Sale. Selling a property in Spain
If selling a property in Spain, you will be pleased to know that there are more and more potential buyers coming to buy abroad and in particular in Spain. Most people start their search through the internet. This way the seller can avoid estate agent fees and commission, but on the other hand they can lose people who prefer face to face interaction for services and transactions.
Even when selling it is advisable to have someone represent you who understands the process for legal and financial purposes. Legal representation ensures that the correct documentation, contracts and legal requirements are all in order, so it is a good idea to hire a reliable Spanish lawyer that knows what needs to be done with no exceptions. In terms of financial representation, there are several taxes and costs incurred which must be paid upon completion or retained for post completion taxes. If this is not done properly it can mean very large fines in the future and possibly not being able to sell, so it is essential that all your taxes are correct and up to date. Unfortunately there are equal if not more taxes to pay and be aware of when selling than when buying. The checking process is the same as if you were buying a property, where you check that all the documentation is in order, well the same needs to be done by the seller. The seller must ensure that everything is perfect so that the sale can go through without any hiccups. Just because the purchase of your house went through, does not mean that you have everything required and up to date ready to sell.
ABAD lawyers and accountants can offer both a legal and financial service to our clients or separately if necessary to assist you in selling your property, whether residential or commercial.
ABAD has a trained, professional team that can help you with all your needs throughout the entire process making sure that you walk away from the deal with peace of mind and hopefully the amount you wanted from the sale.
The selling process involves the following stages.
- Price negotiation and agreement
- Pre-purchase agreement contract and deposit
- Check that all property documents are correct and up to date (deeds, registration and certificates)
- Personal documents up to date.
- Up to date paid taxes and any other charges (IBI, utilities, community)
- Debt and mortgage review and cancelation, where needed.
- Public Notary for completion and change over.
- Post completion taxes and accounts.
The taxes and costs you will need to be aware of consist of the following:
- Plusvalía and IBI
- Community fees and utilities
- Mortgage cancelation and mortgage notary cancelation fees
- Non-resident tax
- Agents commission
- Capital gains tax liability.
It is always wise to look into everything related to the sale of your property before a potential buyer makes you an offer for the simple reason that if you do not have everything needed to sell the process might take a while and you may run the risk of losing the buyer. Also it is a positive point to have all the paperwork related to you and your property up to date and correct.
Sale. Selling a property in Spain
If selling a property in Spain, you will be pleased to know that there are more and more potential buyers coming to buy abroad and in particular in Spain. Most people start their search through the internet. This way the seller can avoid estate agent fees and commission, but on the other hand they can lose people who prefer face to face interaction for services and transactions.
Even when selling it is advisable to have someone represent you who understands the process for legal and financial purposes. Legal representation ensures that the correct documentation, contracts and legal requirements are all in order, so it is a good idea to hire a reliable Spanish lawyer that knows what needs to be done with no exceptions. In terms of financial representation, there are several taxes and costs incurred which must be paid upon completion or retained for post completion taxes. If this is not done properly it can mean very large fines in the future and possibly not being able to sell, so it is essential that all your taxes are correct and up to date. Unfortunately there are equal if not more taxes to pay and be aware of when selling than when buying. The checking process is the same as if you were buying a property, where you check that all the documentation is in order, well the same needs to be done by the seller. The seller must ensure that everything is in order so that the sale can go through without any hiccups. Just because the purchase of your house went through, does not mean that you have everything required and up to date ready to sell.
ABAD lawyers and accountants can offer legal and financial service to our clients either jointly as a packageor separately if necessary to assist you in selling your property, whether residential or commercial.
ABAD has a trained, professional team that can help you with all your needs throughout the entire process making sure that you walk away from the deal with peace of mind and hopefully the amount you wanted from the sale.
The selling process involves the following stages.
- Price negotiation and agreement
- Pre-purchase agreement contract and deposit
- Check that all property documents are correct and up to date (deeds, registration and certificates)
- Personal documents up to date.
- Up to date paid taxes and any other charges (IBI, utilities, community)
- Debt and mortgage review and cancelation, where needed.
- Public Notary for completion and change over.
- Post completion taxes and accounts.
The taxes and costs you will need to be aware of consist of the following:
- Plusvalía and IBI
- Community fees and utilities
- Mortgage cancelation and mortgage notary cancelation fees
- Non-resident tax
- Agents commission
- Capital gains tax liability.
It is always wise to look into everything related to the sale of your property before a potential buyer makes you an offer for the simple reason that if you do not have everything needed to sell the process might take a while and you may run the risk of losing the buyer. Also it is a positive point to have all the paperwork related to you and your property up to date and correct.
FAQs
Yes you can apply for a tax rebate, the only difference is that the taxes to be paid are slightly higher and so can be the retention. But the process is the same; it is just simply a different form that will need to be submitted.
Yes you can, even though this is unusual. It is normal to try and make some profit from the sale. Most taxes, like capital gains tend to include the proceeds of the property, so it is possible that the tax authorities may question the sale and contest the taxes need to be paid. In this situation it would be strongly advisable to seek legal and financial representation.
Should you choose to leave Spain, then logically you would want to take your money with you. This is of course permitted and legal. Currently there are no restrictions on the movement of funds through a bank as long as it is declared at some point. The thing to look out for will be the amount of charges that can accumulate, so check the conditions on both sides before sending any money.
Yes if they agree to it. Usually the vendor and the buyer use different lawyer so that they may remain impartial, as well as begin able to resolve any disagreement that may arise. Sharing a lawyer can happen when the seller and buyer know each other and that way they can save on legal fees, but they must sign a written agreement stating that they will be sharing a lawyer for the transaction. If a dispute did occur then the lawyer would not be able to represent both parties because the lawyer would have to share the same information among all parties.
If you do not have financial representation then you run the risk of not properly paying your taxes and being hit with a large fine later on, this included all property sale taxes and your tax returns. Financial representation also makes sure you only pay exactly what you need to and can inform you as to what you are paying and why you are the one paying it. For a sale of a property some taxes are meant for the seller and other for the buyer.
Apart from presenting your house visually ready to go on the market either through an estate agent or privately you will need to check the legality of your property and make sure all your and the properties documentation is current and correct.
Yes you are eligible to pay this tax. This tax is not affected by the nature of the property, but the age of the property will affect it. Capital gain is a personal tax and is included in the tax retention fund from the sale.
It is advisable to do so as they will be able to handle any issues much quicker than you could on your own, as well as saving you a lot of time trying to find about and possibly getting it wrong. For example, all the property´s documentation and the owner’s documents must be the appropriate updated originals in order to sell and pass ownership on the day of the notary and if the documents are wrong the sale will not go through.
Lots of people use the internet to begin their property search, but some only used it for research and nothing more, as they may mistrust the vendors. Some people just prefer personal transactions. Both ways whether privately or not will allow for potential buyers and of course doing both increases the possibility. The only down side to an estate agent is the commission fees at the end of it.
If you have legal representation they should organise the preparation of required documents. However you should have a check list of papers that in general proves that upon selling the deeds are correct, and there will be no debt, because you are up to date on all payment, from council tax to utilities.
