At Olvera Properties SL we offer a friendly, reliable and professional service where we guide our buyers through the whole process from beginning to end. Many of our clients engage the services of an English-speaking lawyer and we can put you in touch with legal advisors in the area, who are all completely independent of Olvera Properties SL. 

Once a property is found we negotiate on your behalf to get the best possible price which you are willing to pay and which the vendor is happy to accept. After the price is agreed an initial deposit of €2,000 is paid to our client holding account. This takes the property off the open market and ensures no one else can view it (or anyone who has previously viewed it making another offer). To show your commitment to the seller this needs to be as soon as possible once the price is agreed and gives everyone a schedule to work towards. This also allows time to arrange the rest of the funds, open a bank account and get an NIE number (Spanish tax code). If you prefer to extend completion longer than 3-4 weeks then the next step is to pay a further 10% deposit directly to the vendors. This deposit is non-refundable, however should the vendors withdraw from the sale for whatever reason, they are obliged to pay you back double the amount of the deposit.

You will need to open your own non-resident Spanish bank account to send the rest of the funds to. You need to be physically present at the bank here in Olvera to open an account or it is sometimes possible to open a local non-resident account through a foreign branch of a Spanish bank such as Santander.

For the NIE, you either have to apply yourself in Spain, or in the UK or USA by going to the Spanish consulate, or with a Power of Attorney (Poder in Spanish). We can get the NIE the day before completion if necessary, this involves going to Cadiz to apply at the police station, then paying for the certificate but it does mean you get it immediately that day. Otherwise, you can arrange a poder for any of us at Olvera Properties or a local lawyer in order to apply for the NIE and open a bank account.

If you need our help with this, please see “Concierge Services” at the end for prices and details of what we do to take care of you throughout the process.

Once a bank account is open you will be ready to make transfers via a currency exchange company account. (If you haven’t already spoken with one let us know as they will tell you the cheapest way to send funds.) 

Then on the purchase day you can be in Spain to sign yourself, or if you can’t be here at the same time as the sellers, whoever has your Power of Attorney can sign on your behalf. On the day of signing we all meet at the notary public who will have been given all the bills and papers ready to draw up the sale deed, this is where all the documents will be prepared for the sale and everything is checked to make sure all the paperwork is in order, bills paid etc. 

We organise the transfer in the bank of the remainder of the purchase price and obtain a certificate from the bank that this has been completed then you/us sign before the notary. The purchaser and one of us (and or lawyer) will go first to the bank and organise the bankers draft or transfer of remaining funds, then at the notary we meet with vendors. A deed of transfer of ownership (escritura de compraventa) will have been prepared by the notary having carried out all legal checks on the property and it’s ownership.

The escritura is read out loud and translated to you if you have no Spanish by a named translator (one of us or, if you have chosen to engage a lawyer, they do this as part of service)

Once everyone is happy the escritura is signed by vendors, buyers or legal representatives and translator. At this point the you are the official owner of the property and you should consider taking out insurance immediately: let us know if you need help as we can recommend an English speaking broker.

The property registry is notified of the sale immediately. You receive a copy of the escritura, the original is sent to property registry where within a month or so all taxes and fees are paid and the formal registration is made, the original deed is then delivered to the notary ready for collection by you or a representative.

You get the keys there and then and it’s yours!