Buying a Property in Spain | 6 Important Points to Consider
NIE Number
Bank Account
Lawyer
Deposit
Mortgage
Completion
To buy any property in Spain you will need an NIE number which must be applied for in person at an appropriate police station.
It only takes max an hour to do this and your NIE number is issued a few days later (certificate).
This can be collected by someone else and doesn´t have to be collected by you
You will need a bank account in Spain to pay things like community fees, electric and general expenses etc
It is recommended that buyers retain a lawyer to assist with the purchase.
If you wish you can give your lawyer Power of Attorney to act on your behalf so you wouldn´t have to fly over just to complete the purchase.
This is simple to arrange and costs about 100 euros.
When you wish to make an offer on a property you will normally be asked to pay a 3000-6000 euro deposit for re-sales and 6000 for a new property.
If your offer is accepted by the vendor then this deposit becomes non-refundable and is considered part payment towards the full purchase price.
If you need a mortgage, then the offer can be made subject to mortgage approval.
This normally gives you 2-3 weeks with the property reserved to try and arrange a mortgage.
In this case the deposit only becomes non-refundable when you have a mortgage offer – for that reason vendors only usually give a couple of weeks to organise a mortgage as they have no guarantee that the sale will go through until your mortgage is approved.
If completion is to take place quickly (4-6 weeks) then usually the rest of the money is paid on completion.
If the completion is to be delayed longer than this then the vendors usually ask for the 3000 or 6000 deposit to be made up to 10% of the purchase price and the rest paid on completion.
