Youve found the house and negotiated a price. Youve arranged your Spanish mortgages All there is to do now is complete the purchase. How?

In Spain, the process of purchasing Spanish property is regulated, and the best thing that you can do to protect your interests is to employ an English-speaking solicitor or lawyer to assist you. Validate that the Spanish property you plan to purchase is free of restrictive clauses and debts.

The legal process for buying a Spanish property falls into two different categories. The first legal document is the preliminary contract, known as Contrato privado de compraventa, and the second is the completion contract, known as Escritura de compraventa.

There should be a preliminary private sales contract signed once you have both agreed on a purchase price. The vendor must provide proof that he or she owns the property free of any charges before this Contrato privado de compraventa has been signed. It is Spanish law to charge all outstanding debts to the actual property, and any remaining debt would be the new owner’s responsibility. Nota Simple tells about outstanding debts.

The completion date, overall price, and property description will all be elaborated in the preliminary sales contract. A 5% to 15% deposit of the final purchase price will be required. This money shall be held in escrow for your benefit. It is possible though not advisable to sign the private preliminary sales contract without putting down a deposit.

The second stage is the final contract stage, or the Escritura de compraventa stage. The purchaser will be required to pay the balance of the purchase price and all fees on the date of completion. Both the vendor and the buyer must sign the contract at the same time. This contract is equivalent to a deed on the purchased property. The purchaser will receive the public deed of conveyance, known in Spain as the escritura, in front of a Notary Public. To make this legal, a copy of the dded must get to a tax office, and then sent to a property registry. In Spain, all deeds of sale must be witnessed by a Notary Public, which is a public official in that country. However, you need to have your own legal counsel to protect your own interests during the transaction. Also keep in mind that as the purchaser you will be required to pay property sales taxes as well as the legal fees for the Notary Public.