How to sell a house on the Costa Blanca from abroad?

The 6 steps you need to take to sell a house on the Costa Blanca without having to travel to Spain.

Selling a house on the Costa Blanca without living in Spain can become a really complicated task. How do I manage the visits? What documentation do I need? How can I carry out the negotiations from another country? These are just some of the most frequently asked questions among foreigners who need to sell a house on the Costa Blanca, questions that we will answer throughout this article.

Steps to sell a house on the Costa Blanca from abroad

First of all, we would like to tell you that it is possible to sell a house on the Costa Blanca from abroad without having to travel to Spain. Technological advances and the possibility of delegating certain responsibilities by means of a Power of Attorney, make it possible to sell a house on the Costa Blanca from anywhere in the world.

At Hispania Homes, we are used to dealing with this type of transaction. For this reason, we have all the necessary resources to be able to close a transaction regardless of the nationality or place of residence of our clients.

We tell you how.

Signing a Power of Attorney

The first step in selling a property on the Costa Blanca from abroad is to grant a Power of Attorney to represent you in Spain during the whole selling process. The person chosen to grant this power of attorney can be someone you know (relative or friend) or you can delegate this responsibility directly to a real estate advisor in charge of managing the transaction.

Having a real estate agency to sell a house in Spain from abroad will allow you not only to manage from a distance all those issues that you cannot manage from abroad, but also to have an ally with experience in the sale and purchase of real estate to help you carry out the transaction comfortably and safely and taking care of each and every one of the tasks involved in the sale of a property (valuation, documentation, promotion, negotiation…).

How to grant a power of attorney to sell a house in Spain

To grant a power of attorney to sell a house in Spain you will have to choose one of these two ways:

• Go to a Notary’s office in your country of residence
• Go to the Spanish Consulate

There are two types of judicial powers of attorney that you can grant in order to delegate the sale of a house in Spain:

• General power of attorney: this authorises the attorney-in-fact to manage a series of procedures, such as, for example, the sale of a property.
• Special power of attorney: the power of attorney is limited only to the sale of the property. This type of power of attorney is usually granted to real estate agencies such as Hispania Homes.

Valuation of the property

Keeping abreast of the ups and downs of the property market becomes especially difficult when you don’t live in the area where the property is located. How much are properties with similar characteristics selling for in the area? What are buyers looking for on the Costa Blanca? How do aspects such as the year of construction or the state of conservation influence the price of the property?

A real estate agency has the necessary tools to be able to make a correct valuation of each property. This information, together with the experience of their real estate advisors, enables them to establish a suitable starting price depending on the property’s own factors such as its location, surface area or distribution and external factors such as demand, capacity for revaluation or market trends.

Preparation of documentation

Not all countries require the same documentation to sell a property. Moreover, each region within the same country may have its own requirements. The Generalitat Valenciana, the autonomous community on which the Costa Blanca depends, requires the following documentation when selling a property:

• Nota simple del Registro de la Propiedad.
• Title deeds.
• Last receipt of IBI.
• Energy efficiency certificate.
• Certificate of habitability or first occupancy licence.
• Certificate of debts with the community of owners.
• Last utility bills.

At Hispania Homes we take care of obtaining all the necessary documentation for the sale of our properties, especially for those clients who do not live in the area and may find it more costly to compile the necessary documentation.

Promotion of the property

It is not possible to sell a property on the Costa Blanca from abroad without highlighting it amongst the hundreds of properties for sale in the area. A real estate agency on the Costa Blanca must take care not only of the publication of the property in the most used real estate portals in the country of origin (Fotocasa, Idealista, Pisos.com) but also of its publication in real estate portals with international projection, since a good part of the buyers in this area are also foreigners.

Available properties from Hispania Homes at https://www.kyero.com/.

In addition to online promotion, the prestigious real estate agencies have a database of qualified buyers that they feed by attracting new contacts through constant investment in marketing and their collaboration with the best real estate agencies in the area.

Selling a property on the Costa Blanca through a real estate agency such as Hispania Homes gives you access to one of the largest databases of buyers in the area.

Signing of Title Deeds

The signing of the title deeds for the purchase of a property on the Costa Blanca must necessarily take place in a Spanish notary’s office. Thanks to the power of attorney granted by the seller, the proxy will be able to carry out this procedure without the seller having to travel, thus eliminating one of the most important barriers when making a purchase-sale from abroad.

Payment of taxes

In our post Taxes for non-residents when selling a house on the Costa Blanca you can find all the details on this point, however, below we summarize the main tax aspects that you have to take into account:

Non-Resident Income Tax (IRNR)

While resident sellers must pay tax on the sale of their property through the Personal Income Tax (IRPF), non-resident sellers will be taxed through the Non-Resident Income Tax (IRNR).

This tax is calculated by applying 19% to the capital gain generated for residents of the European Union, Iceland and Norway and 24% for the rest.

Withholding tax of 3%

To ensure that the seller complies with his obligations to the Spanish tax authorities, the buyer is obliged to withhold 3% of the purchase price from the seller and pay it to the Tax Agency by means of Form 211.

When declaring the capital gain in the Income Tax Return (Form 210), the non-resident seller will be able to deduct the 3% that has already been paid. If the amount paid is higher than the final tax liability, he/she can request a refund from the tax office.

Municipal Capital Gains Tax

The Plusvalia Municipal is a local tax that must be paid at the Town Hall where the property to be sold is located.

This tax works exactly the same for both resident and non-resident sellers. The only difference is that if the seller is a foreigner, the buyer may have to withhold the part corresponding to the Plusvalia Municipal from the sale price of the property until it is paid. In this way, local councils ensure that the Plusvalia Municipal will be paid.

You can use our Plusvalia Municipal calculator to get an idea of what you will have to pay for this tax.

Selling a property on the Costa Blanca from abroad can be a challenge. However, thanks to the comprehensive attention of a real estate agency such as Hispania Homes and the advance of technology, the process is simplified. If you are considering selling a property on the Costa Blanca, contact us so that we can assess your options. The sale of a property of this magnitude needs to be managed by a company that is up to the task.

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