The house itself is rarely the problem. Buying property in Spain usually becomes complicated because everyone is responsible for a different piece of the process.
The bank looks at the mortgage. The lawyer looks at the legal work. The agent focuses on the sale. The contractor focuses on the renovation. Nobody automatically watches the whole picture.
This guide follows the purchase from preparation through to ownership, with the points we'd want every buyer to check before they move too fast. You can read it all here, or take the 2026 edition with you as a PDF.
These are not unusual scenarios. They happen to well-informed, experienced buyers — not because they were careless, but because the system works the way it works.
No NIE application in progress. No clear picture of what you can realistically borrow. No lawyer identified. Then comes a viewing, then an offer, then a problem. Order matters.
Read the phase →The agent represents the seller. That is their job, and they do it well. But their interests and yours diverge. An independent lawyer and an independent coordinator are not extra costs — they are why you do not overpay, and why problems are found before it is too late.
Read the phase →Time pressure feels real. Sometimes it is. But signing the Contrato de Arras before the legal check is done is the single biggest financial risk in the purchase. A few days for a legal review is almost always possible.
Read the phase →ITP alone is 10% of the purchase price in Catalonia. Notary, registration, lawyer and gestoría come on top. On a €500,000 purchase, acquisition costs run to €55,000–65,000. Buyers who have not budgeted for this find themselves short at the wrong moment.
Read the phase →IRNR. IBI. Possibly wealth tax. Utility bills that keep running. A community of owners that makes decisions in your absence. Owning property in Spain is not passive. Buyers who underestimate this are already behind by year two.
Read the phase →Already looking at a property?
Tell us where you are in the process. We'll help you understand what needs attention.
Send a message →The order matters. Some steps can run in parallel, but others need to happen before you commit. Each phase below has a short checklist and the terms you'll come across — read top to bottom, or jump to what's relevant right now.
Buyers who start searching before the basics are in place lose time at exactly the moment speed matters. Four things to arrange first:
the pre-assessment is too often delayed until a property is found. That reverses the right order. Buyers who don’t know what they can borrow search on instinct — sometimes too low, sometimes too high. Both waste time.
A property stands out for what you can see. Problems sit in what you cannot. Work through this before you make an offer:
unlicensed extensions are common on the Costa Brava — sometimes there for decades, yet legally non-existent. Excluded from the mortgage valuation and a problem on resale. Catching it early prevents renegotiating later.
Making an offer in Spain has legal consequences the moment it’s confirmed in writing. The Contrato de Arras is binding. Understand what you’re signing before you sign it.
in popular areas, time pressure is sometimes a negotiating tactic. A property can genuinely sell fast — but “there’s another buyer” is also used strategically. A few days for a legal check is almost always possible.
After the arras, your lawyer carries out the legal investigation — the phase where problems surface that weren’t visible during viewings.
the most common surprise in due diligence is not what is found, but how late. Buyers who only request the nota simple after signing the arras are already behind. In inheritance or co-ownership situations, the full picture often emerges late — ask your lawyer to check this first, not last.
Spanish banks assess non-resident applications more conservatively: more documentation, lower financing, longer timelines. What you need:
On LTV and the 70% rule: LTV is the ratio between the mortgage and the assessed value. Banks typically finance non-residents to 60–70%. Plan on bringing 35–40% equity, plus acquisition costs on top.
the biggest delays almost never happen at the bank — they happen in file preparation. Banks return incomplete files without review, and each round costs two to three weeks. It’s rarely the obvious documents: it’s a missing apostille, a tax return that doesn’t cover the period, a bank statement three weeks too old. Start with a complete file, or don’t start.
Mortgage advice in Spain falls under Ley 5/2019. Only ACI-certified advisors may provide it. Casa Connecta coordinates the process and works with ACI-certified partners; the advice sits with them.
Many properties in Baix Empordà come to market cheaper because they need work. That can be a genuine opportunity, or a costly surprise. What you know before you buy decides which.
On permits: obras menores (cosmetic, non-structural) — usually weeks. obras mayores (structural, extensions, façade) — architect drawings required, 1–4 months, sometimes longer.
older Baix Empordà properties almost always include some unpermitted work. That’s the norm, not the exception — the question is how significant it is. Get it checked before the arras. And budget estimates obtained upfront are indicative: final costs run 15–30% higher in practice. Budget generously, deliberately — not optimistically.
The final step. The notary draws up the deed and verifies identity — they do not verify the property is legally sound. Your lawyer has already done that.
Acquisition costs in Catalonia (existing property, indicative): ITP 10% · notary ~0.5–1% · registration ~0.2–0.5% · lawyer 0.5–1% · gestoría €300–600. Total: budget 11–13% on top. New-build: IVA (10%) instead of ITP, plus AJD (~1.5% in Catalonia).
on a €500,000 purchase, acquisition costs run €55,000–65,000 on top. Work these numbers before you make your offer — not on completion day.
After completion, a series of obligations begins — some with legal deadlines. Not everything runs through your lawyer.
the 30-working-day ITP deadline passes faster than you expect, especially from abroad. Missing it means penalties and interest. Hand it to your lawyer or gestoría immediately and confirm it’s done.
Owning in Spain comes with yearly obligations from the municipality, the tax authority and the community of owners.
On IRNR: even if you don’t rent out, you owe non-resident tax on a deemed rental income — a percentage of the cadastral value, 19% for EU/EEA nationals.
the IRNR filing. It’s required every year, even when the property is empty. A missed filing means penalties that accumulate. We see this most in the first year, when attention is elsewhere.
When we bought our own property in Baix Empordà, we expected the difficult part to be finding the right house.
It wasn't.
The difficult part was everything around it. Documents arriving late. Information that turned out to be incomplete. Different parties giving different answers to the same question.
Since then, we've seen the same pattern with other buyers. The problems are rarely dramatic. They're usually small things that appear at the wrong moment:
None of this has to become a crisis. But someone has to see it early.
We're a buyer-side coordinator. We work exclusively for the buyer. That's a specific role, with clear limits — and those limits matter. They prevent confusion later.
Honest. Personal. Independent. That's what we're here for.
The full guide is right here on this page. If you'd rather take it with you — to a viewing, to share with your lawyer, or to work through at your own pace — download the free 2026 edition as a PDF.
Download the 2026 guide (PDF, free) →Most of the questions we receive aren't unusual. We recognise them. You don't need to have everything figured out — tell us where you are in the process and we'll point you in the right direction. We read every message personally and reply within 24 hours, in your language.
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