Hidden Facts About Buying Property in Spain: Part 3

Part three. I know. But the Spanish buying process really does keep revealing new layers, and these ones tend to emerge in the middle, just when you think you've got your head around it. These are the things that came up for us and that I hear about regularly from people buying in this area.

Power of Attorney: the Concept Nobody Explains

If you are buying property in Spain from the UK, there will be moments in the process where something needs to be signed or submitted in Spain and you cannot be there in person.

A power of attorney (escritura de poder notarial) solves this. It is a legal document that authorises your lawyer to act on your behalf for specific purposes: applying for your NIE, signing a contract, even attending the notary in your place on completion day.

Getting a power of attorney set up takes time. It needs to be signed before a notary, either in Spain, at a Spanish consulate in the UK, or signed in the UK and then apostilled. If you anticipate needing one (and many buyers do), discuss it with your lawyer early, not the week before you need it.

The Currency Problem Nobody Budgets For

If you are buying in euros using sterling, the exchange rate at the time of your transfer determines how much your Spanish property actually costs you in pounds.

EUR/GBP moves 5 to 10 per cent in a normal year. On a €500,000 property, a 5 per cent move represents approximately £22,000 at current rates. Buyers who transfer funds at an unfavourable moment pay significantly more in pound terms than buyers who transfer at a favourable moment, for the same property at the same price.

Currency specialists (not your high-street bank) offer tools including forward contracts, agreements that lock in a rate now for a transfer that happens later. For large transfers, using a specialist rather than a bank typically saves money on both the rate and the fees. This is worth sorting early in the process, not in the final weeks when you're under time pressure. It applies to buying property in Marbella, Estepona, Mijas, or anywhere else on the Costa del Sol where prices are in euros.

What Happens When Due Diligence Finds Something

Due diligence doesn't always come back clean. Properties in Spain can have various issues registered against them: debts secured against the property, unpermitted extensions built without planning permission, discrepancies between the physical property and its land registry entry, or community fee arrears.

If your lawyer finds something, you have three choices:

Negotiate it away. The seller clears the debt before completion, the unpermitted work is regularised, the issue is resolved. This is possible for many problems but takes time.

Renegotiate the price. If the issue reduces the property's value or creates future risk, negotiate a price reduction that reflects this.

Walk away. If the issue is serious enough and cannot be resolved, recover your reservation fee and find a different property. This is significantly easier to do before you've signed the arras than after.

What you should not do is proceed in the knowledge that there is an unresolved issue, hoping it will resolve itself after completion. Problems you carry through completion become your problems.

The Notary Is Not Your Lawyer

The final thing in this series that surprises buyers: the notary on completion day is an independent official. They verify the transaction is legal. They do not review the contract on your behalf, they do not advise you on what you're signing, and they do not protect your interests.

Your lawyer is the person who does all of that. Make sure your lawyer attends the notary with you, has read every document in advance, and is positioned to raise any last-minute issues before the deed is signed.

PlanMarbella.com covers all of this, the power of attorney, currency, due diligence, notary, as part of your free buying plan at planmarbella.com. Manage it solo, or invite your partner or PA to co-manage any step - delegate the detail while you stay in control.