You’ve Decided To Sell.... What Next
- Why you should use an agent
- If you use Zafira, what happens when you agree?
How You Can Help
A Buyer Has Been Found…What Happens Next
Sellers Financial Responsibilities
What Happens After The Sale.
When you use an agency you will pay a commission, but the benefits of greater market exposure outweigh the cost. A good agent will have to network your property with other colleagues locally and internationally and share the commission to ensure the best level of exposure and viewings. Agents in Spain accompany the clients on viewings and spend tremendous amounts of time preparing the correct portfolio and matching the right client with the right vendor: so it’s worth forming a team with your agent as their networking is essential to ensure proper market exposure.
When offering your property through an agency it is important that you offer a gross price inclusive of commission and a small negotiation factor. It is more than likely that a potential buyer will want to haggle, so it’s important to have a margin prepared. Furthermore, offering your property at different prices through several agencies is not a viable strategy. A client may revisit your property with another company and become confused and angry if it is offered at a different price.
By granting sole agency, your agent will be more responsible to you. You have the right to demand more service, communication and effort from a sole agent than by listing your property with several agencies. Ensure that both you and your agent agree a good sales strategy, and that he advertises your property in the manner agreed such as advertising in local mediums or networking your property with other agents. It is especially important that he report to you regularly on sales activity. Finding a buyer for a property is a numbers game: the more people who view the property, the greater the likelihood that someone will negotiate for its purchase.
Once you’ve decided to market your property a sales representative will make an appointment to come to your house to take details, photographs and explain the sales process to you.
When we have this information we prepare a sales flyer, this is featured in our display window, catalogue of properties, on the website and in various advertising campaigns which we undertake, we also have a database of buyers waiting which we cross reference on a regular basis to see if we have a match and a network of other agents who we update with the new listing.
We have a lot of traffic through the shop, and as our sales executive has personally seen your property he is in the best position to sell its highlights and put it forward to suitable clients. We don’t believe in wasting your time, so we do try to ensure that clients are well vetted before they cross your threshold.
We will then put up a for sale board as this always results in increased client enquiries.
In order to speed up the sales process we need copies of the following documents so that we can open your file:
- Signed sales contract
- Copy of Escritura (deeds to the house)
- Copy of Aguagest, Iberdrola and Suma bills
- Copy of your passport
- Copy of your NIE number
- Copy of your resident card or certificate
- Copies of building licence, project books and final de obras (if applicable)
- Certificate of Habitation
- Copy of community fees
- Inventory of what’s included in the sale
The reason that we ask for these is the save time if we have a cash buyer who wants to complete quickly. We can start preparing the file straight away and can do the relevant searches and checks.
If you come to the office a member of staff will be more than happy to make copies for you and advise on any extra paperwork needed. We are open Monday to Friday 10am to 7pm (no siesta) and Saturday 10am to 2pm.
At this point you need to stop looking at the house as your home and start looking at it as a property for sale, fix all those outstanding jobs that need doing, de-clutter, re-paint if needed – see our guide to presenting your house for sale.
Link to page goes here
If you plan to go back to the UK it is imperative that we have easy access to the property along with all your UK contact numbers. The best solution for us is a spare set of keys to the house, but if you’re not comfortable with this then you need to leave the keys with a friend and ensure that we have all their contact numbers.
If you have concerns about your availability in coming back to Spain in order to finalize the sale this is also a good time to think about leaving us with a power of attorney. This is quick and easy to do and could save you the air fares and inconvenience of coming back to Spain at short notice.
Once we have contacted you and a sale has been agreed in principle we start to prepare the paperwork in order to secure the sale and ultimately take it to the notary for completion.
The process we follow includes:
A Nota Simple is requested on the property.
With this document from the Property Registry (Registro de la Propiedad), we can ensure that the property is free of debt, it is properly registered to you, and the description of the property matches the deeds (to avoid surprises about missing square meters, wrong road numbers etc. etc.).
A deposit is paid and a private contract is drawn up between seller and buyer.
Sometimes the buyer needs a little more time to finalise their finances (obtain a mortgage etc) and a holding deposit is paid in order to take the property off the market for an agreed amount of time. Normally this is between 1,000€ to 3,000€ and this reserves the property for a period of 2-4 weeks.
Once the buyers finances are sorted they pay the balance of the deposit which is normally 10% of the agreed asking price. At this point a private contract is drawn up between the seller and buyer in order to protect both parties. The typical agreement in Spain is if the buyer backs out of the contract, they lose the deposit; if the seller backs out, they have to pay double the deposit. Once the contract is signed then the deposit is handed over.
A notary date is set.
The sale of the property is done before the notary on a date agreeable to all parties. You may be asked a serious of questions and be asked to provide extra paperwork in order to help us prepare the documentation prior to this date.
On the day of the sale both parties meet at the notary, the deeds are translated and details verified.
The following must then be presented at the notary:
- Original NIE number and passport if non resident in Spain
- Original resident card or resident certificate and passport if resident
- Original Power of Attorney (if applicable)
- Old escritura (house deeds)
- Last SUMA bill stamped as paid from the bank
- Last community certificate paid up to date
- Original building project book, building licence and final de obra (if applicable) or
- Certificate of Antiquity if building papers are not in order (if applicable)
- Buyers payment
- Keys to the property
Once the deeds have been checked and agreed upon the buyer and seller sign the contract; beneath their signature the notary signs along with the translator and the sale is complete.
Sellers Financial Responsibilities.
Money is normally held from the seller to cover the following (usually this is held from the original 10% deposit paid):
- SUMA
- Plusvalia
- 3% retention on the declared value
- Fiscal representation if non-resident
- Money to cover building legalization (if applicable)
- Commission for sale
- Cost for cedula de habitabilidad if none available
But what does that actually mean 
SUMA (council tax) - In the year that you sell your house you are liable for payment of the SUMA bill, even if you sell on 1st January!
Plusvalia - a tax set by the local authorities and based on the increase of the value of the land from the date the owner acquired the property to the time of the sale. The local authorities determine the amount of plusvalía to be paid for each house sale in Spain, depending on the area where the property is located. The market value or sales price of the property does not have an effect on the plusvalía tax. The seller pays the plusvalía tax which is calculated according to the rateable value of the property and the number of years it has been in the ownership of the vendor.
Retention for non-residents - as a non resident in Spain 3% of the declared value is retained, however the Capital Gains Tax is calculated at 18%. An accountant will pay the tax on your behalf and once paid then petition the tax office to see whether any of the tax can be refunded.
Fiscal Representation - if you are a non resident and have to pay the above taxes then an accountant needs to be employed in order to present and then try to re-claim the taxes from the hacienda (tax office).
New Build Taxes - if you are declaring building work at the point of the sale you will also have to pay 1% tax on the declared value of the building work.
Cedula de Habitabilidad - this is a certificate of habitation which all houses need from May 2007. If the town hall no longer has a copy of your certificate (they keep them for about 5 years) then you need to get an architect to prepare a new one for you. This will not hold up the sale of the house but it is your responsibility to ensure that you have one available to give to the new owner.
At the point of sale a fiscal representative will be appointed to you and it is their responsibility to ensure that all taxes on behalf of both the seller and buyer are paid within 30 days from the date of signing the deeds. As extra protection for you, the fiscal representative receives a fine if the taxes are not paid within this time frame.
Once all the taxes are paid the new deeds are presented to the Land Registry and the ownership of the property is transferred from your name into that of the new owners.
All the utilities will also be changed over after the sale into the new owners name but we always recommend that you cancel all direct debits on the day of the sale.
