So youve found your dream holiday home, arranged your mortgage in Spain and are now ready to complete the purchase

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. First you have the preliminary contract, or Contrato privado de compraventa, and then you have the completion contract, or Escritura de compraventa.

Once the buyer and seller are in agreement on the price then they need to sign a preliminary sales contract. Before this Contrato privado de compraventa has been signed, however, the vendor needs to be able to provide proof that he or she owns the property, and that it is free of any charges. In Spain, debts are attached to the property, so any mortgage that was outstanding would transfer to the buyer. Nota Simple documents are designed to confirm whether or not a property contains any outstanding debts.

Details such as completion date, price and description will be written in the first sales contract. When you reach this point, you can expect to pay a deposit of 5-15%. 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 ultimate stage is the decond stage only as it will decide the future of the contract. It is also known as 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. Next, the seller and buyer meet and sign a contract, which is essentially a claim to the property. The buyer will be provided the public deed of conveyance, also referred to in Spain as the escritura, in the presence of a Notary Public. In order for everything to be legal a copy of the deed will have to go through the tax office and property registry. In Spain, Notary Publics are public officials required to witness a deed of sale, but you should also make sure to have your own independent expert legal advice to make sure that your own interests are protected during this legal process. While buying any property do remember that property sales taxes and legal fees for the Notary Public is also to be paid by you only.