Buying Spanish property Part 2 Reserving the propetry

The initial deposit

Now you have seen a property that you really like. You know the place, the location, the facilities, area, the community and as many other items which you consider to be relevant in your investment. This is the house that you would like to buy.

Your agent may request you that you pay a small deposit just to show your intention and to “take the property out of the market”. This is quite a normal practice and the right time that you may consider to engage an independent lawyer or solicitor who will make sure that everything is, at this first stage, in accordance to the different regulations.

When you pay a deposit, the agent or the lawyer acting for the seller, depending on the different situations, will give you a form or “standard contract” to be signed by the parties, or even the estate agent if sufficient power of attorney or specific authorization has been granted by the seller.

With this document and deposit paid, you will reserve the property for a certain period of time.

The buyer will have the necessary time to check the property and move forward to the next step or cancel the deal if there is any problem. In this case, the deposit should be refunded to the buyer.

Please be aware that this document known as the deposit contract or reservation form will be the base for the future contract and it should include the relevant information.

This information consists in the following:

1.     Parties (seller/s and buyer/s)

2.     Property identification details

3.     Price

4.     Date of completion

And many other details relevant for both parties.

It is normal that a deposit is paid in order to provide the buyer with sufficient time to arrange the finances and organize the way to acquire the property. It also gives the seller the time to arrange for all the particular items that are not up to date.

The buyer should also organize the Spanish fiscal number known as NIE, which is an administrative requirement to buy the property and make a due diligence on the property. It should be recommended that a lawyer carries out this work for a safe transaction.

In our next post, we will be writing about the private contract, so please keep posted.

Information provided by Premier Law