Buying a house is possibly the most important purchase of our lives.
This is the reason why it is a key factor to have as much information as possible: This way, we can get to own a house that fulfills perfectly our needs and possibilities.

HOW MUCH MONEY DO YOU HAVE?


Borrowing capacity
If you do not have the money needed to buy a house from the beginning or if the amount you have is not enough, you can appeal to a credit institution. The most usual proceeding is to ask for a mortgage loan.

To be awarded a mortgage loan, you must be able to face its expenditures and fees: This means you need to have a stable income. To say it with other words, your borrowing capacity must be enough to fulfill the loan you wish to be given.

If you do not have enough capital, be careful: Normally, the mortgage loan will only cover about 80% of the estimated value of the property you will to buy (some institutions will give you 100% of the value, but only if you meet some given requirements).
You must prove that you are able to pay the fees. A very simple formula (though not very accurate) to estimate your borrowing capacity is the following: The mortgage fee must not exceed 35% of your net income.

You must not forget that you have to pay the fees monthly, so you should also do this estimate of your borrowing capacity with your monthly income (your borrowing capacity will vary depending on the number of pays you get annually).

In case you want to face the payment of the fees with your couple, you will have to do this estimate with both net incomes.

WHAT HOUSE DO YOU WANT?

Off plan property, under construction property, built property

What is an off plan property?

An off plan property is a house which is only projected, so the builder has to show it to you by means of plans and sketches.

What is an under construction property?

It is a house offered to you by the builder when some stages of the building process have already started.

Both off plan and under construction properties share similar advantages and disadvantages:

Advantages

If you want to adapt the property to your needs, you can negotiate with the building company the changes to implement. Doing these changes in the early stages of the project will allow them to be applied in an easier and cheaper way.

Disadvantages

It is more risky than buying an already built house, because there are some aspects you will not be able to check directly. To avoid trouble, you can get information on the builder’s performance in previous jobs.
You will have to advance money to assure your presence during the building: This money will be used by the building company to start the works.

Built property

Advantages

In this case, you will have a finished house: You can check it to confirm that everything is as it should. Besides, you will not need to supervise the building process.

If you choose a finished building, you will not have to wait for the work to finish: You will be able to move in much sooner than in the earlier cases.

Disadvantages

As it is a finished building, any changes you could want to implement will be harder and cost more money: it would have been easier to have them done during the building process.

Features of the house


Urban or rural area?

This is a decision completely based on your own preferences. In any case, you will have to take into account some factors, such as:

Distance from the place you work in.
Distance to common services: Schools, Hospitals…
Communications.
Quality of life.
Etc.

Zone

The zone you choose to live in will determine both the price of the house and the kind of life you will lead. To choose the zone that best fulfills your needs, you will have to take into account several aspects. You can start thinking about it with the aid of the following list:

- Location
Town centre, old town, suburb, district, outskirts, private condominium.
- Services in the zone
Shops, schools, hospital and health institutions, sport and leisure zones, gardens and parks.
- Transport
Nearby public transport, distance from the place you work in, available parking zones.
- Security
Partying zone, calm zone, police services.
- Urban plans
It would be a good thing if you could find some information about the urban plans the town hall has in stock for the zone: They could be relevant for future quality and value.

Kind

Now you have to choose the kind of house you want to live in. You can choose among a wide variety of properties. You are the one to evaluate their advantages and disadvantages:

High property: Flat, dúplex, apartment, loft.
Low property: Chalet, independent house.

Dimensions

You will have to choose the dimensions of the house you need. You will have to take into account the current or future family members that will live in it.

This need can be evaluated in two ways:

In square meters.
Depending on the number of rooms you need (3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms...)
To avoid problems when purchasing your house, it is important that you learn the following differences:

Usable area: It is the aggregate of the areas of all the rooms, not including the wall thicknesses. The outer areas (balconies, terraces, etc.) will be shown separately.
Built area: It is the aggregate of the usable area plus the wall thicknesses and, sometimes, it also includes the area of light wells and ventilation ducts.
Built area with common zones: This includes the built area of the house plus your share of the common zones of the building, based on the joint ownership quota. This is generally equal to the built area.

Parking space

You will also have to decide whether you want a parking space or not.

If you want to own a parking space, there are two ways to purchase it:

Buying a house that includes it.
Buying it separately.
If you buy a new house that includes a parking space (shown in the deed of the new house), you will have to pay 7% VAT, which is the same VAT that is applied to the house itself. If you are buying a second hand house, you will not have to pay VAT; instead, you will need to fulfill the tax on capital transfers (from 2.5 to 7%).

On the other hand, if you buy the parking space separately, you will need to pay 16% VAT.

How to avoid misleading advertising

Before addressing a building company, you should know what kind of information and documents they have to provide. This way, you will be able to avoid any possible fraud.

You should ask for a brochure first.
If you are interested in what this brochure has to offer, then you will have to ask for the documents that confirm that all the data are accurate.
Such brochures and documents will need to explain the actual features, conditions and utilities of the houses. Besides, they will always have to display the following data:

Current building status of the house.
Data about its location.
The seller’s identification data: Name or company name, address and data about the seller’s adherence to the trade register (if the seller is registered as a trade company).
General description of the building and the house, including the usable area, the common zones and the additional services. This should also include a reference to the materials used during the building process (quality summary).
Registry situation (data taken from the property registry) of the house or the building, so as to justify the estate.
Total sale price and payment modes.
If a mortgage loan is to be subrogated, it should also include its data.