Best solicitor to use for buying property in Alicante ?

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Romaniac
Expat.com Experts Team

I made my first property purchase in Spain in 1983,  I have since sold and bought several times both for myself and my son.  I have never used a solicitor or other professional. 
I have used common sense and researched what to do and have never had any problems.

In Spain contracts to buy or sell can only be done before a notary, who has legal responsibilities to ensure the transaction is legal.

Of course if you feel better having a lawyer holding your hand OK, but probably most of those who bought in Spain and have had problems, including demolition of their properties,  had a lawyer !

appreciate your reply john, first timer buyer of a overseas property so still gathering information in regards to the process, i have been told opposite from a few sources, in terms of contracts are the then drafted up buy the agent themselves?
is it quite simple to lodge paper work / title of property / stamp duty ext with the correct authorities .

any more information you have gathered over the years would be greatly appreciated . cheers mate

One thing is do not let the agent handle things, they might want to or they may recommend a lawyer but ignore them and use your own independent lawyer/abogado. Chances are they will tear up any contract the agent writes up and write up a better one.

A good place to start looking is this list from the UK government.
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s … h_2017.pdf

Also don't let any fly by nighters handle the process just because they are English and easy to deal with, there are plenty of conveyancing companies like this but they are not registered anywhere or have insurance when things go wrong.

As you say, a first time OS buyer is a big step and the money involved is often substantial. Pay a little extra for that piece of mind and more importantly indemnity insurance.
Deposits are easily lost in Spain for those who go in blind.

As I posted, I am speaking from 34 years' experience of buying and selling in Spain, 30 years as a resident, and never having employed a lawyer for anything.  I may have just been lucky that nothing has gone wrong doing it myself. "It's strange though: the more I research I do, the luckier I get ! "

The fact is,  one does not need a lawyer to buy or sell,  but one does need a Notary.  It is the notary who draws up the transfer contact,  and that applies whether one has a lawyer or not.

As I said,  probably most people who have had bad experiences in the property market in Spain have had lawyers holding their hand and almost certainly, not one client has had any compensation from a lawyer  who has got it seriously wrong. 

But let's not, let facts get in the way !

And I post,  "Of course if you feel better having a lawyer holding your hand OK,"

You should also know that a notary does not do any actual conveyancing, they are not going to tell you the regulations about living with power lines, next to train lines, individual town hall by laws and building regs, community rules etc, etc.... the list goes on in length.
It is also well known that notaries often look the other way and until very recently didn't even bother asking for important documentation which is partially the reason so many illegal properties have been sold in the past and why you would be foolish to purchase one now, because to put it simply a notary will sell you a  property that has pending legal problems even today.

It is very important to get you chooks in order before even booking the notary because he wont fix it for you and at best if you are lucky he will send you away to only come back when problems are resolved.

Fine if you think you have it all covered and have the time to settle all of this yourself because yes I agree with you that it shouldn't be necessary if you know what you are doing but please don't try and tell newcomers to Spain who (I assume) speak very little to no Spanish at all to try and come over here and attempt such a thing which because I doubt that they all have the practical knowledge that you possess. And once again the do it yourself approach goes against every single piece of advice you can find apart from your own comments.

You should know very well with all of your experience that there are people out here that prey exclusively on the housing market and peoples ignorance of it.

As I say it is for some people a huge decision, life savings and all that kind of thing so why on earth would anyone risk their investment over the few hundred euros it would cost to hire a lawyer.
The original poster was asking for some contacts and now they have a couple of good lists as a starting point.

Very much appreciated mate

JB    You should also know that a notary does not do any actual conveyancing,

]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conveyancing[/url]
In law, conveyancing is the transfer of legal title of real property from one person to another

That is precisely what Notaries do

(Now I see why you say one needs a lawyer to hold one's hand).