Once you have chosen your property, agreed the price and who is going to pay what, i.e notary fees etc, the process is roughly as follows:
- Sign the private contract of sale ( see Spanish Property Documents). Among other things this will identify the seller, the buyer and the property itself. It will also state the date when the property ownership is to be transferred, i.e. the day the Escritura de Compraventa is signed.
- Open a Spanish bank account in your name(s) and give authority to your abogado (lawyer) or estate agent to withdraw the 10% deposit when you have transferred the funds to your account. There is no need for you to carry large sums of money from the UK to put down as the deposit - you are only putting your money and self at risk.
- On your return to the UK arrange to transfer the funds to your Spanish bank account to cover the cost of 10% deposit. See page "Transferring Money to Spain" for further information on how you can make the best of exchange rates.
- Allow yourself sufficient time to transfer the remainder of the funds needed to complete the purchase to your Spanish bank account before your return to Spain.
- On your return to Spain you will need to go to your Spanish bank and arrange a cheque to cover the Escritura value of your new property, this value varies considerably depending on the type of property you are buying i.e. cave house, or new town house. You will also need to ensure that the bank has sufficient cash on hand on the completion day so you can withdraw cash to pay the balance left after payment of your cheque.
- On the day that you go to the notary it is normal practice for the buyer and seller to meet on the property, check that all is OK and transfer the cash part of the payment mentioned above.
- At the notary you will hand over the cheque and sign the Escritura de Compraventa when the property becomes officially yours.
This is a very short guide to what you can generally expect to happen, of course there are numerous variations. It all might seem a bit daunting but you should expect that your estate agent, lawyer or property consultant will be with you during the whole process, smoothing the way for you.
