Welcome to a brief guide on buying a property in Spain

Walk into any bar on the Costa del Sol and mention that you are looking to buy a property and all of a sudden you will be surrounded by experts, the same goes if you are looking to sell.

If you were looking to buy a property back home who would you go to for the best advice, a professional real estate agent or someone you just met in a bar, exactly, so why even consider doing anything else in a different country?

The first thing to remember when buying a property abroad is the principles are exactly the same as when purchasing any property:

Think very carefully what it is you want to do with the property and why you want to own a place abroad in the first place.
Can you really afford it?
How much can you REALLY afford? It is worth while speaking to a mortgage broker before doing any searching to establish how much you can “actually” afford to spend as so many people go looking at properties and then try and get finance, only to find out it is not available to them and everyone’s time has been wasted. If you would like to be introduced to a professional mortgage broker then please contact a member of the Property Options team.
If you are a cash buyer the same rules apply, work out your budget and stick to it, talk to your agent, they are there to help.
Always deal with a registered real estate agent; it is amazing how many people start viewing properties with someone they have just met in a bar or a friend of a friend etc. would you do that at home? I didn’t think so.
Find an agent who you feel you can trust and can communicate with and who you feel is working with your best interest at heart, it’s not hard, are they asking you lots of questions and paying attention to your answers, are they providing details of properties which at least tick some of your boxes or just ones they want to sell to you.
Find an agent who is part of at least one Multi Listing system, even better if they are members of more than one, this will save you a tremendous amount of time and effort as this agent will be working with a lot more agents than you could ever dream about contacting and will have access to a much larger selection of properties than you could find on your own.
You expect honesty and integrity from your agent therefore it is only fair to provide the same back, your agent is not a mind reader and nor do they have a property crystal ball, the more you share and discuss with them the greater chance you have of finding your dream property within a shorter space of time.

Be realistic about your expectations, especially over recent times people expect to be purchasing bargain properties in highly sought after areas and think that their agent is being obstructive when saying that they cannot help. Bear in mind, “if we could we would” but bargain properties very, very rarely become available in such areas, real estate agents do not keep all the good properties locked away in a safe.

Finally, unlike lawyers, mortgage brokers, accountants etc. agents do not get their fees paid up front, the only time they earn money is when people buy property, therefore why would they want to be showing you something that they know you are not going to buy, if this happens the chances are the agent has either not got enough information from you or you are not being honest with them!

ALWAYS use a lawyer, again it is amazing how many people do not and wonder why things go wrong later. Despite what you may hear do not be adverse to talking to a lawyer that your agent recommends, if your agent is well established they will know who are the good ones and the not so good ones, especially one who can communicate with you in a language you can understand, there is nothing worse than the all too common “misunderstanding” because of the language.
Be aware, when purchasing a property in Spain you will need to add at least 10% on top of the agreed purchased price to cover costs such as transfer tax (7%), legal fees (1%), notary and land registry fees etc. make this figure closer to 13% when taking out a mortgage to allow for mortgage arrangement fees plus additional notary costs etc.
Most properties in Spain you will have to pay community fees, all apartments definitely, this can vary from a few hundred Euro to a few thousand depending on the size of the property, it’s location and within which municipality it resides in, then there is an IBI tax (property tax) and Basura (rubbish), all of these need taking into consideration as additional running costs to your normal electricity, water and gas, your agent will be able to provide you will all of these details.
Finally, take very little notice, if any at all to the media, they normally concentrate only on negative news and it is very rarely a true reflection on life. If you really want to know what a place is like then go and visit, not just the once but several times and at different times of the year when you would be looking to stay, there are plenty of rental properties as well as hotels in most areas that people look to purchase their home abroad so make sure you have spent a bit of time in the area you are looking to buy and that it has that “feel good factor” to you. If you want to know the truth about an area, ask someone who lives there or actually owns a property there and don’t listen to someone who only writes about it and who does so generally from another country!
Do not be afraid to ask as many questions as you like, no matter how trivial they may appear and always make notes as you will not be able to remember everything
Always give honest answers to questions and do not try and be clever by only telling your agent what you want them to hear, I am talking from many years of experience when I say a lot of clients are much bigger liars than any of the worst agents you may come across and just end up wasting so many people’s time.
Why tell an agent you only have €200,000 to spend and then go and buy something for €300,000?
Why say you only want to buy a villa and then buy an apartment?
Why say you only want to buy in a given area and then purchase somewhere else?
Why say you are in a position to buy when you are not?
Why say you are not looking at anything else and yet have a list of ten other agents you are seeing?

I can go on and on but the fact remains, your agent is there to help you find the right property for you and if you are one of the serious people looking to own a property abroad the more you work with your agent and not against them the chances are they will find that right property for you to buy, if it exists of course.

MOST OF ALL, ENJOY THE EXPERIENCE AND HAPPY PROPERTY HUNTING, HOPEFULLY YOU WILL BECOME ONE OF THE MANY THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE WHO OWN A PROPERTY ABROAD.