Chendy

Hi all,

Looking into buying a rural property, farmhouse in probably Andalucia. Seems like its a bit of a minefield, which many properties being unofficial, or falling foul of the law one way or another.

I am convinced of benefits of getting independent legal help eventually. But for these early stages, to save on legal fees...

1. what could I ask the estate agents directly? In addition to "is this house a legal house?", is there anything I could ask? perhaps "is this building registered as a habitable structure on the land registry"? whats the correct request including Spanish terminology??

2. Is there anything official I could personally check, perhaps pay to check online? such as the 'nota simple' or something similar??

sure this wont compete with legal advise, but im sure the right questions will quickly reveal a dead end.

casa del sol

Check with town hall, check with junta de Andalusia....double check.

Rosemary

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Problems and complaints should always be addressed to a moderator who will look into the matter and deal with it efficiently and fairly. Our members who post in the Spain Forums are usually friendly and helpful with a wealth of knowledge about the issues of living in Spain. I hope that you enjoy your time participating in the forums.

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Rosemary

spainrico

I doubt asking an estate agent will prove much. Better idea is to obtain the nota from the local land registry which may be separate or be within local town hall.

Documents that need to be presented to the buyer´s lawyer before the sale of the property in question;

Power of attorney in case somebody will represent you.
Private purchase contract with an inventory of items included in the sale price such as furnishings and fixtures.
A copy of the deeds to the property
Land registry search certificate that proves the outstanding charges against the property.
A copy of last water, electricity and gas invoices.
The last property tax invoice (IBI) or even 4 years behind in case the vendor is non-resident.
Non-infraction certificate (Certificado de no infracción) from the local town hall.
A copy of your valid NIE / DNI numbers and Passport.
Certificate of first or second occupation (Certificado de primera o segunda ocupación) from the local town hall.
A copy of the certificate from the community of owners verifying that there are no outstanding debts signed and stamped by the president or the administrator of the community.
Energy certificate of the property.
Tax certificate proving resident or non-resident.
Confirmation of your bank account in case stage payments will be made.

(Some of these may not apply ie Community documents for a private dwelling)

Good luck.

cermignano

Do you want a ruin to do up or a renovated property? Some folk have spent years renovating and getting all the right papers. Some of them are beautiful but could be expensive. Then again if they are up and running with good established businesses it could work out better value in the long run.

MikeJ

The easiest answer is, of course, to buy from someone who has done all the legal work already.
Because of Spanish inheritance laws a property, particularly a rural property, may be 'owned' by a large number of relatives and it is often the very devil of a job to trace them all and get 100% commitment to sell.

Dxf

Hola

Unfortunately it is not possible to guarantee any house is totally legal as tomorrow all the various permits to build could be rescinded. There is a new case in the Almanzora Valley where a couple applied for and received planning permission and all subsequent paperwork only to be told they should not have been given planning permission and the building must be pulled down.

This is not the first case in that area of Andalucia, there has been much publicity in the case of Helen & Len Prior - Google it

Davexf

TheLostPhotographer

As has been said here many times before...

Rent first. The money you spend on renting for a year will be money well spent.

You don't just get to know the local climate, customs, people, costs etc etc etc, you will also get first hand knowledge from people who moved before you.

The pitfalls are plentiful, but they don't need to be. When you have lived in Andalucia for a year, or so and have decided you want to stay, and chosen where you want to stay - employ a solicitor from a different area. A solicitor who is trusted and has no connection with local businesses, construction families, or local councilors.

Take your time. Every €300 you spend on rent will come back to you.

Fred James

A simple solution - never buy a rural property unless you have built it yourself with full planning permission, which in itself is almost impossible now due to restrictions on rural properties in most regions.

If you do find a suitable rural property then the key document you must have is the certificate of first occupation. If that is not available walk away.

Smithy73

Having seen two villas recently in URBANO areas where part of the villa/house structure was illegal and both houses had demolition orders for the ¨extensions¨, perhaps the question should be, When is a house a legal house? This isn´t an issue with Rustico properties only.... but any houses or Villas.

Now in the above cases, nothing will happen, as seems to be the Spanish way in this area. The demolition orders will time out and no further action will happen... But you can´t make an illegal guest suite by the pool, legal for example. So suddenly these €300K houses are really worth only €200K and the current owners were clueless, mainly because they on purchase had employed poor lawyers (perhaps the agency´s recommended lawyer)

You need an excellent lawyer to go through the documents

spainrico

I agree with Smithy73 always use a professional, qualified, independent lawyer.