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Purchasing Spanish Property: the Legal Procedure Explained

November 7th, 2009

Once youve chosen your ideal property and found a Spanish mortgage how do you go about completing the purchase?

It is in your best interest to hire an English-speaking lawyer to assist you in the process of purchasing regulated Spanish property. Validate that the Spanish property you plan to purchase is free of restrictive clauses and debts.

There are two different categories when it comes to the legal process of purchasing Spanish property. First you have the Contrato privado de compraventa, or the preliminary contract, and then you have the Escritura de compravents, or completion contract.

There should be a preliminary private sales contract signed once you have both agreed on a purchase price. The vendor must provide proof that he or she owns the property free of any charges before this Contrato privado de compraventa has been signed. In Spain, debts are attached to the property, so any mortgage that was outstanding would transfer to the buyer. Nota Simple determins which properties contain overdue debts.

Details such as completion date, price and description will be written in the first sales contract. Expect to pay a deposit that ranges between 5 and 15 percent of the purchase price. These funds will be held for you in a bonded client account. It is possible though not advisable to sign the private preliminary sales contract without putting down a deposit.

Escritura de compraventa is otherwise known as the second or final contract stage. The customer will need to pay all fees and the price of the product on the date of completion. Both the vendor and the buyer must sign the contract at the same time. This contract is equivalent to a deed on the purchased property. The buyer will be provided the public deed of conveyance, also referred to in Spain as the escritura, in the presence of a Notary Public. In order for everything to be legal a copy of the deed will have to go through the tax office and property registry. In Spain, all deeds of sale must be witnessed by a Notary Public, which is a public official in that country. However, you need to have your own legal counsel to protect your own interests during the transaction. While buying any property do remember that property sales taxes and legal fees for the Notary Public is also to be paid by you only.

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