Search and Survey Legal Services

Preliminary meeting. Meeting can be face to face or by phone. Typically lasts about 1 hour, considers minimising tax. Spanish wills, Mortgage issues. Etc.
We strongly suggest that you arrange a meeting with us before you go to look for property. This way we can discuss all of the key issues – including which areas might best suit you, the types of property available, who would be the best owner for tax purposes, how it should be paid for, mortgages, inheritance issues and how to minimise your tax liabilities. To arrange a meeting just telephone us.
Power of attorney: It may be necessary to appoint someone to act on your behalf E.G. In the event you are unable to attend the Notary in person for signing the deeds. This can be arranged quite quickly whilst you are in Spain or in the UK. It is considerably more time consuming and costly to arrange in the UK, since it involves having the document officially stamped by the Spanish consulate, which can take some time.
Mortgages are generally reasonably easy to set up in Spain however it should be noted that whilst the interest rates a currently less than in the UK, setting up costs can be very much higher with additional taxes and fees involved.
Making a Spanish will – This is a good idea if you intend acquiring property or other assets in Spain. It’s relatively simple and inexpensive to set up and can save an awful lot of problems for your next of kin if the worst should happen.
Preliminary contracts and Title searches. This essentially is designed to investigating the Legitimacy of the Property. When the client is satisfied that they have found the right property, we check to ensure that everything is in order so that the client can proceed with the purchase. Ideally we would request a copy of the “escritura “be sent to us or some other reference of the property in question. With this information we search the property database to establish the registered owner is the person offering the property for sale. We also check for any liens, mortgages or other encumbrances registered against the property.
Reserve agreements and pre purchase contracts.-In an ideal world we would always prefer to prepare our own contracts, however this is not always possible and in these cases we simply negotiate any contentious clauses with the vendor and ensure there is sufficient protection included for our client. The first contract to be signed is usually the Reserve contract. The most pressing point you are likely to have to face, if you have not already done so, is “Should I sign anything whilst on a trip looking a property?” Again in an ideal world we would not advise it. You should tell the vendor that you would like to buy and will sign the contract once your lawyers have checked it and advised you that everything is in order. Signing a contract that you do not fully understand is dangerous. You are likely to be offered one of two types of contract.

The first is a reservation contract under which you reserve the right to buy the property for a certain period in return for payment of a relatively small deposit. If you do not sign a full contract within the specified period, which should be at least 3 weeks, you will lose your deposit. (Usually no mention is made of any situation developing or being discovered which would allow you to have your money returned – this is one area we would try to negotiate).

The second type of contract is a full private purchase contract. This commits you to the purchase come what may- unless, for some reason the seller is unable to proceed. Even in this situation, whilst you would be legally entitled to recover the deposit paid, it might in practice or not cost effective to do so.Alternatively you might be asked to sign a formal offer to buy the property. If this is accepted by the seller it has an effect similar to that of a contract.
In fact in Spain you are often presented with a document that combines elements of all three of these documents- very often in a muddled and ill thought out way.
If you are asked to sign ANYTHING whilst on your viewing trip we strongly recommend you fax or email a copy to us first.
We will then

• Discuss whether it is necessary to sign anything at all at this stage.
• Go through the terms of the proposed contract with you
• Advise you whether the terms are fair and reasonable
• Suggest any changes we think are necessary
• Try to negotiate those changes, there and then, with the agent or developer concerned.You will then be clear about what you are signing and the consequences of signing it. This is not as good as giving us time to carry out a full investigation but it is a great deal better than nothing at all.

Upon acceptance of the offer and terms by the vendor the next step in the sales process is to execute the contracts of sale or to sign an option to purchase. This may take place within two weeks following formal acceptance of the offer or sooner. The private contract of sale or option will reflect all the agreed terms of the offer and sale and include the date for final completion at the Notary. It is customary practice at this stage to pay a percentage of the purchase price which is normally non-refundable should the purchaser not complete. (Again we would press for fair terms for the purchaser including penalties for vendor should he fail to complete)

Company Searches. In the event that the property is being sold by a company then we often provide a report on the financial status of the company. This gives us an indication of whether or not the company is likely to go bankrupt before the building project is finished or whether he has incurred excessive liabilities.

Preparation of Documentation for the Notary Once all these checks have been completed, the documentation for the new escritura is provided to the Notary. Any further points in question, regarding the transaction are then discussed with the Notary before the completion date so that everything is in order.
Attending the Notary on Completion. The documents presented by the notary to the vendor and the purchaser have to be translated so that all concerned understand what they are signing. Only officially qualified translators are able to perform this. Our translators are very familiar with this work. The notary is a highly qualified lawyer who’s job it is to ensure that all transactions are legal and that everyone concerned understands the implications of what they agree. However the Notary is impartial and does not represent or advise either of the parties involved.
Change Utility Contracts. As soon as you take possession of the property water, gas, electricity, telephone, contracts etc. need to be changed into your name. At the same time we would ensure the previous owner has paid all outstanding bills including any property taxes or outstanding fines.
The Legal department are responsible for preparing a full Legal Report, outlining any irregularities, or matters which need to be rectified. (Please see Search and Survey Reports)