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Once youve chosen your ideal property and found a Spanish mortgage how do you go about completing the purchase?

Many foreign countries have different regulations regarding the buying and selling of property; this includes Spain where such transactions are regulated. As such hiring an English speaking lawyer would be advisable. Be certain there are no debts or restrictions on the property you plan to purchase.

The legal process for purchasing property located in Spain falls under two types of transactions. First you have the Contrato privado de compraventa, or the preliminary contract, and then you have the Escritura de compravents, or completion contract.

Once both parties have agreed to the price, then a preliminary private sales contract should be signed. The vendor must provide proof that he or she owns the property free of any charges before this Contrato privado de compraventa has been signed. The purchaser must pay the debts of their property as part of their %LINK2% agreement. Nota Simple documents were developed to validate if a property has an outstanding debts.

The preliminary sales contract will be drawn up to contain all of the necessary details including the date of completion, the purchase price and the description of the property. Expect to pay a deposit that ranges between 5 and 15 percent of the purchase price. A bonded client account is where the funds will be kept for you. You can sign the private preliminary sales contract and not put down a deposit but it is not advised.

Escritura de compraventa is otherwise known as the second or final contract stage. The customer will need to pay all fees and the price of the product on the date of completion. Both the vendor and the buyer must sign the contract at the same time. This contract is equivalent to a deed on the purchased property. Also known in Spain as the escritura, the purchaser will received this deed which is usually in front of a Notary Public. In order for everything to be legal a copy of the deed will have to go through the tax office and property registry. In Spain, all deeds of sale must be witnessed by a Notary Public, which is a public official in that country. However, you need to have your own legal counsel to protect your own interests during the transaction. Also keep in mind that as the purchaser you will be required to pay property sales taxes as well as the legal fees for the Notary Public.