Purchase home with Spanish citizen

Do you have a query on how to get things done in Andalucia, where to find things, who to call? Find out by posting and hear about others experiences.
Gandom
Tourist
Posts: 13
Joined: Sun Mar 08, 2020 4:09 am
Location: San Francisco

Purchase home with Spanish citizen

Postby Gandom » Thu Jul 16, 2020 8:19 pm

Are there any advantages (or disadvantages) in purchasing a home, as joint owner, with a Spanish citizen relative?
As a non-EU citizen, I understand I can take a mortgage loan and purchase a home, granted there may be more restrictions and also costly financing. Say, if we have a 50/50 ownership (1 citizen and 1 non-citizen):

1. What are the legal and financial conditions/restrictions?
2. What if the Spanish citizen is currently not residing in Spain?

Thank you!
G&M

scotty
Resident
Posts: 1044
Joined: Wed Apr 08, 2009 10:07 am
Location: Dublin / San pedro de Alcantara.

Re: Purchase home with Spanish citizen

Postby scotty » Thu Jul 16, 2020 8:30 pm

The only thing the Banks are interested in in "Your Ability To Repay". Permanent Job ? Large deposit ? Clean credit history ? Good Luck :roll: :roll: :roll:

Gandom
Tourist
Posts: 13
Joined: Sun Mar 08, 2020 4:09 am
Location: San Francisco

Re: Purchase home with Spanish citizen

Postby Gandom » Thu Jul 16, 2020 10:56 pm

Thanks, Scotty.

Manchesteral
Resident
Posts: 1967
Joined: Wed Mar 12, 2014 11:48 pm

Re: Purchase home with Spanish citizen

Postby Manchesteral » Fri Jul 17, 2020 11:28 am

You may not like my opinion but ask yourself several very important questions, why is the Spanish citizen not living in Spain but wants a home there, and is he planning to live there, will he be investing in cash the same amount as you ?

If You are not a Spanish citizen or planning to live there then why do YOU want a home there ?
In General the Spanish are decent people but there are a number of them who are adept at stealing, by so called legal means Foreigners property !

Personally I can find no positives in this scheme, If YOU want a property in Spain just by a cheaper one and do it up, do you understand that if you go ahead with this, your relative moves his family in there and stops paying towards the costs it will be almost impossible to get them out, meanwhile you will be losing money.

He will probably "recommend" a lawyer to you, many of them are bent, who will of course be instructed by him, not you !

You asked about the disadvantages well these are they, I would say unless you have been married to his sister for 50 years then just walk away, this is a deal fraught with legal problems !

markwilding
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 7776
Joined: Fri Aug 14, 2009 11:02 am
Location: Bilbao Spain

Re: Purchase home with Spanish citizen

Postby markwilding » Fri Jul 17, 2020 11:49 am

I own a house both here and in the UK with a Spanish citizen, What is not clear from the OP's posts is what the relationship is with the Spanish citizen. If it's my situation, the Spanish citizen is my wife. then any problem that might arise would be the same as any other person in a marriage.

If it is as Al suggests, I totally agree with him and would tread carefully. I certainly wouldn't invest anywhere with anyone else no matter where there were from

Gandom
Tourist
Posts: 13
Joined: Sun Mar 08, 2020 4:09 am
Location: San Francisco

Re: Purchase home with Spanish citizen

Postby Gandom » Fri Jul 17, 2020 11:55 pm

I appreciate your feedback. All good questions that I should be able to answer and will definitely heed your advice. I am exploring options to purchase a vacation spot where my wife and I can spend several months a year. The Spanish citizen in question is my sister-in-law whom I've known for over 30 years. We have investments together, but if there's no real advantage then I don't see any need to involve them.
Moving on to the next step...finding that property...

elusive
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 3275
Joined: Sat Apr 07, 2012 11:49 am
Location: East of Malaga

Re: Purchase home with Spanish citizen

Postby elusive » Sat Jul 18, 2020 8:56 am

Remember the 90/180 rule as a non E.U citizen if you want to spend alot of time here

Gandom
Tourist
Posts: 13
Joined: Sun Mar 08, 2020 4:09 am
Location: San Francisco

Re: Purchase home with Spanish citizen

Postby Gandom » Sat Jul 18, 2020 9:44 pm

Goo to know. Thanks!

Gandom
Tourist
Posts: 13
Joined: Sun Mar 08, 2020 4:09 am
Location: San Francisco

Re: Purchase flat in Málaga and negotiating

Postby Gandom » Thu Sep 01, 2022 11:32 pm

I am inspired by the folks here on the Andalucia forum who've shared their experience and offer advice.

Since that last post in March 2020, we got ourselves sorted with an agent, attorney, NIE, etc. We returned in 2021 and again recently to shop for a flat in the city of Malaga. We were there probably during the worst time: hot weather and the Feria. But after searching and viewing a bunch, we were fortunate to find at least 1 property to our liking.

We took the chance and made the offer with our agent's blessing on the day of our departure. We quickly heard back with a rejection that the difference was "too much money" for the owner. Our agent said it's priced too high but we still gave it a shot and raised our offer to what we thought is a good offer but offers flexibility for the seller to counter it.

Strangely we heard nothing after that. Then our agent said that it's not all loss, we can still negotiate.

It may be our lack of understanding of Spanish and/or European culture or practices. But when our agent says that we can still negotiate, does it mean that the ball is still in our court, or, as we're accustomed, it's now up to the seller to give us his counter offer?

We'll wait and see.

markwilding
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 7776
Joined: Fri Aug 14, 2009 11:02 am
Location: Bilbao Spain

Re: Purchase home with Spanish citizen

Postby markwilding » Fri Sep 02, 2022 10:10 am

When we bought our house here, we put in offers quite a bit lower than the asking price and did not move. I was worried that we would lose them, but my Spanish wife told me we had to hold fast and wait. In the end both offers were accepted. The second one did so about 3 weeks later, but we had already committed to the one we live in now.

Gandom
Tourist
Posts: 13
Joined: Sun Mar 08, 2020 4:09 am
Location: San Francisco

Re: Purchase home with Spanish citizen

Postby Gandom » Mon Sep 05, 2022 5:00 pm

Good to know. We’re holding fast and won’t stop seatchong. We actually found another property that we may offer. Perhaps word gets out and the seller accepts our offer.
markwilding wrote: Fri Sep 02, 2022 10:10 am When we bought our house here, we put in offers quite a bit lower than the asking price and did not move. I was worried that we would lose them, but my Spanish wife told me we had to hold fast and wait. In the end both offers were accepted. The second one did so about 3 weeks later, but we had already committed to the one we live in now.

Gandom
Tourist
Posts: 13
Joined: Sun Mar 08, 2020 4:09 am
Location: San Francisco

Re: Purchase home with Spanish citizen

Postby Gandom » Fri Sep 23, 2022 12:08 am

We took your advice @markwilding and kept our cool. But we also asked another agent for advice and he happened to know the owner. He returned with an offer from the seller that's 25k lower than asking price with the condition that we skip the agents.

Hours later, our agent contacted us with a similar offer, asking 20k lower. The 5k is probably the difference or partially the difference in the commission.

Now I guess we nudged them a bit. Meanwhile, we are steadfast on our offer, which is 20-25k less.

Pondering over this...wouldn't the seller be obligated to his agent? Perhaps not, otherwise why would he want to skip the agent. It looks like he's just using a free listing on Idealista and his "seller agent" is from a vacation rental company.

What are the disadvantages or risks of purchasing directly from the owner with the participation of an attorney? Do you really need a real estate agent in Malaga, after all?

Any thoughts or advice?

katy
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 13752
Joined: Thu Jun 24, 2004 3:45 pm

Re: Purchase home with Spanish citizen

Postby katy » Fri Sep 23, 2022 12:56 pm

Depends what the owner signed with Agent. Friends cut out Agent and were sued by VIVA and had to pay them full commission. Although wouldn't really be your problem I suppose.

malagaPG
Tourist
Posts: 5
Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2021 3:57 pm
Location: Campo near Antequera / India / London

Re: Purchase home with Spanish citizen

Postby malagaPG » Fri Sep 23, 2022 10:32 pm

I wouldn't be in a rush, the market in central Malaga is definitely weakening. Stick with the low offer strategy and bide your time.

Are you looking for somewhere in a particular suburb or area?

Pamela1
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 2542
Joined: Wed Jan 08, 2014 3:30 am
Location: Co Durham/ Granada Province

Re: Purchase home with Spanish citizen

Postby Pamela1 » Sat Sep 24, 2022 8:25 am

Its really up to you, skip the agents and pay 5,000 less or go with the agents if you don't feel comfortable. I bought direct from the owner, they withdrew their property with the agents to minimise their losses, made no difference to me.

Gandom
Tourist
Posts: 13
Joined: Sun Mar 08, 2020 4:09 am
Location: San Francisco

Re: Purchase home with Spanish citizen

Postby Gandom » Wed Sep 28, 2022 9:18 pm

Thanks for your input. We also checked with our attorney and said there is no risk or impact on our side. Only that the seller may be on hook if he already signed with them. To be continued...
Pamela1 wrote: Sat Sep 24, 2022 8:25 am Its really up to you, skip the agents and pay 5,000 less or go with the agents if you don't feel comfortable. I bought direct from the owner, they withdrew their property with the agents to minimise their losses, made no difference to me.

Gandom
Tourist
Posts: 13
Joined: Sun Mar 08, 2020 4:09 am
Location: San Francisco

Re: Purchase home with Spanish citizen

Postby Gandom » Thu Sep 29, 2022 2:44 am

Good advice. We're definitely sticking it out and holding tight. We've been looking at properties in the city and around.
malagaPG wrote: Fri Sep 23, 2022 10:32 pm I wouldn't be in a rush, the market in central Malaga is definitely weakening. Stick with the low offer strategy and bide your time.

Are you looking for somewhere in a particular suburb or area?


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 23 guests