Selling

PROCESS

Carefully crafted actions come together

Cancellation of supplies

Once the sale of your property has been formalized, we will handle the cancellation or transfer of the contracted supplies, cancel the direct debits, pay the sales taxes, as well as claim any returns that may be applicable.

Documentation required

You should provide a series of documents to your real estate agent and your legal representative to begin the selling process of your property. These documents are:

1.- Copy of title deed or other proof of ownership

2.- Passport, ID or NIE

3.- Fiscal Residence Certificate (if applicable)

4.- Nota Simple (Extract from the Land Registry)

5.- First Occupancy License or Habitability Certificate

6.- Receipt of the most recent IBI (Local Council Tax)

7.- Certificate of the Community of Owners

8.- If you have a mortgage: Certificate of Outstanding Debt

9.- Latest Supply Invoices

Power of Attorney

It is highly recommended that, regardless of whether or not you can attend the date of signature of the sale of your property, you grant us with a power of attorney which authorizes us to perform a series of administrative procedures on your behalf that, upon signature, have to be done. The cancellation of supply contracts and insurance policies, the sale notification to the City Council and community of owners, the tax return or, if necessary, the refund of taxes paid, or the registration of mortgage cancellation at the Land Registry, are some of those tasks.

Real Estate Agent

While it is not mandatory to hire the services of a real estate agent, it is highly recommended. No one better than them know the demand of the area and will advise you on such important aspects as the correct selling price. In addition, they have the resources to market your property in an efficient manner to achieve potential clients.

However, it is advisable to send us a copy of the sales mandate to be granted to the estate agency to verify that everything is correct and check the terms of the agreement. Real estate agents are not experts in legal and tax matters, so no one better than your legal representative to oversee everything concerning the sale of your property.

Sale Contract

Once the offer made for your property is accepted, we, as your legal representative, will provide the purchaser with all the necessary documentation so that they can carry out their relevant legal controls.

In the same way, together with you, we will draft a sale contract with the agreed terms and will send it to the buying party for their approval.

Sale Deed Signature

The signature of the deed of purchase will be done at a public notary. In this act, the seller grants title of ownership to the buyer and the buyer pays the remaining amount pending from the agreed selling price.

The notary will sign the minutes once confirmed the transaction has been carried out according to the law, verifying through the Land Registry the updated information about the property and ratifying that there are no last minute charges or foreclosures on the property. After signing the minutes, the notary will send an electronic copy of the Ownership Title to the Land Registry so that the owners are registered immediately.

We will accompany you and verify that all the documentation and details of the transaction are in order, being your translator and interpreter in the whole process.

If, for some reason you could not attend the date of signature, we would sign on your behalf as long as you have provided us with power of attorney to do so. The power can be signed at a public notary in Spain; In any Spanish embassy or consulate abroad, or at a public notary of your country of residence, in which case must be translated into Spanish and legalized with the apostille of the Hague Convention.

Regardless of whether or not you can attend the signature of the purchase, we always advise providing such power as they will allow us to carry out various administrative actions on your behalf.

When signing, sellers will hand over the property keys to the buyers, and buyers will pay the remaining amount of the selling price agreed through a bank check. It will take from 2 to 3 days to the seller to have access to those funds from the moment the check has been deposited in the bank.

Taxes and Gains

Before accepting an offer for your property, it is important to be properly informed of what your net profit will be after having paid the taxes and expenses of the sale in order to avoid later unpleasant surprises.

We will help you perform these calculations.

TAXES & COSTS

Always striving for excellence

3% Retention to Non-Residents 

The profit obtained after the transfer of a property is subject to taxes.

Non Spanish resident sellers are required by law to withhold 3% of the amount received from the sale. This amount must be paid to the Spanish Treasury within a maximum period of one month.

When the outcome of the property sale results being a loss or if the withheld amount is higher than what the seller must pay as capital gain tax, a refund can be requested to the Tax Office General Directorate by submitting a specific application form to that effect.

If the tax authorities do not contest the amounts recorded in the statement of income, the amount claimed will be returned within a period of 10 months from the date of sale. However, tax authority will only authorize devolution as long as the taxpayer is up to date with tax obligations.

Capital Gain Tax

As mentioned above, the gain obtained through the sale of a property is a taxable income, and the current rate is 19%.

The net profit is the difference between the purchase and sale prices, whose deductible expenses have already been added and subtracted, respectively.

For properties acquired prior to 31 December 1994 there is a special transitional regime allowing certain reductions to be applied when calculating the tax.

Estate Agents Commission 

The estate agent’s commission usually ranges from 4% to 7% of the sales price, plus the corresponding VAT (currently 21%). This commission will be paid to the estate agent when the deed is signed, once the total sale price has been received and, as the lawyer’s fees, this amount can be deducted when calculating the capital gain tax.

Lawyers Fee

Generally, lawyer’s fees are 1% of the sale price, plus the corresponding VAT. These fees are an expense that can be deducted when calculating the Capital Gain Tax associated with the sale.

Property Certification of Energy Performance

Owners must provide purchasers with a certificate of energy performance issued by a qualified technician, in accordance with the European directives on energy and environment.

Excluded from this obligation are properties whose size is less than 50 m2, properties inhabited less than four months a year, or properties that, although being inhabited for a longer period, have a consumption of less than 25% of normal consumption throughout the year.

The Plusvalia Tax

This is a municipal tax which is calculated based on the value increase of the land where the property is located. The law dictates that this tax must be paid by the seller. The amount varies depending on the municipalities but the factors that determine the amount refer to the location, the size, the percentage of reciprocal participation, and the years since the last transmission of the property.