New Life: Real Estate

Searching process.

Once we know where we want to live, the search process is laborious. It consists of searching for homes in the different real estate portals, which allow in New Life to filter by price, area, type of house, etc.

The portal that includes more housing and more recommended is www.idealista.com. Normally you can contact by email or phone on demand for each house you see advertised, and this is usually done with real estate agencies, although sometimes we can find ads from individuals.

It is here, when we find the houses that we like where we put the search process at risk, since we do not know which agency or agent we are going to find and what will be their degree of professionalism. The process carries on visiting homes and keep contacting ads until you find the house you like or want.

Reservation process.

When we have already found the house we like, we have visited it, we recommend to have done it at least twice, it is time to start the buying process. And this starts with the official reservation.

Initially we will have to negotiate a purchase price, from the advertised price there is usually a margin to negotiate around an average of 7%, as long as the advertised property is at a market price close to reality.

Once the price has been negotiated, the reservation contract (ARRAS) must be completed. This is a contract of agreement and commitment of purchase and sale between the parts, with all the details of the participants and the house, in a determined time and with an agreed price and form of payment.

At the signing of this contract between the parties, the buyer must make a transfer of 10% of the purchase value on account of the seller, and failure to comply with this contract will entail legal and economic penalties for the party who breaks it.

This process of reservation is what would replace the Escrow in USA. There are usually no problems with the signing of Arras contracts, we recommend analyzing the simple note of the land registry to verify that the signatories are the owners and that the property has no charges, unless it has a mortgage which is normal and that will be eliminated the same day of purchase of the property in the notary’s office.

In short, it is a simple process, which under the right supervision should be a smooth process.

Purchasing process.

Once we have the property reserved and secured for purchase, we have to start the purchase process. It is necessary to compile a series of documents for the buyer and seller to send to the notary, which is where the transaction will take place.

When the buyer is a foreigner, he must provide a series of documents from his country of origin, and above all he must have a bank account in Spain to issue a nominative check, the purchase can be made via bank transfer from Spain Central Bank or in some rare cases with a transfer from abroad, although these methods are not usually liked by the notary or the buyer.

So it is recommended to have a bank account, and the NIE, which is absolutely necessary. From there, the day of notary, with all the documentation in order is usually a little hateful due to the usual delays in notaries, but typically everything goes well, once again, if we are in the hands of good professionals.

And the moment we give the check and receive the keys and new deeds, we will be new owners in Spain.

When we talk about a new construction purchase, the process is similar. At the beginning and with only the passport, a reservation contract will be made between the promoter and the buyer with an amount of 10.000 euros normally.

Then, in less than 3 months from the reservation, 10% of the total amount will have to be paid, and then periodical payments will be made until the house is built.

Normally the day that we go to the notary’s office to sign the deed, we will have to pay between 30% and 50% of the value of the house and at this moment we should have all our paperwork, like the previous one, in order.

The prices of new construction are not negotiated unlike the used housing. It is important to ask for the money guarantees, and to see which bank guarantees the amounts that we deliver on account, if the house ends up not being built, the amounts delivered must be returned by the receiving bank, by law.

And you have to be very careful with the construction company, the promoter and the delivery times, since in many occasions these can be much longer than we expect. The reputation of the developer is crucial.

In NEW LIFE we can help in all areas related to real estate, as an agent dedicated exclusively to the buyer client and prior analysis of area and type of housing needed, we carry out the process of house search, contacting advertisers and organizing viewing routes.

We are in charge of analyzing and requesting all the documents, translating, verifying data and writing contract in the reservation process.

Finally we will work hand in hand with the notary, the sellers and our buyer clients to send, translate and request all the necessary documentation to make the purchase day a success for all parties.