Contributed by Tenerife estate agents.
For all Irish, British and other foreign property owners in Spain, there may come a time when you consider selling your home. The apartment or villa you have purchased may become too small, may be too large, or you may want to return to your land of origin.
If you are one of those considering a sale, then you are going to find it a more complicated procedure than it was to purchase the property. There are numerous families and individuals searching to buy property in Spain, so finding a buyer is not necessarily the most difficult part of the process. Advertising the home – if you opt to market it yourself, can be easy enough using websites such as sp.depositphotos.com. Dealing with this route can be useful and can meet several legal requirements.
However, even if you opt to leave the majority of the paperwork to real estate professionals, there are various ways to speed up the sales procedure; and these are listed below:
1. Be Realistic Regarding The Property Price And Sales Completion Time
Unfortunately, selling a property in Spain is not as simple as placing a second-hand laptop on eBay. Completion or turnaround time can take approximately two months from when you accept the offer from the buyer. Of course, this is unless the buyer is willing to make a cash sale.
It is also important to know what a ‘right price’ is. If you overestimate the value of the property, you may wait a long time to sell your home. To determine the value of the house or apartment, it is recommended that you review the sales of comparable properties in the area. You can also ask a real estate agent to offer a property valuation.
2. Consider The Fees And Capital Gains Taxes
While capital gain tax may not be applicable to your property sale, the non-resident vendors are likely to be subject to a notary of approximately 3% withholding tax. This is often unknown to most sellers until the final stage of the selling process, and it can cause anxiety for many individuals. The good news is that this amount can be reclaimed when hiring a Spanish tax representative.
3. Buyers Will Desire Furnishings As Part Of The Sale
The majority of foreign buyers tend to ask if the furnishings can be included as part of the property sale. You should expect to receive property purchase offers based on inclusion of the items seen on the advertisement or when they tour the house; for example, the furniture, kitchen appliances, or even beds.
4. The Bank Fees Can Be Expensive
When it comes to dealing with the banks and moving from a Euro-based bank in Spain to a bank that does not use the Euro, the fees can be extremely costly. If you need to have the Spanish bank pay banker’s draft fees into the UK account, this will warrant a fee of approximately a few hundred Euros in amount.
You will then need the Spanish bank to change the Euros to Pounds, and this typically results in approximately 1% of the overall value. If the figure to be transferred reaches into hundreds of thousands of Pounds, this can represent a large amount of money.
5. Understand The Workings Of Estate Agency Fees
It is important to discuss the estate agency fees before working with a real estate company, such as how much the fees are and what the agent will take. You need to know if the agent will factor their commission into the overall property cost or if it will be paid at a post-sale amount. Understanding the fees, and everything else you are responsible for, will help smoothen the sales procedure.
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