A Guide to Buying a Property in Almeria

Congratulations on taking the first step towards buying a property in Almeria!

This guide is aimed to give you step by step information on the buying procedure in Almeria and Spain in general. Let’s go!

Step 1: Contract and Deposit

The very first step once you have had an offer accepted on a property is to sign a standard reservation contract and pay a reservation deposit which is usually around 3,000€. This deposit tends to be paid to either your lawyer or the real estate agent and will then remove the property from the market.

The reservation contract tends to be drawn up by the real estate agent and includes details such as your full names, passport or NIE numbers, your address, the vendors details as well as the address of the property that you are purchasing. The contract will also include the “finca and catastro numbers” of the property that you’re purchasing as sometimes the address isn’t clear, especially when purchasing rural properties.

Within the contract there’ll be a payment schedule laid out, any special conditions, and clauses that protect both the vendors and the buyers.

• • Payment Schedule: This is the general layout however amounts can differ depending on the area or even the property. New build developments for example tend to have much higher deposits to reserve a property.
    
    • • 3,000€ deposit is paid as soon as the offer is accepted to remove the property from the market.
    • • 10% minus the 3,000€ paid within 30 days of signing the reservation contract.
    • • The pending amount will be paid upon completion which tends to be another 4 weeks after the 10% payment. From start to finish you’re typically looking at 6-8 weeks if the property is empty and there’s no mortgage required.

• • Special conditions: Examples of these conditions are if the property is being sold fully furnished within the agreed price or if you need a mortgage the deposit can be subject to its approval. If a mortgage is required the vendor will be made aware that there are elements out of everyones control so should the mortgage be denied before the 10% payment the buyer will have the deposit returned without penalty.

• • Protection Clauses: These clauses include money back guarantees if the property description at land registry and catastro don’t match the reality and can’t be rectified. Bare in mind that updates including adding a swimming pool or extension to a set of deeds is relatively common and easy enough to do if the property sits on urban land and the items that need adding have been there for over 6 years. Another important clause is in the event of a breach of contract. If a buyer fails to meet the deadline of the following payment the vendor of the property is entitled to keep the amounts paid until that moment and remarket the property. On the flip side if the vendor no longer wishes to sell the property to the buyer they have to return double what has been paid up until that point. This system locks everyone into the deal from day one and deters any gazumping.

If you’re not currently residing in Spain and are returning to your country of origin soon after having your offer accepted be sure to leave your lawyer with a power of attorney as this will remove the need to return to Spain until after completion. This step is crutial if it’s your first time buying a property in Spain as the lawyer will need to apply for your NIE number and once they have this they’ll be able to open a bank account for you to send the funds to Spain for the purchase. If you haven’t chosen a lawyer yet here is a list of highly professional companies with offices in the area.

• • Mundi Abogados (Vera Playa)
    
    • • Maria Maroto & Esther Serrano
    • • info@mundiabogados.com
    • • 0034 950 460 999

• • AM & RG (Mojacar Playa)
    
    • • Angela Morales & Chloe Milnthorpe
    • • ms1961@icaalmeria.com
    • • 0034 950 478 984

• • ALO Services (Arboleas)
    
    • • Amanda Oakley & Ellie Noble
    • • info@aloservices.es
    • • 0034 950 449 179

• • Leticia Moreno-Torres Camy Abogada (Vera)
    
    • • Leticia Moreno-Torres & Alicia Serrano
    • • abogada@leticiamorenotorres.es
    • • 0034 950 391 704

• • MT Solicitors (Vera)
    
    • • Paloma Moreno Torres
    • • paloma@mtsolicitors.com
    • • 0034 950 391 460

• • MAM Solicitors (Vera)
    
    • • Raquel Aragon & Corinne Chérel
    • • vera@mamsolicitors.com
    • • 0034 968 334 439

• • Lex Consulting (Vera)
    
    • • Linda de Rijck
    • • linda@lexconsulting.es
    • • 0034 950 390 995

Step 2: Lawyer Conveyancing

This step is now in the hands of your lawyer. They will go over all the paperwork of the property provided by the estate agent and vendors lawyer to check everything is in order. This process can take a couple of weeks depending on the property which is why our reservation contracts give 30 days for this to be carried out.

Once the checks have been made and your lawyer is happy with the property they will prepare what is known as a Private Purchase Contract or PPC. This contract is a more indepth legal document giving exact timeframes for completion, choice of notary and even includes an inventory signed by both parties if the property is sold furnished. At the point of drawing up this contract your lawyer will ask when you would like to finalise on the sale and this maximum completion date is included in the document. This doesn’t mean that you can’t sign sooner but you will have an obligation to purchase the property by the latest on this date so we advise to give yourselves a leeway of a couple of weeks. If you feel you can sign on the 15th October for example have the contract give you until the 31st just in case. Once this contract has been signed you’ll have to make an additonal payment to the vendor of 10% of the agreed price minus the 3,000€ already paid. As an example if the agreed price is 100,000€ and you have already paid a 3,000€ deposit this means you’ll have to pay 7,000€ to the vendor. The pending amount of 90,000€ will be paid at completion.

Step 3: The Wait

By now your lawyer has given the green light on the property’s paperwork, you’ve signed and returned the PPC and have also paid the 10%. What now? Well now we countdown the days to completion. During this time it’s advisable to have your funds moved over to Spain if you haven’t already done so as you may find that you can only transfer across a certain amount per day which has caught many people out trying to bring funds across a fews days before completion. For the transfer of funds we always recommend a currency broker rather than doing bank to bank as they’ll offer a far superior exchange rate and zero commissions. I’ll link below the company I personally recommend as they have a local office in Mojacar Playa for meet and greets rather than just being a voice on the phone.

Step 4: Completion

Finally, it’s the day of completion! If you’re in Spain you may wish to go to notary and sign in person. This is absolutely fine even if you have left power of attorney with your lawyer. Just be aware it can mean a couple of hours at the public notary though. If you’re not here then your lawyer will simply do everything for you.

Once the signing of the deeds has taken place and the vendors have received the funds you will be handed keys for your new home in Spain. CONGRATULATIONS! If you’re not hear you can request that the lawyer holds onto the keys for you or you can have your estate agent hold onto them. Choose which ever is convinient for you ie office locations in relation to the property you have just purchased and office opening hours.

What about the direct debits for water, electric, community (if applicable), etc? Your lawyer will be taking care of all of this as part of their service together with the paying of the tax and notary and registry fees.

And there you have it. A rather simple procedure from start to end with the lawyers and estate agents doing 95% of the work for you. If you’re satisfied with the work carried out by those involved don’t hesitate in sending them a testimonial as this is the greatest publicity any local company can receive.

Welcome to Spain!!