Tenerife Property Buying Guide

What Happens Next?

Any sale or purchase in Spain has to be registered with the land registry and the Title Deeds have to be prepared by a Notary, a public official. In the presence of the Notary, the Title Deeds have to be signed by the vendor and the purchaser.

Basically the Notary is a lawyer who has had extra training and has gained extra qualifications allowing him to perform these extra duties. He is also qualified to deal with Spanish wills and they regularily authenticate other important documents, such as “Power of Attorneys”.

The Notary will have drawn the Title Deeds, which will describe the property and the declared purchase price, in the correct currency. They will ensure this has been paid to the vendor, collect the taxes and fees and then witness the signing of the Title Deed. In years gone by the purchase price on the Title Deeds was often under declared to save both parties money due in taxes (see next section). A blind eye was turned to this by the Notary, Lawyers and the Spanish Tax man however this has now changed and no reputable estate agent or lawyer should allow you to proceed with a purchase if the vendor is asking you to under declare the value on the Title Deeds.

The Title Deeds are then sent to the Land Registry Office, so the new owner can be registered. As with anything official in Spain this can take time to come back to the new owner, so an authorised copy is given to the new owners in the meantime.

You do not need to be in attendance for the signing of the Title Deeds, this can be done on your behalf by your appointed lawyer if you give them “Power of Attorney”, this can be arranged by the Notary.