Final completion at the notary

A sale is formally completed in Spain when the public title deeds of purchase are signed in the presence of a Notary, the final payments have been made, and possession is given to the buyer. The Escritura deed is the title document which specifies the name of the owner and includes a detailed description of the property. The Notary is a public official who is responsible for recording the sale on the public record stipulating the title deeds has been signed in his presence and understood by both parties concerned. The buyer may attend the signing of the deed in the presence of the Notary or grant a Power of Attorney to attend on their behalf.

At the point of final completion the buyer will have to have deposited in their account enough money to cover the expenses. The expenses are approximately 10-11% of the official purchase price.

The expenses are broken down into two groups, the first set of expenses are for the purchase deed, these are unavoidable. The second group of expenses are for the mortgage deed, obviously these will depend on whether you purchase with or without a mortgage.

In both cases there will be Notary fees, Land registry Fees, and taxes. The taxes are different for the purchase and mortgage. In the purchase the tax are called, either capital transfer tax or VAT. In the case that the property is purchased from a private owner the tax would be capital transfer tax. In the case that you are purchasing directly from a builder or developer then the tax would be VAT. In both cases the percentage is 7%. In the mortgage the tax is called Stamp Duty the percentage will depend on the amount of the mortgage and you should expect to pay between 1 and 2%.

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