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Home-sellers’ checklist

Author: Spanish lawyer Raymundo Larrain Nesbit Raymundo Larraín Nesbitt
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Lawyer Raymundo Larraín gives us a rundown on the points we should have ready on selling a house in Spain. This is the third, and final, of a three-part series on buying & selling property in Spain.

By Raymundo Larraín Nesbitt
Director of Larraín Nesbitt Abogados
8th of May 2020

Article copyrighted © 2018, 2020. Plagiarism will be criminally prosecuted.

Marbella-based Larraín Nesbitt Lawyers has over 17 years’ taxation & conveyancing experience at your service. We offer a wide range of 40 legal and corporate services. Our team of native English-speaking lawyers and economists have a long track record successfully assisting expats all over Spain.

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Congratulations, you have found a buyer for your Spanish property! You should now instruct a lawyer to represent you in the sale, particularly if you are non-resident in Spain.

To secure the deal, your appointed lawyer will require from you a long list of documents you should have ready at hand. These documents will then be forwarded to the buyer, or his legal representative, as they are necessary to prepare a due diligence.

Following this, the next step would be exchanges; to sign the all-important Private Purchase Contract (contrato privado de compraventa, in Spanish). At times, buyer’s & seller’s skip this key step and go straight to completion, but in my opinion, this is unadvisable for reasons I won’t go into.

The below list is thought only for non-resident sellers acting as physical persons. If the seller is a holding company, there would be additional documents that need to be handed over to a buyer, or his representative.

Selling property may at times prove a daunting and stressful ordeal for sellers; to save yourself aggravation and time it is most advisable a seller pre-empts this by collating the below list well ahead of time.

You are welcome.

Seller’s checklist

  • Full scanned copy of your purchase Title Deed
  • (Updated) scanned copy of a Nota Simple
  • Copies of your national ID, passport and NIE Number certificate (in force). A duplicate NIE certificate is at times demanded by notaries if your certificate already expired i.e. 3-month validity (the assigned number never changes)
  • Copy of recent utility invoices (water & electricity)
  • Copy of IBI tax invoices, for the previous 4 years
  • Copy of Refuse Charge (Basura, in Spanish), for the previous 4 years
  • Energy Performance Certificate
  • Licence of First Occupation
  • Community of Owner’s administrator contact details
  • Scanned copies of the minutes of the last three General Assemblies (Junta General Ordinaria, in Spanish)
  • Community of Owner’s Certificate stating the property being sold is not in arrears
  • Spanish fiscal residency certificate (to avoid a 3% retention on the sales proceeds)
  • Copy of Power of Attorney, if instructing a lawyer (it is highly advised that you do to avoid payment scams at completion, which are rife)
  • If renting out, copy of the signed lease agreement

Capital gains tax mitigation checklist

On hiring our law firm, we can GREATLY mitigate your tax bill on selling property. We can offset all the following taxes and fees at no extra cost:

  • Lawyer’s fees (on buying).
  • Notary fees (on buying).
  • Land Registry fees (on buying).
  • Taxes (on buying) yes, these can be offset in full on selling – you are welcome.
  • All property-related improvements (not maintenance costs) i.e. glass curtains, refitted kitchen, roof retiling, wood flooring, A/C installation, house alarm etc.
  • Estate agent’s commission (on selling): VAT invoice/s.
  • Lawyer’s fees (on selling): VAT invoice.

3% tax rebate on selling property in Spain

To close, free of charge, we also apply for a tax rebate on the 3% withheld by the Spanish Tax Authorities on account of a non-resident seller’s CGT liability. This is taking 5 months on average through us.

Selling at a loss?

If you’re selling at a loss, we can apply for a full tax refund of your plusvalia tax for a very competitive fee. More on this service in our article: Have you sold property at a loss in Spain? You can now apply for a tax refund. In general, you only have 30 days as from the date of sale to apply for this tax rebate.

Sounds interesting? Call us.

At Larrain Nesbitt Abogados we have over 17 years’ experience assisting clients buying & selling property in Spain and dealing with its taxation.

Larraín Nesbitt Lawyers, small on fees, big on service.

Larraín Nesbitt Lawyers is a law firm specialized in conveyancing, taxation, inheritance, and litigation. We will be very pleased to discuss your matter with you. You can contact us by e-mail at info@larrainnesbitt.com, by telephone on (+34) 952 19 22 88 or by completing our contact form to book an appointment.

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Selling-related articles

Article originally published at Larrain Nesbitt Abogados (LNA): Home-Seller’s Checklist

Please note the information provided in this blog post is of general interest only and is not to be construed or intended as substitute for professional legal advice. This article may be posted freely on websites or other social media so long as the author is duly credited. Plagiarizing, whether in whole or in part, this article without crediting the author may result in criminal prosecution. VOV.

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