Repsol YPF

The property crisis has caused all housing prices to fall, particularly those of used properties which, according to the analysts, will experience drops of between 15% and 20% in 2009. The reduction in prices for used flats represents an opportunity for those people who are currently thinking about purchasing a property. If this is your situation, you have already viewed several properties and one of them meets your needs, we advise you to follow the steps below before signing the contract of sale.

1. You should go to the Land Registry  and request a Land Registry Report, a document containing a brief description of the property, the name of the owner and the current situation of the property in terms of possible encumbrances, such as mortgages, usufruct rights and legal or administrative seizures. Keep this Land Registry Report because the bank you are negotiating mortgage terms with will ask you for it.
 
This document may also state that the property is rented out, but not all rental agreements will appear, since they may be private agreements. As such, it is essential that you clarify this situation with the property owner and that the contract of sale states that the property is free of tenants. 

2. Go to the council of the town where the used property is located and ask for information concerning whether the Spanish Council Tax (IBI) and other local tax payments are up to date. It is advisable to ask the vendor for a photocopy of the last IBI bill, which you can keep with the other documents related to the property. If the building is very old, you should ask the council about any planned building work, as well as requesting a certificate detailing the current situation of the property. 

3. Find out whether the property owner is up to date with their residents’ association payments for communal services by asking the president or the administrator, and ask for a certificate, since these documents are also included in contracts of sale in order to ensure that the buyer does not suffer any surprises related to this subject. In the event of outstanding payments, the new owner will have to assume all of the debts associated to the property.  

4. If the property has a mortgage, it is advisable that the vendor and buyer go to the bank together, so that they can tell you whether the current owner is up to date with the payments. If this is not the case, the bank may proceed to repossess the property irrespective of the fact that the owner has changed.
  
If everything is in order, you can take on the current mortgage, once you have found out about all of the contract terms. In this case, you must deduct the amount from the property price. If you prefer the purchase to be free of this encumbrance, the vendor will have to cancel the mortgage at the notary’s office before completing the sale. 

5. Once the previous aspects have been clarified, you must go to the notary’s office to sign the contract of sale. It is essentials that this contain all of the abovementioned conditions so that nothing is left open to interpretation, and that all of the related documents are attached: Land Registry Report, last council tax bill and council certificate detailing the current situation of the property, the residents’ association certificate and bank documents.   

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