This guide to buying Costa Blanca property will take you on a step by step journey through the whole process of selecting your ideal area, property type and solicitor and will give advice on completing your purchase and taking possession of your home.
1. Set Your Budget – One of the most important, if not the most important decisions you will have to make when buying a Costa Blanca property is your budget. Set yourself an affordable budget and be sure to include an allowance of at least 10% on top to cover taxes and expenses. Once set stick to your budget.
2. Choosing a Location – Very important when deciding on a Costa Blanca property is the area. As with anywhere there are good areas and bad areas, take your time and have a good look around, read local newspapers and ask people you meet, a chat with a local can give you important information on an area.
3. New or Resale? – Another choice you will have to make is new or resale property. I would suggest that you keep an open mind on this and look at both. New is fine but you will probably be buying off-plan, so be ready for a long wait (up to 2 years) before you get your keys. There is plenty of resale Costa Blanca property available and some excellent bargains to be found. These resale properties are usually furnished and may already have air-conditioning, grills, alarms etc fitted – this can save you a lot of money. Also with resales you get to see what is built around the property, you certainly don’t want a huge apartment block taking away your sunshine.
4. Property Type – Another decision you will have to make is the property type ie. apartment, villa, house or bungalow. Then there are different styles ie. Detached, semi-detached, terraced, quad, townhouse, duplex etc etc, there are many different types of Costa Blanca property. This choice will be determined somewhat by your budget but also by personal preference. You will also have to consider if the property is to be on an urbanization, in the town or in the country, this may be determined by the use you want to get from the property, for instance is it to be a holiday home, for re-location or for investment? These are all points you must consider carefully.
5. Choosing Your Property – As you now have a good idea of exactly what you are looking for, this is probably a good time to go out and begin viewing some potential properties. This is the fun bit, but don’t get carried away, you need to keep your sensible head on and always have in the front of your mind the decisions on budget, location and property type. Try to be disciplined and don’t look at an excessive number of properties in one day, take your time and don’t be rushed. Take a camera with you and get plenty of shots of the best properties and the surrounding area, keep notes and if possible take a video camera as well. These will all be useful at the end of the day to review what you have seen and make a short list of potential properties. When you have finished looking and have a comprehensive short list, go back and look at all these properties again – your perfect Costa Blanca property may be among these, if not start again, there is a huge choice out there.
6. Paying a Deposit – You have made you choice, now is the time to put your money where your mouth is! The usual in Spain is a 3,000 euros deposit to take the property off the market. The next step will vary depending on whether your choice is new or resale. With new property the next step will probably be payment of something in the region of 30% of the final purchasing price, payable within one month. There may also be stage payments during construction though the norm is balance on completion. Different builders have different rules so be aware of these before you decide to put down your 3,000 euros deposit. With resale property the whole process can be completed within 1 month (if this suits both seller and buyer), so normally it is 3,000 euros deposit and the balance on signing at the notary.
7. Choosing a Solicitor – If you are buying your Costa Blanca property through an agents office, they will probably have their own retained solicitor who you can use for the purchase if you wish, if not you will need to find your own. Make sure you find a solicitor who speaks good English and understands the language well. Your solicitor will be your friend and ally during the entire process of buying and will deal with the sellers solicitor to make sure there are no outstanding debts on the property. If you need to know anything at all, ask, he is there to help you. Your solicitor will be there with you at the signing to ensure everything goes smoothly and he will also help you afterwards with such tasks as changing names on bills and contracts (ie electricity and water). You can normally retain your solicitor afterwards to file your tax returns in Spain. real estate crm team management