# Advice on buying



## Alan Huyton (Mar 11, 2008)

We are looking at purchasing a house in Jaen or Granada province. We will not be buying a new build property but it will be a rural/village house. 

Firstly is either of these areas subject to any land grab actions by the local authority. 

I believe we understand the purchase process and will have a lawyer/solicitor but if anyone has any advice it will be welcome.

The one aspect we are unsure on is the Spanish mortgage workings. Does any existing mortgage stay with the property? and if we are judged capable of making the repayments we can take the mortgage on, is this correct?

In view of the above we would arrange the mortgage with a Spanish lender/bank - any recommendations as to who we should consider.

We are not sure as to what we may do work wise, it's probably worse in Spain than the UK. We intend to do rural tourism - maybe have an apartment or 2 at most for rent, however we would not be dependant on this income. What typically does it cost to live per month (ex mortgage) in Spain? I realise this is a bit like how longs a piece of string but any pointers would be great.

Thanks

Alan & Linda


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## XTreme (May 17, 2008)

Alan Huyton said:


> We are looking at purchasing a house in Jaen or Granada province. We will not be buying a new build property but it will be a rural/village house.


Granada or Jaen.....good choices Alan! Nice, unspoilt provinces with property at good prices.

I don't know Jaen particularly well, but I have well established property agent clients of mine I can put you onto in Granada.


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## spaceman (Aug 9, 2009)

Hi Alan/Linda,
I cannot answer all of your questions, but others will pitch in on this forum before to long.
The morgage can stay with the property, but doesnt have to. It may or may not be benificial to you, this is best discussed with the current lender and a prospective other lender. Enquire about this via your abogado (solicitor).
The solicitors in Spain will not necessarily do all the checks you take for granted in the UK. Get yourself a list of things that need checking and verify them as being completed. A lot of checks can be done at the local town hall. (new roads, developments etc).
For a rural house its worth getting a buliding survey done. The lender will do one as well, but this is just for mortgae purposes. Someone i knew lived in a properry for 5 years, and then their terrace collapsed. The insurance co didnt pay out (15,000) as they proved( with a building survey), that it is was a long standing structural fault.
Survey will cost about 300 to 400 euros.
All you are doing really is everything you should do in the UK when you buy a house. A lot of people get distracted by the lifestyle and great houses out here and cut corners. Sometimes this can prove to be a costly mistake.
I cant comment to fully on the areas you are looking at to buy as i live near to valencia, but have visited the regions. Wonderful places they are to, great scenery and lifestyle around there.
best of luck

spaceman


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## Alan Huyton (Mar 11, 2008)

XTreme said:


> Granada or Jaen.....good choices Alan! Nice, unspoilt provinces with property at good prices.
> 
> I don't know Jaen particularly well, but I have well established property agent clients of mine I can put you onto in Granada.


Thanks for the quick response - could you give me the contact details of the property agent in Granada - thanks for your help.


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## grahunt (Jan 22, 2009)

Good answers by Spaceman there. _Usually_ the mortgage on a property works out better if you can take it on because the tax has already been paid and the interest rate will have been set during the good times. A new mortgage will be set most probably at a much higher interest rate


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## BrianDean (Aug 13, 2009)

Hello Everyone,

I have just being reading your post and have found them very informative with regards to what I was going to ask before I read them. 

But I'm still very cautious about buying a property, I have seen to many T.V shows were people have being caught out with buying a property where they did not fully own all the land is was built on...etc 

What I was hoping to ask is if anyone knows any good English solicitor that has vast experience with Spain that they could recommend as I think I would feel a lot more relaxed knowing that If a problem came up I could get some answers immediately and not have and language problems or be lost in translation. 

If anyone could recommend anyone that would be great or even if its a reptile Spanish solicitor I would like to hear.

Thanks in advanced 

B.D


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## Suenneil (Feb 17, 2009)

BrianDean said:


> Hello Everyone,
> 
> I have just being reading your post and have found them very informative with regards to what I was going to ask before I read them.
> 
> ...


Hi Brian

Its a bit like watching "plumbers from hell" .... it starts to make you believe that ALL plumbers are dodgy when in fact thats probably far far from the truth.

I work for one of those "reptile Spanish Law firms" you mention - and believe me there are no snakes or lizards in our office!  well apart from me after too long in the sun! I could actually be offended ...  but Im not because I understand where your concerns are coming from. 

Seriously, you are right to be cautious - and you should be wherever you are buying. BUT dont let that cloud your judgement on all Law practices (Spanish) as it simply isnt true. Its not an English Lawyer with experience in Spain you should be looking for. Its a Spanish Lawyer qualified in Spain who can speak English .... once you have a name you can check their credentials against the BAR associations of Spain where all qualified and licenced to practice Lawyers are listed. Then you need to speak to them of course!

Sue :ranger:


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## BrianDean (Aug 13, 2009)

Suenneil said:


> Hi Brian
> 
> Its a bit like watching "plumbers from hell" .... it starts to make you believe that ALL plumbers are dodgy when in fact thats probably far far from the truth.
> 
> ...


Hello Sue

Thanks for the information, If the estate agent is apart of the BAR associations of Spain does that mean I will 100% get a genuine property and will not have some guy knocking on my door claiming to own half my land????

Thanks for your help 

Have I seen you on another Thread??

Thanks

B.D


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## tallbob (Aug 14, 2009)

Suenneil said:


> Hi Brian
> 
> I
> Its not an English Lawyer with experience in Spain you should be looking for. Its a Spanish Lawyer qualified in Spain who can speak English .... once you have a name you can check their credentials against the BAR associations of Spain where all qualified and licenced to practice Lawyers are listed. Then you need to speak to them of course!
> ...


I got caught very badly in Spain on my first house purchase far too long a story to go into here but involved crooked estate agent, crooked Lawyer not connected in anyway with the estate agent,crooked notary and crooked judge when I went to court, but I won the appeal in a higher court in Granada I used a Spanish lawyer who spoke very good English without him I would have lost everything

I was caught over a VPO property so make sure your solicitor does those checks my original one didn't
What is a VPO it's like a council house that is built and sold with a subsidy I own flats in England but the VPO regs state that is the only ONE I can own worldwide!! so I could NEVER legally own it

will happily give you lawyers name if you need it and he is based in the Granada province


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## Suenneil (Feb 17, 2009)

BrianDean said:


> Hello Sue
> 
> Thanks for the information, If the estate agent is apart of the BAR associations of Spain does that mean I will 100% get a genuine property and will not have some guy knocking on my door claiming to own half my land????
> 
> ...


Hi Brian
Its the lawyer who you need to check is a member of the relevant association, not the estate agent. A good lawyer will be able to undertake all the necessary checks to make sure the property and land are legal.

You will certainly have seen me on other threads - most of them probably!  Im a moderator on this site so Im here a lot!

Sue :ranger:


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