Conveyancing service

Strong Abogados offers two services to represent you when buying a property:

• Start Up Service covers everything up to the signed pre-agreement, including the necessary property checks.
• Full Service is our complete conveyancing package.

FAQs:

Links:

What do your conveyancing services include?

Our Start Up Service includes:

• Confirm that the seller is the owner of the property, find out if the property is free of debt, and that the description of the property matches the seller's description. Strong Abogados will control the legality of the claim and demand the necessary licenses and authorisations, so that the buyer will be sure that they are buying in accordance with the law, and understand the state of liens and encumbrances described. For a new construction, confirm that the developer is the owner of the land, and check the legal status of the developer.
• Agree on the terms of the purchase with the seller or their attorney, such as who pays what taxes, and what furniture or appliances (if any) will be included in the sale.
• For a new construction, review the zoning certificate (certificación urbanística del terreno), the construction project (proyecto de edificación) and the permit allowing construction work (licencia de obras).
• Draft or review the pre-agreement.
• Review that the seller's mortgage, if any, was cancelled.
• If the seller is non-resident, ensure that the fees they will pay have been transferred to the account of a responsible resident party. This includes the 3% tax on the sale of a non-resident's property.

Our Full Service includes all of the above, plus:

Preparation for the Closing

• Draft/review the deed, adjusting it according to the instructions of the various parties, while pursuing the best interests of the client.
• Communicate with the notary: review all documents, and make all necessary preparations for the signing. This includes resolution of any issues that may arise, such as problems derived from cancellation of the seller's mortgage, incorrect inscription of the property, and last-minute requests from the bank providing the mortgage.
• Confirm that the seller's mortgage, if any, will be cancelled.
• For a new construction, review the mortgage in case it has been subrogated from that established by the developer, or cancel it, and if necessary, propose a new mortgage.
• If the seller is non-resident, ensure that the fees they will pay have been transferred to the account of a responsible resident party. This includes the 3% tax on the sale of a non-resident's property.
• For a new construction, we keep you informed of the development's progress, in terms of approval of the plan parcial, and construction licences.

The Closing

• Appear at the notary's office for the signing.
• If you are unable to be present at the closing, we arrange a prior appointment for you with a notary either in Spain or in a Spanish Consulate, so that you can grant us a power of attorney to sign for you at the closing.
• Once the closing is completed, we follow up to ensure that the property gets correctly registered at the Property Registry.
• Ensure that the notary registers the purchase with the Property Registry.
• Strong Abogados offers additional services once the closing has been completed, such as filing your property taxes, and if you bought the property in the name of an investment group, sending reports to the investors.

What other costs are involved in buying a property?

Use our expenses calculator to get an idea of the total costs involved in your purchase, as well as when you will need to pay them. The expenses calculator includes all fees and taxes generally ascribed to the buyer. Keep in mind, however, that whether the buyer or the seller pays the various fees and taxes is always negotiable. Who pays the fees should be clearly specified in the pre-agreement.

Your office is in Barcelona. How do you represent the rest of Spain?

For our Startup Service, we do all the work from our office. For our Full Service, we have a network of regional real estate lawyers. While most of the work is done from our office, we are in close contact with the lawyer for your region so they can perform the final task of managing the closing.

Can I avoid travelling to Spain for the closing?

Yes. You can give us power of attorney, and we will represent you at the closing.

Can you represent me for the sale of my property in Spain?

Yes. Please see our information about buying a property, because most of it is relevant to you as a seller. As a seller, you have specific obligations. It is essential for you to know these and comply with them. Strong Abogados will inform you about them, particularly those relating to taxes. If you are a non-resident and a retainer was withheld from you for taxes, you may be able to recoup part of this payment by filing the forms. This retainer is a consequence of the seller's obligation to pay tax on revenue obtained in Spain.