What are the legal requirements and procedures for purchasing a villa in Spain?

Today, an increasing number of citizens from around the world want to buy villas in Spain, because the living conditions here are at a high level. And the beautiful nature, climate, cuisine and friendliness of the local population are the undoubted advantages of this beautiful country.

Buying villas in Spain is not only associated with improving the quality of life. It is also associated with many requirements and procedures, which should lead to the desired result. It is especially important to study the process of acquiring real estate for foreigners, since the intricacies of Spanish law are not familiar to everyone. Good knowledge of Spanish is also required.

 Stages of the process of buying a villa in Spain

The main stages of acquisition of any property, including villas in Spain, as well as the necessary procedures are as follows:

1. Search for a property that meets your requirements and fits your budget . To do this, first of all, you should study the information available on the Internet. And the best way to find what you want is to come to Spain to see the offers for yourself.  You can also use the help of specialised real estate agencies with extensive databases.
2. When you have made your choice, you need to check the legal purity of the villa: who has the ownership, whether the villa is mortgaged, and whether all the tax and utility bills are paid.
3. When starting the process of buying villa in Spain, first you need to obtain a foreigner identification number (Número de Identificación de Extranjero, NIE). Without this, no financial transaction in Spain is possible. By the way, you can get such a number while still in your own country. To do this, you should contact a  Spanish lawyer, draw up a power of attorney, delegating to him the right to perform certain operations on your behalf.
4. You need to open a bank account. From this account you will pay for the purchase of the villa, and taxes, fees and utility bills will also be deducted from it. Also, if you need to raise a mortgage loan, you will use this bank account. To open an account, you need to have your passport ready, and the bank may require a document on the sources of your income. The minimum amount to open an account is between €100 and €300. The account opening procedure itself will take a couple of hours.
5. If you need a mortgage loan, you need to know that the loan amount can cover up to 60% of the assessed value of the purchased villa. As a rule, such a loan is issued for up to 30 years at 4-5% per annum. The bank must verify your solvency, and a bank representative will accompany the transaction and control its stages. It should also be taken into account that the procedure for obtaining a loan will require additional costs in the amount of 3-4% of the transaction amount.
6. The next step is the signing of a preliminary agreement, after which the selected villa will be booked for you. Such an agreement specifies the price of the property, the amount of the deposit, which is usually about 10% of the appraised value, the date of the final payment for the purchase, and the conditions for a possible termination of the transaction.
7. The signing of the purchase and sale agreement is the main stage of the transaction and takes place in the presence of a notary at a predetermined time. At the time of signing the contract, the buyer’s bank account must contain the final amount for the purchase of the villa. After signing the contract by the parties, the buyer officially becomes the owner of the purchased villa.

It should be noted that according to the Spanish Civil Code, the sale of private houses is carried out together with a kitchen equipped with household appliances, including a stove, hood, and kitchen furniture. Bathrooms must have plumbing fixtures. If the villa is sold with a garden, then the green spaces are also included. Other accessories and inventory are included by agreement.

8. The final stage of the purchase is the registration of ownership of the villa in the property registry (Registro de la Propiedad). After registration, the buyer receives an extract from the register, where he is listed as the owner of the purchased villa in Spain.

When buying a property in Spain, you need to know what taxes and fees must be paid and what additional costs must be paid throughout the purchase process. In order to properly carry out the entire purchase procedure, the best way would be to contact a Spanish lawyer, a gestor, who specialises in this area. 

In Spain today, many such specialists are ready to provide you with a range of services to support the transaction. This will require additional costs, but at the same time you will be insured against unforeseen circumstances.