|Selling your house

Our firm will be pleased to assist you in the sale of your property.

People usually think it is not necessary to involve a solicitor when selling but experience says it is more than sensible to appoint one to avoid any last minute hiccups and to make sure all your tax obligations are correctly fulfilled; here's a brief explanation of the most important topics to take into account:

1º) Details of the sale:

The seller needs to inform MAM if the property is being sold through an estate agent or making a direct sale with the buyers. If required we can prepare a sales contract in order to receive a down payment.

We need also a copy of the Deed of the house & all the contact details of the other parties.

We also will need the latest bill for water, electricity, local rates (IBI/Suma), community fees and rubbish collection.

If there is a mortgage upon the property we need your bank contact details. Coordination of the cancellation of the existing mortgage is included in our fees.

Finally we need you to confirm the sale price you are asking and an estimated completion date.

2º) Completion

Be aware that all the owners are obliged to sign the Deed of sale of the property. In order to complete you can come to Spain to sign the Deed or we can act on your behalf via PoA. If you are not able to come over to Spain, we can prepare a PoA for you to sign back at home.

3º) Fees, expenses & Capital Gain Tax

Please, contact our office to get the current tariff of fees. Our fees include the following services:

• Taking care of coordinating all parties for completion at the notary.
• Taking care of cancellation of any existing mortgages.
• Payment of your plusvalia tax.
• Calculation and serving your capital gains tax return.
• Cancellation of direct debits.

As vendor, you need to be aware that you are liable for the payment of PLUSVALIA TAX to the Town Hall where the property is located. This is not a fixed tax so we need to request a pre-liquidation to the Town Hall. We will need a copy of your last local rates.

MAM will also make all searches to see if all utilities bills are up to date and if there is any debt we will withhold the necessary funds on completion to cover such bills.

Please, note that the seller is also liable to pay CAPITAL GAINS TAX from the sale of his/her real estate property. Capital gain tax rate is 19% on the profit of the sale. In plain words, the taxable profit is the difference between the transfer value and the acquisition value.

If the vendor is a non resident in Spain the buyer is legally obliged to set aside and deposit 3% OF THE SALE PRICE with the Spanish Public Treasury on completion. This is retained by the Treasury until your Capital Gains Tax liability has been settled.

For the seller, this retention acts as a payment on account of capital gains tax arising from the transaction. Should the amount withheld be greater than the tax liability, the seller is entitled to a refund of the difference. If the amount is lower, the seller is obliged to pay the outstanding capital gains tax.

This tax computation is complex, and quality professional advice is absolutely essential from the outset, in order to get it right. MAM will help you and in many cases assist you to save what could well be a considerable amount –significantly more than our fees.

Be aware that in order to receive the money back from the Inland Revenue the vendor must have up to date the payment of his/her past non-resident income tax. At present time the Inland Revenue is taking around 6 / 8 months to return the money.

Finally, when MAM receives all the requested details about the sale, a breakdown of payments is sent to the vendor so he/she has a crystal clear budget of what the sale proceeds are going to be.