In most countries, legal matters are generally dealt by a lawyer, here in Spain Notaries are used.
So, no matter if you are buying a property, taking a mortgage or a loan, wanting to do a Spanish will, an inheritance or any other legal matter that needs to be documented, a visit to the Notary is needed.
Depends where the Notary is located, they may speak other languages or not, but all Spanish legal documents are made in Spanish, the Notary will read the document in Spanish, so if you do not know sufficient Spanish in order to understand what is being said, you will need a translator there to translate on your behalf, and the translator will also need to sign the document stating that he or she has translated correctly.
If you are buying a property via Buy Spain Properties, we do all the legal checks prior to actually booking the Notary appointment, supplying all documentation to the Notary in advance, if the seller is using a lawyer, it will be the responsibility of the lawyer to do all the legal checks and supply all the documentation to our estate agents as well as the Notary.
On the day of completion, we accompany the buyer to the Notary, help to prepare the deed, including checking all details are correct prior to the actual signing.
During the signing, will translate for you, and then organize the provision of funds, so the buyer can pay the Notary by bank transfer, for the Notary fee, land registry fee, purchase taxes and the registration.
If you are selling a property via Buy Spain Properties, and not using a lawyer, we can do all the work for you to have all your documentation correct and in order, as the seller is obliged to supply the documentation. If both the buyer and seller are not Spanish and do not speak enough Spanish to understand correctly, Maria will translate for one party and Phil will translate for the other. Once the sale deed is signed, the seller will need to go to the local tax office to pay the “Impuesto municipal sobre el Incremento del Valor de los Terrenos de Naturaleza Urban” Municipal tax on the Increase in the Value of Urban Land, if applicable, if the seller does not know how and where to do this, Phil or Maria can accompany the seller to organize this in the tax office.
If you are selling a property and not using a lawyer, we charge *300€ for this work. (*Subject to the location of the Notary used and the location of the tax office)
The seller is obliged to supply the following documentation and will incur the following extra costs.
1. Tanteo y retrato. This is the Valencian governments right to acquire any property that is being sold, this does not show in a normal Nota Simple, only in what’s called a Nota Simple continuada that can be ordered by a Notary.
If the property is subject to Tanteo y retrato, then this has to be registered and submitted online with details of the sale, the buyer and seller, along with copies of their documentation etc.
We charge 75€ for this work plus the cost of the nota simple and the nota simple continuada, so 115€ in total.
2. CEE. This is the energy efficiency certificate, which is needed to sell a property, and will have to be included in the deeds. This is normally issued by a by an architect, we can organize this including the cost of the architect, taxes and our work, for 140€ all-inclusive including printing costs.
3. If a communal property, such as an apartment or any other property that has a community, you will need a stamped certificate from the administrator of the community stipulating that all payments are up to date, and that there are no plans to make the building better which have been voted on in a previous meeting, as if this where to be the case, the buyer should have been informed of said works, and agreed to buy the property knowing that he or she would have this additional expense in the future. If you are selling a property and not using a lawyer our 300€ fee includes getting the certificate for you, but does not include the fee for the certificate that some administrators charge to issue it.
4. Council, rubbish and recycling taxes. The buyer will need to get a certificate from the tax office showing all municipal taxes for the property being sold are all paid and there is no debt. If you are selling a property and not using a lawyer our *300€ fee includes helping you to obtain the certificates needed. (*subject to the location of the tax office)
5. If the property is connected to the mains services such as water, electricity and gas, a certificate from each of the utility companies will have to be supplied showing all is paid up to date. If you are selling a property and not using a lawyer our 300€ fee includes helping you to contact the utility companies to obtain the relevant certificates.
Once you have bought a Spanish property, it is very important that you make a Spanish will, as Spanish properties are not covered by wills outside of Spain.
Should you wish to make a Spanish will, we can take care of this for you. You will need to supply us previously with a copy of the documentation of the person/s issuing the will, the beneficiaries of the will in case of death, and what will be left to whom.
We then prepare for the Notary the document, and organize the appointment for the will deed to be signed. We accompany you to the Notary, translate previously what will be signed, and then verbally translate the will deed in front of the Notary.
Our fee for this work is *80€ plus the cost of the Notary fee, that can vary depending on how big the will is. (*subject to the location of the Notary where you want the will issued)
If you have bought a property, and decided to rent the property, but you are living abroad so you are not here to manage the rental, we can manage the property for you for a fee of *50€ a month, please see our property management page for the terms and conditions. In general, to manage your property, you will need to give powers of attorney, that our issued by the Notary, in general the cost for the notary to issue the powers of attorney are between 65€ and 80€ depending on the amount of pages. The person you are giving powers of attorney to, is not allowed to translate for you, so you will need a translator there in the Notary if you do not understand sufficient Spanish. (*subject to the location of the property you want managed). To view our property management page, please click the following link: Property management.
If you need any other service, which entails using a Notary, and do not know how, or where to go about it, please do not hesitate to contact us for help, we can advise what to do and our fee for the work needed.