Following my previous two article where we did mention is be clear about the type of house that you really need, obviously, also the places you were likely to find the biggest offers of houses for sale, how to prepare your budget, how to determine your financial capacity in order to obtain a loan, the financial effort required to pay the mortgage followed by a list of the information we should pull together about the property and the seller, and finally the check list of all the taxes and hidden
8. What should I check before signing the contract?
If it is a second-hand home, check in the Planning Office of your town hall that the house is not affected by any urban intervention that compromises their habitability. In addition, it is advisable to request a simple note to the Property Registry that now can be obtained through Internet, at www.registradores.org to check if the house has any charges you do not know about.
If you are not sure, remember that you can always count on the advice of the notary, or even better from your own solicitor.
In this sense, the buyer must know that contractual documents for the sale of housing must be drafted with due clarity and simplicity, without reference or reference to texts or documents that are not provided prior to or simultaneously with the conclusion of the contract. They shall also respond to the principles of good faith and fair balance of consideration, which, inter alias, implies the prohibition of the inclusion of clauses that:
A) Do not clearly reflect or omit, in the case of deferred payment, the deferred amount, the annual interest rate on the outstanding balances and the amortisation conditions of the credits granted and the clauses that in any way empowers the seller to increase the price deferred during the term of the contract.
B) Imposes an increase in the price for services, accessories, financing, deferrals, surcharges, damages or penalties that do not correspond to additional effective benefits that can be freely accepted or rejected by the buyer or lessee regardless of the main contract.
To that end, construction work, motivated by diligently unforeseeable causes at the time of the approval of the urbanisation or construction projects that will lead to a modification of the stipulated price, shall be notified in advance to the purchasers, who must agree to the amount that the reform produces.
C) Assume the impact on the buyer of failures, defects or administrative or banking errors that are not directly attributable to them.
D) Impose, in the first sale of housing, the obligation to pay the expenses derived from the preparation of the paperwork that by law or by nature correspond to the seller or property developer such as the horizontal law act, mortgages to finance its construction or its division or cancellation.
9. What are your rights?
When the house is handed over it is a house under construction and for the duration of the work, the property developers are obliged to guarantee the return of the paid amounts plus legal interest, in the event that the construction is not initiated or is not made available to the buyer in the Conditions legally established for its use within the agreed term.
The buyer may require responsibilities to the different agents who have intervened in the building process:
- For material damage caused by defects or defects in execution that affect elements of completion or completion of work that become apparent within one year.
- For material damages for defects that affect the habitability of the building for a period of three years.
- For structural defects that may arise during a period of 10 years that directly compromise the mechanical strength and stability of the building. With respect to the latter, the law requires the developer to have contracted ten-year insurance, without which he will not be able to transfer the dwelling.
It should be borne in mind that, independently of these guarantee periods; the Law establishes a deadline for the exercise of the right of claim, which is calculated from the appearance of the defects, after which, the right to claim will be considered prescribed.
For its part, it is the buyer's obligation to keep the building in good condition through proper use and maintenance, as well as to receive, keep and transmit the documentation of the work executed and the insurance and guarantees with which it has.
Having said all that I strongly suggest that you obtain the advice of a competent solicitor prior to purchase of your dream home.
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