Buying a home in Spain follows a set order. Once you can see the whole path, the parts that feel intimidating from abroad turn into a checklist. This is that path, start to finish, for the Comunitat Valenciana, with the one thing most guides leave out: who is actually responsible for each step.
Five people each own a different part of your purchase. The agency finds the home and coordinates everyone. Your own lawyer checks the legal side. The notary formalises the sale. The property registry records it. A gestoría files the taxes afterwards. Keep those roles separate in your head, and the whole thing gets simpler.
Before you start looking
Three things are worth sorting early, because they slow people down at the worst possible moment.
- An NIE. Your foreigner’s identification number, which is also your Spanish tax number. You cannot sign a deed, pay the tax or open a bank account without it, and every buyer on the deed needs their own. A lawyer can apply for you with a power of attorney, so you do not have to fly over for it. Here is how the NIE works.
- A Spanish bank account. The deposit, the balance at the notary and the utilities all run through one.
- Your real budget. The listing price is not the total. Set aside roughly 10 to 13 percent on top of it for tax and the costs of buying. If you are borrowing, a Spanish bank will usually lend a non-resident 60 to 70 percent of the price, so plan for a deposit of at least a third, plus those costs. We break the numbers down here.
The viewing and the offer
When a place feels right, you make an offer through the agent. If it is accepted, a small reservation deposit, often a few thousand euros, takes the home off the market while the paperwork is drawn up. Nothing is binding yet. This is breathing room, not a commitment.
The deposit that counts: the arras
This is the moment the purchase becomes real, and the moment to slow down.
The contrato de arras is a private contract between you and the seller. You pay a deposit, customarily around 10 percent, and both sides commit to completing by a set date. In most resale deals it is written so that if you pull out you lose the deposit, and if the seller pulls out they return it doubled. The exact wording decides that, which is one reason your own lawyer should read it before you sign.
The rule that protects you is simple: the checks come before the arras, not after. Once your deposit is down, walking away is expensive, so the legal homework happens while the contract is still a draft. What to confirm before you pay.
The checks, and who does them
This is where the roles matter most.
Your independent lawyer does the due diligence. They confirm the seller really owns the property, that there is no mortgage or debt attached to it, that it has the right licences and habitability, and that the community fees and local property tax are paid up to date. They answer only to you, and that independence is the whole point.
The nota simple, a short extract from the property registry, shows the registered owner and any charges on the home. Anyone can request one. It is where the lawyer starts, not the finish line.
Our job is to prepare the file your lawyer needs and, if you do not already have one, introduce you to a lawyer who does. We coordinate the checks. We do not perform them, and any agent who tells you they “verify everything themselves” is quietly taking on a job that belongs to someone whose only client is you.
Signing day: the notary
Completion happens in front of a notary, a neutral public official. The notary confirms everyone’s identity, reads the deed aloud, requests a fresh registry check minutes before you sign, and gives the sale its legal force. If you are using a mortgage, the bank pays out at the same table. You hand over the balance, the seller hands over the keys, and the home is yours.
The notary is not there to take your side or repeat your lawyer’s work. That homework was already done, before you arrived at the table.
After the keys
A gestoría handles the paperwork that follows: filing and paying the purchase tax, and lodging the deed with the property registry so your ownership is recorded. That registration is the step that makes you the owner the law will defend, so it matters that it happens properly and on time. The utilities move into your name, and the file is closed.
Where we fit
Our part in all of this is deliberately narrow, and we would rather be honest about it than oversell it. We find the right home, negotiate the price, coordinate every party, prepare the paperwork, introduce the specialists, and stand next to you at the notary to explain what you are signing. We are still reachable after that, for the utilities, the management and the small things a home throws up, especially one you may not live in all year.
We do not run the legal checks, and we would not want to. The value is in making sure the right people do, at the right moment, so nothing falls through the gap between them.