How to find a home in Spain

What is the best way to find a desired home?

The search for a home in Spain can be relegated to a real estate agency, which will then be in charge of reviewing the properties it has for sale to select and present those that fit with what the buyer is looking for to the buyer so they can make the final decision, or the same buyer can carry out their own personal search through Properstar.com. With Properstar.com you can easily find a real estate agency that has a variety of options.

There are also some property owners that decide to forgo real estate agencies and list their property on these sites themselves. In those cases, the foreign buyer should contact the owner directly to inquire about the property, arrange a visit, and begin price negotiations.

To facilitate communication with foreign buyers, the advertisement itself usually specifies whether the seller speaks more than one language and usually includes contact options outside of the confines of the website. If you prefer to communicate through the website, each advertisement includes a space to send a message to the owner or the real estate agency that is managing the sale of the property. Interested vendors tend to answer the phone with ease and will not usually take more than one day to respond to the messages received through such portals.

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Attention to property details is a must

canary islands1. The full address of the property. This allows the prospective buyer to know exactly where the property is located in order to gauge the proximity of roads, means of transport, shops, hospitals, and other amenities offered in the area.

  1. A full description of the property. The advertisement must mention, among other things: the number of rooms the house has (along with their size in square meters); whether it has central or zone heating (as well as what type of heating it is) and / or air conditioning; the materials the doors, windows, floors, and blinds are made of; the type of stove (gas, induction, electric); the number of terraces and balconies; the square meters in the yard or garden; and if the price includes any parking spaces or storage units. In addition, an apartment ad should list if it is street-facing or interior-facing, the floor of the building it is on, as well as if the apartment building has an elevator.

  2. The price. For a new building, it is recommended to use the average price per square meter of the province where the property is located as a reference. In any case, the better communicated the area and the better quality the home, the higher its price.

  3. Community fees and other taxes. Knowing how much community expenses and taxes such as the IBI will be can save many buyers from surprises later on.

  4. Availability. That is, when the home will be handed over. This is an important to know if the purchase is urgent.

  5. Age. In the case of a second-hand home, you should know the age of the building, the reforms that have been completed so far, and the current state of communal installations (the building foundation, plumbing, façade, etc.).

  6. Energy certification. It is important to know if the seller has already obtained the energy certification for the property, because this will serve as an essential document for the granting of the public deed. This is an expense that must be paid by the owner.