Typical price for solicitors for conveyancing

I appreciate that many feel they need someone to hold their hand when buying a property, whereas they are happy to buy practically everything else  that they need on their own.

There is no legal requirement to use a lawyer in spain and in all purchases the contract (escritura) can only be signed before a notary, whether one has a lawyer or not

Just a thought.  I believe most people, if not all, who found they brought a property which was not legal, when there was a lot of news about demolitions, used lawyers, but even so they had big problems and had no redress against them.

I have bought and sold several times, and helped family and friends to do so without using a lawyer. Never had any problems.

Hi OP

Try to get quotes from local Alicante lawyers. I used an English speaking Spanish lawyer in Madrid and thought the rate was very reasonable. I got much higher quotes from foreign lawyers in Madrid.

The best is to get referrals from people who have used them. I got mine from someone I met at Internations fortunately. If you don't have any contacts, try get some online and ask for the quotation with inclusions, and any other expenses that you may have to pay directly to other parties or through the lawyer. E.g
Property registration, valuation, notary, any official translation of your documents, and if the quotations include the VAT. Good luck!

Thanks for replies
The lowest amount quoted is £1200 + VAT
extras are notary/land registry

The problem with recommending a professional, like a lawyer, is that one normally would only employ one if you were unable to do it yourself.   

That means, unless something goes wrong, and it comes to light, you have no way of knowing if the process was carried out professionally or if the `professional´ was lucky in that his/her  errors did not come to light.

Thus whilst one can know when someone is incompetent you cannot be certain they are good.

It's not like say a decorator, a tailor, etc where anyone can see the result.

1200 +VAT is a lot especially when considering that you're not buying a large property. As a percentage of the property value, my Spanish lawyer in Madrid cost a fraction of that. You probably need to keep looking for a local lawyer. There should be some lists online. The legal fee shouldn't cost too much as in Spain, the Clarence of the title, debt situation kind of due diligence should be done by the notary. So all you need to ask are the property specific questions and make sure you ask via email, not on the phone or WhatsApp.

A lawyer has professional indemnity insurance to cover any losses incurred by the buyer due to negligent legal work.
A lawyer is essential in my opinion

Hi!

I made a mistake, I wrote another post below

sorry

Johncar wrote:

I appreciate that many feel they need someone to hold their hand when buying a property, whereas they are happy to buy practically everything else  that they need on their own.

There is no legal requirement to use a lawyer in spain and in all purchases the contract (escritura) can only be signed before a notary, whether one has a lawyer or not

Just a thought.  I believe most people, if not all, who found they brought a property which was not legal, when there was a lot of news about demolitions, used lawyers, but even so they had big problems and had no redress against them.

I have bought and sold several times, and helped family and friends to do so without using a lawyer. Never had any problems.

Hi Johncar,

Thank you for your precious answers.
For our case, we never bought a house before and we have not spent enough time in Spain to know how buying a property works.
So I guess it is good to know in advance how things are in Spain regarding buying a house in a foreign country. And often it is recommended to be assisted by a lawyer.
We both speak good Spanish (my husband fluently) but still not confident enough to what process, formality to follow/not miss to avoid any bad experiences...
As you seem to be a highly experienced property buyer, would you mind sharing with us the steps to follow/do, please? Or share any links?

Thank you for very much!
Saludos

Hi,  as you have good spanish I believe the info you need is readily available on the Internet, however, if you are doubtful, probably consulting a lawyer or gestor would be best for you.

John