Gather the necessary documentation

Several documents will be required for the various stages of the property sale process – property announcement, CPCV celebration , credit application by the buyer, public deed – so the best way to speed up the process will be to gather all the necessary documents as far in advance as possible possible.

Some of the most relevant documents will be:

• Land Registry Certificate

This document can be obtained at the Land Registry Office, allowing you to consult the history of the property, the records made about it, including those that are pending, and attest to its ownership. The land registry certificate is valid for 6 months and can be requested on the Predial Online platform, at a cost of €15.

• Caderneta Predial

The Caderneta Predial is also known as a matrix certificate. This document reports the tax situation of the property as well as other relevant information such as the location, description, identification of the owners and patrimonial value of the property, which will allow the calculation of the Municipal Property Tax (IMI).

• License to Use

It is the document that describes the type of use for which the property is intended, that is, whether it has residential or non-residential purposes. To issue it, it is necessary to go to the City Council of the region of the property.

• Property Plan

The property plan is the document that attests to the exact distribution of the property, with gross and useful areas, in addition to containing information about the size and location of the garage, storage room, etc. It is also possible to consult the plan of the property with the City Council.

• Energy Certification

The Energy Certificate is a document that evaluates the energy efficiency of a property on a scale from A+ (very efficient) to F (not very efficient), issued by technicians authorized by the Energy Agency (ADENE). This document has been mandatory since 2013 for anyone who intends to sell or rent a property.

• Housing Technical File (FTH)

This document contains the information of the architectural project, characteristics of the work and describes changes made in the construction of the property. If the property was built before March 2004, this document may not be necessary. If you need a duplicate, you must request it from the City Council by paying a fee.

Entering into a promissory contract

After reaching an agreement with the buyer regarding the price and form of payment, before signing the public deed of purchase and sale, and with the purpose of binding the parties to the future business, it is recommended to enter into an agreement called a promissory contract of purchase and sale, by which each of the parties will establish the terms and conditions for the purchase and sale, committing, under the terms of the same, to enter into the future deal, in which the property will be transferred to the buyer.

In a promissory contract of purchase and sale, the conditions of the business must be established, such as:

1. Seller and buyer identification
2. Property Identification
3. Purchase and sale price
4. Description of payment terms and conditions
5. Deadline for carrying out the public deed

This type of agreement is not mandatory; However, this is a common procedure when the buyer needs to resort to bank credit or, for any other reason, the definitive contract cannot be immediately granted.

The promissory contract of purchase and sale should always be carefully reviewed by a qualified professional since in our professional practice we sometimes find situations in which the inappropriate wording of this type of contract resulted in the loss of the value of the deposit given by the buyer, which, In some cases, it can reach 30% of the total value of the property.

Public Deed / (notary / ready house)

The deed of purchase and sale can be carried out at a Notary Office, Land Registry Office or even through the Casa Pronta service, a set of one-stop shops created by the State so that, in them, all the formalities inherent to the purchase and sale of a house can be dealt with.

It is important to remember that the settlement of IMT (Municipal Tax on Property Transfers), stamp duty and acquisition costs are the responsibility of the buyer.