Here are all the steps to take to buy a house in Spain:

Registration fees, notary, NIE, electricity and water contract, taxes to pay, lawyer fees, bank account. Here are all the steps you need to take to buy a house in Spain.

We have signed!

Once you have found your dream house in Spain you usually start by reserving the house by paying a sum to the builder by visa card or bank transfer (between 5.000€ and 10.000€) which commits the builder not to offer the flat to another buyer until you sign the purchase contract which is a compromis or a promesse de vente with the following information:

Contact details of the buyer and seller
Identity card
Address in the country of residence
Marriage status
Contact details of the developer and his legal representative
Description of the property to be purchased in Spain
Full address
Land Registry details
Dates of payments to be made and account number.
The date for signing the deed at the notary
The options included
Click Advice:

At this stage it is important to know who is buying the house in order to comply with European money laundering laws. Buyers must identify themselves with their identity card or passport.

Check that the builder has the building licence and the ownership of the land or building site.

Negotiate deadlines for making the various instalments, as builders are normally flexible in this respect.
The plan of the property and the exact description of the materials is very important.

At this point it is important to make sure that you have the keys and that the house is delivered completely finished. Normally the builder gives himself 3 months for the completion of the work.

Click here for advice: if the builder does not have a building licence, the bank guarantees are useless in case of problems.

Get to work!

You will have to take some administrative and legal steps to complete your purchase. At this stage you can decide if you want to hire a lawyer to do the necessary research, check the purchase contract, prepare the deed, check for debts, etc.

The lawyer

You should know that the assistance of a lawyer is not mandatory or necessary in Spain and Click for the Sun can do all this for free but if you wish Click for the Sun collaborates with lawyers who speak French and who will take care of all the necessary steps to buy in Spain. This way you can buy in Spain in a safe way.

They will check the legal documentation of the property, check for debts, draw up the purchase contract and organise the signing of the deed, pay the relevant taxes, register the deed in the property register and the land registry, arrange the water and electricity contracts and set up the direct debit for the monthly payments.

The fees of a lawyer who deals with the steps to be taken to buy a property in Spain can vary between 800€ and 2.500€ + 21% VAT.

How to obtain and what is the purpose of the NIE in Spain

The famous NIE is the Foreign Identification Number. You get this number at the police office normally in the municipality where you buy but be aware that at the moment the police offices that deal with this are overloaded with work and you have to make an appointment well in advance by internet.  As a European resident you will only need your identity card, fill in the forms, a photo and pay a fee of 11 euros. Click for the sun, again helps you with this process, and if you want the services of a lawyer also takes care of this.

The NIE number is also your tax identification number (NIF) and must be registered online at the tax office. It is mandatory to have the NIF number. If you don’t have the NIE you can sign at the notary’s office BUT you must get the NIF to pay the tax within 30 days after signing the deed.

Here is a little secret from Click

If you want to buy a car or update your registration at the town hall (el padron) you will need to have a valid NIE (less than 3 months old), if not you will have to renew it and go through the same process again.

Opening a bank account in Spain

This can be done at any time and it is important to pay all the annual fees by direct debit. The cost of a non-resident account per year is normally 100 – 150 €. You will be asked to show your identity card and some banks in Spain will ask for a water or electricity bill to prove that you live abroad and other information such as the source of the funds for money laundering purposes. Every 2 years they charge you 22€ per person for the proof that you are not resident in Spain.

Click tip: Transfers to your account of less than 50.000€ are free of charge.

Click tip: To avoid bank cheque charges, pay directly from your account to your place of residence to the manufacturer.

Click tip: opening an account in Spain is not mandatory.

Come on, let’s go to the notary!

The notary in Spain has a different way of working than in your country but the essential is the same.

It is the notary public who certifies the transaction, but all the preparation of the deed is done by Click for the Sun (or the lawyer) who works with the builder.

At the notary public you will have the right to read a draft of the deed, you need the assistance of a translator if you don’t speak Spanish. It is obligatory to concretise the forms of payment by adding to the deed all the proofs of the transfers made to the builder with your IBAN number.

Click for the sun gives you, of course, all the information you need during your stay in Spain.

Click advice, even if everything is organized before going to the notary ask all the questions possible because once the notary is present to sign the purchase of your house in Spain everything goes very fast.

Paying the 1.5% or 2% tax for new construction in Spain

Once you have signed the deed of sale you have 30 days to pay the AJD (Actos juridicos Documentados) tax. Each Spanish county has its own percentage. In the Costa Blanca it is 1,5%, in the Costa Calida it is 2%.

As well as Click for the Sun, the notary or lawyer can take care of this and you will have to make a transfer to their account to pay the notary fees, the 1.5% or 2% tax and the land register.

The land register or property register in Spain

Once the deed is signed it must be registered in the property register corresponding to the property you have bought in Spain. Calculated that more or less 2 months after the deed will be registered at the property register and you will be awarded the return.

Opening water and electricity contracts

Normally this is done by internet and the companies charge you between 100€ and 150€ each.

Not sure about the steps to take to buy a house in Spain? Contact us