Completing a New Property Purchase in Spain - Snagging makes this Safer

[Geron20425]

The method of completing a new home purchase usually starts once the builder or developer provides you with a completion date. Depending on the agreement you have already made, there may be some tight deadlines for you really to complete and penalties if you do not do so without good cause.
You must normally have already engaged an independent solicitor whenever you deposit a deposit for a new build or a down-payment on an off-plan purchase. It's highly recommendable to have qualified advice in early stages in any house-buying process, as this can save a lot of time and profit the long run snagging services dubai. An excellent solicitor can negotiate retentions on the completion price, according of incomplete work or problems with the property. This is still not common in Spain, but is achievable and well worth consideration.

There are lots of stories of men and women completing a residence or flat purchase and then being left waiting - in some cases for years - for quick defects to be put right. When you have handed over money, there's little incentive for a creator to rush round and, as an example, unblock the drains of builder's waste. The Spanish legal system works at a snail's pace, so you may find that threats of legal action may not have the exact same effect as back home.

Preparation, preparation, preparation!

When you have your completion date, you must have agreed what's within the sale of the property. Complete should mean 'ready to maneuver in', however it seldom does. If you're UK-based and buying in Spain, you are able to spend time and money flying over, remaining in a hotel and hiring a car, just to find the property is far from finished. These costs can increase the pressure to complete. You might be in the difficult position of choosing between going home and then hoping everything is fixed, ahead back for a later inspection or simply trusting a local agent to ensure everything is done properly.

If you can find problems, try to really get your independent solicitor to negotiate that the developer supplies you with the full specification listing of the property and you'll retain five per cent of the agreed price until the property is complete. What this means is there's a real financial incentive for the builder to have things fixed.

Obtain it in some recoverable format

You should be provided with the full specification of the property when you are purchasing it. If your Spanish is not good, try to have the specifications with a side-by-side translation into English (some arm-twisting on the agent might get them to try this for you). This will help you both understand the specification and relate the English to Spanish words. This could avoid struggling with dictionaries and make it more straightforward to point to the specs if things are not right. When you yourself have pink tiles in the bathroom when you were expecting blue, it helps if you're able to point to 'azul' on the Spanish version. You still might get a shrug of the shoulders, but if it's on the list, they are left with little room to argue.

Do you exist?

A residence or flat is not truly complete until it's been issued with a certificate of habitation (cedula de habitabilidad). Which means an officer from the neighborhood town hall (ayuntamiento) has inspected, certified the property to be fit for habitation and it is entered in the register (registro) at the city hall. This certificate must be there when you complete. The builder legally has four years to have it once the property has been completed. That fact could translate into four years of waiting to possess your address recognised by the Spanish authorities. If you don't have a recognised address you might encounter a whole host of problems.

Without a recognised address you can't sign on the padrón (this is a listing of property owners held by the city hall). It is vital to join up on the padrón, particularly if you are becoming resident in Spain as this is needed for many things from getting a healthcare card to a local parking permit. The method is simple and does not cost anything. Even though you are not a permanent resident, but own home in Spain, you ought to be on the padrón. You won't get taxed or have other disadvantages because you're on the padrón, as it is really a listing of homeowners in a certain municipality. It will mean your town hall can apply for additional money for services since the more those who are now living in a town the additional money local government will get for everything from street lighting and rubbish collection, to hospitals, schools and police.

Without having to be empadronado (registered) at a recognised address you can't get medical cover on the Spanish Health Service (Insalud). They'll treat you in a crisis, particularly if you have the newest European Health Card (which you may get from your home health authority). However, you'll have to fund non-emergency treatment. Without registration, may very well not be able to receive your post, get yourself a telephone line, mobile phone contract, water, electricity or even get gas canisters delivered. Many of these things need an address to take the contract. Showing a vital or producing the purchase papers to prove of ownership may not get you very far.

Free lunch (no such thing)

Builders usually supply temporary water and electricity supplies. They purchase it until completion and the problem of the habitation certificate. After this you contract for the supply from the appropriate utility company. Does free water and electricity sound attractive? Think about candles later in the day and no shower each morning? Builders and developers have been in business to make a profit, therefore the temporary or 'builder's supply' is normally low on voltage or water pressure and may be temperamental. There really isn't any such thing as a free lunch. When you yourself have been living without water for a few days in the height of summer, free no more seems attractive. You could be willing to tolerate inconveniences, but if you should be likely to allow the property out you can be sure your tenants won't be. Make sure it is agreed that water and electricity are connected before completion. Connected permanent supplies should be checked within the snagging process. In the exact same way, drains and water run-offs cannot be checked for proper function if you can find no water or sewage connections.

Post completion

When you have completed, you have only 15 days to notify the builder (recommended to achieve this by writing by certified mail, with copies to the agent, promoter and someone else involved) of any defects. If you obtain this done before completion, you avoid a scenario where you have to chase every item to ensure it is done.

In addition you have to make sure that the repairs or works to remedy a problem don't cause additional problems. If a cracked tile in the middle of the family room floor is replaced and they chip another tile, complain. It might sound obvious, but sometimes it will be your responsibility to point out that things are unacceptable and damage caused during remedial works should also be rectified. This process can be quite a real pain and you can find professionals that will help.