15-09-2006, 11:42 PM
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| Tech Support Real Name: Lee
Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Catral,Costa Blanca,Spain
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|  Lawyers in Spain
This was taken from another site and is extremely good advice Link to original site We receive lots of queries from visitors enquiring about lawyers fees in Spain. We always recommend use of a lawyer when purchasing property here, but do advise our users to be wary of two things: - Never ever use a lawyer recommended to you by the estate agent that showed you the property you are purchasing. The job of estate agents is to sell property, not to protect your rights as buyers. And they will inevitably recommend a lawyer known and regularly hired by them, who will naturally protect the sale rather than your rights. It is very important to find an independent lawyer.
- Lawyers fees. We have heard all sorts of fees charged to buyers who have little idea of average solicitor fees in Spain and so can easily be overcharged. Bear the following facts in mind:
- Some lawyers charge a percentage of the purchase price as their fee (anything from 1 to 1.5 percent). So, the more expensive your property, the more you have to pay, even though size and price do not necessarily mean more work.
- Some lawyers charge another fee on top of the percentage, which they call a "documents fee". We had a message recently from one Euroresidentes user whose lawyers wanted to charge him 1 percent + .75 percent "documentation fee". He was going to be charged a total of over 2500 euros, which was about double the average price for lawyers services in the area of Spain where he was buying his house.
- Other lawyers charge an hourly fee, which can range between 100 and 150 euros per hour, depending on the law firm.
- House transactions do not actually entail much work for a lawyer in Spain. The paperwork is very straightforward and experienced lawyers will need no longer than a few hours to check everything.
- If you are getting a mortgage with a Spanish bank, the bank lawyers will usually check the deeds and property register themselves, and a small fee will be included for this in the mortgage set-up costs. This does not mean that you should not hire the services of your own lawyer, but it is something to bear in mind
We would advise all property buyers in Spain to take the following steps:- Find a lawyer. Ask your local consulate, look in the yellow pages. Send us a message telling us where you are going to buy a property and we will try and recommend lawyers nearby
- Ask to be charged a fee based on an hourly rate, but ask for an estimated number of hours before you agree
- If you can, get two estimates and compare them
- Don't use a lawyer recommended to you by the person selling you your house, if it is a private sale, or by the estate agent organising your purchase
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