You would like to buy a property on La Palma!
The purchase of a property on La Palma is provided with some special features, especially foreigners must pay attention to a few things.
In order to be able to do business here at all, you need the Número de Identificación de Extranjero (NIE), which can be applied for at the Foreigners’ Police in Santa Cruz.
You can find information on the NIE here (external link to Wikipedia).
Furthermore, non-European foreigners should ask at their consulate about the conditions for buying real estate. For example, since Brexit in the UK, English citizens must apply to the military for a corresponding certificate.
Then, of course, it is important to have all the necessary documents up to date and on hand!
A bank account here in Spain is very helpful, but not necessary for the purchase.
For the purchase of a property, online bank transfers have proven to be very useful. However, you must clarify the modalities with your house bank, as they are reluctant to transfer such large amounts abroad. Of course, cheques also work and most notaries also offer escrow accounts, but they charge quite a lot for this service.
Think carefully about the financing of the property, as banks will not grant loans, for example, if the entry in the land registry is not available. This sounds a bit strange at first, but it is quite often the case on the Canary Islands for reasons of circumstance.
This brings us to what are probably the most confusing aspects of buying a property.
Land registry entry, inheritance documents, Escritura (notarial title deed) private and official, land register entry, etc.
We inform our clients to the best of our knowledge and belief about the above mentioned documents and contingencies that may arise. This page (external link to expatica.com) provides an overview of the above-mentioned and other particularities arising from the purchase of a property.
When a sale is in the offing, we are there to help and advise – that’s our job!
