Spain is quite a guarantor and does not impose restrictions to acquire or buy a property or land, not even to foreigners and not differentiating whether they come from the Euro zone or from outside.
For purchasing a house in Spain the only requirement is to obtain a NIE (Foreigner Identity Number), which will serve to identify yourself from the moment of the purchase and in all subsequent transactions, including the corresponding taxes.
All foreigners can obtain the NIE at a police station in Spain or it can be requested at the Spanish embassy in their home country, filling out the form EX-15.
Buying a house being a foreigner
To summarised the cycle for purchasing a property:
1. Have a bank account in the local currency of Spain.
2. Provide the account with the amount of the cost of the property, adding a possible 12% (maximum) of purchase costs and an additional provision for repairs, furnishing, etc.
- Visit the house, if possible.
- If you are not in Spain, you can manage a purchase mandate to a personal shopper, it is the only way to get opportunities, but must be a person of proven reputation.
3. Negotiate the price.
4. Check the data. As that the property belongs to the seller, the actual square meters you buy, that it is free of mortgages, administrative or community charges, not being part of legal proceedings, free of debts, that it has a certificate of occupancy, the state of the downspouts, sewage, roofs and any element that may involve an unexpected cost overrun.
5. An adquisition normally includes signing a deposit contract paying a percentage of the final price as a deposit to reserve the property, which is usually 10%. It is usually called “criminal deposit”, that is, the party that does not comply, loses that 10%.
6. Signing of the property purchase contract and the final payment is made with a notary. Finally, you must carry out several procedures to have everything tied up, among them, registering the property in your name and paying the administrative expenses.
When the transaction is carried out through a real estate agency, then the fees must be paid by the buyer.
Taxes and expenses for the purchase of a house
- Property Transfer Tax (ITP): from 6 to 10%, depends on each Autonomous Community (it is only paid when purchasing a second-hand home)
- Notary fees: 0.03 to 0.45%
- Value Added Tax (VAT): 10% of the value of the property (it only applies if you buy a new house)
- Registration fees: 0.02 to 0.18%
- Tax on Documented Legal Acts (IAJD): between 0.5 and 1.5%
The advantage of the Residence Visa or Golden Visa
Golden Visa is a facility introduced by the Spanish government to attract qualified people with high incomes interested in real estate investment. The required investment starts at €500,000.
It is important to consider the legal part, for this Marcos, partner of the international law firm ECIJA, can help you with the entire legal process, incorporation of companies, etc. ECIJA has a presence throughout Latin America.
Visit our page for investors interested in Golden Visa and interested in investing in Madrid.
Buy a House with Professional Help
We always recommend people we trust, people with whom we have bought and sold homes or carried out a small promotion and people who have helped us. In this sense we recommend:
- Leon Taurel (Alimbles, SL) engineer, personal shopper, reformer and decorator. An all in one.
He works for families mainly from Miami and Latin America. He has specialized in carrying out the entire cycle, delivering the turnkey asset, all finished to be put into operation. He goes and reviews all the documentation for the notarial signature, preparing the act. DFLAT is one of thpartners and directors of a real estate agency located near the Plaza del Marques de Salamanca, dedicated to serving investors, with high-end assets, small buildings and premises. It is organized by managers by area of interest. It has a team of architects for the transformation or reform of assets and focuses on Spanish investors.
Alimbles (Leon Taurel) is hired by companies and families from Latin America and has an engineering background and has architects on his team. He makes purchases on behalf of third parties because of the trust he gives. Tailor & Key (Francisco Hernández) has a Spanish portfolio and has a sales team in charge of him.
Both are experts in the field and work with DFLAT regularly, they know what we exploit and where more profitability or more security is obtained. Both will inform you about everything you need to know, knowing that the assets with the highest profitability need reform, and that the highest profitability is achieved with seasonal rentals.
Normally we recommend buying houses to renovate as the best way to increase revaluation and profitability, while obtaining a finish without problems in the long term.
Other property agencies
There are tens of thousands properties for sale. If you want to buy a home on your own, you can go to any real estate agency or review the products offered by portals such as Idealista.
Idealista is the most popular and used portal and therefore a good place to start due to its huge offer. It will help you understand the price structure by areas and qualities. You have other platforms such as Immovario, Spainhouses, Fotocasa, milanuncios, etc.
More information for investors in Real Estate
Find out more about the future of the Real State in Madrid and why the highest profits are obtained from apartments to be renovated or learning about the advantages of financial leverage.
If you are an investor or owner who is already a resident, you can visit our page for Spanish owners, but it may be you are interested into a permanent residence in Madrid.
