Preparing for buying a property in Spain

We appointed our lawyer in Spain, from the UK, only after we had agreed a purchase. From that moment on, our lawyers took care of everything; obtaining power of attorney, NIE numbers, setting up bank account, setting up insurance and utilities, etc. etc. Worked well for us.

DO NOT get a Spanish bank account. They will rob you blind as a non-resident. Get an account with www.wise.com

Get an independent lawyer, not the one recommended to you by the real estate agent. I used Amarmat Consulting Bureau and was satisfied.

Thanks very much will look into that

Hi both, have you revoked the PoA?

https://www.spanishpropertyinsight.com/legal/power-of-attorney/ 

It is always advisable to revoke the power of attorney once the mandate has been completed and to ask the attorney to return to the donor the original Deed of Power of Attorney and any copies that he may have obtained from the Notary’s office.

Hi

Whilst agreeing with Lukas, I found that our lawyer was still living in the Stone Age, or is that Paper Age?

He was insistent that we had to get a bankers draft to buy our house, with associated costs and inconvenience, and that had to be arranged in a branch of a Spanish bank. I don't believe that Wise can support bankers drafts. 

But for everything else, Wise is the way to go.

Cheers

Steve

I was wondering about that as well and different banks make different charges for doing the same thing. Does anyone know if there is a way around this?

We simply transferred all our funds to our abogada’s Client account and she paid through bank transfer. This suited us as she then held the balance until we’d sorted bank account etc. No problems.

Hi Stephanie

The difference may be PoA. We had already been resident in Spain for 7 years before buying a property - so we had no obvious reason to give PoA. 

Cheers

Steve

A bankers draft is the most effective way for Notaries to ensure the purchase transaction goes through on the day. This is because sometimes UK buyers don't realise in advance that there is a daily transfer limit on their account. On occasions a purchase has not gone through on the day because the UK bank would only allow 20 or 30k to go out on the day.

So, at first glance it seems bureaucracy but it works well. The only downside is that Spanish banks will want to charge you for the Draft. Often they will waive the charge if you take their house insurance (which can be cancelled after the first year)

Companies like Wise etc are good for cash transfers and can cut banking charges but what I have found is that when there is a problem there's no substitute for getting face to face with an English speaking advisor in branch. 

Steve