Articles: The Rights Group’s Property Guide

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  Introduction

  Investing in Spain

  Whenever you commence an informative article about Spain, there is a tendency in the last couple of years to start with a negative.

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  Stage one

  Identifying the right property

  The sources of information available to the prospective Spanish property owner are virtually endless.

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  Stage two

  What can you afford?

  Thousands are leaving their home countries every year. With UK property prices at an all-time high many are considering selling up, buying a home abroad and investing the remaining capital to provide for their retirement years. Equally, many are buying a second home. In both cases there are certain costs that must be taken into consideration in addition to the price of the property.

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  Stage three

  Getting the best out of your Euros

  When buying any property in the Euro zone, you will ultimately have to convert your hard-earned sterling into Euros to actually pay for your new home.

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  Stage four

  Protecting your interests

  The Spanish Legal system is far removed from the British one when it comes to buying a property, so when seeking legal advice and deciding who should represent you for your purchase, there are a few key rules that should be observed.

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  Stage five

  Checking your property

  Once a legal representative is appointed the property you are considering buying should be thoroughly searched by your Spanish lawyer before any contract to purchase is signed.

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  Stage six

  Compraventa – the conveyancing process

  The first stage in property ownership is the Contrato de Compraventa - the private purchase contract – containing the conditions of the purchase/sale.

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  Stage seven

  New and “resale” properties

  Buying a new rather than a resale property demands a different conveyance process. While a resale property requires the above background checks, purchasing a new property offers different pitfalls.

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  Stage eight

  Completion of purchase/sale

  In Spain there exists a system of a public Notaries.

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  Stage nine

  Purchase costs and taxes

  The buyer is usually responsible for:

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  Step ten

  Main annual taxes

  A detailed discussion of annual taxes and Inheritance tax planning is outside the scope of this article but for your information the following may be useful:

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