Purchasing Property in Spain: Frequent Mistakes To Avoid
Dear clients and readers,
Have you considered buying a property in Spain? Do you wish to avoid facing potential legal problems?
In the affirmative case, we are sure you will find this article of your interest.
First of all, we trust you are all well and have enjoyed a peaceful summer vacation.
Further to the recent message received from a person interested in buying a property in Spain, (please see below), we have considered it appropriate to write this article.
THE CONSULTATION
“Good morning,
My partner is buying a property in her name on the 29th of Aug this month 5000 euros paid, 60000 left to pay, now we don’t have a Spanish bank account, we have Belgium account euro its WISE. Elite estate agents are dealing with everything, saying we pay direct from wise to the owner’s bank account the day before the notary, is this Normal procedure?
We are from England ”
OUR OPINION
Obviously, our answer is absolute NO. That is not the appropriate way to deal with a property conveyance. As specialized property lawyers, we frequently come across these kinds of consultations, so the reason for writing this new post is twofold:
First, to warn potential buyers from committing serious mistakes that could seriously transform your dream of living in Spain into a real nightmare.
Second, we strongly advise all our readers to always seek independent legal advice from a specialized Lawyer (and never to use the one recommended by the agent). To that end, we would like- if we may- to kindly introduce our Law Firm as fully independent conveyancing experts with more than 20 years of experience, in dealing with all kinds of complex Purchase processes of a property in Spain.
IMPORTANT LEGAL TIPS
In the first place, I would like to kindly stress the point that as a result of the covid and the Ukraine crisis combined. (Where the economic situation in Spain is worsening dramatically at present), estate agents are currently desperate to sell. And they will not hesitate in using all sorts of commercial tricks to exert pressure on innocent buyers in order to pay a deposit blindly in advance.
In fact, we are witnessing an increasing number of cases. Where the agents are trying, by all means, to convince their clients to sign “rubbish reservation contracts” under their own terms. Which on the majority of occasions are highly detrimental to the buyer’s, legal rights, and utterly useless in the event of a dispute in Court.
THE GOLDEN RULE
Therefore, the golden rule is that you must never pay a deposit blindly to an agent, seller or developer until we have duly verified the background legal situation of the property beforehand.
Second, once we are satisfied that the legal situation of the property is ok, then we would produce a homemade purchase agreement. The purchase contract must ALWAYS indicate that the seller will receive ALL the deposits, and never the agents. (Unless they might have legal POA). Otherwise, in the event of a breach, you would simply lose your money. Considering that an agent might easily go bankrupt tomorrow. And the seller would not be liable as he would have not received any money at all.
Third, payment on completion’s date must be made by the banker’s draft at the notary when the title deed is signed, and never by bank transfer. Otherwise, if you simply transfer all the money before, you’ll risk that the seller might refuse to complete it or that the property might be affected by unexpected charges or unpaid bills and debts that you will be liable to pay after completion. Finally, please make sure that you open a Spanish bank account in your name BEFORE completion. Because you’ll compulsory need it in order to transfer the funds required to pay the property as well as the money to pay the property taxes and related bills. (Remember that the tax revenue office sets a short deadline of 30 days to pay the taxes after completion).
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, our sound advice if you are considering buying a property in Spain, is that you are always extremely cautious and do not accept any kind of pressure from the agent. And that in case you might hire our services that you follow strictly our legal advice.
Finally, should you be interested in learning more about this important subject, I must refer to our previous posts. Which contain further legal warnings as well as the steps involved in a conveyancing process in Spain.
HOW TO CONTACT US FOR FURTHER SPECIFIC ADVICE?
We hope you find this information useful. Remember that this is not intended to be specific legal advice, just a general overview. As independent lawyers, we can help you both by assisting you with all property issues as well as carrying out a comprehensive background legal analysis on your property or problem, if required.
Should you be interested in receiving more specific information, (either about this particular subject or any other), you can contact our firm in several ways:
1. Call us or send us a WhatsApp now at (0034) 687 88 88 73.
2. You can also use our e-mail form at the top of the sidebar of your screen. Or alternatively, you can send us an e-mail to info@bestsolicitorsinspain.com
Our commitment, we’ll respond to your e-mail inquiry in less than 24 hours.
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Finally, thank you very much for your attention, and in case you might have any questions or doubts at all, again please do not hesitate to contact us. We would like to stress the point that you will be in good hands, and you can be reassured that we will look after your interests in the most committed and professional way.
We look forward to helping you and the benefit of our “know-how”.
Kindest regards
Mr Oscar Ricor
“NON-PRACTISING ENGLISH SOLICITOR IN ENGLAND AND WALES”, under the “Solicitors Regulation Authority” (SRA) SRA number 519196 and practising Spanish Solicitor
