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Do you dream of a new life under the sun, enjoying Spanish lifestyle?

Do you think of your own holiday residence in an idyllic environment, just two hours awayby plane?

Or would you rather invest your money in some cheap and good real estate property?

Just imagine…

320 days of sunshine peryear, clean and clear sky anda relaxed life rhythm.

Blue skies and a blue sea,really enjoying life with aglass of sangria and sometapas on your favouriteterrace.

But how safe is this?

How can I ensure the safe purchase of my dreamhouse?

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So many histories are told about people who want to buy a property in Spain and afterwardslose all their money, either because of a previous existing legal problem or because at somelater moment a legal conflict occurs.

Often people find it hard to go and look for the assistance of an attorney, This means afterall having to acknowledge that you need help and cannot solve your own problems.

But if you decide to invest € 200.000 or € 300.000 on the purchase of a property, doesn’t itmake sense to reserve an extra couple of thousand just to make sure this purchase goessmooth?

You probably know the way in your own country, apart from knowing the language it may bejust a bit easier. Probably you have already bought some property before and you know theprocedure, but in Spain things just are different. A strange language and different procedures…

Do you really want to risk facing future problems just in order to save a couple of thousandEuros?

BUT WHAT CAN A LAWYER DO FOR YOU?

your house | your life | your peace of mind…

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You have come to an agreement, the current owner has accepted youroffer, SO WHAT NOW?

Usually the whole adventure starts in the office of the real estate agent. He will prepare somereservation document and a small amount is paid (usually € 3.000 or € 5.000), and theproperty is taken off the market.

THIS IS THE MOMENT YOU SHOULD CONTACT A LAWYER…

After this first step you get the time to sort “things” out. When we talk about “things” we meanthe legal situation of the property you are about to buy.

A lawyer will know exactly what has to be done. In the first place he will ask the house owneror the agent for all the relevant documentation regarding the property. He will also apply fora statement or nota simple from the property register to check the exact description of thehouse and to make sure whether there are any debts or charges on the property.

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The next step will be to apply for an urbanistic report or cédula urbanística from the townhall, in order to make sure the house was built legally and whether there are any urbanisticproblems with the property. Also this will enable you to know what the maximum building orrenovation capacity is (important if you want to buy a building plot or a farm house that needsrenovating,

From the tax office he will get the so-called certificado catastral, with a description of theproperty, the value for tax purposes which will also be used to calculate the minimum valueto be declared in the title deed, and tells us whether or not the local rates tax have been paidup to date.

In case there are any differences between what has been included in the property and/ortax register and what you have seen and want to buy, your lawyer will make sure all this ischanged before the signature of the title deed, of course this will be paid for by the currentowner, after all he is responsable for everything to be correctly registered.

And finally the lawyer will offer youthe possibility to get a survey byam architect, this to check anystructural problems.

This is mostly important with oldproperties, or properties build inthe seventies / eighties, the big“building boom”. In that periodthere was hardly any control onbuilding quality.

your house | your life | your peace of mind…

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When all this has been checked and you’re happy with the results a proper purchase contractor “contrato de arras” will be made. At that point usually 10% of the purchase price will bepaid either straight to the owner or through the lawyer’s client account. In this contract allfurther conditions are included and a date is fixed for the final transfer.

Please be aware that if for whateverreason after this moment you decidenot to go ahead and cancel thepurchase (except for some veryspecific legal reasons), you wouldloose the amounts you have paid upto that moment. Also the other wayaround, in case the seller for whateverreason decides to cancel the sale hewould have to return all the money youhave paid multiplied by two.

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From this moment up to the final transfer there are always matters to organize. You mayhave to apply for your “NIE number” (Spanish fiscal ID number, obligatory for any officialtransactions), and you will want to open a bank account un Spain.

Also it’s possible you cannot be personnally present at the moment of the transfer in thenotary, in that case you can sign a “poder notarial” or Power of attorney in favour of yourlawyer or any other person you trust.

Now is the time to arrange for all this. Your lawyer will be able to look after everyhting.

Usually this is the moment I sit around the table with my clients to go through several issues.One of these is my recommendation to sign a “PODER GENERAL” or General Power ofAttorney in favour of your spouse or any other person you really trust completely. I believethis is always a good idea having in mind that we don’t know what is going to happen to anyof us. We all know people who - by accidents, serious illness, dementia or alzheimer - atsome point cannot take their own decisions any more.

In such a case a close family member or person of confidence should be able to do whateverhe feels necessary with the property without having to go to court first for an official judicialincapacity statement which may take months and a lot of money. Also you can leave exactinstructions on how you want this person to proceed in certain circumstances.

Hopefully you can just keep this Power of Attorney and you never need it, but if you do needit, it’s there and can be used!

Just think about this!!

your house | your life | your peace of mind…

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And finally the big day arrives.

D-DAY, the day the property will be officially transferred to you. Everything is ready, theappointment at the notary has been fixed, all documents are in place, the bank cheques havebeen prepared. (Be aware that most banks charge high fees for these bank cheques, I haveseend banks charging up to 0,8% of the outstanding amounts!! Tell your lawyer to look forthe bank that offers the best conditions and let him negotiate the price of the bank cheque)

Another option is to carry out these last payments through the client’s account many notarieshave for this purpose. In my opinion this is the safest and cheapest way, both for the sellerand for the purchaser. Many notaries have agreements with the bank and can carry out thetransfers to the seller’s account free or very cheap.

Unfortunately not all notaries offer this possibility.

You go to the notary, the deed or“escritura” is signed, you get the keysand from now on you are a happy houseowner in Spain

CONGRATULATIONS!

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your house | your life | your peace of mind…

And obviously it is very important to havein account all other costs involved with thepurchase. We are talking here aboutnotary- and register costs, which usuallyare for account of the purchaser, and alsohe will have to pay the transfer tax or ITP- Impuesto de TransmisionesPatrimoniales.

In the Valencian Community this is at thismoment 10% of the value of the property,Theoretically this should be the purchaseprice, and in most purchase proceduresthis is the amount that is used, but the lawsays that one should use the “real value”

for this, and the tax authorities havetherefore invented a calculation based onthe tax value (valor catastral) multipliedby a certain correction factor (coeficientecorrector) which depends on themunicipity the property is located.

It could happen that this value is higherthan the amount you have paid for theproperty, in this case the tax office couldissue a complementary ITP tax return unwhich case you would have to pay thedifference, or you would have to proof thatthis “real value” is lower than the value thetax office has used.

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Your lawyer will take care of the rest. He will change all services on your name, such aselectricity, water, telephone and taxes, and he will make sure the 10% transfer tax is paidand the house registered on your name in the property register. In case there was a mortgageon name of the previous owner he will have this cancelled in the register, and whatever elsehas to be done.

Every purchase procedure is different, every client is different and every house is different,but a competent lawyer will be able to find a suitable solution for each problem.

Please trust your lawyer.

Most lawyers in Spainare excellent professionals

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And who are we?

Roberto Roselló

Real estate agent and marketing expertspecialized in real estate marketing with manyyears of experience.

Annemarie Bakker

Lawyer in Spanish law, with more than 30 yearsexperience in tax law, property- and civil law,and sale and purchase of real estate properties.

Laura Mengual

Secretary and collaborator in real estate. Shealso maintains contact with Spanish authorities.Expert in real estate marketing.

Carmen Mengual

Office employee, maintains contact withdifferent authorities and takes care of allcontract and register procedures.

your house | your life | your peace of mind…

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And now the real adventure begins.

you are a house owner in Spain!!

… ENJOY IT …

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your house | your life | your peace of mind…

dianium

Hasta pronto!!

DIANIUMGROUP COSTA BLANCA, S.L.Avenida Miguel Hernández, 4

03700 Dénia

Tel: +34 966 422 624 | +34 615 375 370email: oficina@deniacasas.es

Webpage: www.dianiumlex.com