How to choose a Property Lawyer to help you buy safely in Spain – 5 Top Tips
When you are buying a property in Spain, it is vital that you understand the differences in the legal or conveyancing work and how it can be significantly different in her in Spain to your home country. This has caught many people out in the past when buying in Spain and it only takes a quick google search to read many of these horror stories. However, there are many successful and safe transactions that take place each year, but people tend not to post about great transactions that didn’t have any problems!
If you look on any of the main Facebook groups and forums, you will often see people saying that you should not use the lawyer that the agent recommends, and instead use “x” lawyer. In a lot of cases, this can be good advice, but there are caveats to this that you need to be aware of.
Firstly if the agent is a professionally registered agent, they will tend to work with many of the same lawyers that other people recommend, as these are known to be good quality and do a good job. But if the agent is not registered with a professional body then it would often be worth choosing your own lawyer.
How to choose a lawyer to help you buy a property safely in Spain? Here are 5 top tips to help you buy safely in Spain
1 – Ensure that the lawyer will actually visit the property in person.
If the lawyer doesn’t visit the property in person, then they are only working from paperwork, which can often be incorrect and not properly represent what you are actually buying. They will only be able to advise you based on the documents they have and not the actual building that you are buying.
2 – Local knowledge
Each autonomous region in Spain has different rules and regulations, as do each province and then each municipality, What is OK in one, will often not be in another. If the lawyer does not know the differences then they could easily apply the wrong set of checks to your property.
3 – Don’t be led by price
Whilst you would never want to pay an exorbitant amount for a property lawyer in Spain, it is also not a good idea to base your decision on price alone. The cheapest is rarely the best and this is even more important when it comes to dealing with one of the biggest assets in your life. Look for the knowledge and experience that is specific to your needs. It is better to judge things on this than just price alone.
4 – Try to meet them in person first
You will be dealing with some very complex legal matters during the buying process and it is very important that you are able to communicate well with your lawyer. If you do not speak good Spanish then you will be relying on the translation provided by the lawyer, It is vital that you know you can communicate together in the correct way before instructing them
5 – Do not only rely on the Notary.
The notary in Spain performs a different role from that in many other countries. Whilst they will check the identities of the buyer and seller and the price being transferred, and they also have a duty to advise and inform their clients, their formal obligations are limited. Their investigations are often limited to the brief extract from the property register. It is still very possible to purchase a totally illegal property when only using the notary.
Whilst this list is not exhaustive, it will help you towards making the right decision when choosing your property lawyer in Spain. Here at Hola Properties, we are not associated with any specific lawyer and have a very in-depth knowledge of which lawyers will be able to help you with specific property types and which ones tend to miss many details. look out for another blog coming soon on some examples of this!
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For more help and advice on buying a Lecrin valley Property, Lanjaron Property or Orgiva Properties, do not hesitate to contact us. We are here to help you
