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Buying a house
in The Lecrin Valley
Establishing the purchase price:
We will liaise between
seller and purchaser and confirm the seller's acceptance of purchaser's
offer and establish what will be the declared value of the transaction.
Once this is done, we will prepare an Agreement to Purchase form, which
is to be signed by the purchaser and us, as the seller's representative.
At this stage, the purchaser is required to pay a 2% plus IVA (VAT) fee
to Lecrin Valley S.L. We give a fuller breakdown of this fee in the section
on Our Services and Charges.
Arranging legal
representation :
- Lecrin Valley does
not undertake any legal work for purchasers or sellers. We strongly
recommend the use of English speaking lawyers
who have considerable experience in working with English clients over
the sale and purchase of property. They are also experienced in setting
up Spanish based companies for those clients who wish to buy as a commercial
enterprise.
- We can arrange
the opening of a Spanish bank account (essential for property owners)
at a local bank which has English speaking contacts.
The legal process:
All this work is undertaken
by your lawyer (abogado), though, in some cases, Lecrin Valley S.L. will have obtained
copy documents in advance of your agreement to purchase.
- Establishing
the seller´s title:
The following documents all contribute to confirming that the person
selling the property is the legal owner/holder of the title and that
there are no charges outstanding on the property.
(i) Title Deed (Escritura Publica) is the definitive document in which
you will find the names of all owners, the declared price which they
paid for the property and a description of the property, including size,
boundaries, number of floors etc. The escritura also contains detail
of any mortgages. You must have a copy of this document prior to signing
a Private Contract. In many cases, Lecrin Valley S.L. will already have obtained
a copy of this when the property was advertised on the web site. If
not, this is one of the documents which the lawyer will seek from the
seller.
(ii) Property Registration Certificate (Nota Simple) is often a single
sheet of paper provided by the Land Registry and is a summary of all
the details registered there, eg the name of the owner(s) and any mortgages
on the property. In many cases, Lecrin Valley S.L. will have provided you with
a copy of this.
(iii) Other supporting documents: These include: IBI receipts. These
are proof that the owner has paid the annual local property tax (Impuesto
Sobre Bienes Inmuebles de Naturaleza Urbana/Rustica) - similar to rates.
Often these are very small amounts, but as a purchaser you will be liable
for any unpaid taxes. There are also local rates (Tasas por suministro
de agua, basuras y alcantarillado) which are levied locally for rubbish
collection, street lighting and water supply. The periods for payment
can vary from municipality to municipality - some are annual, some are
quarterly and others half yearly. In each case, unpaid bills can result
in an embargo being placed on the property, which means that it cannot
be sold until the debts are settled. Other invoices to chase include
electricity and telephone bills. These will show the name and address
of the owner and it is then possible to check if all bills have been
paid up to date.
- Stages in the
process
The first phase is the signing of the Private Contract (Contrato Privado).
This will be drawn up by the lawyers and is binding. This means that
if the purchaser defaults, they stand to lose their deposit. If the
seller defaults, the purchaser can claim a sum twice the deposit. The
seller agrees to sell and the purchaser to buy at an agreed price within
an agreed timescale (variable as agreed, but routinely about one month)
. It is usual for the purchaser to pay 10% of the price on signing the
private contract. The purchaser will be required to sign the document
OR give authority for their lawyer to sign on their behalf.
The second stage is the signing of the Escritura Publica. This will
be done at the office of the Notario and coincides with the payment
of the balance of moneys due - usually 90%. Both purchaser and seller
need to be present with the Notary to sign; the only way to avoid being
present is to give Power of Attorney to someone to sign on your behalf.
This is often given to the lawyer acting for you.
- Possible costs:
Lawyers' fees: these vary considerably, but as a rule of
thumb, expect to pay around 1% of the purchase price, a minimum of 1,500€.
Notary's fees: expect to pay between 350€ and 700€ depending on the cost of the property and the complexity of the work.
Transfer tax: you will pay 7% of the declared price shown in
the Escritura Publico.
Property Registration: all property sales attract this fee, which
is likely to be between 50€ and 700€.
It is normal for the
purchaser to pay all of the above.
Our
services and charges
About
50% of all houses that are offered to us for sale, can't be sold. There
are several reasons, but the most common is that the person selling is
only a part owner. It could take us months to find the other interested
parties only to discover that they don't want to sell.
Of the remaining 50% of houses that we can sell, half of these will be
without an escritura (the deeds). The reason for this is that the house
has never been sold before, and has probably been in the same family for
generations. We have a new escritura drawn up by a qualified lawyer, and
have it agreed by all parties concerned.
For one house to get
onto this Web site it may involve many journeys to towns and villages,
dozens of phone calls, hours of detective work, scrutinizing the paper
work for flaws, checking the details, and negotiating with the owners
to get a fair price. The house is then photographed and the description
accurately written.
Our first priority
to the buyer is to offer good quality properties at fair prices. We deal
with all our clients personally from the first e-mail to the completion
of the purchase, in some cases spending many hours with buyers and sellers
to ensure a smooth transaction. We help buyers to open bank accounts.
We can advise on solicitors and architects, and we help to cut through
the bureaucracy of buying a property in Spain. Like all quality services,
it costs and has to be paid for. For our service we charge the buyer 2%,
which we feel is excellent value
©Lecrinvalley
2006
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