:: Legal Advice
Having found the property you wish to purchase you will be required to pay a holding deposit and after paying this you will need a Spanish lawyer. We recommend you select someone with local knowledge who speaks your language. The lawyer will carry out numerous checks to ensure that the property is indeed owned by the person selling it. He will also ensure that there is no undeclared debt owing on the property and that all service bills and taxes are paid upto date.
If you are purchasing a property off-plan your lawyer will ensure that the developer has a bank guarantee in place ensuring that if the purchase does not go ahead due to the fault of the developer, all your money plus 6% interest will be returned to you.
The typical charges a lawyer will make are between 1% - 2% of the purchase price of the property plus VAT at 16% for his services, seeing the whole purchase through to its conclusion.
Your lawyer can also arrange a power of attorney should you wish a third party to sign for your property on your behalf. This can be convenient if you are purchasing a new property as sometimes occupancy licenses can sometimes be granted weeks after the property is officially completed by the developer. All your services such as water and electricity cannot be transferred into your name until the licences to occupy are in place. To this end you may decide to not travel to Spain until you are able to move into your new home with everything in place.