Buying a property in Spain: steps to follow to acquire your property peacefully

Do you want to make a real estate purchase in Spain? Discover all the advantages of such a purchase as well as the formalities that will have to be completed before signing the sale.

What are the advantages of buying a property in Spain?

More and more French people are turning to Spain in search of real estate. Buyers have various profiles: active people looking for a rental investment, expatriates wishing to settle there for the long term, or retirees looking for a better quality of life for their old age. The Spanish real estate market is currently very easy to access for French people and has many advantages. The attractive prices associated with very low current borrowing rates represent a real opportunity for future owners. Rental investment is also very profitable. Tax rates are much lower than those in France and the rental demand is high in many Spanish cities. At the resale, taxation on capital gains is also revised downwards, a purchase on the Iberian Peninsula is therefore a very safe investment, very profitable if it is intended for rental. Finally, for retirees wishing to settle there, the benefits lie in the cost of living which will allow them to make the most of their retirement in the sun.

What are the formalities for buying a property in Spain?

Once you have found the property of your dreams, whether it is an apartment or a villa, in town or by the sea, you will have to go through some compulsory formalities in order to make your purchase in accordance with the rules.

You will first need to obtain a Foreign Identification Number (NIE) which will be essential for the signing of the sale as well as for the opening of a bank account on site for non-residents. The deadline for obtaining this number issued by the Spanish Ministry of the Interior can be up to 3 months, so you have to do it well in advance.

You will also need to open a bank account on site, which is not always easy when it comes to taking out a mortgage. It may be more efficient to go to the Spanish subsidiaries of certain French banks .

As we will see later, you will need to call on a property manager who will accompany you throughout the acquisition process.

Once you have made the offer to purchase your property, you will have to pay a reservation amounting to a few thousand euros, depending on the price of the property.

It will then be necessary to carry out checks concerning the property (building permit, registration of the property, etc.), this is where the property manager or a lawyer will intervene in your procedures .

Then will come the signing of the sales agreement which is a private contract and which is accompanied by the payment of a deposit of 10% of the price of the property (from which the amount of the reservation already paid must be deducted).

Finally, the signing of the deed of sale to a notary will conclude the transaction.

What are the main differences between buying real estate in France and Spain?

As seen above, there are many differences regarding real estate purchases between France and Spain, particularly in terms of prices and taxation. However, there is a fundamental difference which comes into play just after the signing of the offer to purchase. In France, it is the notary solicited by the sale who will take care of all the administrative aspects related to the sale and who therefore guarantees a purchase free from unpleasant surprises and the authenticity of the property. On the other side of the Pyrenees, the buyer is the guarantor of this. He therefore carries quite heavy responsibilities with regard to his purchase. This is the main difference and it greatly changes the way of looking at the buying process. This is why it is important to be well informed on all the formalities and steps, and on the good that one wishes to acquire. The future owner will be solely responsible for any concerns on the property whatsoever. it is essential to carry out the acquisition in the rules of the art and not to neglect any step and no verification. 

Why be accompanied by a property manager when buying in Spain?

In order to carry out your real estate transaction with serenity, it is more than highly recommended to call either a lawyer or a French-speaking real estate agency on site. it is possible to turn to a property manager. He will accompany you throughout the purchasing process, guide you and take many steps for you.

First of all, he will help you, as a good real estate agent, to find the property of your dreams. He will then ensure that the contract accompanying the payment of the reservation is carried out correctly.

He will then take charge, as a notary does for a purchase in France, of verifying that the property is indeed legally registered and that it is free of all charges. He will ensure that the reseller is the owner, that there will be no more tenants during the sale, that there are no planned works that would impact the property, that the construction is properly registered and compliant if it is a new building, that the building permit has been established in the rules ...

Once all the verifications have been carried out, it is your property manager who will draft the contract under private signature serving as a sales agreement in Spanish with a translation into French.

Finally, he will accompany you to the notary after having explained the payment procedures to you, and the deed of sale in Spanish will be explained to you in French for the notary's study.

It is also your property manager who registers the act of sale in the Spanish Property Registry.

Thus, a French-speaking real estate agency established on site will be your ideal partner and will be able to guide you through the stages of your purchase with complete peace of mind.