[Anonymous]

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I’m looking to buy an apartment in the Alicante area and I would like to request NIE.
I will appreciate if I could receive answers to a couple of questions I have in this respect:

1) In addition to EX14 form, one has to provide, inter alia, an original document, justifying the reason of the demand (Documentación que justifique los motivos de la solicitud).

What document(s) could be used if I’m only looking to buy an apartment, preferably without agents, to justify my demand, if I have not yet found “my dream” in the market?

2) The internet sources say that I should go the Spanish police with my demand.
Can I go to any Police station, or only in the Alicante area, or other?

3) Can I buy property without obtaining NIE – what are negative consequences? Or I should get it later, when I start negotiating?

Your answers will be appreciated.
Tim

[Anonymous]

If you go in person you simply need to say you are buying because you intend buying property or any other reason such as opening bank accounts or paying any other sort of tax etc

But if you use an agent or solicitor and they apply under a POA then they are required to justify your application by showing private contract and proof that deposit has been paid etc.

If you are in and out of police stations regularly you get to know who looks at things and who does not, There are some real prats in these police stations. Also an English person gets treated very differently (badly) to a spanish person so I rarely enter police stations myself.

You can fudge the address issue to suit the police station you want to use. I mostly use the main police station in Malaga but that’s no good to you in Alicante.

You can’t really complete without an NIE but depending on the notary you may be able to supply the number afterwards if you have already submitted application etc but again it depends on your relationship with the notary.

Best advice I can give you is get a reputable solicitor and in that part of the world I would recommend Marc White of White & Baos who is also an english practising solicitor.

[Anonymous]

Dear JJB-Mijas,

Thank you very much for your informative and detailed reply.
I will definitely use your info, incl. that of the solicitor.

Next week I plan to go Alicante area to try to choose a particular area (pueblo sobre la costa) for my potentially “dream” apartment. If I have time, I will also try to ask about NIE in a Police Station somewhere: since I’m warned – I hope I will not be very much upset by poor treatment there.

Thank you again.

Tim

[Anonymous]

Good luck

Negotiate hard – it’s a buyers market and don’t listen to any agent hype!!

Personally I think the best bargains are in resale properties and if you can buy privately then you have more negotiating power. I am seeing plently sell at 60% of their acquisition cost – being those that bought at peak prices!

Be careful of newish developments especially where the developer/promoter still has a number of unsold units because this means the community might not be viable. What’s happening is developers/promoters are on the verge of collapse – they are mortgaged to the hilt and can no longer pay community fees on unsold units. That means the community then has less income and decisions have to be made as to what services can be cut – i.e. there goes the SPA, pitch & putt etc.

Also if looking at any newish development make sure absolutely everything is in situ and complete otherwise it’s unlikely to materialise or be finished because again the developer has no money!

Definitely make sure you check out the community and use websites like this for feedback. Lots of wise people although some at times can be quite negative but there is still good things about Spain.

[Anonymous]

Dear JJB-Mijas,

Your pieces of advice are valuable for me and very-very welcome, really.

However you may fall victim of your success, since I dare to ask you a couple of additional questions, please:

– What are the best internet sites to look for resale apartments directly from buyers and not from intermediate parties?
E.g., all Kyero annoucements are all from agents or developers.

– I’m a mathematician by education and I can’t even imagine how could I negotiate a 40% discount. I am afraid the seller (agent) would kick me in reply. Is there a technique/approach you know of – to smoothly suggest such a cut in price?

Thank you again,
Tim

[Author]

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