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  • Stage One: Pre-contract enquiries
  • Once the seller has accepted your offer, you should exchange solicitors' details with him.Before any agreement is signed we will make pre-contract enquiries

    1. Local Authority Searches

    - Enquiries are sent to the local authority such as whether there are any plans for a major road to be built nearby, or whether there are any problems with the property which you would need to rectify.We’ll provide you with an official certificate which express that the property is free of any breach on planning regulations

    - Planning constraints and permissions: whether any additions or alterations that have been made to the property have met local planning requirements and that building regulation consent was received.

    - Paid-up receipt of property tax from council or IBI (Municipal real estate tax)

    - Cadastral certificate

    2. Enquiries to the seller's solicitor

    We will send a standard set of enquiries to the seller's solicitor which will include:

    - Disputes: whether there are any disputes relating to the property, such as disputes with neighbours.

    - Boundaries: what exactly are the boundaries of the property because arguments over boundaries sometimes even escalate to court cases between neighbours, so it is important to establish this at the very beginning.

    - Rights of way: checking that there is no right of way or footpath through the property, and on shared rights of access with a neighbour such as a garden or driveway.

    - Guarantees or insurance policies: for example whether the property is still covered by compulsory guarantees established in the Building Act

    - List of contents included in the sale: we will provide you a clear understanding about what is and what is not to be included and listed it clearly. We will tell you what fixtures, fittings and other items are included in the price and which will be removed.

    - Paid-up receipts for all utility bills

    2. Enquiries to the community of owners.

  • If you decide to buy a property in a condo or community of owners we'll check the financial health of the Homeowners' Association as well as its governing documents which could have some restrictions on your ownership rights
    We'll obtain the most current set of restrictions because they may have been amended at some point after the development was built as well as the last financial statement showing actual income and expenses. These documents will show actual projections for certain expenses and will allow you to compare one year to another.

    We'll look at the operating costs of the community; find out how much money is in the community reserves going over all the governing and regulatory documents of the association as well as the association meetings' minutes.

    Sometimes people who purchase a property in a community do not know anything about assessments. Assessments are money collected from the community owners by the association usually on a monthly basis to take care of costs associated with the upkeep and repair of common-area parts of the community, like pools or garden maintenance. You will have to pay your fair share, whatever that is, and if you do not this can lead to very serious consequences, including a lawsuit or even foreclosure on your property.

    We'll obtain a certificate stating the status of all assessments affecting the property you are interested, otherwise you will become jointly and severally liable for all unpaid assessments for common expenses prior to a limited and statutory time of the sale.

    3. Land Registry

    Spanish system of land registration is designed to ensure that the buyer secures title to the land together with all the rights that run with the land, and is notified of any restrictions in advance of purchase encouraging reliance on public records and assuring purchasers of land that they are taking good title.
    Although land registration is not compulsory in Spain it is not advisable to buy a property which has not been registered

    4. Title search

    We’ll conduct an exhaustive title search. A title search is a process that is performed primarily to determine the answer to three questions:

    -Does the seller have a salable interest in the property?
    -What kind of restrictions or allowances pertains to the use of the land (real covenants, easements, or other servitude's)?
    -Do any liens exist on the property which needs to be paid off at closing (mortgages, back taxes, mechanic's liens, or other assessments)?

    We’ll also search for bankruptcy proceedings against the owner of the property