Can You Buy A House In Spain Without Being A Resident?

For a vast majority of people who have had the chance to travel around Europe, Spain is the most beautiful country they have visited. So, it is not a surprise that millions of people visit it every year. At the same time, we can see that many are interested in purchasing property in some of the most popular locations.

We are talking about those who want to move permanently, and it doesn’t matter what their motivation is. If we have a look at an official statistic, we can see that more than ¾ of those who have moved into the country have their private property. If you are interested in looking at some of the best properties in Javea, one of the most beautiful small cities, check out javeaestateagent.com.

In most cases, these people will have something in common: they will not have resident status in Spain. As you can see, they were able to purchase private property. Now, we would like to talk about how you can purchase a property in Spain, even when you don’t have resident status. Without further ado, let’s look at what we’ve been able to discover.

Owning a Home in Spain

According to the official statistics, roughly 80% of the population own a certain property. When you compare this percentage with other European countries or the United States, you will see that it is much higher. What’s even more surprising is that most of them didn’t use any mortgage to purchase that property. Once again, this is an exceptional fact.

The global financial crisis of 2009 inflicted a massive blow on the market. Real estate prices declined significantly. However, the situation improved until the global pandemic of COVID-19. Nevertheless, prices have been slowly rising since the lockdown. When you combine all of these facts, it’s obvious that investing in real estate in this country is a good move.

Since we are talking about a beautiful country, we don’t believe many people have this motivation behind their decision to move here. Still, it surely represents quite a capital they can resale for a significant value in the years to come. Some experts even say we can expect a slight drop in value in the next few months. So, you can see that this would be a good move.

What Do You Need to Purchase?

Many foreigners believe that buying a house in Spain will require them to participate in some highly complex process. It’s quite the contrary. This is not nearly as complex as many believe. Only one thing is essential for this process: an ID issued to non-residents.

When a foreigner receives this document, having it wherever he or she goes is an absolute must. Also, you will need it to sign something whenever you are in a situation. What needs to be said is that you will not need to invest a lot of time and effort before you can obtain this document. Thankfully, you will see that the time you must wait for it is reasonable.

One way you can gather more information on the whole process is by talking to an agent who will handle the deal on your behalf. There is one more factor you need to take into consideration: having a bank account. While this is not essential, you can complete the process without it. Still, it will make the process much easier, so you should have that in mind.

However, two situations make the process simpler or slightly more complex.

Non-EU Citizens

If the person interested in purchasing a property is not a citizen of the European Union, the procedure can be somewhat more complex. You need to apply for an NIE for residents. To become a resident of the country, you must spend at least 185 days within the territory without leaving it. If you are not a resident, you will need to ask for a different sort of NIE.

EU Citizens

When the person interested in purchasing a house comes from the EU countries, two sorts of documents applying for are essential. We are talking about NIE, of course. The first one is temporary, for those who don’t live in Spain. So, they will get temporary documents while they are in Spain and completing the process of acquiring a house. The other one is the usual resident document.

How Costly Can It Be?

Now, we would like to discuss the prices of acquiring a house in different parts of Spain. You will agree that there is no definite answer to this question. Instead, we will need to discuss a couple of cities just to give you an idea about what you can expect. For instance, purchasing a property in Barcelona is the heftiest per square meter, even though we are not talking about the Capital city.

Barcelona, Madrid, and Malaga will have the highest prices. After these three, there is a long list of towns with their average prices. In any case, you cannot obtain property or a house for less than $1800 per square mile. Therefore, you should choose the location you want to call your new home wisely.

Summary

You will certainly agree that understanding a foreign real estate market is not easy to do without any help. That’s why we’ve provided you with the most significant points, to make your idea about what you can expect clearer. We are sure you will find this insight useful.