Pre-Contract Deals for a Private Property Sale in Spain

If you're in the lucky position to be moving homes in Spain - be it a different area, or upgrading in the same zone, there are various ways to go about this. You can entrust the sale with an agency at a national or local level, or you can go it alone. With any of these options, the process is practically the same.

Once you have found a property you like, a buyer will make an offer, or accept the asking price. In today's market of 2010, there is little room for haggling and more room for finding a bargain, given that the market is saturated with properties for sale - both new and used, so the market price is usually very close to the asking price. If the particular property has a feature which stands out from the rest of the similar properties on the market, then waste no time in haggling. Assets such as an inner-city apartment with a large attic terrace, or a fantastic internal re-structuring are gifts in today's market and will sell quickly.

Once a price has been agreed upon there are a few different steps which take be taken to move the proceedings along. The first and foremost from the buyer's point of view is to take the property off the market. This is usually done by a pre-contractual agreement in the form of a legally binding document, signed by both parties and which contains the details of both parties and the property involved. This is known as a "contrato de arras" and stipulates the time expected for the sale to go through from the buyer. This is typically set to a date around thirty to forty-five days from the signature of the document, but can be amended as needed by both parties, and indeed extended if agreed by both parties. A typical contrato de arras gives details of the property for sale: exact address, street number, post code, floor, door, etc. if the property is an apartment and often (but not always) includes the details of the place of the property in the official register of properties in Spain (book number, section number, page number, etc). The following section relates to the buyer/s and seller/s and contains the identity card numbers, full names and addresses and the price which has been agreed for the property.

It is normal for the pre-contract to stipulate an amount relating to the overall sale of the property which is to be received by the seller, in terms of a deposit or guarantee which will be deducted from the overall price of the property, and serve as an official gesture of the intent to purchase from the buyer. This is often expressed as a percentage of the overall value and can oscillate between 10-25% of the total cost. Following this, the date in which the deeds will be signed before a notary are added to the document, with any legal clauses before the document is signed by all parties involved. Typical clauses are the reimbursement of any amounts handed over in concept of pre-contract which often carry a penalty.

In some cases, if the initial amount to be handed over in a pre-contractual agreement is a substantial amount, and that the buyer needs a period of time to release such funds, a pre-contract to the pre-contact can also be established. This is a much simpler document, and can be redacted between both parties and is generally known as a "paga y señal" - roughly translated to a trust payment. This is a much smaller amount - anything between four hundred to a thousand Euros, and serves as an indication that the pre-contact will be signed within a smaller time frame, such as fifteen or twenty days - sufficient time for the buyer to release the funds necessary to complete the pre-contract.

To find out all you need to know about buying property in Spain, talk to Barcelona Real Estate Agency such as Modus Vivendi. With over five years of experience, they offer sound Barcelona Real Estate Guidelines to give you peace of mind.