Marbella Property Buying Tips

June 27, 2011 - PRLog -- The British Embassy in Spain has recently said that there are more British people living in Spain than in any other country, other than Britain itself. They estimate that there are approximately 300,000 British ex-pats living on the Costa Del Sol alone. They said that it is difficult to be accurate as the population changes with the seasons and with local economic conditions. What is certain is that the Costa in general and Marbella in particular are very popular British venues.

Assuming that a potential British buyer is considering property purchase in Marbella, what should they look out for?

•   Get independent advice. These advisors include the property agent, the lender and the lawyer. These people are vital to the smooth running of the purchase and whilst many horror stories are told, most purchases run very smoothly with no problems. Where problems have arisen they can usually be traced back to poor or biased advice being given.
•   Once the actual sale has been agreed, get an NIE number. This registration for foreigners is necessary to buy the property and pay the appropriate taxes. It is also needed to open a bank account and buy a car.
•   It is your lawyer’s job to check, but you must make sure that the property has been properly registered. It is common where older properties have been extended that the land registry wasn’t properly notified. When you come to apply for a mortgage the bank will either refuse the loan altogether or offer a reduced amount. If you believe that the property has been extended, make sure that the registration reflects that. This mostly applies to rural properties so you may not come across this in Marbella, but be aware and check.
•   Make sure that it is your vendor’s name on the registration. Again, your lawyer should check this, but so should you. You can obtain a nota simple from the land registry just to make sure.
•   Make sure that there are no taxes outstanding on the property. In Spain, it is the owner of the property that is liable for the equivalent of Council Tax. If the previous owner has not paid it, you will be liable. This is a particularly important point if you are buying a repossessed property. To make matters slightly more complicated, the tax records are not kept at the land registry. Your lawyer will probably check. Just make sure that you know the true situation.
•   Be sure that there are no sitting tenants. In Spain a tenant is perfectly entitled to stay in his rented property until the agreement expires and there is no way that you can evict him, other than if he infringes the tenancy agreement, like not paying the rent. You should be particularly careful of this if you are buying a repossessed property. Your agent will be able to help you with this but if you are buying directly from a bank, be very careful indeed.
•   If you are buying a unit in a community, ask your agent for a copy of the Community Statutes and Internal Community Rules. You need to be fully aware of your rights and responsibilities as an owner as well as knowing what the running costs of the community are.
•   Finally, after completion make sure that your name is properly mentioned in the property registration. This can take up to two months or even longer if a bank loan is involved. Your bank is usually responsible for registering the mortgage, buy keep checking until you are sure that the registration is correct.

Michael Liggan of http://www.altavistaspain.com says: "The general advice about buying Spanish property is always the same. Get independent advice from people that you trust. Don’t rush into anything but be reasonable and get on with things. Otherwise your advisors may think of you as a dreamer and time waster".

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Alta Vista Spain is a real estate company in Marbella on the Costa del Sol, Spain. Michael Liggan is a driving force and our chief property bargain hunter.