Home buying process

The province of Barcelona has detailed legislation that regulates all aspects of real estate transactions in Barcelona and protects the rights of the parties to the transaction as much as possible, and therefore the purchase of Spanish property carries a minimum of risks for the buyer.

In accordance with Spanish law, foreigners can purchase residential and commercial real estate. Real estate in Spain can be purchased by both a private and a legal entity. According to the Spanish laws, only the owner himself or a person appointed by him and having a power of attorney from him has the right to sell real estate.
In Spain, there is a generally accepted procedure for the sale and purchase of real estate.

The procedure for registering the purchase and sale of real estate

1. After choosing a property, the buyer is advised to study the Nota Simple Informativa del Registro de la Propiedad, a special document that issues the state register of ownership where this property is registered. Nota Simple contains complete information about the property: who owns the property, area, description of the property, the presence of a possible owner’s debt and other data.

2. A preliminary contract of sale (Contrato de Arras) is concluded, which specifies the conditions and method of payment (Art. 1454 of the Spanish Civil Code).
Conclusion of a preliminary contract and payment of a deposit – is made to remove an object from sale and reserve it for the time required to obtain a mortgage loan or prepare all the documents necessary for a transaction (1-2 months).
Attention! If the seller of the property finds another buyer or refuses to complete the transaction, he pays the buyer a double deposit. If the buyer refuses to buy, the seller holds the deposit.

3. After the conclusion of the preliminary contract, the buyer (not resident in Spain) must issue N.I.E. (identification number of a foreigner). N.I.E. is required for buying and registering property rights, paying taxes, issuing water and electricity contracts, purchasing and registering a car, etc.
Number N. I. E. is obtained from the police department for work with foreigners. Applications for the assignment of N.I.E. must be submitted by each applicant personally or by a person with a power of attorney.

What you need to get your NIE (Foreigner Identification Number)

To obtain a NIE (Foreigner Identification Number), you need to provide the following documents:

• Application for receiving
• Passport with valid visa and its photocopy
• A document certifying for what purposes you need a NIE, in this case there must be a pre-contract of purchase and sale (payment of a deposit), notarized with the address.

4. After receiving N. I. E. the buyer opens a Spanish bank account and transfers or deposits the amount required for the purchase to this account. All payments related to the purchase of real estate, insurance, taxes, utility bills, mortgage payments should be made from this account.
The process of registering a purchase of real estate through a mortgage loan takes a little longer in connection with the consideration of an application for a loan by the bank.

5. At the notary’s office, in the presence of a Spanish notary, the buyer and the seller sign the official deed of purchase and sale of Escritura Publica (deed of sale), below them are signed by the notary. When signing the deed, the remaining principal amount purchased by the buyer of the real estate is paid by bank check. If the buyer of real estate receives a loan from the bank, this is carried out by a bank representative who will be present at the notary when signing the deed, in this case, the deed indicates that the real estate is pledged by the bank, as well as the amount of the mortgage loan and the terms of the mortgage. After the loan is repaid, the deed is reissued. In the notary office, after signing the Escritura Publica purchase and sale document, the owner of the property is issued a notarized copy of the Escritura Publica (Title deed) and the keys to the property.

The original Escritura Publica (Title deed) is sent by the notary to the Register of Property (Registro de la Propiedad), where the state registration takes place within three months. At the end of the registration process, the buyer receives the registered original Escritura Publica (Title deed) and Nota Simple Informativa. In the case of a mortgage loan, the original is sent to the bank. The buyer receives the original extract from the register – Nota Simple. From this moment, the buyer becomes the full owner of the property and has all the legal rights of the owner.

Escritura Publica (Title deed) – a notarial agreement with a mark of registration in the state register of property (Registro de la Propiedad). This document confirms the ownership of real estate and contains detailed information about its characteristics. The buyer of real estate can register the ownership of any number of individuals (the degree of relationship does not matter), defining certain rights for each of them. The deed of sale is assigned its own registration number, record number, sheet and volume for entering it into the Register of Property.

Escritura Publica (Title deed) – a notarial agreement with a mark of registration in the state register of property (Registro de la Propiedad). This document confirms the ownership of real estate and contains detailed information about its characteristics. The buyer of real estate can register the ownership of any number of individuals (the degree of relationship does not matter), defining certain rights for each of them. The deed of sale is assigned its own registration number, record number, sheet and volume for entering it into the Register of Property.