Sellers Beware! (part 1)

David Laver

KNOW WHAT YOU OWN! The most important commodity for any real estate business has to be the quality of property available to their clients. Not only the location & price but more than ever the legal information supplied at the time of sale.

It seems that each week there are more requirements from the Junta de Andalucía, local authorities and banks for the type of paperwork owners have to supply to complete the sale of their property. The reality for many owners is that a property that was purchased as recently as 18 months ago, may not have been correctly registered and is currently likely to have problems with this new legislation.

This was mostly due to an uncertainty over what was required by the Land Registry office and the Junta de Andalucía for the correct registration of property in the countryside. The laws were very ambiguous and therefore open to a different interpretation by everyone. Over the past 18 months this uncertainty has been removed and there are now very specific guidelines regarding the correct registration of rustic property (property in the countryside). Everyday we have owners asking us to list their property for sale believing that it is correctly registered. Unfortunately for most properties this is not the case. 

Check Housing Paperwork

A look at the most recent Nota Simple will tell you what is registered in reality. The information reflected in this document must match the property to include all outbuildings and most importantly the swimming pool. The Nota Simple is the document that the buyer’s solicitor or bank will ask for at the time of sale. Any discrepancy between what is being purchased and what is registered will create a problem. In many cases things such as swimming pools, garages and extra living space have been omitted from these documents, where this does not make the property illegal it means that the property is not properly registered and therefore is not ready for sale.

Many rustic properties were sold with building licences which enabled the construction of storage sheds. These properties were then sold as houses, many with unlicensed pools.  As recently as a couple of years ago this was accepted as normal practise. With the Junta de Andalucía now taking a firmer stance on the legislation for country property, it is now impossible to sell this type of property as a house and most banks will no longer give mortgages on this type of property.

Up until the summer of 2009, it was an easy but expensive process to rectify this error using a Certificate of Antiquity (Certificado de Antigüedad) in all rustic areas. This entailed an architect measuring the area that had not been registered in the original Escritura and confirming that it was more than 4 years old. With the new plans stamped by the Spanish School of Architects, the Nota Simple could be corrected. Unfortunately for some owners who have this issue, a tightening of legislation in the Land Registry means they will be unable to use a Certificate of Antiquity to have the Nota Simple changed.

Protected Rustic Land

Rustic land is divided into two types: one is Normal Rustic (suelo no urbanizable) and the other is Protected Rustic (suelo no urbanizable protegido). Up until the summer of 2009 it was possible to register the extra build on both types of land. Now however, the Land Registry will no longer allow any new registrations on Protected Rustic land. This means that if you own a property on Protected Rustic land and you have an unregistered pool or extra metres built, you have no way to register them and you will find it very difficult to sell.  Perhaps more importantly there is the constant risk of a substantial fine for having a swimming pool or extra meters that are not registered.

The required process to register the property correctly is using the Certificate of Antiquity. Although it seems a little unfair to have to pay to correct paperwork that should have been correct at the time of the original purchase, it will allow for the sale process to take place and allay any fear of a fine from the Junta de Andalucía.

We strongly advise anyone who currently has a property with any unregistered living space or a pool to seek legal advice as it seems that everyday a new piece of legislation arrives, stopping owners from registering their property. The simple fact is that if it is not registered properly, you can not sell and will have the constant threat of a hefty fine.

If you are in any doubt about the registration of your property, it is a simple process to obtain a new Nota Simple from your local Land Registry (Registro) or Ideal Country Property can order them on-line for you at a small cost.

Our House Is In Order

David Laver

Alhaurín el Grande is surrounded by charming countryside, yet is only half an hour drive to Málaga or the coast. This enviable location is making the town more and more popular with clients from northern Europe, alongside a growing Spanish market.

The best news is that over the last year, property prices have dropped significantly bringing in some exceptional bargains. In particular, with the weakness of the Pound to the Euro, we have seen many UK owners who are returning home able to reduce the price of their property without actually affecting their Sterling bottom line.

The majority of our clients looking to buy, want the rural dream of a peaceful location with a plot of land populated with olive, orange, fig and avocado trees. They want the pretty home with terraces from which they can enjoy the stunning views of the surrounding mountains after taking a refreshing dip in the swimming pool. As it is now impossible to build a house or a swimming pool in the countryside, these existing country homes are in short supply and in high demand. That said, we do still have a good selection that we can offer you.

Ideal Country Property has been based in Alhaurín El Grande since the company formed in 2007. With the property market slowing down considerably since then, the number of Estate Agents in the town has decreased from 30 to just 5, leaving Ideal Country Property as the predominant inland specialist.

Part of the reason for many of the agencies closing down is the Junta de Andalucía inspecting Real Estate Agents for compliance to the ‘218 Decree’ (“Decreto 218″), which regulates the information given to customers purchasing or renting homes in Andalucía. Many agents did not comply, failing to supply all the information required on each property and ended up with large fines. We have been inspected twice and have passed with flying colours, getting commended both times on how much information we actually give to our clients.

In this day and age it is essential to be able to assure the clients of the legality of their new property and we are pleased to be able to do that. Buying in Spain has become more complicated and it seems like every week a new property-related law is passed or changed that affects what can and can’t be done in the Andalucían countryside. To keep abreast of these changes we have regular meetings with local solicitors and architects so that the information we pass on to our clients is relevant, correct and up-to-date. Coupled with years of local real estate experience, this equates to being able to offer in-depth local knowledge and advice to our clients looking to buy or rent, and owners hoping to sell.

We are  expecting this to help us have a busy and successful 2010.

You can find us at our new addess on the main street (Calle Gerald Brenan, 83) next to Casa Paco.

Landlines In The Campo

The Vodafone shop in the “La Trocha” shopping centre in Coín can help you set it up and they have English speaking staff, which is a bonus if you don’t speak much Spanish. Maybe now it’s time to start saying “Adiós Telefónica”!

And for those of you that DO have a regular landline and Internet, you should consider the possibility of using VOIP to make cheaper telephone calls. The Federal Communications Commission defines VoIP as “a technology that allows you to make voice calls using a broadband Internet connection instead of a regular phone line.” Certain VoIP providers may limit you to calling only people using the same service, but others open it up to anyone with a phone number – local, long distance, international and mobiles. Some services now include VoIP adapters for use on regular phones too.

As a final mention, something worthy of note is the Blog by Javier Prenafeta. He states regarding this service: ‘the quality of this service compared to a land line is not the same, there can be problems with coverage, outgoing calls will display the mobile number (not the associated land line number), and the price of calls to non-geographical numbers is a lot higher than normally expected with a land line.’

Great offer for holiday home owners

Click To Visit

Early indications from holidaylettings.co.uk show that there is a definite trend towards last minute bookings this year. Already May has matched January for the number of holidaymaker enquiries sent to owners, a 52% increase on May 2008.

This trend has gained momentum during June with record numbers visiting the site including in excess of 100,000 searches a week for late deals. July looks set to do the same, if not more, so now is a great time to get your property online and generate bookings for the summer.

By advertising with holidaylettings.co.uk you’d be joining more than 20,000 holiday home owners who advertise in excess of 30,000 properties on the website. Every month they attract more than 2 million holidaymakers to the site searching for self-catering holidays and booking directly with you the owners.

holidaylettings.co.uk take no commission on your bookings, so the income you generate is all yours. When setting up your advert you can include up to 20 colour photographs at no additional cost and you have space for an unlimited amount of text to describe your property, the local surroundings and interesting things to do. You have 24/7 access to your advert so can easily update your availability as and when you receive bookings. You can also opt to receive free SMS text messages to alert you to enquiries when you don’t have immediate access to your emails.

In addition, we’ve negotiated a special offer for all of our clients….

Advertise with holidaylettings.co.uk and in your first year get 15 months for the price of 12, that’s an extra 3 months worth over £45

To advertise your property with holidaylettings.co.uk and receive 15 months for the price of 12, sign up here http://www.holidaylettings.co.uk/whychooseus.htm/from.45900/

or quote promotional code 45900 when registering.

New ICP Forum

Our Forums are now open for use. Anyone can register to use them (which is obligatory if you want to post a question or comment on a post) and they cover a wide range of topics from legal aspects to everyday life here in Spain. The Forums are in English only and are aimed at helping people in their move to Spain and finding out more about the country. Topics range from schooling to work, culture to private jumble sales.
We ask that these forums be used in a friendly manner, respecting all users, even if opinions differ. Also we ask that you read the rules and guidelines before posting your first comment.
Hopefully the ICP Forum will be a good, fun, social spot to make new friends and find out more about the lifestyle here in inland Costa del Sol, Andalucía. Real Estate professionals can also use these forums for an in-depth discussion of the Decree 218 (Decreto 218). Enjoy!

The forum link: ICP FORUMS

“Decreto (Decree) 218″ DIA or FICHA- Which Should I Use?

As I have been browsing through the various Decree 218 forums and webpages, I notice that the majority refer to the DIA form. In Spanish the full name for it is “Documento Informativo Abreviado” (‘Abbreviated Informative Document’) and then some, depending on what type of homes you are selling. The document should stick EXACTLY to the number of pages specified in the Decree 218, under the relevant annex or appendix. For example, under Annex 2 the DIA form on page 5  must detail the building specifications (“Memoria de Calidades”). If you need to use more than one page for this then use a different sheet of paper, attach it to the DIA form and make reference to it under the relevant section on page 5. Why is this so important? One Inspector from the “Junta de Andalucía” explained it to me this  way: If I go to an Estate Agent (Real Estate Firm or Realtor) and ask to see the DIA form for a particular NEWLY BUILT property, if all the information is on the same number of pages and in the same place on each of those pages, then it makes it much easier for me as the client to be able to make comparisons if I go to another Agent and ask to see their DIA form for a similar property. That way I don’t have to hunt through reams of paper to find the exact details I need, especially if I have a DIA form with me to compare it with another.

So which form should be used when selling a home? It all depends on the type of home being sold and it is quite simple really.

• Off-Plan Homes or Homes Under Construction. The document you should use is detailed in Annex 2 of the Decree 218 and the full title is “Documento Informativo Abreviado En La Venta De Viviendas En Proyecto O En Construcción”. It should be 8 pages long.
• New Homes being sold for the first time (direct from the developer). The document you should use is detailed in Annex 3 of the Decree 218 and the full title is “Documento Informativo Abreviado En La Venta De Viviendas Construidas En Su Primera Transmisión”. It should be 9 pages long.
• Rental Homes. The document you should use is detailed in Annex 6 of the Decree 218 and the full title is “Documento Informativo Abreviado Para El Arrendamiento De Viviendas”. It should be 5 pages long.

The last document, that we mainly use as a company, is NOT a DIA form. It is in fact a FI form or “Ficha Informativa” (‘Fact Sheet’ in English). When should this form be used?

• Resales or Second-Hand Homes. The document you should use is detailed in Annex 5 of the Decree 218 and the full title is “Ficha Informativa En Segundas O Ulteriores Transmisiones De Viviendas”. It should be 3 pages long.

This last document is the ONLY one that should be used for in selling second-hand homes (homes that have had a previous owner) and therefore the DIA forms should NOT be used for this type of property. Seeing as we only sell this type of property and are inland specialists in country property, we will soon provide a more detailled explanation as to how to fill out a “Ficha Informativa” along with an translation of the aforementioned document.

I hope that the differences between the neccessary documents has been made clear. If not, please feel free to post your questions here on the Blog and we’ll try to answer them for you. As always, remember that all of these forms must be filled out in Spanish by law. Other languages are OPTIONAL. Here’s wishing you a successful business week.

The Inspector Cometh!

“Just when you thought it was safe to go in the water…” or in our case, open up shop, along comes another Inspector (from the Junta de Andalucía). That’s the bad news. The good news is that we passed with flying colours… again! Our last visit was in September 2008 so we were a little surprised that another one showed up this morning, only 6 months later. His explanation was that we could expect a visit every year, especially as on his list he only had 3 Estate Agents listed here in the village. Does this mean then that we are the only 3 agencies legally registered? Hmmm, a point to ponder! Apparently the Junta has a campaign every year which lasts about three months so we can breathe easy until next year. The truth is that we really didn’t have anything to worry about as we always work hard to make sure that our paperwork etc is up-to-date for the benefit of our clients and also our own.
The main area the Inspector wanted to know about was the sale of NEW PROPERTIES and those under construction, as they present a real nightmare with all the required paperwork. However, because we only do re-sales (second hand homes), we had nothing to comply with and had no “DIA” forms to show. He also commended us on our good use of the “Public Advisory Notices”, both in the display window and next to the “Claims & Complaints” notices inside the office. By the way, both of these signs are available for free download on our Blog (As always, please leave a comment if you do so!).
He reiterated the point that the price shown on the advertising display for each property should be the price that the CLIENT (prospective BUYER) pays and not the current owner of the home. As such, our commissions don’t have to be broken down and listed separately on the Window Card as these are paid by the current home owner. As the fees for each property vary as regard to the Notary and Registry, at the side of the price we put (in Spanish of course) “plus expenses and taxes” (“+ Gastos y Tributos”) and then list these on a separate document, clearly visible in the Window Display.
It is worth mentioning that the Window Cards need to be in SPANISH by law. This is what the Decree 218 states as being information clearly understandable and accessible. Given that the official language of the country is Spanish then that information MUST be supplied in Spanish. You can have it detailed in other languages as well but the Spanish descriptions must be clearly visible and prominent.
If the number of bedrooms is shown on the Window Card then the “Metros Útiles” (“Useful Metres”) of the property MUST be shown as well. That is not to be confused with the “Metros Construidos” (“Constructed Metres”) of the property.
Finally, there also needs to be a validity date (“Periodo de Validez”) on the Window Card, stating the date the prices of the property are valid to.
That’s our interesting news for the day and here’s hoping that your inspections go equally as well.

Decreto (Decree) 218 in English

After much searching, editing and formatting, we have finally managed to put together an English translation of the “Decree 218″ in English as promised. Please bear in mind that this is to be used as a guide only. As with any translation of a legal document it is prone to errors but this should orient non-Spanish speakers as to the general idea of what the “Decree 218″ entails.
As with our other downloads, we would appreciate your leaving us a comment after downloading. It is just a courtesy and it lets us know if this particular Blog is useful or not. Thank you for your interest in visiting our Blog today.

DOWNLOAD DECREE 218 IN ENGLISH

(File Size=100Kb)

To view the downloaded file you will need Adobe Reader, which you can download for free from here:

Decreto (Decree) 218 – Public Advisory Notices

One of the most common fines that the Inspectors from “Junta de Andalucía” give out is for the lack of Public Advisory Notices (“Los Carteles Informativos”). Yet they are one of the easiest things to comply with in the Decree 218. Article 12, point 1 of the Decree states that if you are in the business of selling or renting property then you need to have a clearly visible sign IN SPANISH, stating the following: “El consumidor tiene derecho a que se le entregue una copia del correspondiente Documento Informativo Abreviado de la vivienda”. As point 2 implies, you can have it in other languages as well but it MUST be in Spanish first and foremost. This basically means that ‘the client has the right to be given a copy of the corresponding Résumé Information Document for the home’.

An interesting point to note is that although this sign or notice refers to the Spanish DIA form (this is the form used for off-plan homes, homes under construction, homes sold direct from the constructor/promoter and rental homes) and not to the Spanish FI form (see appendix 5 of the Decree) used in the sale in second-hand homes (resales), an Estate Agent must still have this sign on public display. Even though we didn’t have any rental properties at the time the Inspector visited us, he was surprised that we had that sign on display as it didn’t really apply to us. However, he mentioned that by doing so we had saved ourselves a hefty fine as the Decree still requires the sign to be on display.

What size should this sign be and where should it be displayed? Point 2 of Article 12 says it should be the same size as the “Claims & Complaints” notice and displayed at the side of said notice. We have the signs displayed inside our office but we also have a copy of the “Cartel Informativo” in the window as well. That saves us from having to print the same wording on every single property information card. Normally the “Claims & Complaints” sign is printed on an A4 piece of paper with Landscape orientation. If you want to make your own sign and wonder what the law requires you to display in Spanish (without having to download our PDF files) then just copy and paste the following text within the quotation marks: “Este establecimiento tiene libro de hojas de quejas y reclamaciones a disposición del consumidor que la solicite.”

I have made both of these forms available in PDF format and in both Landscape and Portrait orientation so that you can place the Public Advisory Notice in your office window. They are written in both Spanish and English.

Files Available are:
Public Advisory DIA Sign – Horizontal (File Size=10Kb)

Claims & Complaints Sign – Vertical (File Size=10Kb)

To view the above files you will need Adobe Reader, which you can download for free from here:

Who does the Decree (Decreto) 218 apply to?

I came across an estate agent’s site whilst searching the Internet for general views on the Decree 218. There are a couple of points that need clarifying but on the whole it’s a good article and very clear and concise.  A good point they mention about failing to comply with the Decree 218 is this: “The consequences for owners of property listed for long term rental or sale through a professional property organisation such as ours are that your property can no longer legally be marketed to the public. This means that, technically, details of your property should be removed from company websites and window displays, and no further viewings should take place, until such time as you have supplied the documentation required by your property sales or rental company.” This applies to any professional that advertises homes for rent or sale. Yes, even if you don’t have an office, if you advertise on the Internet and the properties you are advertising are in Andalucía Province, you need to comply with the Decreto 218.

What about individuals who want to use an Estate Agent to sell or rent their home? As an individual all you need to do is make sure that you present us with the necessary paperwork to market your property or sign one of our authorisation forms to allow us to collect it on your behalf. We believe in full complying with the law in all our business affairs. This is why we are constantly in touch with our clients to make sure that their properties that we advertise stay Decree 218 compliant, and we offer this service free of charge.

Furthermore, as the aforementioned website states, “we also believe that, although Decree 218 will cause minor inconvenience for property owners and companies in the short term, it can only bring great benefits in the longer term to Andalucía as a region, and the Costa del Sol property market in particular. Indications are that it will do much to counter the negative image the local property market has earned over the last few years at the hands of unscrupulous operators, and in turn foster greater consumer confidence and generate more long-term rentals and property sales.”