Tips for Selling Your Property in Spain

Most people are unaware of the simple things they can do to help sell their Spanish property. It is one thing to buy a property, but it is another thing entirely to sell. Selling property in Spain brings with it many complexities that many would not mind avoiding altogether.

Before selling property in Spain, it helps to know what makes your home stand out from the rest. Create a welcoming and attractive entrance. Make your property easily accessible to potential buyers and their surveyors by ensuring that all entrances, doorways and staircases are kept clear and open. Once inside the property make sure there is plenty of natural light coming in from windows or doors. When it comes to outside spaces, make sure they are large enough for potential buyers to fully appreciate the views and benefits of your home without feeling crowded.

When you are thinking of selling your property or business in Spain. The choice of whether to sell it yourself or use a Spanish real estate agent is a very important one, as it is where you can make most savings. Below is a list of 7 things you can do to help boost the price, cut your costs and speed up the sale of your property or business in Spain.

·        Tidying up and breaking down a clutter-free environment is often a necessary preparation for selling a property. By clearing out the things that have been holding you back, you can decrease the duration of time required to sell your home in Spain. And if you’re looking to offer your home for sale sooner than later, decluttering also makes it easier for potential buyers to visualise their possessions in the home's unique features. You may be surprised at how much you discover when decluttering, like important documents that become lost when hidden under piles of paperwork.

·        The most obvious route is to simply offer your furniture with the property being sold, but that’s not always possible. It’s cheaper to try and sell the furniture on the Spanish market than it is to take it back home with you, particularly if you’ve just bought a lot of new things for your own home. And if you can’t sell it all, there are charity shops in Spain that will be only too happy to accept your donations. There are also several handy sites online where you can advertise your unwanted furniture to local buyers.

·        The first impression is the last impression – and the first thing they see is the front of your home. If your home looks like it has been well kept and maintained, and if only the small imperfections (cracks and holes in plaster and grouting) have been repaired, it will give them confidence that you have also looked after the other things on the property.

·        A smooth move-in is really important for first home buyers. After negotiating a sale price on a property, the first home buyer will have just started to recover from the emotional stress of securing their first loan for the property. A smooth move-in means that there are no major problems with the property, and that they won’t be spending their time looking for tradespeople to do all of the work that you could have done before they moved in.

·        Get the paperwork ready now. The buyer or more likely their legal representatives are going to ask for all the relevant documents. Many of the questions and documents needed will be the same ones you asked for when you bought the property and so can be easily anticipated. If you bought your Spanish property a long time ago or like me, you have no idea where you’ve put the paperwork, then ask your agent for a checklist. Your estate agent in Spain can help guide you on what information you’ll need to gather.

·        If you are an overseas buyer, or if you’re buying or selling property in Spain on behalf of someone who lives elsewhere, then you may need to open an account in Spain. And that means days of waiting for documents to arrive, plus all the expense of notary translations plus solicitors fees plus loss of interest while the money is tied up in the transaction.