.

Before you go to a viewing

• Write down three must-haves and three possible compromises. They are easy to forget in a sunny apartment with a sea view.
• Ask for the community fee, IBI and refuse charge in exact amounts for every property you are going to see. Not “roughly”.
• Ask for the year built, the built area according to the registry and the energy certificate in advance.
• Walk the distances on foot, not on the map: to the shop, the bus, the beach — and to the school if that matters.
• Visit the area at different times — a weekday evening, a weekend, and if possible in a different season from the one you are buying in.

Before you make an offer

• Order a nota simple from the land registry: who owns it, which loans and charges exist, whether there are disputes in progress.
• Compare the registry with reality: square metres, layout, terrace, storeroom, parking. What is not in the registry is not yours.
• Check that extensions are legal — glazed terrace, pool house, conservatory, basement. Ask for the building permit, not just “it has always been like that”.
• Read the community’s statutes and the latest meeting minutes. Look for approved works, special levies, disputes and rules on letting.
• Ask for a certificate from the community that the seller has no unpaid fees. Debts follow the property.
• Check that IBI and refuse charges are paid for the last few years.
• Book a survey if it is a villa or an older apartment. Nobody requires it — do it anyway.
• Decide how you handle the currency: when you exchange, with whom, and whether you want to lock the rate.
• Let your lawyer read the reservation agreement before you sign it. It is binding even if the agent calls it standard.

Before you sign the arras

• All the checks above are complete and approved by your lawyer. Not “in progress”. Complete.
• The bank has said yes to the loan, in writing, if you need one. An arras without a mortgage decision is a bet.
• You know which kind of arras it is and what happens if you or the seller pull out. The buying process explains the difference.
• The completion date is realistic for you, the bank and the currency exchange.
• The deposit is paid to an account your lawyer has approved — not to an account that turns up in an email.
• What is included in the sale is in the contract: furniture, appliances, storeroom, parking space. Verbal does not count.
• The rate is locked — or the decision not to lock it is deliberate.

Before the notary

• The purchase price is in euros in your Spanish account in good time, and the bank has prepared the payment in the way the notary requires.
• Your lawyer has read the draft deed (escritura) and checked that it matches the arras.
• The seller’s latest receipts for community fees, IBI, electricity and water have been produced.
• The energy certificate has been handed over.
• The property has been inspected one last time shortly before completion: in the agreed condition, with what is included still there.
• You have a valid passport, the NIE document and the documents on the origin of the funds with you. If you cannot attend: the power of attorney is drawn up and approved in time.
• You know how the seller’s tax withholding is handled if the seller is not resident in Spain — it affects how the payment is structured.

After the keys

• Pay the transfer tax or VAT within the deadline and submit the purchase for registration. Your lawyer handles it — check that it has been done.
• Collect the registered escritura when the land registry is finished. Only then are you the registered owner.
• Transfer electricity, water, gas and internet into your name.
• Notify the community and set up a direct debit for the fees. Update the address with the town hall for IBI.
• Take out home insurance from completion day.
• Note when Modelo 210 is due — the obligation starts in the year you become owner.
• If you are going to let: register the property with the Junta de Andalucía before the first guest, and lodge the deposit with the region for long-term lets.
• Change the locks. You do not know how many keys are in circulation.
• If you are moving down: registration with the town hall (empadronamiento), the move and tax residency are the next chapter.

Want to go through the list against a property you have already found, or against a search we do for you? Book a call or send a search brief.