Choosing A Property Lawyer In Spain
Posted By on February 20, 2011
If you are considering buying a property in Spain, choosing a lawyer should be the very first thing that you consider. It will save you a lot of hassle further down the line, and by finding a lawyer early you are protecting yourself from the potential conflict of interest that can arise if you hire your lawyer through your estate agent.
Hiring A Lawyer In Your Home Country
You should try to find a lawyer as early as possible when you decide to buy a property in Spain, but one of the big questions for people who are considering hiring a lawyer is where to start. Unless your Spanish is approaching fluency, your minimum requirement will be finding a lawyer who speaks fluent English. This leads many people to decide to go with a Spanish-speaking lawyer in their home country who is familiar with the Spanish legal system.
This can solve the problem caused by language differences, and will also allow you to receive all of your documentation in English. However, you can often expect to pay a lot more money for the service.
Hiring A Lawyer In Spain
If you have a good idea of where you want to live then we would suggest finding a lawyer in that particular region of Spain. Again, you will want to find one who speaks your language, and for British citizens you can get a list of English-speaking lawyers from the British consulate.
You should not have a problem finding English-speaking lawyers in Spain, as the property market for foreigners is very well developed and they will be keen to get your business. As long as you take all the precautions and do your research, you should not find it too difficult.
The best way to go about hiring a lawyer is to find references. Do you have any friends in Spain who have already used the services of a lawyer? Ask them for their recommendations and try to find one in your price range. You may have a number of friends who can recommend different lawyers, so try to gauge from their experiences and work out your own course of action.
If you don’t have any friends in Spain already, we would suggest making contact with communities from your home country who are based in Spain. Expatriate communities will not be hard to find, but be careful whose advice you take if you do not know the people well. More expensive lawyers may target expatriate communities for the precise reason that their potential clients will not know any better.
Benefits Of A Local Lawyer
There are many benefits to be had from hiring a lawyer in the area you are planning to buy your property, and in our experience the work will be carried out quicker. This is because your lawyer will be able to make visits in the local area and make on-site checks rather than having to arrange for someone else to make them, and they may also have useful contacts in the local area such as figures of authority and the notary, who will also play a large role in your purchase.
Having said that, we would warn you never to go with a lawyer on the sole basis that they are locally based, as getting a good lawyer who you trust is always far more important. If this turns out to be in another part of the country or even in your own country then so be it. Indeed, there is also the chance that a local lawyer may have too many contacts with local agents, which could be a disadvantage to you.
Indeed, if you are going to be living in your home country while you rent your property in Spain then it could even prove to be more convenient for you to have your lawyer back home.
Make Sure Your Lawyer Is Working For You
So why do you need to put so much effort into finding your own lawyer? The problem comes down to a conflict of interests that can arise between real estate companies, property developers and lawyers. It is not uncommon for real estate agents to recommend a lawyer to you after you have found a property that you are interesting in buying, and they sometimes even use their own in-house lawyers.
This implies that the lawyer is simply there to do the paperwork, when in reality they should be representing your interests. Your lawyer should therefore be completely independent of your agent and your developer to avoid any of these potential conflicts from arising, and this is why it is always better to arrange your own lawyer before finding a property.
Benefits Of A Property Lawyer
So what type of lawyer do you need to find? We recommend that you look for a property lawyer, which is known in Spain as a derecho inmobiliario. The advantages of going with a specialist lawyer are numerous, as they will simply be more up to date with the current law and will be more familiar with the common problems and concerns that are likely to arise.
As for fees, you can expect to pay between 1% and 2% of the total price of the purchase, with VAT added on top. This could be higher in some cases, but always remember that when dealing with something as important as purchasing a property in Spain, it is far more important to pay slightly more if it guarantees quality.
Robert writes for Alanda Homes who are an estate agent and developer based on the Costa del Sol. Alanda Homes specialise in resale and off plan property in Marbella and other parts of the Costa del Sol. For further information please visit www.alandahomes.com
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