George B.
Strong Abogados has been providing expert conveyancing services since the year 2000. We have an independent legal service to help the clients with their property purchase in Spain.
Why hire us?
Property checks should be done before you pay realtor fees to hold a property and before you make a down payment.
Articles:
The steps to buying a house in Spain
Tax structures for property investment (Read if you plan to buy a property with various units).
FAQs:
What other costs are involved in buying a property?
Can I avoid travelling to Spain for the closing?
What are some pitfalls in buying a property in Spain?
How can I find out the market price of a property?
The seller wants the declared price to be less than what I'm actually going to pay. Should I do this?
What information should I get from my real estate agent?
Are real estate agencies regulated in Spain?
Are there any required house inspections in Spain?
If I'm buying a property, can I save on taxes by creating a company?
Can you represent me for the sale of my property in Spain?
What land can I build on in Spain?
Call us at 932 155 393 or fill out the form below.
Use our expenses calculator to get an idea of the total costs involved in your purchase, as well as when you will need to pay them. The expenses calculator includes all fees and taxes generally ascribed to the buyer. Keep in mind, however, that whether the buyer or the seller pays the various fees and taxes is always negotiable. Who pays the fees should be clearly specified in the pre-agreement.
Yes. You can give us power of attorney, and we will represent you at the closing.
To find out the market price of a property, you should have an appraisal done. Both our property appraisal service and all others in Spain are registered and guaranteed by the Sociedad de Tasacion.
The following sites can give you an idea of the value of a property:
Sociedad de Tasacion This company certifies all appraisals done. Their site has the current price-per-square-meter of new properties sold in all the cities of Spain, as well as the change in price from the prior year.
idealista.com This large post-your-own-property site offers reports with detailed stats on used properties.
Fotocasa Another large listing of used properties for sale.
An appraisal will cost roughly 0.1% market value of the property. The appraiser uses two approaches to calculating the value of a property:
- They will measure the property to draw up a floor plan and calculate the square meters, then multiply this by the value per square meters in the area. This value then gets adjusted by a number of factors, such as whether the house can be moved into right away or needs renovation.
- They will find similar properties that have been sold in the area recently.
Since the determined value depends in part on a comparative study with other similar properties that have been sold in the area, two appraisals done on a propety could vary by up to 10%, especially if there is a lack of comparable properties sold recently.
Regarding price per square meter for apartments, make sure whether you're dealing with m2 construido (constructed space) or with m2 util (usable space). Construido includes common space: stairs, air shafts, walls, etc. The difference between the two numbers can vary widely, but on average m2 construido is 27% more than m2 util.
If you're getting a mortgage, the bank will require you to pay for an appraisal, though they choose the appraiser. This step comes after you pay the downpayment on the property, though, so if your offer is significantly higher than the appraiser's value, you'll lose this downpayment if you back out now. For that reason, you might want to pay for your own appraisal before paying the downpayment.
And the broker tells you this is common practice, right? In truth, it's a known practice, but not so common. What is happening is that the seller wants to have less capital gains so they can pay fewer taxes. The problem for you as the buyer is that when you go to sell the property down the road, you will then have to pay more capital gains (unless you also find a buyer willing to make this deal). You will pay in taxes all that the current seller didn't pay. So why would anybody accept this? It's because some people in Spain have a sizeable amount of money tucked under their pillow that they never declared as earnings to the tax office. Giving this money as cash to the seller effectively launders it, and is therefore illegal. If this is not the case with you, then don't make a deal with the seller. In fact, this should be made clear in the pre-agreement, so the seller doesn't try to force in this provision a week before the closing.
For a new construction, you should get:
For an existing house, you should get:
There is a national registry of real estate agents -- Agente de la Propiedad Inmobiliaria (API) -- but agencies are not required to become members. In fact, many large agencies are not members. With an API agency, there are more controls. For example, there are declared fee guidelines (between 3% and 5%).
In Spain, there are no required inspections, such as for excessive radon levels, termite damage, or structural damage. However, most cities in Spain have approved a regulation to require inspections for all buildings over 50 years old (the required age may vary depending on the city). So when you buy an older apartment or house, you should request this report, since the report may prescribe costly renovation work that must be performed on the building within a certain time frame.
The Technical Building Inspection (ITE) in Spain.
When you buy a property, the bank performing the mortgage will always ask for a standard property appraisal. This appraisal does not include property surveying. If you would like a property survey, please see our property survey service.
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