Buying Spanish Property: the Legal System Explained
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. Make sure that the Spanish property is free of restrictive clauses and debts.
The legal process for buying a Spanish property falls into two different categories. First you have the Contrato privado de compraventa, or the preliminary contract, and then you have the Escritura de compravents, or completion contract.
Once both parties have agreed to the price, then a preliminary private sales contract should be signed. The vendor needs to be able to provide proof that he or she owns the property, and that it is free of any charges, Before this Contrato privado de compraventa will be signed. In Spain, debts are attached to the property, so any mortgage that was outstanding would transfer to the buyer. Nota Simple tells about outstanding debts.
The preliminary sales contract will be drawn up to contain all of the necessary details including the date of completion, the purchase price and the description of the property. When you reach this point, you can expect to pay a deposit of 5-15%. This money is held for you in a secure customer account. You can sign the private preliminary sales contract and not put down a deposit but it is not advised.
The second stage is the final contract stage, or the Escritura de compraventa stage. On the completion date, the balance of the price of purchase and all fees need to be paid by the purchaser. Next, the seller and buyer meet and sign a contract, which is essentially a claim to the property. Also known in Spain as the escritura, the purchaser will received this deed which is usually in front 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.
