Buying a new house in the Valencian Community, step by step

8 steps to buy a new house in the Valencian Community and to have the whole buying process under control.

thinking of buying a new property in the Valencian Community? If so, we can tell you that it may take you a little longer than expected to find your ideal home. According to the Bank of Spain, the Valencian Community is the third Spanish autonomous community with the greatest mismatch between supply and demand.

The creation of new homes in the country is progressing at a much faster rate than the construction of housing. This situation, together with international purchases mainly on the Mediterranean coast and the islands, means that Spain needs some 600,000 new properties, according to the Bank of Spain, to satisfy current demand.

Spain needs 600,000 new properties to meet current demand.

For this reason, if your idea is to buy a new house in the Valencian Community, it is best to go directly to the real estate agencies in your area of interest that are responsible for marketing this type of property.

Newly built properties do not usually last long on sale. They are often reserved before they are even advertised. The estate agents in the area have a database of buyers to whom they turn every time a new construction is going to come on the market. In this way, they are the first to know about any new opportunity, taking precedence over any other buyer who is looking for a new property on their own.

Guide to buying a newly built house in the Valencian Community

In addition to being the first to know about any property that is going to come on the market, buying a newly built home with a real estate agency has certain advantages: finding the best financing, legal advice, representation in front of the seller…

Here is a step-by-step guide to buying a newly-built property on the Costa Valenciana and how a real estate agency can help you in the process.

1. Setting the budget

The first step to start looking for a new-build property in the Valencian Community is to calculate the budget you have for your purchase. To do this, you should take into account both the money you have saved and the money you can get through financing.

When looking for financing, you have to bear in mind that the conditions will not be the same for a first home as for a holiday home.

• Recommended article: How are the mortgages for second homes on the Costa Blanca?

In the same way, you should inform yourself about the mortgage offer in Spain if you are a foreign buyer who wishes to purchase a property in our country.

2. Searching for a property

The next step is the most fun: the search for the home of your dreams. Although, given the limited supply of new-build properties on the market, it can also be the most complicated.

Before you start looking, a real estate agency will ask you a series of questions to find out exactly what you need and to be able to let you know when a property comes in that matches what you are looking for: What are you going to use the property for? Why do you want it? What do you expect from it?

The needs that a property intended as a primary residence are not the same as a property that is going to become a holiday home. In the same way, the search process will also be different if we have the idea of making the property profitable by renting it out or selling it at a later date.

>> See new build properties <<

3. Request information from the developer

Once you have found a new-build home in the Valencian Community that matches what you are looking for, the next step is to ask the developer for a series of documents and information that demonstrate the viability of the purchase with total security and guarantees.

Of course, if you make your purchase through a real estate agency, they will be in charge of checking that everything is in order.

• Land Registry: to check whether the plot on which you are going to build is owned by the developer and whether it has any encumbrances, mortgages or easements.
• Building licences: these will be requested from the Town Hall.
• Habitability certificate, final works certificate, ten-year insurance, first occupancy licence and guarantee.
• Price and form of payment.
• Instructions for the use and conservation of the installations.
• Evacuation instructions in case of emergency.
• Plans of the property and information on its useful surface area, distribution, telecommunications, etc.

 

4. Know the guarantee

One of the advantages of new-build properties in the Valencian Community over second-hand properties are the extra guarantees they offer against certain flaws or hidden defects that may occur during the first few years of the property’s life. According to the Ley de Ordenación de la Edificación (LOE), new-build homes must offer coverage for labour and materials.

• 10 year guarantee for structural defects regarding problems with beams, pillars, slabs, foundations, etc. This coverage is included in the ten-year insurance
• 3 years guarantee for habitability defects
• 1 year guarantee for defects in finishes.

5. Reservation of the property

If the newly built house in the Valencian Community that you have found meets your needs and you have checked that everything is in order, the next step is to formalise the reservation.

To do this, a deposit is made to the real estate agency in charge of the transaction to guarantee the security of both parties (buyer and developer). The amount deposited in the reservation is usually between 5,000 and 20,000 euros, depending on the value of the property and what has been agreed between the parties.

Once the reservation is signed, the property is withdrawn from the market for the agreed time while the documentation is studied and the Arras contract is prepared, at which time 10% of the property is paid (discounting what has already been paid in the reservation).

6. Financing

do you have sufficient liquidity to buy the property in cash or do you require external financing?

A real estate agency will not only advise you on your possibilities taking into account your conditions and needs, but will also inform you about the mortgage process from an impartial point of view (without the pressure of the banks themselves to contract their products) and will even be able to access much more advantageous financing conditions than if you were to carry out the process privately.

7. Signing of the purchase contract

If you have the necessary liquidity or you have already found financing according to your needs, the next step will be to formalise the purchase of your new home in the Valencian Community by means of a purchase contract.

Before signing the contract, you can ask your estate agent to ask the Notary’s office for a draft of the contract so that you can know in detail your rights and obligations and, if necessary, ask your estate agent about any doubts you may have in this respect.

Once you have reviewed it, the only thing left to do is to sign it in front of the Notary, an action that is usually carried out in parallel with the payment of the property.

Now, yes, you have just become an owner!

 

8. Settlement of expenses and taxes

However, your obligations as a buyer do not end there. After signing in front of the Notary, you will have 30 days to file taxes. The costs of buying a new property in the Valencian Community are as follows:

• VAT (Value Added Tax): 10% of the deeded price (4% if it is a social housing)
• Notary fees, Land Registry and administrative costs.
• AJD (Impuesto de Actos Jurídicos Documentados): 1.5% of the deeded price or 0.10% if it is a regular home.

are you looking for a new property?

As we mentioned at the beginning of this article, finding a newly-built property in the Valencian Community is no easy task due to the scarcity of the current offer. At the moment, the new-build properties that we have available at Hispania Homes are as follows:

>> See new build properties <<

If you are interested in being the first to receive information about the new properties coming onto the market, please contact us and let us know what you are looking for. We will inform you every time we receive a new property.