When you buy a home in Spain you will be presented at one point in the process wit three kinds of documents: Deposit document, Private purchase contract document, and completion by means of Public Deed of conveyance signed before a Notary Public document.

The deposit document is understood as a kind of purchase sale-contracts and thus has the same kind of legal systems and policies involved in the latter. So if there’s a problem either the seller or the buyer can sue for damages. The deposit is normally processed by a real estate agency,

What’s in a typical deposit document? You will find here a description of the identity of the vendor, the property and price. In these situations, a purchase-sale contract is set up the moment an offer is made and accepted by the concerned parties. Do note that the law in Spain doesn’t provide for the parties to withdraw unilaterally. But it is also part of the Spanish purchasing process that the lawyers will create a more comprehensive document that creates the option to purchase. Another thing they can do is to set up an “arras” contract which present the significant differences as to the effects and remedies of the parties.

Another thing you need to know about the reservation sum contract is that it allows the person planning to buy the property to make his offer according to his particular situation. Take this scenario: the buyer can include the specific phrase “subject to sufficient mortgage granted”, or subject to “property sold together with furniture for the offered price.” If the vendor or the agency (whatever applies to the buyer’s set up) accepts these terms the deal is finalized.

You may experience setbacks if the vendor or his representative first agrees to the condition but suddenly shifts gears in the middle of the process. Let’s say the vendor wants the buyer to handle all the costs related to he processing of all documents while the buyer feels that he should only pay the reservation sum.

Conversely, the person who bought the property may give a very large payment and sign a ‘contract’. With the assumption he is now the legal owner of the property, he sells his home in the U.K., shuts down his bank accounts, moves his money to a Spanish bank, has his furniture sent over, and when arriving on the doorstep of his property, discoversthat the agency didn’t inform the vendor of any deposit left with the agency and doesn’t plan on giving up the of place for that ‘agreed price’. All he has is his instruction to sell slip, which doesn’t bind him to honor the agreement. You can avoid this scenario and all the other problems that you may encounter by hiring a lawyer-advice equally applicable to buyers and sellers.