Curlygirly

AHi everyone,
Forgive me if this has been asked before.
When buying property in Spain who do we pay the deposit too?? Is it to a Notary, Solicitor, Agent or Owner?
We are fortunate to be cash buyers so no mortgage needed and we will be buying a rural property not urbanisation, not sure if that's relevant?

Thank you in advance for any help you can give. 👍

jonboy

I think this is a question to put to your solicitor, who you should appoint prior to having any contact with any of the other people you mention in your question. Hiring the solicitor is your first line of defence against being fleeced. Good luck with your purchase.

bobd22

We paid all money to the solicitor no one else.

missile

We paid the developer.

lucilastic

Hi, I have bought a lot of property in Spain,including a business.Usually the Estate agent takes the deposit & it then is left with the Notary.As you will know both the seller & buyer are then committed,Should either withdraw,the buyer loses the deposit back to the seller.Alternatively should the seller withdraw,he returns the deposit plus the same amount in compensation.At the Notary,he hands over the deposit & the agent,who by that time has the rest of the buying price via a bank cheque usually,brings it all together.Sometimes it is the the Notario hands over the full amount,but after the agents commission has been taken,it does vary,I have found.One little comment to add.Some years ago I was selling a business to people who were new to Spain.Like everyone,I advised them to consult a lawyer to act for them which they did.Unfortunately,& this was someone I knew in my area,he passed me a dud cheque coming from his personal bank account!To cut a long story short,I am one of the relatively few foreigners who has successfully taken a lawyer(he was not Spanish)to court & won my case.Afterwards I wanted to report his conduct to the College of Lawyers,although they must have known,to ensure he was brought to book in the eyes of his peers.I asked the British Consul to support me since he was on their website as"able to assist English speaking people in legal matters".The response was that they could not interfere in Spanish matters.So if possibly use a lawyer that someone else has found to be honest.I have been here for a long time so probably a lot of things have happened to me that you will never encounter.Another time I was surprised to hear that an English lawyer very popular in my area & further south,who had drawn up my Spanish will(thankfully notarised,so OK)was,still is,being sought by the Guardia.It appears she was not qualified & ,I believe,involved in a scheme where she took money then scarpered.However there are decent legal practices,one of them,Spanish,handled my divorce & I have nothing but praise for him.

Curlygirly

Thank you for your reply, its sound advise to get recommendations off others and we will endeva to do that. Sounds like you have been through a few nightmares, legally and those are most defiantly the kind of experiences we all want to avoid. Although it sounds almost impossible if you can't even trust people you know?
Defiantly food for thought though, Thanks again.

Neptuno

I read that it should go into an escrow account, where no one can touch it
What if your solicitor disappears with it?
It's not unknown!
I would never pay the developer

lyric030250

On the recent sale of our apartment both the initial deposit and the subsequent balance of 10% went straight into my Spanish account.

bolton wanderer

When we bought, earlier this year, we transferred the deposit direct into the vendors bank account. We only did this after our solicitor had checked & re-drafted the sales contract to add a few extra clauses for our protection and the contract had been signed by all parties. No estate agent was involved in our purchase but if you are buying via an estate agent I would strongly recommend getting your solicitor to check any contract before you sign. Don't forget that however friendly the estate agent appears she/he is only working for themselves....and maybe a little bit for the vendor