Illustrates how with all the best advice and wisest preparation in the world; you can still run across a surprise or two...

Our village house in Otivar - a real Tropical valley pueblo blanco by S & J Davies

We decided in September 2006 that we would like to buy a house on the Costa Tropical. It was an area that we knew well from previous holidays. The area is well served by airports (both Malaga and Granada are just an hours drive to Otivar – thanks to the new motorways!) which means a quick getaway from the UK and was a factor in our choosing the area. Other factors included the lovely weather and the friendliness of the locals.

After spending many hours on the internet looking at many properties we decided on Otivar, a town a little way up the valley from Almuñecar. Our first ‘shopping’ visit was a month later in October and for this visit we arranged to view 11 properties with three different agents. This was all arranged quite easily using the internet from the UK. In particular the Tropicana site is very user friendly and also the most informative.

We met Martin from Tropicana to view 5 properties and although some made an impression on us we did not make any decisions this trip as we intended to return in six weeks time. Back in the UK we continued to search the internet and Martin kept in contact by email particularly if there was any movement on the properties we had viewed.
 
Then a property we had completely dismissed in October (because of the brown paint and a donkey living in the street!!! – don’t ask) was substantially reduced in price by the owners who had inherited the house from their parents.

On our return in mid-November we met with Martin to view this house along with a few others that had come on the market and a couple we planned to view again just to feel better about them. However, this time we looked at the house we had dismissed through different eyes and Martin helped us to see the potential - if we wanted to refurbish it a little. We went away to think... and later that same day arranged with Martin to help us take various measurements for each room so that we could draw up a more detailed plan when we got back home. Martin and Bernard showed us a photocopy of the notarised deeds to the property, that alas not yet registered with the land registry, showed the names of the deceased and the inheritors... We were hooked!

Knowing the property had been reduced we returned to Tropicana the next morning and made our offer. Bernard of Tropicana, the Spanish speaking negotiator, managed to convince the Spanish owners (2 brothers and 2 sisters) to accept the deal. We then agreed to leave a 600 Euros holding deposit which gave us 15 days to check everything out with a lawyer before paying our 10% purchase deposit after which time for us there was no going back.

We opened a Spanish bank account with staff who were English speaking, applied for our Extranjero documents in Motril commisario  (NIE & certificate of non residence) [#1] and, having read so much advice and many publications in the UK, had arranged our own independently sourced solicitor to consult. All the books on buying houses in Spain said the golden rule for buying a property in Spain was to never take the advice of the estate agent when choosing a legal representative. Remain independent of the estate agent.

Following this guidance we arranged to meet the lawyer we ourselves had chosen later that morning, and agreed to pay the 150 €uros for the initial appointment and consultation. We sat in the office, and with our list of questions ready, were told by the lawyer that in no uncertain terms should we touch the property, and added that if we went ahead with the purchase then it could take years before we could register it in our names – we were devastated! [#2]

The reason given by the lawyer was that the property had not been (re-)registered into the names of the inheritors as is the way with many pueblo properties that are inherited. Our lawyer rang Bernard from Tropicana but the advice did not change. Bernard assured the lawyer that the paperwork had been presented for the escritura (title deed) at the public notary office but that the registration had yet to be done. This would be done once they had a buyer; more he explained that the 4 surviving inheritors were the only members of the family with any ownership rights to the property as indicated by the IBI contribution receipt of the property registered at the town hall.

As you can imagine we were very upset and a little confused. Did these people at Tropicana really try to deceive us? On returning to Tropicana Martin and Bernard asked that, and only if we really wanted, they arrange for us  to speak to a local Spanish lawyer they often used who had a good local knowledge of the villages and was English speaking. “Perhaps a second opinion might be more prudent...” they said, “But if you want the deposit back we will be happy to give it, and to continue looking at other properties.” We agreed to meet the new lawyer later that day. And although this second lawyer was recommended through the agents he was totally professional and advised us on a completely independent basis. He explained how the registry would work and agreed to check the land was not previously registered to any one else; this is done by asking at the land registry for a nota simple negativo. We changed lawyers.

Everything was fine just as our lawyer had explained it would be and we attended the Notary on 8 January 2007 just 6 weeks later and the house was ours, the deeds were registered and all the papers were completed and returned to us by April.

With plans in hand, and changes requested and budgeted, we hired a builder who also spoke English and the transformation of our home began in late January. The house was ready for us to use at the end of April and we then began the nicer part of the job  - that of buying everything we needed. Our house is great, we visit as often as we can – work permitting sometimes just for a weekend or for a week or more. We always use Granada airport, very straight forward, although we do have the option of flying to Malaga / Almeria from where we live. The airport at Granada – “Frederico Garcia Lorca Granada-Jaen airport” – is a small unsophisticated airfield where the few planes that come in or out literally park on the tarmac, and you glide easily through customs and baggage collection to the rental car. Just 12 kilometres from the centre of Granada, and 8 from the motorway that leads south to the coast, we usually arrive at our holiday home within an hour of touching down...

Otivar is lovely, it’s quite unpretentious, not touristy, and just a working country village where the people are really friendly – although it really does help to speak a little Spanish.

We can’t thank Martin, and Bernard, enough for their assistance, the whole buying process was quite clearly explained to us at all times and even though the completion occurred quite quickly – just 6 weeks. Most of all it was painless, but best of all we have a house which we love!

We have some before and after photos for you to look at too; enjoy!

NOTES:

[#1] Before completing on the sale it is important that you apply for your NIE (Spanish Identity number) and also a certificate of non-residence. This can ONLY be done in person, and is free – all you need is to complete the application form and provide a photocopy of your passport with the original when you present yourself at the local Comisaría de Policía. From the moment of application to the actual document being issued you need to allow 4 or 5 working days. The NIE is also the document required when purchasing a vehicle in Spain, too.. Most buyers these days will often apply for this document before returning to their home country – even if they do not make a purchase successfully on this occasion the document is for life. Only the certificate of non-residence has a limited time span – currently it is only valid for 3 months and can be renewed at any time.

[#2] Lawyers in Spain; while regulated by the provincial college of law, they have no obligation to declare any compromising interests. The consequence being that while ALL the independent real estate professionals STRONGLY ADVISE never using the lawyer that the estate agent recommends – it may often be best to obtain a second opinion before making your decision. This means that if the independent lawyer you have selected is partner to an estate agent, a bank manager, a distant relative of another property owner in the same area, or simply prefers not take this type of operation and so forth – then this may influence the way in which you are received.
Often in small towns the lawyers working in that area may specialise in certain aspects of conveyance and also be best at handling certain types of properties. This is  especially true with properties like country or village homes where they have no title deed or have not yet been registered. You may also find too that legal charges vary between practices. These vary between set fees up to 2% of the sale price; but also, for example, can depend on translation skills, size and specialism of the practice, and so on.

[#3]  The airport at Granada – “Frederico Garcia Lorca Granada-Jaen airport” – is a small unsophisticated airfield where the few planes that come in or out literally park on the tarmac, and you glide easily through customs and baggage collection to your rental car. This small provincial terminal offers just 10 check-in desks, a large cafeteria with excellent range of local specialities, and a small duty free selection (excluding drinks and tobaccos)... it also the best place to purchase the local speciality – a vanilla cream filled sponge cake with cinnamon covered treacle topping – known as Pionono’s de Santa Fe.