In addition to the right real estate agent, property buyers in Mallorca should also get an experienced lawyer and a competent building surveyor at their side.
Without a partner at your side, buying a property can be very difficult. In addition to the estate agent, you should always seek legal advice. If you involve a lawyer in the purchase, you are always on the safe side. A lawyer will also check the property, but above all will look at the existing and possibly still missing documents and registrations and draw up a watertight purchase contract. „In Spain, buyers are subject to a comprehensive duty of care when it comes to real estate“, explains Dominic Porta, lawyer at Porta & Associates in Palma. This means that the buyer must know the property 100 percent before purchasing it. If structural or legal defects are discovered after the purchase, it is difficult or even impossible to obtain justice, not least due to the comparatively short deadlines, Porta continues.
In this respect, the tasks of a lawyer are many and varied: they check the position of the seller and check whether the seller is the legal owner of the property. The lawyer also checks whether the property complies with all building regulations. Are there any inherited burdens? What is the entry in the land register and land registry? „Especially in Mallorca, there are some surprising regulations for old buildings“, says Dominic Porta. For example, there is an inheritance lien from the Middle Ages, or certain rights of way and rights of use that can only be established after a legal examination and should ideally be deleted before the purchase.
In many cases, there are also discrepancies between the details in the land registry and those in the land register entry. „The reason for this is surveying technology“, explains lawyer Dominic Porta. The land registry estimates the data based on satellite images. Deviations of ten percent are normal on Mallorca. Larger deviations should definitely be corrected and put right, because it is about the property tax, which is calculated according to the land area. If it turns out that the property is larger than stated, the buyer is obliged to pay the taxes for the past four years.
The costs for a lawyer add up: For a possible lawsuit, those affected must expect to pay around 10 percent of the purchase price. The legal fees for a preliminary examination of the details mentioned above are much lower.
Independent expert helps
„As a general rule, it is advisable for property buyers to consult a surveyor or expert,
says Oliver Girharz from the engineering and construction project management company Matrol Servicios y Peritajes S.L.. When buying a new building, there is a legal guarantee against damage and defects, but after the purchase the burden of proof lies with the buyer. The situation is even more difficult with old buildings: „Here it is often ‚bought as seen‘, and this means that damage or defects can hardly be claimed from the seller. This is precisely why it is important to have every property inspected carefully before buying, regardless of its age.
According to Oliver Girharz, the surveyor is also useful when selling a property. Minor repair or conversion work in particular is often outsourced directly to a tradesman or building contractor, who then often suggests and carries out the appropriate measures at their own discretion. „From experience, we can say that many unfortunately do not always act in the interests of the client“, says Girharz.
Andreas John
