Buying a Property

Buying a resale home on the Costa del Sol takes about three months from reservation to the day it is registered in your name, and costs roughly 8.5% on top of the price (about 12.7% for a new build). This guide covers the whole thing: how to search, what you will pay, the ten steps in order, and what owning it costs afterwards.

One agent can show you everything for sale

Worth knowing before you start, because it saves a lot of time.

Here, agencies on the coast pool their listings. A villa listed with one agency can be sold by another, and the two split the seller’s commission. So there is no need to register with every agency in town and repeat your wish list six times.

What we can show you comes from four places:

• MLS networks. We are members of the multiple listing networks where agencies on the coast pool their listings.
• Partner agencies. The other agencies we work with along the coast.
• Property portals. Everything listed on the international and national portals.
• Off market homes. From owners who would rather sell quietly than advertise.

Put together, that is everything for sale on the coast, plus some homes that never appear online. Our own website shows far less than that on purpose: we only publish what we have checked ourselves. Ask us about anything else.

As a buyer, you never pay us anything. The seller pays the commission, every time, including when the home you buy is listed with another agency.

What that looks like day to day:

• You tell us your budget, the must haves and the deal breakers.
• Found a listing yourself, on a portal or another agency’s site? Send us the link. We can show it to you.
• We come back with a shortlist of homes worth your time, and go through it with you.
• We plan the viewings, grouped so you see them in as few days as possible.

We have been doing this in Estepona since 1999, for more than 400 families from over 30 countries.

What it costs to buy

The price on the listing is not what you pay. Plan for roughly 8.5% on top for a resale and about 12.7% for a new build. The difference is the tax.

A few things most guides leave out:

• Your budget is not your search price. With €500,000 to spend in total, you are looking at resales up to about €461,000, or new builds up to about €444,000. Do that sum before the first viewing.
• Tax can be charged on more than you paid. Since 2022, transfer tax is calculated on whichever is higher: your price or the tax office’s own reference value for the property (valor de referencia). If you negotiate a great deal, the tax may still be worked out on the higher figure. Ask your lawyer to check it before you commit.
• Timing is different. On a resale everything is paid at completion. Off plan, the VAT is paid in stages along with each payment to the developer.
• Under 35? Buyers under 35 buying a modest first home can qualify for a reduced transfer tax of 3.5%, within value and income limits.
• With a mortgage, the bank now pays most of the mortgage setup costs. You usually pay for the bank’s valuation of the property.

We go deeper on this in what it really costs to buy in Andalucía. Or put in a price below and see the numbers for yourself.

Step 1, Come and see the area first

You can do a lot of research online, but the coast changes every few kilometres. Estepona old town, a golf valley in Benahavís and the beach road in Casares feel like different places to live. Spend a few days here before you look at specific homes. Drive the areas in the morning and in the evening, and do the supermarket run you would actually do. Our area guides cover each neighbourhood, and Find My Area gives you a shortlist in a couple of minutes.

Step 2, Decide how you will own it

The step most people skip, and the most expensive one to get wrong. Sole name, joint names or a company: the choice affects your income tax, your wealth tax and, years from now, what your heirs pay. Changing the name on a Spanish deed later usually counts as a new sale and is taxed again. Get proper advice on this before you start viewing.

Step 3, Sort out the money before you view

If you need a mortgage, get the bank’s answer before the viewings, not after you have fallen for a house. As a rough guide for non residents:

• Banks usually lend 60 to 70% of the value to non residents, up to 80% for residents.
• Terms run up to 25 or 30 years, usually ending by the time you turn 70 or 75.
• Expect to show two years of tax returns, recent payslips and your existing debts.
• Compare fixed and variable offers from several banks. A broker can ask several at once. We work with Mortgage Direct and are happy to introduce you.

Step 4, Choose one agent

Meet a couple of agents, and stay with the one who asks the best questions about how you want to live. Give them the full picture: budget, must haves, deal breakers, timing. Since one agent can search everything, working with several agencies at once mostly gets you the same homes three times, from people who each know a little less about what you want.

Be careful with an agent who pushes one listing hard, or a price well below everything around it. A cheap property is often cheap for a legal reason, like an extension that was never licensed or unpaid community fees.

Step 5, Get your NIE and a Spanish bank account

Your NIE (número de identificación de extranjero) is the foreigner’s tax number. You need it to sign the deed, open a bank account and connect utilities. There are three ways to get one:

• At a Spanish consulate in your home country.
• In Spain, by appointment at a National Police foreigners’ office.
• Through a Spanish lawyer with a power of attorney, the easiest option if you live abroad.

The official fee is €9.84 in 2026, plus the lawyer’s fee if you use one. More detail in our NIE guide.

For the bank account, the main Spanish banks all offer non resident accounts. They will ask for your NIE, passport, proof of address and proof of income, because of money laundering rules. Non resident accounts usually carry a yearly fee, so ask before you open one. Have all of this ready before you fly and everything later goes faster.

Step 6, Reserve the property

When you find the one, you sign a reservation and pay a deposit, usually €6,000 to €10,000. The property comes off the market for two to four weeks while your lawyer checks it.

Depending on the deal, the deposit is held either by the agency or by a lawyer. Two things to insist on. Know in writing who holds it and when it comes back, before you pay. And the reservation says “subject to due diligence”, so you get it back in full if the checks turn up a problem. If you simply change your mind, you lose it.

Reservation forms are written by the selling side. Your lawyer should read it before you sign. Most of our buyers use Pérez de Vargas, the law firm we have worked with on nearly all of our sales. You are free to choose any independent lawyer, as long as they work for you. Never use the developer’s or the seller’s lawyer.

Step 7, Let your lawyer check it

This takes three to four weeks, because each answer comes from a different office. Your lawyer should look at:

• Nota simple from the land registry: who owns it, and any mortgage or charge on it.
• IBI receipts: the local property tax is paid up to date.
• Community certificate: no unpaid community fees. If there are, they pass to you with the property.
• Town hall planning status: no illegal extensions and no open planning cases. This matters most on older and rural villas, where what is built and what is registered often do not match.
• Occupation licence for newer homes (in Andalucía now usually a declaración responsable de ocupación).
• Energy certificate, which every seller must provide.
• Building inspection report (ITE) for buildings over 50 years old.
• Community statutes and minutes: rules on rentals, pets or planned works you will help pay for.

We explain what each check catches in the four checks that decide whether you should buy.

Your lawyer checks the paperwork, not the building. If you want to know about damp, the roof or the pool, book a surveyor too. It is optional, but on an older villa we would do it.

Step 8, Sign the private purchase contract and pay 10%

Once the checks are clean, you sign the private purchase contract (contrato de arras) and pay 10% of the price, usually minus the reservation deposit. This fixes the completion date, the condition of the property and any conditions, such as the mortgage being approved.

What happens if someone pulls out depends on the type of arras in the contract, so ask your lawyer which one you have:

• Arras penitenciales (article 1454 of the Civil Code, and the contract has to say so explicitly): either side can walk away. If you do, you lose the 10%. If the seller does, they pay you back double.
• Arras confirmatorias: nobody can simply walk away. If one side fails to complete, the other can force the sale or claim damages.

No law sets the completion date. If you need more time to arrange your money, negotiate it here.

Step 9, Completion day at the notary

Usually four to eight weeks after the private contract, everyone meets at the notary’s office. You sign the title deed (escritura de compraventa), pay the balance, usually by bank cheque, and get the keys. The notary reads the deed out in Spanish, so bring a translator if you need one, or let your lawyer sign for you with a power of attorney.

On the day you will need:

• The balance of the price.
• The taxes (transfer tax, or VAT and stamp duty), often paid straight from a bank cheque.
• The notary’s fee.
• Proof of where the money came from.

If the seller is not resident in Spain, you hold back 3% of the price and pay it to the tax office for them (Modelo 211). Your lawyer handles this.

Before you go to the notary, walk through the property one last time. We do this walkthrough with you. If you are buying furnished, check the inventory before you sign, not after.

One thing people often misunderstand: in Spain the notary is a public official who witnesses the signing. The notary does not act for you. That is your lawyer’s job.

Step 10, After the keys

Your lawyer pays the taxes within a month of signing and files the deed with the land registry. One to two months later the property is registered in your name, which is what protects you against anyone else’s claim.

The practical list for the first week:

• Water, electricity and internet in your name.
• IBI and community fees on direct debit from your Spanish account.
• Home insurance from the day you take possession.
• Ask the seller for the numbers that matter: gardener, pool maintenance, cleaner, alarm company, plus manuals and codes for everything.

You do not have to do this alone. Mar looks after our clients once the sale is done: helping you settle in, sorting out the practical things, and staying in touch long after.

How long it all takes

From reservation to registered owner, a straightforward resale takes about three months. It can go faster, but not by much, because most of that time is official offices doing checks, and those checks are what protect you.

What it costs to own

Once it is yours, budget for these every year:

• IBI, the local property tax, set by the town hall.
• Community fees, if the home is in a development. Ask for the current figure and any planned extra charges before you buy.
• Rubbish collection (basura), a small local charge.
• Home insurance.
• Non resident income tax, if you do not live in Spain. Even when the home is empty, Spain taxes a notional income on it (Modelo 210). If you rent it out, you pay tax on the rent instead.
• Wealth tax: Andalucía waives it in full. The national solidarity tax still applies to net wealth above €3 million, so take advice if that is you.

Planning to rent it to holidaymakers? In Andalucía you need to register the home in the regional tourism register as a vivienda con fines turísticos (VFT). The national rental registration number (NRUA) introduced in 2025 no longer applies: the Supreme Court annulled it in May 2026. Since April 2025, a community can also refuse holiday lets, with a vote of three fifths of the owners. If renting is part of your plan, check the community’s position before you reserve.

Mistakes we see most

• Using the developer’s or seller’s lawyer. Always have your own.
• Treating the listing price as the budget. Take the 8.5% or 12.7% off first.
• Not checking the reference value on a property you got cheaply.
• Buying a villa with unlicensed extensions. Common on rural properties. Compare what is built with what is registered.
• Missing the community’s debts or rules, including on holiday rentals.
• Forgetting the yearly costs, including non resident income tax.

What we do for you along the way

• Search the whole market and show you the dozen homes worth seeing, not the hundred that match on paper.
• Negotiate the price and the terms with the seller’s side.
• Keep your lawyer, the notary, the bank and your tax adviser moving in the same direction.
• Tell you about legal or building issues we spot before you reserve, including when that means the home is wrong for you.
• Help with the move in: utilities, the community, furniture, builders.

Buying from abroad

You do not have to fly in for every step. With a power of attorney, you make one trip and sign once, and your lawyer can handle the NIE, bank account, contract and completion for you.

When you are ready, have a look at our new developments and frontline beach homes, or tell us what you are looking for.

Questions people are asking