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List of documents required to place your property on the market
If you need to present information about a house, apartment or land Nota Simple performs a query to all property registers of Spain to understand the actual situation with regards to the current owners of the property and the property charges.
Need help? If you wish we may request this official documentation of all the properties on your behalf. We require only a copy of the document not older than 3 months.
It´s an official document issued by the Land Registry containing information relating to the property and contains of:
It can be used as well to apply for a bank mortgage or present in court to claim an inheritance. Mostly, it is requested to know who owns the property and charges of the house if for sale, or to present it to other institutions accrediting the ownership, charges or other circumstances.
Is it necessary to have Escritura Compraventa?
Usually when we buy a house, apartment or premises we do it in public Title deed before a Notary who then takes it to the Land Registry to register the change of ownership on our behalf.
However in Spain a public Title deed before a Notary and registration in the Land Registry were NOT always required to acquire ownership of a property. It is true that procedures are advisable, but can actually some of the owners do without it? Yes, we will explain the reasons why some of the owners did´t notarize or register the ecritura to the Land Registry and the consequences. KEEP READING!
BUYING IN FREEDOM OF FORM
Spanish law applies to the purchase agreement free of form, a private contract and even verbally, although in the latter case, we must prove the reality of sale.
What one requires to be owners is that, along with the contract of sale (either public deed or private contract) is the delivery of possession of the property. This is the theory of the title (contract) and mode (delivery), which is caused by the change of ownership of a property.
When we do the transaction in writing before a notary it involves delivery of the property. And if we do it in private contract, to become owners, it requires that, in the contract, the delivery of possession for the change of ownership is specified. Therefore, we can be perfectly owners if we have a purchase contract on our behalf and possession of the purchased property. So what´s the difference?
Private contract is a private document between the seller and the buyer while Public Title Deeds is a public document and enables the buyer officially transfer the possession of the property at the Land Registery.
REASONS FOR NOT CHOOSING PUBLIC TITLE DEEDS
Buying public deed before a notary is the normal standard procedure, but there are cases in which the buyer or seller are not interested, for now, to make the deeds and only make the purchase in a private document with delivery of possession to the buyer, becoming, the owner.
Common reasons are:
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF NOT MAKING (ESCRITURA COMPRAVENTA) TITLE DEEDS AS PUBLIC PURCHASE IN WRITING IN FRONT OF THE NOTARY can be summarized in the following:
Advantages:
Drawbacks:
CONCLUSIONS
To be an owner is not required to purchase public Title Deeds in front of the Notary, but we can not overemphasize how important it is to follow the procedure through the Notary and register your property correctly if you think of placing your property on the market.
However please note that the role of the Notary in Spain is the identification of the parties and verification that the legal requirements and payments have been fulfilled correctly in order to transfer the ownership of the property by signing of the Title Deeds (Escritura Compraventa). The Notary is not doing legal checks on the property.
Therefore we always advice to consult your solicitor and your estate agent when thinking of selling your property.
If you are the owner of the property through a private contract or you are in possession of Title Deeds but the property has not been (completely) registered yet at the Land Registry and you look for a legal advise or surveyor, we are available to assist you.
Only with property that is correctly registered you can proceed to an optimal sale.
AFO (Asimilado a Fuera de Ordenacíon) is a special legal regime, which is the administrative and legal regularization of constructions built without municipal legally prescribed license. AFO legal regime is resolving social, environmental and urban problems.
The Publication in 2019 of Decree 3/2019 of 24th of September, by which the regime of buildings and settlements on undeveloped land in Andalusia regulates and clarifies the regime applicable to the different situations in which existing buildings are being presented for recognition by the local Town Hall and urban planning treatment.
This opens a new way for the regularization of buildings that presents any breach of planning regulations for both urban and rustic land by recognizing AFO.
AFO is a similar regime to the one which is called régimen fuera de ordenación, defined in Article 53 of Decree 60/2010 of March 16th of the Government of Andalusia. The situation in which the works, installations, facilities and buildings made in violation to the urbanistic rules for which they can no longer take protective measures and restoration of legality until a certain period has elapsed (Article 185.1 of Law 7/2002 of 17 December). In other words, those buildings commonly called "illegal" built in Andalusia, but having greater antiquity than 6 years, it may be recognized as AFO.
Since the entry into force in 2012 of Decree 2/2012 of 10 January, in Andalusia recognition of existing buildings is allowed to regularize their situation. Such recognition is done by local municipalities through a resolution, although previously you must have developed and approved a specific ordinance or a preview of the general plan of the constructions.
To access this regime it requires a resolution of the council which explicitly recognizes that the building can be used, for gathering safety conditions, habitability and sanitation suitable for the purpose for which it is intended.
What advantages does it have?
Who can benefit?
The owners of the constructions that are fully completed for which the deadline for the restoration of the infringed urban order has expired, if they meet the requirements of AFO of the local Town Hall – without any administrative proceedings or fines.
Therefore, any building built on urban or rustic land without the appropriate license can be regularized before the City Council. However, AFO application is upon to each of the municipalities as the decree adaptation is not uniform in all municipalities. Many of them have already made the procedures, while others are still in process.
What is the procedure?
It depends on the local Town Hall, if the recognition of the situation where AFO is applicable, the municipality will charge the corresponding fees. The amount of this rate is variable in each municipality and depends on the characteristics of each building. This amount shall be paid by the owner.
The owner of the property submits the application for DAFO (Declaración Asimilado a Fuera de Ordenacíon) at the Town Hall together with special technical report produced by a qualified architect. Furthermore you need to present the following documents:
The answer is no, DAFO is not required for the properties which are registered correctly.
DAFO is either required to be able to sell your property. But in case (parts of) your property was built without license and are not registered in the Land Registry you will have to apply for the AFO certification and reserve a certain amount for the fees to the Town Hall in order to be able to transfer the ownership of the whole property to the new owners.
Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions or need a qualified solicitor or an architects who can check your property paperwork and organize the application procedure for AFO-certification for you, if necessary.
The yearly Property Tax (IBI) is a tax fitted in the local tax system in Spain, which taxes the value of the manorial ownership and other rights levied on real estate located in the municipality that collects the tribute. Its management is shared between the central government and the municipalities. It entered into force on 1 January 1990, under the presidency of Felipe González.
Its real character comes from the tax on ownership and makes the property or rights levied on real estate, no matter what subject to fulfill the ownership. It also has an objective, derived from a quantification of the tax burden that caters exclusively to the value of the object, and not the circumstances of taxpayers.
The tax consists of the ownership of the property and both rustic and urban nature sites of it in the municipality, or ownership of a right of usufruct or an administrative concession on such property or public services to those who are affected, and levied on the value of said property.
The cadastral reference is the official and obligatory identifier of real estate. It consists of an alphanumeric code that is assigned by the Land Registry so that all properties must have a unique cadastral reference allowing unequivocally situate cadastral topographic mapping.
If you have mains water or water share.
The water bill is the legal document that authenticates that the service has been received and payed and lets you know regarding the usage you make. It usually includes the supply contract number and identification data.
If you have your own well. Please send us specifications.
The electricity bill is the proof that you receive the electricity at your property, where the amount to be paid for providing consuming of light. If you pay this service through direct deb it a copy of one of the receipt whith contract number and installation contract (boletin instalación electrica) is sufficient.
List of furniture that will remain / is included in the sale.
Accordingly, by Royal Decree 235/2013, of 5 April, which is the basic procedure for certifying the energy efficiency of buildings approved, partially transposes Directive 2010/31 / EU European Parliament and of the Council of 19 May 2010, concerning the certification of energy efficiency of buildings, merging the Royal Decree 47/2007 of 19 January, with the addition of the basic procedure for the certification of energy efficiency existing buildings.
The document is signed by a competent technician and contains information on the energy characteristics of the building or building unit as its energy rating. Therefore the visit of the tecnician to the property to collect the information is a must.
The rating is a measure of the energy efficiency of a building or part of it, which is measured by a specified method and is expressed through series of energy indicators.
It is a document which analyses the energy consumption of the building, proposing improvements to make the Energy Perfomance more efficient. The information in the Energy Perfomance certificate is summarized in a label. The label corresponding to the distinctive scale of letters and colors similar to the one we are used seeing on appliances. The colors are corresponding to ¨A¨ (lower consumption) and down to the thr ¨G¨ (the higher consumption)
The certificate is a document that is required to be presented by the seller in order to advertise a property for sale. The owner of the property is obliged to present the original and signed Energy Efficiency Certificate at the Notary for the completion.
In case your property is situated in the area of a community.
The amount of the fees depends on community facilities and equipment tha thte property has and expenses of having that property in good condition and performance. Facilities like swimming pool or the sports area and gardens and other common areas account maintenance expense and will directly affect the fee the owners have to pay. The common areas must appear in the statutes of the homeowners.
XI. Community Certificate (to be issued max. 1 week before the completion)
What is the Community Certificate?
Certificate of debts of the owner to the community when selling a property. This document allows the community of owners to draw up a certificate on the (no) debts that one of the owners of the community who wishes to sell their property has with the community.
A sales management agreement with Andalucia4you is a commitment which is not exclusive. It´s a private agreement between the seller and our estate agency to manage all the aspects of selling your property from advertising to completion.
Not exclusive agreement means that the owner can sell the house privately or leave it to other real estate agencies. Please note that we work with a free client registration system and will advise you about new potential buyers everytime before the viewing.
By signing this contract the vendor authorizes by giving your consent to Andalucia4you to sell your property. The agreement through which only in case of sale our estate agency receives the agreed commissions for the services provided.
Andalucia4you doesn´t require exclusivity however in case you prefer to work on a SOLE AGENCY base, we offer special services to our exclusive sellers. Ask our staff about it.
The reservation agreement between the seller and the buyer. It is a holding deposit agreement which allows the buyer to reserve the property for a certain period (mostly during 4 weeks) to make legal research on the property and organize the financing. Although the latter we advise to investigate way before placing an offer. See as well more information about buying costs. The amount of the holding deposit is between 3.000-6.000 Euros.
The purchase contract is a private agreement between the seller and the buyer prepared by your solicitor after the legal research of the property has been done. The buyer´s solicitor confirms that your property paperwork is correct and the buyer may proceed with the payment of 10% deposit to the seller. In this document you agree the time frame and the terms for the completion (usually between 2 and 4 weeks) after signing.
The completion takes place at the local Notary office. The remain part of the purchase price is to be paid by the signing of the Title Deeds. We always accompany our clients to the completion. Both parties the seller and the buyer and in case of mortgage your bank should be present in person at the Notary, unless one of the parties is not available to attend the meeting and has a legal representative (previously arranged a Power of Attorney). The Notary makes sure to identify the parties and verifies that the legal requirements and payments have been fulfilled correctly.
When it comes to selling your property several questions are arising and one of the important ones is who is paying for what and what are the selling costs?
The buyer takes his/her part of the costs read more about the costs of the buying a property. The selling costs consist of:
In case your paperwork needs updating before the Notary. The role of the Notary in Spain is the identification of the parties and the property in order to transfer the ownership of the property by signing of the Title Deeds (Escritura Compraventa). The Notary is not doing legal research on the property and the documents provided. Therefore we always advice to consult your solicitor and your estate agent when thinking of selling your property. Read more about paperwork required by selling.
Please note that this document is just a guide to help our clients to gather the information. Therefore no rights can be derived from this document.
If you require any further information please feel free to contact us or make an appointment at our office in Caleta de Vélez.
We look forward to meeting you soon.