- This topic has 15 replies, 9 voices, and was last updated 18 years, 3 months ago by
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Have placed a 10% deposit on an apartment. The lawyer i was going to use has proved unreliable. The estate agent who is very helpful and seems a very nice person (???) said to me that i dont need a lawyer because she does all the work (ie ownership title cert of charges water electric) anyway and all the lawyer does is check over the documents and ok them.
i’m tempted but unsure. What do you think. -
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When parting with huge sums of money ALWAYS get yourself a lawyer and not one recommended by the agent, however nice they are, they will always appear to be your “friend” when trying to sell you something.
You would never buy without a lawyer in the UK, don’t risk it in Spain, I have seen agents offer this and have even done it myself BUT ONLY TO SELL, would never take that gamble when parting with my life savings.
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What your agent has told you is not untrue. The vast majority of Spanish people DO NOT use solicitors to purchase a house – usually only for large investments or multiple purchases.
However, they can of course understand what the contract says before they sign on the dotted line, and unless you can speak spanish you could be signing absolutely anything.
A solicitor is not necessary, particularly for off-plan where the contract is very standard, but if you are a non spanish speaker a solicitor is certainly advisable.
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@drifter wrote:
I will listen to the advice. What makes me think a bit is that i already have 1 apartment bought 20 years ago. I didn’t use a solicitor then without any problems.
Drifter – If you do use a lawyer PLEASE make sure it is not ME. Using them has turned into a nightmare for me – I’ll post more details of today’s fiasco asap.
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After I’ve finished trawling thro the posts here perhaps I’ll ask the 40 million strong population of spain whether they used a solicitor when they purchased their house. The answer will be no, it’s not necessary.
It’s only if you don’t live in spain and you can’t speak spanish that it becomes advisable.
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Flynn – I used a solicitor because at the time i didn’t live in spain and I wanted to give power of attorney to someone. I can speak spanish, but didn’t fancy upteen trips backwards and forwards to sign pieces of paper.
Now that I am living out here I probably wouldn’t bother with a solicitor next time. Already have a NIE, bank account, can speak spanish and understand contracts, know how to request copies of developers bank guarantees, etc. There’s not much left for the solicitor to do and I’m not paying 1% for nothing! I wouldn’t recommend that others didn’t use a solicitor though unless they were in a similar situation to myself.
Who are ME? Which area of spain do they work in? Which area of spain is drifter buying in?
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The reason why spanish don’t use lawyers is because they have LOCAL knowledge. a lot of the time they are buying from friends or relatives and know the history of the place. Speaking spanish is not a panacea, I had a spanish grandfather and have used lawyers everytime ( a necessary evil) and I am bi-lingual. Things have changed and many spanish have also been caught out by the practices of AIFOS and other rogue developers.
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You are buying a built house you have already seen to an individual, private owner, before a Notario, without a REA involved, the Notario or his officials are the ones to draft the deeds, you and the private seller are the ones to freely agree a private contract, you DO speak/read/comprehend Spanish (fluentlty).. OK, you DON’T need a lawyer.
Buying off-plan???? GET a lawyer. I know what I’m saying. Yes I’m a lawyer myself and sometimes even the promoters lawyer… 😈
A solicitor is not necessary, particularly for off-plan where the contract is very standard
Yeah, sure, as standard as tricky… ask around this place…
Cesar
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