PROCEDURE FOR BUYING A PROPERTY FROM SOMEONE

baz1946

I did not get the stampduty bit wrong-I looked up the amount payable online.

The stamp duty payable as of 2013..which is the same as 2012... is 4% on any private property sold in England over £500,000....had you read my post correctly you would have seen my relations barn sold for £550,000...now £550,000 X's 4% is £22,000....Not the £15,000 you say it was.....what is this? me telling lies?.....cant you be wrong?

Obviously my source of info was incorrect.

However, I would still maintain that both buying and selling in UK is simpler and cheaper than Spain, and less risky too.

Obviously my source of info was incorrect. .......Nope it was you..... Not the info that is online...the info is plain as Day..or in your case Night.

However, I would still maintain that both buying and selling in UK is simpler and cheaper than Spain, and less risky too....What ever,  have it your way.....I employ Ladies so i am quite used to it...... them not ever being wrong....and having the last word.

 Tempers getting a little frayed here? 

So, stamp duty when buying in UK - 4%

Transfer tax when buying in Spain - 8% (or 10% IVA if a new build, or as just announced, 10% on resales too in Catalunya)

Still think it's cheaper to buy in Spain? Do The Math!

camposol

maybe obvious to you but not to me.

that is why I asked a simple question.

That is what this site is all about, helping

people not giving sarcastic replies

Tempers getting a little frayed here?

So, stamp duty when buying in UK - 4%

Transfer tax when buying in Spain - 8% (or 10% IVA if a new build, or as just announced, 10% on resales too in Catalunya)

Still think it's cheaper to buy in Spain? Do The Math!

No temper getting frayed on my part, i answered a poster as best i could, answered a question from another well known poster on here, happened to mentioned a proven point just to elaborate more on a point but she knew best even though it was totally wrong because she never even read my post properly.....and still hasnt. And not all stamp duty is 4% in the UK.

As for do i think it's still cheaper to buy in Spain to the UK...yes, because buying in Spain you have to take in the bigger picture as to what the house costs are, maybe yes the Transfer tax is higher, but then in general the house's are much cheaper, even ten years ago compared to the UK,  the solicitor costs i found were very much cheaper, the yearly council tax is cheaper, overall if buying cost you more in the first instance, the running costs can be a whole lot cheaper, maybe not in your area and not for you.

 "And not all stamp duty is 4% in the UK"

Well, quite. If you buy a property in the UK for less than £125,000 the stamp duty is exactly nothing. Pay the same for a property in Spain and you could be forking out up to €12,000 in transfer tax! Sure, many things in Spain are cheaper than the UK, even the costs of "running" a home, but BUYING one is not one of them. Neither is selling one; estate agents' fees, anyone? Plus Valia tax?

For the sake of the OP, who shows an alarming degree of naivety (procedure for buying a property from someone - as opposed to what? buying from no one?...buying a take-away sandwich shop, in a country where take-away sandwiches are not something that the locals generally go for...etc) I suggest you try to avoid confusing the issue any further.

costs of "running" a home, but BUYING one is not one of them. Neither is selling one; estate agents' fees, anyone? Plus Valia tax?

Never yet paid any estate agents any fee's for selling any of my house's in Spain, not one,  they always put a chunk on top for themselves.

Every house sale in England i have had done by estate agents i have paid them a fee, to date probably about somewhere in the region of £25,000 for all my house sales.

Well then, you obviously paid agents fees when buying. Glass half empty / half full - you're missing the point (deliberately it seems). How much are agent fees in UK? How much are agent fees in Spain? (Percentage, in case it's not obvious what point I'm making)

No i haven't paid any agents fee's either when i bought my house's in Spain,  because every house i bought i bought direct from the owner, no agents, no fee's,  no i am not deliberately avoiding anything, why should i? assumption is a dangerous thing.

Agents fee's in the UK vary as to the price of the house, some charge 1 / 2% on the purchase price, some charge as much as 3 / 4%, you can negotiate a lower rate in some case's, you can even if it suits you tell the agent what you are willing to give in terms of cash, and not percentage on the sale price, as a rule the higher the house price, the lower percent he wants, the seller pays the estate agents fee's. In Spain the buyer pays the agents fee's...correct?...or not?

 I  once sold two house's in Spain and as it happens both were the same price back to me, both times the agent put a different price for herself on each house,  fact is the difference was quite a bit, did i ask why? nope,  so whats the percentage on the house price now then?

 Whlist as you say it's dangerous to assume, I will assume you are bored. Otherwise I don't know why you're still arguing. So you haven't paid agent fees in Spain. Goody for you. I've only ever once used a lawyer to buy or sell property here. So what? You can do your own conveyancing in the UK if you want, and if you buy or sell direct you won't pay agent fees there either. Regardless of anything you say, the general consensus of opinion is that the costs involved in buying property in Spain are usually considerably higher than in the UK. It's an irrelevancy anyway, since the OP stated earlier that he/she has never bought in either UK or Spain. Since you are so knowledgeable and smart, why don't you actually try answering the OP's question rather than just wasting time and space? What's the procedure?

Whlist as you say it's dangerous to assume, I will assume you are bored. Otherwise I don't know why you're still arguing. So you haven't paid agent fees in Spain. Goody for you. I've only ever once used a lawyer to buy or sell property here. So what? You can do your own conveyancing in the UK if you want, and if you buy or sell direct you won't pay agent fees there either. Regardless of anything you say, the general consensus of opinion is that the costs involved in buying property in Spain are usually considerably higher than in the UK. It's an irrelevancy anyway, since the OP stated earlier that he/she has never bought in either UK or Spain. Since you are so knowledgeable and smart, why don't you actually try answering the OP's question rather than just wasting time and space? What's the procedure?

Sorry buster but i wasn't aware i was arguing, if you think this is arguing, then it's your life thats boring, i am just answering back your questions,  which now i have to assume you dont like the answer's to because they dont agree with your views.

Yes very good for me that i haven't paid any agents fee's in Spain, thats how it has turned out, should i have paid them then? ... if you can read correctly you would know i only answered another point you raised, and it sounds like you haven't paid so many fee's either....so now we are both very lucky.

The consensus of opinion is just that...an opinion, it's a shame if they dont conform to your way of thinking, but that's life with opinions.

I did answer the OP question as best as i could, think i might have even been the first or second to answer,

I dont think too many people on here have to be very knowledgeable and smart when it comes to answering your posts. because up to now most have been just snakey little comments back to a post you haven't even read correctly rather then adult like constructive help.

 Since you like to copy and paste (in bold for some reason) other posts before replying, I'll follow your lead:

Get a good lawyer/solicitor in Spain..a Spanish one...not any foreign one.. make sure they have multilingual speakers....check how long they have been in business and how long in the same office...check if they have other offices in other parts of Spain...dont use one recommended by the seller, get your own...dont give the seller your deposit, give it to your solicitor with explicit instructions NOT to hand it over unless 100% all is well...dont give over the 10% deposit of the price they ask for...make sure, and make a note before you buy, whats going to be left in the house when you buy it...ask as many awkward questions as you can possible think of to the seller...ask about ALL the house costs.

It's not hard, it is a whole lot better then the UK when it comes to buying in Spain but you should still have your wits about you.

Smell a rat...move on.

Don't buy in haste and repent in leisure.

Priceless! Everything anyone should ever need to know, right there. Could apply to absolutely anywhere in the world of course, but never mind. 

Since you like to copy and paste (in bold for some reason) other posts before replying, I'll follow your lead:

 Corrected myself? Huh?

Perhaps the OP would like to know some of the specifics of the buying procedure in Spain. Just a thought.

Corrected myself? Huh?

Perhaps the OP would like to know some of the specifics of the buying procedure in Spain. Just a thought.

Mariadecastro posted a good answer to your question, i imagine that there must be some connection to being in the law business in Spain judging by the replies and what he/she posts.