Decreto 218Decreto 218 de 11 de octubre, Andalucia is a law that was approved by Junta de Andalucia a few years ago. The law was approved to protect the consumer when purchasing or renting a property. In short, the law consists of providing clear and transparent information about the properties to the consumer. When purchasing a property the consumer should be totally aware of what he actually gets. The law should guarantee that no unwanted surprises show up after a deal is closed. This is also beneficial for the vendor and the real estate agencies. The consumer or buyer gets all the information in writing and is asked to sign that he has received it. In this way there can be no discussions afterwards of what information has been given or not. The documents that are required today are the same as a few years ago with the only difference that they have to be provided in an earlier stage. Earlier the documents were provided at the signing of the title deed at the notary but today they have to be presented by the vendor when putting the property out for sale on the market with an agency. These documents are, for example, certificate from the town hall that the tax payments are up to date, Nota Simple from the land registry and information about the community of owners. The extra costs and taxes that come with a purchase of a property must be clearly presented for the consumer. As for an example for resale properties, the law says that: In compliance to Decreto 218/2005 de 11 de octubre Andalucía, every property has a Nota Explicativa with detailed information about the costs related to the purchase of the property. A free copy of the Nota Explicativa is given to any consumer who requests it. In compliance to Decreto 218/2005 de 11 de octubre Andalucía, every property has a Ficha Informativa with extended information about the property. A free copy of the Ficha Informativa is given to any consumer who, as a result of the intermediary services of our agency, visits a resale home. A signed receipt will be required when receiving these documents. Buying a property in SpainThe buying process starts long before our clients arrive to Spain. Before you get on the plane you already have an idea of what you are looking for and how much you are willing to spend. Many of our clients know the coast very well while it for others is a completely new area. If you have any questions about different areas and urbanisations along the coast, the distances to amenities etc. you are more than welcome to contact us. We can guide you to find the property that you want and we will help you answer any question or doubt that you might have about the real estate market and the purchase of a property in Spain. All properties that we have for sale are announced on our web site. Should you not find the property that you are looking for please send us an e-mail describing what you search for or give us a call. We are frequently listing new properties for sale and thanks to our network of collaborating Real Estate agencies we can offer even a larger number of properties for sale. Viewings v When you find one or more properties of interest that you would like to see, please contact us to book a viewing. Sometimes we hold the key to the property and sometimes we have to confirm the viewing with the owners or tenants. Offers The prices indicated on our web site, in our window etc are asking prices. Normally the interested buyer makes an offer of the amount that he is willing to pay for the property. An offer is the best way to start a negotiation with the vendor about the price. When you negotiate we act as an intermediary between you and the vendor. Our work is to be at your disposal from the day of the first contact until you purchase the property. Steps to purchasing a property Once you have agreed on the price with the vendor you pay a deposit fee of normally 3.000-6.000 euro to take the property off the market. Within normally 14 days a private purchase contract is signed with a payment of 10% (including the deposit) of the agreed sales price. We advise all our clients, buyers and vendors, to get a lawyer or solicitor. The lawyer or solicitor will draw up the purchase contract and can give you advice and guide you until the signing of the title deed at the notary. The fact that you get a lawyer does not mean that we stop working to close the deal, but you will have someone who works directly for you and in your interest. We are at your disposal during the whole process, answering your questions and making sure that the vendor, the lawyers, banks etc are doing their job to close the deal within the time plan. The purchase of a property is not officially done until the title deed has been signed at the notary and the full purchase amount has been paid. At the notary you will get the keys to the property that is now yours. The title deed is signed by both parties at the notary. In our aim to offer a personal contact and service we will also be present at the notary to end our collaboration with you as buyer and the vendor. To make the visit at the notary as easy and fast as possible the lawyers and the banks have prepared as much paper work as possible. You should still be prepared for some time of wait at the notary due to that there are a lot of people involved in the signing. If you cannot or do not wish to attend the signing you can leave a power of attorney to your representative. When the title deed has been signed, the notary sends a fax with a copy of the deed to the land registry. Your lawyer or solicitor will take care of paying the taxes and costs related to the purchase and the registration of the deed. The final registration takes 1 to 3 months at the land registry. Things to consider when purchasing a property v We always recommend all our clients, buyers and sellers, to contact a lawyer, solicitor or another legal representative to act as your legal advisor and look out for your interests when buying or selling a property. This is to make sure that no unwanted surprises emerge after signing the deal. Your lawyer or solicitor can help you with your legal and tax matters. If you do not already have a solicitor we can recommend you independent lawyers that have successfully helped our clients earlier. Many of them speak English so the language does not have to be an obstacle. Taxes and costs when purchasing a property The estimated costs of a purchase amount to approximately 10% of the purchase price. Transfer tax – 7 %. Notary fees – The notary fee is fixed by law and may range from 500 Euros to 1.500 Euro depending on the price of the property. Property registry fee – approximately 70 % of the notary fee. Legal fee – approximately 1 % of the purchase cost Costs for exchange of contracts or update of installations such as electricity, water supply and telephone etc... Finance It does not make any difference if you are resident or non-resident in Spain to be able to finance the purchase of a property with a mortgage. There are several banks that are willing to give mortgage to foreign residents. How much you can get on a loan and for which amount of time depends on your age and economic situation. Almost every bank office on the coast has English-speaking employees. NIE-number A NIE-number is a Spanish identification number for foreign residents. If you are buying or selling a property in Spain you need to have this number. The NIE-number is given from and applied for at the police station (Policía Nacional). Selling a property in SpainPreparations: When you have made the decision to sell your property we will come for a visit. During our visit we will have a look at the property, take photographs and determine the sales price. As the vendor you might already have an idea of how much you want to get for your property. On the other hand as real estate agents we know the market very well. To set the price we have to have a look of what is for sale in the same area and what has been sold recently. The properties that are for sale tell us what an interested buyer has to choose from in today’s market. The properties that have been sold recently tell us what price you can expect to get for your property. Our aim is to set a realistic and competitive price. We do not want to give you false expectations by setting a high price for which we cannot get the property sold. To start to advertise your property we will need some paperwork from you. The more information we have the easier it is for us to announce the sale properly. It makes it easier for the buyer to make a decision and it makes our and your work easier when it comes to signing the deal if we already have all the required information. Therefore we ask you to have the following documents ready for us when we come to visit you: • A copy of the last receipt for the community fee and the contact details for the community administrator. • A copy of the last IBI- receipt (Local Real Estate Tax) and a Certificate stating that the payment of the I.B.I. is up to date. This certificate is issued by the Town Hall in the municipality where the property is situated. • A copy of a Nota Simple (an extract of the title deed from the Land Registry) no more than 3 months of age. We can help you getting the certificate from the Town Hall and the nota simple from the land registry at cost. The fees for the certificate vary from 2-5 Euros. Depending on which municipality that issues the certificate we might need a written authorization from you and a copy of your passport. The nota simple costs us 9,05 Euros to take out on the internet. Marketing The properties are announced on our web site, in ads in the Scandinavian magazines that are distributed along the coast and we can also put up a “for sale”-board on the property if you wish. The board is a good way to market the sale for neighbours and other clients interested in that specific area. We also collaborate with a large amount of other real estate agencies so your property will be well exposed. Viewings The client who wishes to view a property will make a booking through our office. We always try to announce a viewing preferably a few days in advance. However, sometimes a client visits our office and has seen an interesting property in our window that he/her would like to see as soon as possible. You are always free to say no to a viewing but then you should be aware of that it can reduce the possibilities to get a sale. We understand that it can be interesting for you to see who is coming to look at your property. However, our experience tells us that the clients feel freer to comment and take their time to view the property if the owner is not at home. If the house or the apartment is quite small, more people can make it seem even smaller. So if you have the possibility and agree to let us take care of the viewing we will be happy to forward the clients comments to you afterwards. The client’s opinion is very important to us and the best way to get an indication if the asking price is right. Offers and negotiation What we want to achieve with a viewing is to get the client to make an offer. Even though the offer may seem very low to us we feel that there is our obligation to forward it to you. The decision is not ours to make but yours. Would you like to discuss the offer with us and know our opinion we are happy to do so but the final decision is always yours. An offer is often made by the interested client to start a negotiation with you. Private purchase contract Once the both parties have agreed on a price, the buyer pays a deposit fee of normally 3.000-6.000 euro to the agency to take the property off the market. The deposit is held in our client account until completion. Normally within 14 days a private purchase contract is signed and confirmed with a payment of the amount up to 10% (including the deposit) of the agreed sales price. We advise all our clients, buyers and vendors, to contact a lawyer or solicitor. The lawyer or solicitor will draw up the purchase contract and can give you advice and guide you until the signing of the title deed at the notary. The fact that you get a lawyer does not mean that we stop working to close the deal, but you will have someone who works directly for you and in your interest. We are at your disposal during the whole process, answering your questions and making sure that the buyer, the lawyers, banks etc are doing their job to close the purchase within the time plan. Signing of title deed The title deed is signed by both parties at the notary. In our aim to offer a personal contact and service we will also be present at the notary to end our collaboration with the vendor as well as the buyer. To make the visit at the notary as easy and fast as possible the lawyers and the banks have prepared as much paperwork as possible. You should still be prepared for some time of wait at the notary due to that there are a lot of people involved in the signing. If you cannot or do not wish to attend the signing you can leave a power of attorney to your representative. Taxes and costs related to sale Legal fees 1 % of the sales price. Plusvalía – municipality tax of the increase of the value of the land. The tax amount varies depending on how long you have owned the property and its situation. Capital gains tax – 19% of the profit. For non residents 3% of the sales price is retained by the buyer’s lawyer at the signing of the title deed. The retained amount will be deposited in your tax account and will be deducted once you declare the sale. Your lawyer or solicitor can make a calculation of how much tax you must pay considering your private situation and economy. 5% of the sales price (+16% IVA) in commission to the real estate agency. Home staging Home staging is not a very well-known term in Spain so far. To stage your home before a sale can be a good idea sometimes. The first impression is as known very important and that goes for properties as well. It does not have to mean a lot of work or money just a small effort to keep the house tidy and clean before a viewing can make a huge difference. If you are thinking of decorate your home to make it more attractive to clients you are more than welcome to contact us for ideas and to know more about it. |
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