Buying a home is a key process in the life of any person or family in Spain, but despite being something relatively common, how to do it involves a series of steps to follow that many are unaware of.
Today we explain the steps to follow to buy a house or apartment, how to find your ideal home and what legal aspects you should consider. Do not miss it and take note!
Steps to Buy a Flat
We take a tour of the main steps to take into account, including recommendations and tips to make the process of buying a home in Spain as easy as possible.
Find your ideal House
When we face a process of buying a flat, the first step is to find the home of our dreams.
The existing offer in Spain is very wide, being able to find homes of different sizes, prices and particularities.
For this reason, finding the ideal house that meets our needs and economic capacity can seem like a complicated task.
There are many real estate portals and specialized websites that can make your job easier when it comes to finding a flat. This is the case of idealista, for example, a portal that not only offers real estate at a discount, but also helps to find financing.
Offer and review of housing documentation
Before entering signatures and contracts, it is very important that you know the administrative status of the home.
Request all the information available for this, both that related to possible pending mortgage or community payments, as well as that related to its conditions, such as the energy certificate.
In the event that the home is over 50 years old, also make sure that it has passed the Technical Building Inspection.
Earnest money contract
Also known as an advance, the deposit contract is a price and private agreement between the buyer and the seller where both agree to carry out the future sale of the property, indicating the conditions of the future sale.
It is at this time that the buyer delivers a certain amount of money on account of the total.
Through this agreement, the buyer reserves the right to purchase the home, while the seller agrees to deliver it under the agreed conditions.
Find a Mortgage
If finding the ideal home seems difficult, finding a mortgage that meets our needs seems impossible.
To facilitate and speed up the search for financing, we can hire the services of a specialized agent who is in charge of managing these aspects.
As we have previously indicated, there are specialized home search websites that also help to find financing.
The signature before a notary
The figure of the notary is key in the process of buying and selling the house. His function is both to ensure that the signed contract is legal, and to attest to what he puts and his signature.
Basically, his figure is a guarantee of the validity of the document, ensuring that the operation is well structured and that the rights of both parties involved are protected.
The notary drafts the sales contract and ensures that the property can be transferred, in addition to advising both the seller and the buyer.
In the purchase process it is an additional guarantee, being able to buy a house without requiring your presence. However, it will be necessary to resort to his services to sign a mortgage.
Taxes
The mortgage is not the only big expense to face when buying a home.
There are many other taxes to face before becoming the owner of the property.
The amount to pay will depend on the price of the house. It will also vary depending on whether the home is new or second-hand.
In the case of a new home, the main tax is VAT, which in 2021 is generally at 10% (6.5% in the Canary Islands).
To this must be added the Documented Legal Acts tax, which varies depending on the autonomous community.
In the case of used homes, we find the Property Transfer Tax, whose figure varies by autonomous community, but a rate of between 6% and 10% is usually applied.
And here are the tips and key steps to consider when buying a home. They are not the only ones, but they are some of the most important. Did you know them all?
Basic in buying a house.
