Selling your property in Sotogrande?

Information sourced from Lawyer and legal expert Raymundo Larraín Nesbitt’s website and amended where applicable for Sotogrande. You can read the original article here: www.larrainnesbittabogados.com.

Unlike a boat, selling your Sotogrande home is probably a sad day. You will surely have some wonderful memories from the time spent at your holiday home but selling at some point is inevitable as everything has a cycle. 

So, when time comes to sell you should be prepared. Below I have listed some of the most important documentation you should have at hand when selling your Sotogrande property. This will assist your lawyer as well as your realtor to get the job done. Indeed, some of the documents are required legally before a property is listed on a web site.

This list applies to private individuals.

1. Full scanned copy of your original purchase Title Deed
2. A recently issued Nota Simple
3. Copies of your ID, passport and NIE Number certificate.
4. Copy of recent utility invoices (water & electricity)
5. Copy of a recent IBI tax certificate. This will have the cadastral value of the property specified.
6. Copy of Rubbish charge.
7. A valid Energy Performance Certificate.
8. License of First Occupation.
9. Contact details of the Community of Owner’s if applicable.
10. Community of Owner’s Certificate (if applicable) stating the property being sold is not in arrears
11. Spanish fiscal residency certificate (to avoid a 3% retention on the sales proceeds)
12. Copy of Power of Attorney, if instructing a lawyer.

Once you receive the proceeds of your sale you will have to pay capital gains taxes accordingly. Capital gains tax is calculated as any profit you may have made on the sale of the property, less some expenditure/costs you may be entitled to offset. There is also municipal capital gains tax to pay. This tax is based on the gain in the cadastral value of the property over the time you have owned the asset.

Also, if you are a non-resident, a 3% retention will be applied and withheld by the tax authority. The retention will be returned once the authorities are satisfied you have paid any capital gains taxes due as a result of the sale.

Engaging a reputable lawyer, you will be able to mitigate the tax to be paid, by offsetting against some if not all of the following:

• Original lawyer’s fees (on buying).
• Original notary fees (on buying).
• Original land registry fees (on buying).
• Taxes paid (on buying).
• All property-related improvements (not maintenance costs) for example: glass curtains, refitted kitchen, roof retiling, wood flooring, A/C installation, house alarm etc.
• Estate agent’s commission (on selling): VAT invoice/s.
• Lawyer’s fees (on selling): VAT invoice.

If you are looking to sell your Sotogrande home, I would be happy to discuss any of the points mentioned above, and/or recommend a number of reputable lawyers.

Thank you for your interest, Charles Gubbins.

✉ charles.gubbins@noll-sotogrande.com
? +34 607 911 661