Conveyancing in Spain

Standard conveyancing 1500€ We do all the background checks on the property, and manage relations with the notary and broker/seller to ensure the real estate purchase goes smoothly. Contact Us

Premium conveyancing 2200€ Our premium service includes everything in our standard service, plus our presence at the closing, and help facilitating all payments to the seller and to Hacienda. Contact Us

What do your services include?
What other costs are involved in buying a property?
Your offices are in Barcelona and Valencia. How do you represent the rest of Spain?
Can I avoid travelling to Spain for the closing?
What is the role of a notary in Spain?

Our standard conveyancing service includes:

• Confirm that the seller is the owner of the property, find out if the property is free of debt, and that the description of the property matches the seller's description.
• Agree on the terms of the purchase with the seller or their attorney, such as who pays what taxes, and what furniture or appliances (if any) will be included in the sale.
• Draft or review the pre-agreement.
• Review that the seller's mortgage, if any, was canceled.
• If the seller is nonresident, ensure that the fees they will pay have been transferred to the account of a responsible resident party. This includes the 5% tax on the sale of a nonresident's property.
• Negotiate a mortgage, if desired.
• Communicate with the notary: Review all documents, and make all necessary preparations for the signing.
• Ensure that the notary registers the purchase with the Property Registry.

Our premium conveyancing service includes all of the above, plus:

• If you do not want to appear at the closing, we arrange an appointment for you with a notary either in Spain or in the Spanish Embassy, so that you can grant us a power-of-attorney.
• Help open a Spanish bank account, if needed, to use in paying for the property (recommended if the person is going to live in Spain).
• Appear at the notary's office for the signing.
• Facilitate payment of the transfer tax and VAT tax.

Whether the buyer or the seller pays the various fees and taxes is always negotiable. Who pays the fees should be clearly specified in the pre-agreement. The following, however, are the fees and taxes generally ascribed to the buyer.

• The transfer tax and stamp duty is around 7-8% (these taxes vary from one region to another).
• The notary fee for a house of 200,000 euros is around 650 euros.
• The registration fee is around 450 euros, assuming the property is free of charges.
• If you're getting a mortgage, note that besides the bank fees of around 1% of the cost of the property, you will also need to pay another transfer tax of 2%, because the ownership will transfer from the seller to the bank to you. You will also need to pay another round of notary and registration fees.

For our standard service, we do all the work from our office. For our premium service, we have a network of regional real estate lawyers. While most of the work is done from our office, we are in close contact with the lawyer for your region so they can perform the final task of managing the closing.

With our premium service, yes. You can give us power of attorney by a qualified notary in your country, and we will represent you at the closing.

A notary in Spain has a more elevated role than in the UK or USA; they do much more than just verify signatures. To gain the title of notary requires years of additional studies. At the closing, the notary takes over, acting on behalf of both parties to make sure that the transaction is proper and agreed to.