Many citizens of different countries of the world today dream of leaving their noisy bustling cities with poor ecology at least for a while and moving at least for a while, or even better for good, to the warm sea and gentle sun. At the same time, interest is most often shown in Spain – a wonderful country where you can make your dream come true. After all, the numerous Mediterranean resorts of this country annually welcome many thousands of vacationers.
Among the regions worthy of attention, Murcia occupies a special place: here you will find excellent living conditions at fairly affordable prices. In Murcia, property for sale has been in high demand for a long time.
However, before you start packing your bags and setting off on the journey to your dream, you should carefully plan the process of buying a home in Spain, so as not to encounter unforeseen circumstances in the future. Along with financial issues, you should have detailed, reliable information about the legal side of the transaction.
Stages of buying real estate in Murcia: legal component
First of all, you need to invite for cooperation a qualified lawyer who has sufficient experience in supporting this type of transactions and is well aware of the intricacies of the local real estate market. This will greatly facilitate the solution of your problems, which arise, among other things, due to ignorance of the Spanish language, and the choice of Murcia property for sale and its subsequent acquisition will be significantly accelerated.
The main issues that a lawyer should deal with include a complete check of of the selected property for due diligence, which includes:
- confirmation of the owner of the property;
- absence of any debt obligations for the property.
Also, a lawyer can foresee all possible risks that should be taken seriously:
- incorrectly prepared package of documents;
- incorrect calculation of the budget for completing a transaction and subsequent ownership of the property;
- poor validation of the selected property;
- ignorance of the intricacies of Spanish legislation, etc.
Paying for a lawyer’s services usually costs €1,500-2,000 excluding VAT.
A lawyer or real estate agent can accompany you during negotiations with the owner of the selected Murcia property for sale in order to agree on counter-offers on the terms of the transaction and the price of the property. After approval of the terms of the transaction, both parties enter into a preliminary agreement to reserve the property, and the buyer pays a deposit of €3,000-5,000. In this case, the object of purchase is removed from sale on the open market.
After checking the property, reserving it and making the final decision to purchase, a purchase and sale agreement should be prepared, which must be signed within one month after the reservation.
A potential foreign buyer must obtain a foreigner identification number (Número de Identificación de Extranjero, NIE) in advance and open an account in a Spanish bank to accumulate the required amount of funds. If they are insufficient, consider other sources of financing, including obtaining a mortgage loan. In Murcia, property for sale is actively sold through mortgages, for which banks offer good conditions.
The transaction is completed in the presence of a notary in a notary’s office, where the parties sign the purchase and sale agreement. The buyer pays the remainder of the funds after paying the deposit, and is also required to pay the relevant taxes and fees:
- ITP – in Murcia it is 8%;
- payment for notary services – about 1% of the transaction amount;
- real estate registration fee – €500-1000;
- mortgage loan payments, etc.
After signing the purchase and sale agreement, you must register ownership of the purchased property at the Land Registry office, and this will also be done by your lawyer. You also need to register as the new owner of the property with the tax office, as a utility payer and, if necessary, in the community of property owners.
As can be seen from the above, the process of purchasing Murcia property for sale, on the one hand, is quite time-consuming and requires a lot of effort and knowledge, but on the other hand, with the help of qualified specialists, all stages of the transaction can be carried out systematically and without any additional expenditure of resources . And believe us: as soon as it’s all over and you become the owner of a beautiful house or apartment, you will fully appreciate the correctness of your decision to buy a home in beautiful Spain.