Buying and selling housing in Spain
Buying a home is surely one of the most important decisions that a person makes throughout their life, so we should not leave it to free will. Our advice is to put yourself in the hands of expert professionals such as Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Spain, a real estate company with more than 50 years of experience, who will undoubtedly advise you free of charge with total transparency and honesty or hire the services of a specialized lawyer, to This way you can acquire a home with the maximum guarantees.
First of all, we must know what the legal status of the property is. It is about knowing the legality of the property, whether the real surface coincides with the registry or cadastral surface, whether or not it has elements outside of the planning, occupancy certificate, etc. Once we have verified the legal aspects, the next step will be the signing of a contract between buyer and seller.
Prior procedures for the sale: the private document
In the sale and purchase of a home, the usual thing is that, prior to signing the public deed, a private contract is signed between seller and buyer, normally known as a deposit. This contract is not mandatory, although it is widely used to ensure the operation and to have the necessary period of time to prepare the essential documentation for signing the definitive deed of sale.
The private document is a perfectly valid way to formalize a sale, therefore it is legally obligatory to comply with all its contents, as long as it is not contrary to the Law. We emphasize the importance of obtaining appropriate advice before signing a document of this nature.
What important questions we should take into account:
· 1 Who signs for the selling party: It is necessary that all the owners of the home sign the contract. In the case of purchasing a new work, the administrator or representative of the company usually signs. A representative of the property can also sign, in which case the representative must present the notarized copy of the power authorizing the sale.
· 2 Status of the home's encumbrances: It is very important to check whether or not the home has encumbrances, if it has a mortgage, or if there are liens. We will verify it with a simple informative note from the Property Registry.
It is quite common for there to be a mortgage. The buyer must assess whether he or she is interested in subrogating it and becoming the debtor for the portion that remains to be paid, contracting his or her own mortgage loan or purchasing the home without a mortgage charge, in which case the buyer must cancel the existing mortgage registered at the time of signature. of writing.
If you take out your own mortgage loan, you must go to a financial institution to obtain advice on the conditions since these can vary greatly. At Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Spain we can inform you and recommend which one may be the most interesting depending on your needs.
· 3 Fees of the community of owners: If the home is located in a community of owners, you must check that it is up to date with payments by requesting this information from the president or administrator of the community, and inform yourself of the statutes or regulations internals that the building has. It is also advisable to find out if there are contributions approved by the community, what the amount of the fees is and how often they must be paid.
· 4 Price and deposit: The contract must include the price of the home and its payment method. The usual thing is to establish an amount, a deposit, that the buyer gives to the seller as a deposit on account of the price.
· 5 Purchase and sale expenses: This section deserves a more extensive development that we will explain and develop in another section, going into detail and analyzing each of the expenses, but it is important to know as a general rule that the sum of all those expenses, notarial, registry , taxes... can amount to between 10 and 13% of the purchase price.
· 6 Choice of notary: The purchasing party has the right to choose the notary that interests them most. Although the private document is fully valid, it is not enough to register the home in the Property Registry, nor to request a mortgage from the bank. To do this, it is essential to have a document with much higher effects, which provides the sufficient security required by the regulations. It is the notarial public deed.
The public deed of sale
The public deed is nothing more than a contract between the parties, buyer and seller, executed before a notary and although it is not mandatory, it is highly advisable because it has effects that far exceed those that a private document can produce. Furthermore, the professional performance of the notary provides additional information to the parties, gives security to the contracting parties and makes the business contained in the deed effective, which constitutes the appropriate vehicle for the registration of the home in the Property Registry.
Home purchase: subsequent procedures
Once the home has been acquired through the public deed, what is called 'management' of the document must be carried out:
· 1 Pay the taxes corresponding to the Autonomous Community:
For which there is a maximum period of 30 business days from the date of signing the deed, providing a copy of it and the corresponding form. After this period, a delay and surcharge will be incurred. If there is a requirement from the Administration, it will also impose a financial penalty.
· 2 Register the purchase in the Property Registry.
The deed can be presented to the Property Registry electronically by the notary if requested, which is highly recommended since this presentation guarantees immediacy and the Property Registry's blocking of any other document that could harm us. as an attachment to the buyer or a preventive annotation of demand to the seller.
The deed can also be presented to the Property Registry by means of a paper copy authorized by the notary. There is a security period to present on paper the authorized copy signed by the notary, after payment of the Onerous Asset Transfer tax or, where applicable, the Documented Legal Acts tax. Once examined by the registrar, he will register the home in the name of the buyer, and the notary will deliver the copy of the deed, with the change to his name in the registry.
These procedures can be done personally, or through a manager. On many occasions, when the sale is followed by a mortgage, the financial institution requires that the processing be carried out by a specific agency. In this case, you should ask how much they are going to charge for this service.
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