Selling a property in Gran Canaria

Are you the owner of a property or a plot of land in Gran Canaria and interested in selling this property? This blog entry might be of interest to you. In recent years and decades, property prices on Gran Canaria have risen steadily, so that very often it has been possible to sell at a tidy profit.

Unfortunately, the respective sales price is usually not the same as the net profit, because there are almost always fees, taxes and royalties, which I will discuss in more detail. If you are a prospective buyer reading this blog entry, I would like to inform you that there are also additional ancillary purchase costs for the buyer side, detailed information on this can be found on this website in the section "Information for Buyers".
Today, however, let's stick to the topic of selling real estate.
What should you as a seller pay attention to when selling the property?

Check whether the property, house or flat for sale is legally and completely registered in your name in the land registry (Registro de la Propiedad). We have direct online access to the land registry and usually receive an up-to-date extract from the land register (nota simple or nota informativa) within 24-48 hours. You can also take a look at the notarial deed of sale (escritura pública) which you received at the time of purchase.

Try to find a good time to sell your property, as experience has shown that demand in Gran Canaria is somewhat higher in the winter season than in the summer season. However, there are opportunities to find a potential buyer throughout the year.

Important documents must be presented and organised for the notarial sale appointment - among others, a certificate of debt-free status from the municipality where the property in question is located.

It is of course important for the buyer to be debt/encumbrance free; if the property for sale is in a community, a certificate of debt-free status (certificado no deudor) from the community (comunidad) is also required.
The energy efficiency certificate is also important, this is obligatory and necessary. If you already have one from the purchase at the time, it is valid for 10 years. The cost of an energy certificate for a flat with about 50 sqm is about 90€. We at Sun World Immobilien will be happy to assist you in organising the relevant documents and further information.

Very important: please do not forget to bring a valid identity card or passport to the notary appointment, the document must not have expired. If you do not already have an NIE number (which in principle every owner has), this is required and can be applied for at the police station or at a Spanish consulate.

Power of attorney for sale, occasionally sellers cannot or do not want to appear in person at the notary's office, so there is the possibility of granting a notarial power of attorney for sale. This can be given to a natural or legal person. If, for example, the power of attorney is granted by a notary resident in Germany, Austria or Switzerland, please make sure that it is provided with an international apostille (e.g. obtainable from the regional court). Without this apostille, the power of attorney is not valid in Gran Canaria and must be translated into Spanish. My advice, should you be in Gran Canaria, is to give the power of sale directly to a notary on the island. This way no apostille or translation would be necessary, the costs are around 100€.
The following three notary's offices are located in Playa del Inglés: Ms Blanca Fatima Varela Barja, Mr Valentín Concejo Arranz and Mr Jose Cháfer Rudilla. German is spoken in all notary's offices.
Taxes when selling a property in Gran Canaria

A rather unpleasant but important topic. Some owners are of the opinion that if you have owned a property for 10 years, you no longer have to pay taxes when you sell it. Unfortunately, I have to disappoint you, because the Spanish state actually sees things differently. As a rule, two taxes have to be paid on the sale of a property: the profit tax and the Plusvalía (tax on the increase in value). The profit tax is due on the difference between the purchase price at the time and the current sales price. If you have not made a profit, no profit tax is due, or the 3% advance tax payment will be refunded to you. If you are thinking, "What 3%?", I would like to explain this in more detail. In the case of foreign sellers without a main residence in Spain, 3% of the purchase price must be withheld by the buyer at the notary appointment and paid to the Spanish tax office. This is regulated by law and the notary's offices pay attention to the withholding. In the case of tax residents on Gran Canaria or locals, this advance tax payment is not mandatory.

Regarding the Plusvalía (tax on the increase in value): it is a quite controversial tax, it has been decided in court that the calculation of the tax must be given a new basis. At present, the municipalities are in the process of improving this. Lawyers agree that it will not be abolished and will remain in place. If it were abolished, the Spanish municipalities would lose around 5 billion euros a year, and they cannot afford that.

If you have your main residence in Gran Canaria, the tax rates on profits are as follows:

19% on net profits up to €6,000

21% between 6.000-50.000€

23% between 50.000-200.000€

26% from 200.000€
 

If you would also like to benefit from our many years of experience and the well-developed national and international network of Sun World Immobilien for the sale of your property, please contact us. A pleasant, orderly and goal-oriented cooperation is very important to us.

How could the procedure as well as the preparation for the property sale look like?

After you have kindly contacted us by phone, e-mail, WhatsApp, Facebook etc., we will be happy to arrange a personal appointment, either in our office or directly at the property to be sold.

We will explain to you the upcoming procedures, the various presentation possibilities in various portals, websites, shop windows, as well as the networking of our real estate office in Gran Canaria, nationally and internationally. Furthermore, we explain possible taxes, costs and our fee, which we would charge you in case of a successful sale. Almost always a reservation with deposit (usually 10% of the purchase price) is applied after the purchase commitment. For this purpose a reservation contract / purchase option contract is prepared, which is to bridge the time until the notary appointment, we also explain this point to you in detail.

Ultimately, it is a matter of finding an adequate buyer in a timely manner and at the appropriate conditions. Should this succeed in cooperation with another real estate agency, we will also be happy to share our brokerage fee. As in any business, we live from recommendations, and every satisfied and grateful customer is an additional motivation.

"First impressions don't get a second chance", this sentence is certainly ringing in some people's ears, which is exactly why we would like to present your property in an appealing way. We will give you tips on design and provide you with appealing presentation material such as photos etc. You tell us what you want and we adapt. We will gladly contribute our experience at any time and (if you wish, together with you) look for the most successful sales strategy.

It goes without saying that it is important to orientate ourselves to the usual market property prices in the respective region. We will be happy to provide you with advice and assistance in calculating the purchase price.

Selling real estate is a matter of trust. If you have not met us yet, please contact us at any time. We work together with reliable, German-speaking notaries, tax offices and various service providers.

Sun World Immobilien wishes you a healthy new year 2022.

Canarian greetings at 24 degrees from Gran Canaria,

Kai Derichs