Article Surfing Archive

So you have now made the decision to buy a property in Spain, whether as a permanent residence or as a holiday home. You will find below a number of points that you will need to consider and think about prior to buying a property in Spain.

Firstly, I would suggest that you go on to the internet and see what the various agents advertising property for sale in Spain have to offer. You will find that many of these companies are run by people who are already living in Spain and will know the many problems and pitfalls that arise when buying a property in Spain.

The next point you will need to consider is where you want to live? Are you someone who prefers to be in the heart of things, say living in a town (urbanization), or are you someone who would prefer privacy and tranquility, therefore you may decide to buy a property in the country (campo) you may even wish to look at property in the mountains, or by the lakes or on the Coast. If you decide that you want everything close at hand to you, then it may best be if you look at properties in a Town or on the Coast especially if you require medical facilities close at hand.

You next step should be what sort of property you would like to purchase? Do you want to buy an apartment, townhouse, villa, finca (country house with land) or a property that needs some work doing to it. However, what you must remember is your budget (how much you are willing to spend on the property of your dreams in Spain).

You have now made the decision on where you want to live and what sort of property you want to buy. So now you need to start contacting the agents, both those on the internet and those who are located in the town close to where you wish to live. These people will not only provide you with the details of properties they feel would be of interest to you, but they should be able to help you with arranging contact with solicitors, banks (if you may need a mortgage to purchase the property), schools, and medical facilities in that area.

Please note that if you should need to arrange a loan with a Spanish bank you will need to hold an account with them prior to the purchase of the property.

Another important piece of documentation that you will require to enable you to purchase a property in Spain is your NIE number (similar to UK National Insurance Number). To obtain one of these you will need to arrange a visit to the local police in the nearest town to where you are purchasing your property (such as Malaga, Marbella, Seville etc). However, if you are not able to do this in person, a solicitor in Spain can arrange this for you (but you will be charged for this approximately '50), but doing it yourself will cost nothing. It should however be noted that it can take between 1 to 6 weeks before you receive this number.

Now you have found the property of your dreams and want to purchase it, here are somethings you need to take into consideration:-

1. Ask the agent who is selling the property if the person/owner of the property you wish to purchase has the right to sell it and if so can they produce the papers (escretera) confirming this. If you find that no such document is available, then ask if they will be drawn up before the sale. Should you be informed that this will not happen then do not proceed with the sale.

2. Next ask the agent to confirm that the property being sold has been provided with all the correct planning permissions by the Local Town Hall. If these cannot be provided then it may be worth contacting the Town Hall direct to see if they can confirm that the property has been built legally and if they cannot then I would consider very seriously not proceeding with the purchase. At present the Government in Spain is now starting to enforce the laws regarding illegal builds and this has sometimes resulted in properties being demolished and large fines incurred by the developers.

However, please note, that this sort of problem is only a minor one, and as long as you find yourself a reputable agent to help you in your task of finding the property of your dreams then these above problems should be of no consequence to you.