BUYING A HOUSE IN SPAIN, BUYER TIPS – INTRODUCTION

Are you planning to buy a property in the South of Spain soon? JM Real Estate Consulting Spain will tell you everything you need to know about the buying process and how to avoid problems in buying your dream home.

We too have taken the step:

We too started with the same thought as you: “What if we were to live in Spain?”. At that moment, the first step to the emigration process is actually taken.

You dream of a different life under the Spanish sun, talk about it with your partner, start looking more seriously at the possibilities. At that moment you start looking around on the internet to make things more concrete and to get more clarity. And then it starts. There is a lot to be found on the internet, especially social media are full of opinions, facts and fables. So many people, so many stories and so many opinions. Unfortunately, not everything you read applies to your situation and you are unnecessarily frightened or worried.

Spain is a very complex country:

When you look at the map of Spain, you will see that it is divided into autonomous regions (‘comunidades autónomes’). There are 17 different autonomous regions in total. Two cities have a special status as autonomous city. These are Ceuta and Melilla, both located in North Africa. Many of the autonomous regions are again subdivided into provinces, only the smaller regions consist of only one province. The provinces of Spain can be divided into comarcas (so-called regions) and within these comarcas you will find the municipalities.

Of course, Spain has a central national government, but each autonomous region also has its own laws and regulations. For example, the requirements for buying a property in Galicia may be different to those in Andalusia, or the possibilities for building a swimming pool in the province of Murcia may be different to those in Almeria.

Imagine how confusing it is when you are looking for your dream home in different regions and seek advice from friends, acquaintances or on social media.

An example of discussions on the Internet:

Suppose you have found a beautiful property in Andalusia and you ask a question about it in a group on Facebook. An enthusiastic fellow countryman living in Galicia gives you well-intentioned advice. He also warns you, possibly from his own experience, about lawyers and estate agents who do not do their job properly and give people incomplete information. So beware, anything can go wrong. But what you may not realise immediately is that this fellow countryman, because he lives on the other side of Spain in a totally different region, is completely missing the point. After all, he does not know how things work in Andalusia, so how can he inform you fully and correctly?

It is better to go to a real estate agent who knows the region…

When you start your adventure to live in Spain, you will naturally have many empty pages. Through this weekly blog, we will try to fill these pages together with you. Everything we tell you is based on the autonomous regions of Murcia and Andalusia. Remember, each region has different laws and even municipalities can interpret them differently.

We as JM Real Estate Consulting Spain have been working as real estate agents for several years in the real estate market in Andalucia (province of Almería) and the province of Murcia. We too have made mistakes and learned from the mistakes of others.

To prevent you from falling into the same pitfalls as many people before you, we would like to use this weekly blog to inform you about what you can encounter when you want to buy a property in southern Spain. Do you have a question that has not yet been addressed in our weekly information blog? Feel free to ask it. We will be happy to review your topic.

Keep following our blog.

Next Monday we will inform you about applying for a NIE number.