How do you buy a home in Spain as a foreigner, step by step?

1. Get your NIE

The NIE (número de identidad de extranjero) is the number Spain gives foreigners who have economic, professional or social dealings with the country. You will need it to sign the purchase and to pay the taxes, so get it first.

In Spain you apply to the police, at an immigration office (oficina de extranjería) or a police station; from abroad, at the Spanish consulate in your country. You fill in form EX-15 and pay fee 790, code 012, at a bank. According to the police, the application must be decided within five days of being filed.

2. Sort out the money and a Spanish bank account

Most foreign buyers open an account with a Spanish bank to pay the deposit, the taxes, the utilities and the fees of the comunidad de propietarios (the owners' association that runs the building). If you need a mortgage, ask the bank early which documents it asks non-residents for.

3. Check the home before the viewing

From the address or the cadastral reference you can order the HOUSINGFAX free report: it costs €0, needs no account and shows the traffic-light rating of all 22 checks (✓ no alert, ⚠ worth noting, ○ no data). You arrive at the viewing knowing what to ask.

Look at the year of construction, the Catastro record (Spain's property register for tax purposes) and the risks of the location. On the coast, flood zones and the distance to the sea matter most: the Spanish Coastal Act sets a protection easement of 100 metres inland from the inner edge of the shore, which can be extended by up to another 100 metres. The report checks the official flood zones but not the coastal boundary (deslinde): ask your lawyer whether the property is affected.

4. Order the nota simple

The nota simple is the extract from the Land Registry (Registro de la Propiedad). It tells you who owns the property and what charges it carries: mortgages, seizures, usufructs. The registrars' e-office issues it for €9.02 per property, plus tax, and can add an English translation for €30, plus tax.

The nota simple tells you who owns the home; HOUSINGFAX tells you what state the building is in. They complement each other: get both.

5. Check the building and the owners' association

Ask whether the building has passed its building inspection (ITE or IEE), the periodic inspection Spain requires for older buildings, and which defects it found. In the Valencian Community, the Basque Country and Madrid, the Complete report reads the regional register and shows you the result.

Through the seller, also ask for the certificate of debts with the owners' association and the minutes of the last meetings, where special levies (derramas) and approved works show up. If anything looks wrong at the viewing, have an architect or building surveyor look at it before you pay a deposit.

6. Sign the arras contract

The arras contract is the reservation agreement under which you pay a deposit. With so-called penitential arras, the Spanish Civil Code (article 1454) lets either side walk away: the buyer loses the deposit, or the seller pays it back twice over. The type of arras, the amount and the deadlines are set by the contract itself, so have your lawyer read it before you sign.

7. Work out the taxes

According to the Spanish Tax Agency, a new home bought from the developer pays VAT (IVA): 10% as a rule, and 4% for officially protected housing under the special or public-promotion regime. A resale home bought from a private seller pays the property transfer tax (ITP, Impuesto de Transmisiones Patrimoniales), which goes to the tax office of the region where the property is.

The ITP rate and its reductions depend on the region; a gestor (an administrative agent who handles tax and paperwork) or your tax adviser will tell you what you will pay. The HOUSINGFAX report includes an indicative estimate of buying costs, which does not replace that calculation.

8. Sign the deed at the notary

The purchase is completed with a public deed (escritura) signed before a Spanish notary and then registered at the Land Registry. If you do not speak Spanish well, ask the notary in advance how the signing will be arranged so that you understand what you sign.

What a report in your language gives you

HOUSINGFAX works in English, Spanish, German, Dutch and French. The report is delivered in the language your website is set to when you order it, and it names each official Spanish source, so you can point your notary, bank or lawyer to it.

It does not replace a technical inspection of the building or legal and tax advice: it tells you what to look into and whom to ask.