the buying process

[SmOkiNjOe]

Good articles here: Buying and Selling in Orihuela Costa

[Ray D]

Hi Paula-mail me
Playa del Cura is quite a nice area, I have an apartment there which is for sale, if you would like photos and details please e-mail me at raymaxidavies@yahoo.com

[Doc]

General advice

Just a few general points:

Any debts from the previous owner belong to the property, not the person. Be sure that anything you buy is free of unpaid bills (utilities, community charges, suma etc).

Even if you have cash to buy outright, consider taking a small mortgage as the bank will then undertake searches on the property before the sale proceeds.

Allow about 10% of the purchase price for fees (lawyer, notaria etc).

Remember that if you put a deposit down and pull out of the sale, you will lose the deposit.

Consider whether you wish to pay 'black money' to reduce the purchase tax. You will be told that this is normal practice, but the authorities are closing in on such 'avoidance' and it can impact the tax you will pay when selling.

Try not to believe everything an estate agent tells you - it's easy to get lost in the dream, and these guys are 'professional' sales people after all.

When you see somewhere you like, go and visit the area at various times of day / night, different days of the week / weekend, just to make sure you're not buying into an area that might give you cause for concern later (noise levels etc).

Apart from all that, enjoy your trip and good luck!

Chris.