New
Properties
Precautions before buying a new built property in Spain
- Before buying the property: publicity
Your first contact when you decide to buy a property in Spain will almost certainly be the State Agent. That is the main reason why the vendor advertising has an essential importance.
The seller should follow the dispositions of the General Publicity Law from November 5th, 1988, which provides that the advertising target is to promote on a direct or indirect way, the properties purchasing (...) and it is dishonest the advertising which can induce the seller to make an error on his decision, causing him any economical damage.
It is also illegal the publicity which does not inform the purchaser about essential data of the property.
So, every offer, promotion and advertising directed to the property purchase, should adjust to the real characteristics, conditions and utility of them, and should also express whether the houses are being built, or if the building has already finished (according to the RD 515/ 89, April 21th).
- Buying the property: the buyer’s right to information.
The developer is legally required to provide you the following documents:
- House map and map of the house situation. Building specifications and description of the electricity, water, gas and heating networks and fire protection measures. Dimensions and specifications of the fixture and fittings. This information is contained in the “ quality description” (memoria de calidades)
- Instructions of the use and maintenance of the installations.
- Property description and details of the useful surface, common zones and accessory services.
- Details of the registration of the building in the Property Registry, or mention of the building permit.
- Reference to the materials used in the construction of the property.
The right to information should also be extended to one of the essential elements of the purchase contract: the price. You should take into account some important aspects about it:
- The price itself.
- A reduction of the price because of an advanced financing of the buyer.
- A postpone payment and its interest.
- Financing payment (according to the edification) and penalties because of the delay in the payment or even if the developer does not complete the construction on time.
The content of the right to information, according to the RD 515/1989, is the following:
The information about the purchase price should be detailed and especially clear. That includes:
- Total price of the property which should include the Agent fees and the VAT. In any case the quotes for the Stamp Duty and for the Property Transfer Tax should be indicated.
- Ways of payment. In case of possible postponement they should indicate the interest rate.
- Admissible ways of payment for the postpone quantities.
- Should also be clearly indicated the Public Notary who authorized the deeds, date, inscription data from the Property Registry, and the mortgage responsibility from every property.
- Guarantees for the buyer and the advanced payments.
The breaking (infraction) of the right to information has been reported to the Consumers and Users Association in several occasions. As an example we list you some of the most alarming statistical data.
The 60% of the developers do not inform the buyer about the details of the property registration (at the Property Registry) and they do not inform in a written way about the payments guarantee.
The 30 % do not provide the buyer with the prices on a written document, they just give them orally, with the possibility of changing them whenever they want.
The 25% of the developers don’t inform the buyer in a written way about the useful surface of the property.
The 59% of the developer do not provide the purchase contract until having received the money, so the buyer do not have the possibility of studying it carefully.
In many of the contracts the guarantee conditions or the completion dates were omitted.
In some contracts they gave low information about the mortgage loan.