Once you have made the decision to buy a property for sale in Spain, Follow these two guidelines:

1.Choose the right Estate Agent.
2.Find a good Lawyer to Advise and Assist you

THE ESTATE AGENT

Your First job is to find a reputable and fair Real Estate Agent with good local knowledge and experience of property for sale in that area. The Agent will help you to find and show you the your perfect property for sale abroad that you have been looking for, showing you the finest selection of properties, helping with investment return advice. This could include areas, prices, quality, rental returns, and so on with the aim of helping you to make the best possible decision for your future.

Always ask for details about the local maintenance fees for the property, like Community taxes and the Annual Real Estate Tax (1311), collection fees for rubbish, water rates, electricity charges aswell as the Property Income and Wealth Tax associated with the purchase of the particular property you are interested in.

If you decide to buy a property, you will be asked for a Reservation deposit, which is an immediate payment to ensure that the property is held for you. Following this, there is normally a 10-15 day waiting period for the contract exchange, which you should always seek professional legal advice for.

LEGAL ADVICE AND ASSISTANCE

Form this stage to the final purchase completion, your lawyer will deal with the numerous steps involved in the transaction. There are many excellent English-speaking Spanish lawyers in Spain, and choosing the correct one makes sure that all the legal requirements are fulfilled without delay, and the property is registered under your name and there are no mortgages, charges, encumbances, dets or liabilities associated with that particular property. Your lawyer will negotiate and discuss all the purchase terms with the seller's lawyer, which should not just be price, but many other details like completion dates, form of payment, and all other details to do with your property purchase.

Having appointed a reputable law firm they will explain the whole procedure involved in buying in Spain including the associated costs. After paying the reservation deposit is to the terms of purchase in writing. At this stage the lawyers will draw up the private contract, which is usually a deposit fee of 10% of the price on exchange of contracts, which is not normally refundable if the purchaser defaults. Also, if the vendor does not perform his obligations, you will be entitled to the resolution of the contract and claim damages or demand the obligatory fulfilment of the contract. Prior to your lawyers contract exchange, he/she will have finished searching the Land Registry in respect of the property.

Finally on the completion day, your lawyer will go to the public Notary to sign the Title Deed, making your final payment to the vendor who will simultaneously pass over possession of the property to you, handing you the keys to your new home, completing the sale. Immediately after completion, the notary will fax the title deed details to the local Land Register to inform them of your identity as the new owner, to prevent the property being sold twice. In this way, the Notary and the Land Register act together to protect and guarantee your interests. Following this, you will have to pay the relevant taxes and have the original title deed submitted to the Land Register for registration of your title. Your Lawyer is also able to arrange for the your name to be transfered to the utilities and services such as water and electricity and organise their payment through a local bank.

To buy your home, the following expenses will be involved:

1. Notary, who charges according to a fixed scale, his charges may range from 80.000 Pts for a
property price of 20.000.000 Pts to 150.000 Pts for property price of 100.000.000 Pts.
2. Land Registry, as a rule of thumb, 40% of what the Notary charges.
The Taxes :
1. If you are buying a re-sale property you are obliged to pay Transfer Tax (ITP) at 6%.
2. If you are buying a new property or a property in the course of construction from a promoter,
developer or habitual trader, then you should pay VAT (IVA) at 7% plus Stamp Duty at 0,5%.
3. The VAT (IVA) rate increases to 16% if you are purchasing plots of land, commercial premises
or garage spaces.
4. Plusvalia is a tax levied by the local Town Hall based on the particular area where the property
is located, on the surface area of the land, on the catastral value and on the date of the previous
title deed. This tax may range from a few thousand pesetas to as much as several million
pesetas on larger properties with a lot of land. By law the vendor is obliged to pay this tax but it
is common practise for the parties to negotiate on who is to assume this liability.
Finally bear in mind that your lawyer will charge fees for his professional services, that normally
will range from 1 % to 2 % of the price plus VAT (currently at 16%).