Buying a House with an Existing Reverse Mortgage

Buying a home in Spain

These guidelines contain important information for UK citizens wishing to buy real estate in Spain, which includes counselling on obtaining suitable permits, buying in specific areas, lodging a complaint and more. They should be consulted together with the How to buy real estate abroad guideline. With the exception of the information and hyperlinks below, the Federal Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Office (BKartA) cannot give any information on the purchase of properties.

You are strongly advised to select an independant attorney who specializes in building laws (urbanismo) in Spain. Independence means that they work only on your account and do not represent the interests of the agents or developers. There is a difference between the system of transfer of ownership in Spain and the British system, so you should make sure that the people participating in the transfer are skilled and knowledgeable in Spain.

Spain will have a Civil Lawyer who will draw up the purchase agreement and draw up the authenticities. Before signing the agreement, the civil law clerk is obliged to offer you free and unbiased assistance in all matters relating to the agreement. We recommend that you consult a qualified civil law lawyer at an early stage.

When you decide to work with a UK real property broker, advertiser or solicitor, make sure you check: When your attorney is domiciled in Spain, ask for his identification number and make sure he is enrolled and practicing with the Colegio de Abogados. It is also advisable to verify that your attorney has taken out liability coverage and does not endorse any documents or transfer any funds until you have received impartial counsel.

While the British Embassy cannot provide a lawyer's recommendation, we have a list of attorneys and professional interpreters available on our website. When you are in a real estate litigation and do not have enough funds to cover the cost of litigation, you can request legal assistance.

When you live in Spain, you should contact your Spanish Chamber of Attorneys. It may be necessary to find a new attorney with specialized experience, e.g. specialized civilian attorneys for damages due to damage against individual clients such as agencies, builders or bankers and specialized contentious attorneys (contencioso administrativo) for damages due to damage due to local, state, or federal government agencies.

Unless you have a good knowledge of the language, make sure you have all your translations done by an independant interpreter. Please consult the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for a listing of official translations and interpreting services in Spain. A number of mortgage options are available and you should be particularly aware of the interest rates and payback periods, the mortgage set-up charges and the prepayment and lapse charges.

In case you cannot maintain the mortgage payments, the Spaniard banks can take back your real estate in Spain. When the value of the real estate is lower than the entire amount of your pending liability (you are in your own funds ), the banks can track your UK properties to remedy the mortgage deficit with a European Enforcement Order.

Ensure that you fully comprehend the mortgage contract you are signing. In case of doubt, please contact the subsidiary within 10 working days after submission of the firm quotation. If, for any reasons, you are unable to maintain the mortgage payments, you should immediately talk to your local mortgage broker (before you default) to review the available mortgage repayment alternatives.

For more information on mortgage loans in Spain, contact the Mortgage Association. Agencia Tributaria, the Fiscal Agency of Spain, offers some information in English on its website. You will find brief information on taxes in the Life in Spain Handbook. Refer to the information on cheating with your own belongings. The complaint must be made in written form and in Hispanic.

You can find a listing of lawyers' chambers throughout Spain on the website of the General Council of Hispanic Lawyers. Please see residence regulations in Spain. You should convince yourself of this before you conclude your real estate purchase: They should verify that the building permits are in order and that the real estate is a right building. That' s especially important if you buy outside the scope of the schedule or directly from a development company.

Townhall can tell you whether the property has all the permits and permits and what kind of property it is. Be sure to review the current city map to see if the property you're buying has structural limitations, is in a lush area, or contains a road or similar.

This can be done at the urban development office (Urbanismo) of the municipal council. They should have the real estate examined. It is not mandatory, but it is advisable to hire a certified expert to inspect the real estate. Upon conclusion, the authentic instrument should contain a detailed definition of the real estate.

In order to guarantee the full security of your legal right, you should apply to the land registry as soon as possible on your behalf. After signing the authentic instrument, the civil law notary may even submit a pre-registration to the land registry in electronic form. When considering buying a coastline home, you should consult the coastline delimitation agency in your area to obtain a certification that the home is not affected by the 1988 coastline law.

Note that while it is possible to see the coast lines of marine areas of open spaces on-line on the Ministry of the Environment's website, this may not give sufficiently precise information on which to basis a real estate deed. Exercise extreme caution when the extract from the title deed shows that the real estate you are buying is constructed on country estate.

The purchase of off-plan real estate necessarily entails a higher level of risks than the purchase of resale real estate. When you are considering buying an off-plan in Spain, there are a number of points to keep in mind. Ensure that you have a bancassurance ( "Aval Bancario") to back your step by step payment. Owners of off-plan real estate are required by law to ensure that all contributions are covered by a guaranteed deposit.

They can also verify this at the land registry, because if the descriptive document of the prospective property is recorded, the land registry official has provided proof that the permit has been obtained and that the work has started according to the agreed outline. They should make sure that the banking guaranty is personal and not a joint guaranty that covers the entire process and does not offer the same level of shelter.

Ensure that the client is entered in the Commercial Register and that the individual who will be signing on the client's name has the necessary authority to do so. Visitors can either go to any commercial registry or use the website of the local registry offices. Contact the Registry of the Real Estate Fund (https://sede.registradores. org/contenido/buyingahouse/) to ensure that the property to be constructed on is listed with the owner with whom you are doing dealings.

Ensure that you receive a copy of the Cadastre extract with the precise boundary and area of your plot. You should include this policy in the real estate handbook (libro del edificio) provided by the builder. After completion of the works and before signing the ownership document, you will require the vendor to provide evidence that the works have been completed as described in the drawings.

This can also be checked at the land registry. Ensure that you are in possession of the first occupation permit (licencia de primera occupación) granted by the city council for new construction, which attests that the real estate is fit for habitation. Think about asking an expert to inspect the real estate. It is not mandatory, but it is advisable to obtain a proper appraisal of the real estate before completion.

There is the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors in Spain (RICS) and there are private surveyors working throughout the entire area. The members of RICS are skilled and seasoned experts who offer unbiased and unbiased consultancy. Spanish School of Architecture in each of the provinces also provides a listing of professional experts.

You have a right if the builder does not construct your real estate within the contractual period, or service and utility facilities are not finished and hooked up to the standards, or the housing certification cannot be issued: You should seek professional counsel if you wish to terminate the agreement.

After consulting a solicitor, you first need to send a letter to the client explaining that you wish to terminate the agreement due to non-compliance with the agreement and demanding that the advance payment made and the interest earned be refunded. Enclose all pertinent documentation (e.g. a copy of the agreement, a copy of the payment made, a copy of the payment guarantee) and a date by which the amount should be repaid.

Failure by the client to reply within the specified time will result in a claim for reimbursement from the loss adjuster at the deposit box or Sparkasse. Again, it is advisable to get in touch via Burofax and enclose a copy of all applicable documentation, as well as a copy of the letter of intent, a copy of the claim lodged with the client, a copy of the client's reply (if any) and a copy of all documentation indicating that the client has not fulfilled the agreement.

In the event that the EIB fails to do so, the only remedy available is to direct a solicitor to initiate proceedings against the EIB. When you believe you are a fraudster and do not have a banking bond or a builder's liability cover, you should obtain counsel from an impartial court regarding prosecution and submit an opinion to the law enforcement authorities.

As of 1 June 2013, all houses sold or rented in Spain will be legally obliged to hold an Energieausweis (Energy Performance Certificate). After this date, if you offer your real estate for lease, you must first obtain an Energieausweis. However, if you want to let your properties to a tourist at the last minute, you must make sure that you do so in accordance with local laws.

Rules for renting vacation rentals (apartamentos turisticos) and vacation houses (viviendas vacacionales) to visitors differ according to the area in which the real estate is situated. Note that the sale of owner-occupied housing to holidaymakers is subject to strict rules in many areas of Spain. Proprietors who are found to be illegal advertisers or renting their real estate without respecting applicable laws can face heavy penalties.

When you are considering buying an appartment that is part of a condominium building, you should also consider whether there are owner association regulations that forbid or limit short-term rentals. Consider appointing a landlord in Spain to help you find a tenant, draw up leases and manage the real estate on your behalf. Your landlord will be happy to help you find a tenant for you.

It is however advisable to seek expert advise to make sure that you comply with local laws and use the right tenancy agreement. There are different kinds of agreements in Spain, according to how long the real estate should be rented. Be sure to report your rent revenue to the Agencia Tributaria (Spanish Revenue Agency), whether or not you live in Spain.

It is a complicated subject and it is recommended to consult a chartered auditor or qualified financial advisor who has extensive and up-to-date understanding of British and Spain taxation rules. Capital disbursement programs are programs intended to enable house owners to disburse capital from the value of their real estate as revenue, flat rate, or a combination of both.

Reverse mortgage (hipoteca inversa) is a share repurchase facility that allows house owners to lend cash against the value of their home, which is used as security. Reversed mortgage loans are usually sold to retirement home owners who are over 65 years of age. When considering a participation model, such as a reverse mortgage or a life-time mortgage, it is wise to verify that the entity providing the mortgage is listed with the Comision Nacional de Mercado de Valores (CNMV) and that there are no alerts about them.

On the CNMV website, a listing of those finance undertakings not allowed to carry on business in Spain and those currently under examination is available. Obtain impartial counsel before you sign agreements to ensure that the information the firm has given you is accurate, that there are no unfair terms in the agreement, and that you are fully conscious of your prerogatives.

Beware of finance firms or brokers who try to convince you to sign a reverse mortgage treaty to avoid or reduce your fiscal liabilities. When you have doubts about your fiscal responsibilities (e.g. estate tax), you should consult an expert accountant who can provide you with independent guidance.

You can also contact the Spanish tax office (Agencia Tributaria). When you are not content with the system you have been selling, the first thing to do is to file a claim with the firm in charge of your return. If, after 2 month, you are not completely sure about your answer or do not get a reply, you have the right to contact the CNMV.

When you believe that you have been a target of a capital squeeze case scam, you can file a declaration with the law enforcement authorities and obtain impartial counsel to go to court. Timesharing property is well established in Spain. But there are also many ruthless businesses, some of which argue that they create various types of incentive (including exchange investment and rebates on fares and accommodation) when they exchange existing shares of travel times or become members of vacation clubhouses.

They may find it useful to look at the timesharing notices from Action fraud, the UK domestic scam unit operated by the UK Nation FRA. Spanish Land Registry publishes a guide to buying real estate in Spain. The Spanish Properties Insight offers information and consultation on buying real estate in Spain.

Fora for expats, English-language papers and conversations with locals and other UK people who have already moved can really give you a feeling for a region and give you an idea of what is going on locally. Mr President, the Spanish Ombudsman is in charge of the defence of citizens' basic freedoms and freedoms by supervising the activities of government agencies.

When you are faced with real estate issues in Spain, there are many resident organisations that can assist and advise you and put you in contact with other people who have had similar experience. The information is provided as a general guideline and is on the basis of information provided to the Message by the competent authority and is liable to be changed at any moment and without prior notification.

UK citizens who wish to obtain further information must apply to the competent authorities at their place of residence.