Buying a property: the precise steps required?

Hi all,

So many have been helpful the last few days here so far, and I am hoping you can be again.

After sorting where I would like to live last month on a recce, I hope to find a shortlist of properties and visit them on a return trip in January with a view to purchase a property for cash in February (if I fall in love with one of the shortlisted properties).

I have carried out some research as regards getting a lawyer (SMG seem highly thought of), but I am wondering exactly what my next steps are?

Do I make an appointment with the Spanish consulate here in London to get my NIE before purchasing?

When exactly should I engage the lawyers?

Is there anything else I have forgotten?

Many thanks,

Mac

Get your NIE in UK before coming over. The appointment system here seems rather crazy with delays so that would be one thing you wouldn't be rushing around for.

Once you have found the house you want and agreed a price with the seller, engage a solicitor as you will be expected to put down a deposit. This deposit should be handed to the solicitor for safe keeping and not the estate agents who will probably ask for it and don't be pressured into handing over a reservation deposit to take the property off the market, it is not required.

Lots of decent solicitors around but a few not so decent so always take a recommendation. SMG have been recommened but Abaco solicitors in Torrevieja are also very good as are others. We used *Aro.. ..... for our first property, don't use them. We used Abaco for the one we have now and found them excellent. Bur don't use the solicitor recommended by the estate agents. They will be operating on behalf of the estate agents and not you.

Best of luck.
*Won't use the full name but if a solicitor beginning with Aro... is recommended, run a mile.

First priority ( imo) is to identify and engage your own solicitors/ abogados. Then you are in a position to act ( and safely) should you see a property you like.And in appointing your own lawyers first, you can be sure they are yours. Decent Lawyers eg SGM are not going to start racking up costs before they actually do any work for you. Au contraire, they will give you a clear, itemised, list of costs you can expect when buying a house. While Marcliff is generally correct to avoid solicitors recommended by an Estate Agent, this is really on account of the risk if you are dealing with some big construction company that the solicitors they recommend are really their own in house people and not independent. For example, Citrine is a fairly small ( and in all my experience, reliable and honest) Estate Agent in Quesada, not big enough to be operating their own legal wings and I understand they point people in the direction of SGM Abogados , if asked . That should certainly not be taken as a negative indicator for either Citrine or SGM.

It is important to obtain your NIE early in the process.This is your financial identification. You cannot conduct any financial transactions eg house buying in Spain without it. Now whether it is easier ( or cheaper) to get this via a UK consulate , as Marcliff suggests, or here in Spain, I don't know. I DO know that SGM will arrange it all for you here in Spain( get your NIE etc) assuming you would rather pay for that convenience. If you are very time-poor you can even give them a POA to sort out stuff for you. So one early decision for you to make is how far you want to do things yourself and how far you are willing to pay a reputable body ( abogado or, ' gestor' ) to do stuff for you. Yes it costs to get things done for you ( and I would say SGM will not be the cheapest. They will however be absolutely dependable, which is not necessarily true of the cheaper service providers..)

Good luck in your aspiration to be able to pick from a shortlist of properties in February. You may ( I hope you are! ) be lucky and your preferred property purchase may go through straight and easy. However, be warned that things are not always that straightforward, for sometimes unaccountable, weird and wonderful reasons ( I speak from experience...) and don't assume it will all be plain sailing just because you are a ready and willing buyer. That's when the virtues of the good lawyer you have already appointed come to the fore... who can take as much of the pain away as possible.

Ultimately, with a good lawyer, you can buy safely and they will alert you to the things you need to do etc.

The only thing I would add to the above, we based our list of solicitors on reviews then interviewed 3 law firms and selected the one we felt we could work with (she also had a senior position on the Spanish Bar association), we also signed a Power of Attorney which made our life easier (during Covid) Also her english language was perfect and we received correspondence in English and Spanish

The purchase was stress free, we exchanged contracts and collected the keys a week later at the solicitors office.

How much typically would I expect to have paid for a lawyer from start to finish? All in, so to speak?

Most solicitors charge 1% of the cost. Some 0.8% for higher priced properties but they should tell you that a the beginning.

If you reckon on 14% of the cost of the property for all fees and taxes you won't go far wrong.

Very interested in reading about solicitor fees for buying. We are thinking of selling and currently reviewing estate agents and solicitors.We currently have a solicitor who has served us well although not cheap. One estate agent recommended one in Torre. With no connection to them but they have used them for many years Legal fees for selling €500. Sounds very low so just wondered if it’s sound

Thanks all. I emailed the Spanish Consulate here in London today for an appointment for an NIE. One requirement is to bring proof you need one. I obviously have nothing but my intentions and wants list on Idealista, but I have told them that and will see what they say.

Otherwise, I shall leave it in the hands of the lawyers when i engage them.

Just heard back from the Spanish Consulate and they have suggested I contact them once I source a property. I'll leave it to the lawyers.

Update: I have been compiling a short-list of properties I plan to view in January. I have also contacted SMG to ask they when I should bring them into the process.