Real estate in Spain has its pitfalls that are not visible at the first inspection. To protect yourself from regrets in the future, before buying, check the object for compliance with the paragraphs of the checklist below.

1. Check the documents for the apartment. These include:

• Escritura pública notarial – a bill of sale (confirms the legality of the transfer of the property into the ownership of the current owner, and also confirms its ownership);
• Nota simple – an extract from the registry that confirms ownership and shows the presence/absence of debts);
• Certificación catastral – a cadastral certificate (its number must match the number in Nota simple);
• Cedúla de Habilidad – a certificate of suitability for housing (indicates that the object belongs to the housing stock).

2. Check the debt to the condominium. The owners of apartments in Spain are equally involved in the total expenses of the house. Each Comunidad sets its own fee (depends on the prestige of the district and the facility, its “age”, availability of a pool, parking, etc.).

3. Find out about the size of utility bills. Electricity, water, gas, heating (often absent), TV, telephone, Internet – a payment on such bills depends on the number of residents, consumption level, the region of residence, etc. It is enough to check the last paid receipt to estimate future expenses and find out the amount of debt (if any – its total amount is indicated in each receipt).

4. Specify the purpose of the land. If you are acquiring land for construction purposes, find out which land the site belongs to:

• urbanizado – reserved for development;
• fully urbanizado – fully built up;
• rural – reserved for agriculture.

5. Find out whether it is possible to rent out housing. In Spain, this procedure is strictly regulated. If the owner does not have tasa turistica (tourist license), he will not be able to rent out the object legally and will face a considerable fine. At the same time, if the license has already been issued – it will pass to you “by inheritance”, you will not have to renew anything.

6. Ask about the development of infrastructure near the facility. Some realtors profitably present objects that are actually located in ghost towns, where the nearest bank can be 40 km away.

7. Check with a competent specialist plans for municipal development of the territory where the purchased housing stands, as local authorities, may plan to demolish or seize land due to municipal needs.

8. Do not sign any documents until they are translated into your language by a translator and analyzed by a competent lawyer.