On my return from Summer holidays, I was asked by a friendly non-European at Madrid airport if I lived in Spain. When responding in the affirmative, he asked if I could give some advice to a foreigner looking to diversify from property investment in his country.
As a legal adviser, property and businesses are not my area of specialisation but if he contacts me then all of the girls in our office will try to help all we can. But what can we advise on the legalities and pitfalls to avoid?
There are numerous articles on these subjects on our website such as Top 5 Reasons to Use Spanish Solutions For Your Property Purchase and there is nothing more important than being fully informed before you start the process and spending money. Top of the list for non-Europeans is knowing your situation regarding visas and property investment and military certificates. If you buy a property along the coast you may have extra paperwork and costs due to needing a military clearance certificate. This is not one of our prime areas of expertise but we will certainly point you in the right direction.
What we can help with is advising you on NIES, Residencias (for Europeans mainly), what to do when seeking a property, what the costs and obligations are and very importantly, what your ongoing expenses may be. Too often we see clients who have never heard of non resident tax for example nor paid it, simply because they never were told about it. We do not want any of our clients to be unaware of issues that affect them in Spain. Please let us know if you have any queries and do have a detailed discussion about your plans before buying property in Spain, for instance.