People who do not live in Spain can buy and own property, for their personal use, or they can designate it for tourist use and obtain an income from the properties. Or, why not, they can even do both – enjoy the property for periods and when it is not needed, let it out to tourists. The city of Barcelona and the Mediterranean coast are places which allow you to obtain good returns from properties for tourist use.
If you are an investor, count on us to conduct a previous study of the profitability of your investment. In any case, we can make a preview and calculate the costs arising from the purchase to avoid unforeseen expenses.
Buy a property with security and guarantee
Before the acquisition of a property it is necessary to examine its legal status, verify its status in terms of outstanding charges and debts. In order to verify the state of charges, you have to obtain a report from the Property Registration Office, where all the charges which can affect the property, such as embargoes, mortgages, etc., are recorded. Besides, it is necessary to check the state of liabilities for taxes; especially, that it is up to date with the Real Estate Tax, which is the municipal tax levied on ownership. In the case that the property is part of a building with various dwellings, the state of debts with the community property owners must be checked. And finally, it is necessary to verify the urban planning status in order to guarantee that the building is not affected by urban constrictions.
Have legal advide throughout the purchasing progress to avoid surprises
Once the status of the property has been checked, it is necessary to verify the conditions of the sale and its formalization to ensure that the purchase is made fully guaranteed. It is not unusual for the seller to ask for the payment of a small part of the total price (generally, it is advisable that it is not more than 10%) to assure the operation while the documentation required for the contract of sale and purchase is being prepared.
If this is the case, the down payment has to be made only in case and at the time of the signing of the sale-purchase commitment contract, whereby both parts assure the fulfilment of their obligations. It is important to be particularly careful in the wording of this document since it is what will ensure that the following sale and purchase is undertaken without incidents and surprise-free. In this prior contract the time limit which both parts provide to formalize the eventual sale-purchase will have to be stated. All the preparatory steps of the sale-purchase will have to be done during this period. It is especially advisable to be supported by legal advice at the time of the signature of this contract.
At the end of this period, the function of the Spanish Civil Law Notary is of central importance as they draw up the public document which will serve as the ownership title to the property and which will be entered in the Property registration Office.
During the sale process, you should already have a calculation of the total cost that the purchase will generate in order to avoid unforeseen expenses at the moment of the purchase. This estimate of expenses will have to include not only the purchase expenses but also the tax expenditure relating to the purchase. Specifically, the purchase of housing in Spain is subject to the payment of certain taxes which vary according to location; in Catalonia the tax cost for the purchase of a dwelling is about a10% of the purchase price, but this amount could increase depending on the price of the property.
Subsequent to the purchase, you will need the support of a professional who manages the registration of the title deeds in the Property Registration Office and the fulfilment of the tax liabilities derived from the acquisition.
Congratulations, now you are ready to be the owner of a property in Spain.
Once you become the proud owner of a property please, check the legal obligations that may affect you. You can have more information here.
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