Buyers Guide - Lanzarote Investments
When you have explained to us your own personal preferences, we will study our portfolios of available properties together to select units of size, location and price that suit your specific needs, and then make arrangements to carry out inspection visits at a convenient time.
Investors requirements obviously vary a great deal, some people will be looking for a retirement home for full time or long term occupation, others will want a holiday property that they can also rent into the tourist market to produce an income on their investment, and as this island offers a twelve month season, reasonable returns on capital employed can be anticipated, in fact currently these returns will be higher than investing your money in a bank or building society.
Having now selected your property we obviously act as brokers between both vendor and purchaser to set the finalised buying price and to establish a completion date between both parties for the actual conveyance of the Title Deed.
A lawyer will carefully investigate the current Deed, which is known in Spain as an Escritura, a search is carried out in the local Land Registry Office to ensure that the current owners have correct title and that there are no unknown debts or encumbrances.
When the lawyer is totally satisfied with the legal status of the intended investment a contract of purchase is drawn up between both parties. This contract will include the full details of the property, details of both vendor & purchaser, purchase price to be paid, an inventory if the property is to be sold with furnishings & fixtures, and finally the actual date for completion.
A deposit is required from the purchasers of ten percent of the sale price of the property, this deposit is an integral part of the contract and effectively locks both parties together, the vendors cannot sell to another party after the contract has been signed and the deposit paid.
The new Title Deed is signed in front of a Spanish Notary by both parties, and the balance of investment monies are paid to the vendors at this stage; the purchasers will also be responsible for the costs of registration of the new Title Deed, these costs will include Notary fees, Land Registry Office fees, Transfer taxes (stamp duty), Translator fees, Solicitors & legal costs. These registration costs will add normally a maximum of 8% to 10% onto the agreed purchase figure, but we can calculate the exact figure required; these costs are paid at the same time as the signing of the new Deed.
Our other duties and responsibilities regarding the sale include the changing of direct debit payments for water & electricity. Again at the point of sale the vendor has to clearly prove that there are no outstanding debts on the property such as the above mentioned water, electric supplies, local rates, telephone etc and community service charges if they are applicable. In this way the purchasers are awarded their investment totally clear of any debts.
After the signing of the Title Deed the lawyer will process the documentation through the local systems and the Title deed in your name will be presented to you after registration in the Land Registry Office, this process normally takes about eight weeks but a copy of the new Title Deed signed in front of the Notary is forwarded to you within a couple of days of the actual signing.
We will clearly instruct you through the whole process of your Lanzarote investment, and apart from changing direct debit payments etc we will also assist you in opening a local bank account, should you require other services i.e. arrangement of telephone contracts etc, we can always help.
The process of property purchase is really not so different from anywhere else in Europe, and providing all of the rules are strictly adhered to by all parties your investment is totally secure. Our list of clients over the years includes Brits, Spanish, Italians, Germans, French, Swiss, Scandinavians, Russians and the Irish have voted us their favourite Lanzarote Auctioneers.
We are professionals with over forty joint years experience in the property investment markets of the Canary Islands, we are correctly licensed under Spanish Law and will ensure that you have a complete knowledge of what is happening at each and every stage of the transaction.