Selling your
Property

In case your intention is to sell your Spanish property, Spain Solicitor may help you in any complication may arise in the process. Not only the buyer but the seller in the complex world of international property transfer really ought to have lawyer too. Some important tips you must have into account on selling your property are:

Step by step.

1. Firstly, the seller and buyer agree all the details of the purchase on what is called a “private contract”, at which time the buyer makes a substantial deposit, normally 10 per cent of the total price of the purchase.
2. This deposit takes your property off the market and holds it while the buyer assembles the full amount of the purchase price, it is a kind of reservation. In case both of you agree in signing an “arras agreement”, if the buyer does not complete the sale, he loses his deposit. If you, the seller, decide not to continue with the process, you have to return double the amount of the deposit.
3. When the two parties are ready to complete the sale, they go to the Spanish Notary and sign the sales contract at his office. In case you were not able no be present, the contract may be sign by proxy, giving a power of attorney.
4. This contract signed before the Notary should be taken to the Spanish Property Registry office so it become a registered document of public record.

Taxes to pay

You, as the seller, should pay the capital gains tax, although in some cases it is agreed that the buyer pays it.

Another seller’s obligation is to pay the fees for cancellation of encumbrances on the property such as mortgages. As we said before, this may also be agreed between buyer and seller.

In order to safe money on tax purposes, in the past, sellers used to declare the sales price much lower than the approximate market value. But things have changed, and tax inspectors could feel that the selling price is too low, applying seller heavy penalty. In order to avoid that, one of our solicitors will ask for you at the tax office which is the market value of your property to avoid future problems.

Non-resident sellers

In case you are non-resident willing to sell your property located in Spain, you should take into account you will have a 5% of the declared sale price withheld by the buyer.

This amount shall have deposited with the Spanish Tax Office, on account of the capital gains tax. Depending on your profit, once your tax liability is assessed, you will either have to pay more to the Spanish Tax Office or will get a refund of the portion deposited.

This process prevents non-resident property sellers taking the money and running.