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Definitely worth appealing, especially as you bought close to the lowest point of the market and they are now valuing after 3 years of rise. You’ll need a Spanish tasador valuation and a valuer experienced in this should be able to take care of it all for you. It’s valuer against valuer after all. At the very least you’ll force the tax authorities to justify their value. You need to move fast as you have a short time to appeal. For the future, where you are buying at a ‘good’ price it can be best to get a tasador report at or around that value and attach that to the excritura (Title) when its submitted to the Registrar. That way the tax authorities will know they have a fight on their hands if they try for the ‘complementary tax’. Now there’s a misnomer if ever there was one! You’ll find helpful advice on the internet.
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As Ulf says, research the market. Where demand is strong and properties few, there will be little discount unless the property is overpriced. But sellers may wait for the market to rise to meet their expectations. Survey Spain have been analysing property prices, Asking v Actually Paid for the last 17 quarters and found the amount reducing quarter by quarter. surveyspain.com/blog/market-report-1st-quarter-2018. This is a general average and when it comes down to it, its eyeball to eyeball with the seller/buyer and who has the stronger ‘hand’.
One thing you can do is get a RICS building survey of the property. Then you have a report, not only of the physical defects, but also of the deficiencies in the legal, planning and tax description as hinted at by Toni M. With that you can go to the seller and point out that the price they are asking is for a good property, but theirs has the defects, etc listed in the report and thus the price should be lower. You can save many times the cost of the report and it means you know exactly what you are buying.
A market valuation can also be given and make sure that its NOT a banking valuation. Bank/mortgage valuations are nearly always below market, even if carried out competently, as they deduct the costs that the bank will incur should it have to take the property if the loan is not repaid, plus some other rules imposed by the Bank of Spain.
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As Yolanda says, the flaw is in the combination of the Builder and Project Manager. The PM should be ‘policing’ the builder and making sure that all is done correctly and that you only pay for what’s done after it has been done satisfactorily. They also help with the initial specification to remove all the ‘woolly’ bits where it says ‘best quality’ or enables them to substitute one item for another without your prior agreement.
Also, could you get the property built more cheaply using another builder?
Survey Spain surveyspain.com provide independent Project Management services in a number of areas of Spain, where we work 100% for you. Where is the property?
Please contact me direct if you wish detailed information.
Campbell D Ferguson, FRICS.
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Why take the risk? Search the internet (in Spanish and English – thanks Google Translate) and you’ll find existing villas/townhouses in the area for much cheaper prices. You know 100% what you are getting (especially if you have a survey beforehand!). If its not ideal, you can change it as you wish as most are concrete frame so walls, etc can be moved around. Otherwise you are almost certain to be buying into negative equity.
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Steve, that’s all good advice from luzcadiz. If it has a First Occupation Licence and a Rental Licence, all will be well. If it hasn’t, beware. A good lawyer is essential. Doesn’t have to be in the area, in fact might be better not as then there is less likelihood of them siding with the seller or agent. You need somebody to ask the questions you don’t know to ask! Only doubt is the comment regarding golf courses. Not all urbanisations/houses beside them are legal. Also remember the seller could have added on illegal buildings.
Don’t be frightened off, but do just let your head rule you and not emotion. Also, get a survey done of the property by an independent surveyor. RICS is best and they are available. The lawyer can have the paperwork 100% perfect, but then its discovered that the building is not correctly described or it has faults that will be costly to repair. The costs of the survey can be repaid many times by you then having a list of items to negotiate the asking price with the seller. If the seller won’t see reason, maybe that house is not for you and there are plenty of others available. -
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The Spanish tax authorities are aware of this avoidance. If a property is held by a Spanish company and that company has no other activity, the authorites will charge tax based on a notional rent that the company should have been charging for the property to give a return to shareholders. They can do the same if there is a car in the garage also registered to the company. One way or another, they will ‘get’ you. Check with a responsible lawyer or accountant who will give advice and not just take your money to do what you ask and not answer the questions you don’t know to ask.
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Hi BC. My learned friends above have given the lawyers’ side of the matter. To get the extensions approved will require a licence, which means architect’s plans confirming compliance with the equivalent of the building regs. Ony once all those compliance papers are in place can they be taken to the Catastral’s and Registrar’s offices (which work completely separate systems), which then have to approve them and bring the paperwork up to date. 3 months is very optimistic, especially in Marbella where the municipality’s planning masterpaln (PGOU) is being revised after the 2010 one was declared illegal. Decisions are based on the 1986 one at the moment. As your property was built 50 years ago, before then, the original should be OK, but the extentions may not. That’s why you need a skilled planning specialist lawyer and architect. It could be simple or it could be complicated, but the attitude of the authority won’t be known for sure until the submissions are made.
So, chances of being in there as owner before Christmas may be slim. However, perhaps you could rent the place from the existing owner in the meantime until you become the owner outright? -
As you write Yolanda, lawyers can have the paperwork 100% correct, but as they don’t inspect the property, it may not be accurate. DRPETYAQ, the only way to make sure that you and your lawyer know all the details of a property is to have a Building Condition Survey. Survey Spain, RICS Network of Chartered Surveyors in Spain, inspect the property condition and most relevant, measure it and compare it to the Title extract (Nota Simple) and the Catastral. At least 80% of the time we find errors or omissions in these. Getting them sorted out, which can involve getting retrospective Planning Licences and Decennial Structural Insurance is the seller’s responsibility. You don’t want to buy and take on their problems, which can be expensive in the long run. We work 100% for you, whilst the selling agent is just that, being paid by the seller. Check our Blog and Facebook for relevant articles. surveyspain.com
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The agent and owner will not encourage you to get a survey as that will point out the problems they don’t want to be found, or might not even know about. There are RICS UK trained, Spanish experienced Chartered Surveyors available for all areas of Spain and the islands, through the Survey Spain Network. http://www.surveyspain.com We are Regulated by RICS and all valuers are RICS Registered valuers. You may be going to spend 100’s of thousands of € euro and you don’t think it worthwhile to get a trained and experienced professional, who has seen the results of defects in hundreds of other houses, to make sure the property is sound. Is that prudent? NOTE: We are NOT the same company as mentioned above. They created their website 6 months after we started trading!
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Interesting question. Not comparing like with like. Barcelona is a city, Marbella is a big village! Better to compare B with Málaga City. It’s really coming up in the world and has all the benefits of whole Costa del Sol region and hinterland. Also, the weather is warmer in the winter as its much further south.
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