Purchasing a property off-plan

If we are planning to purchase a property off-plan, we should check the following:

• Whether the development company we are contracting with exists, and whether the person who is going to sign on its behalf is empowered to do so. For this purpose, we should consult the Commercial Register, where the development company should be registered. There, we can obtain information about the company's registration, management positions, proxies, and statutes. The consultation can be carried out from one's own home and information will be obtained online, immediately, and through the Internet. The payment of fees is made by credit card charge.
• Whether the plot on which the building is to be erected is registered in the name of the development company we are contracting with, so that it is its owner. For this purpose, the Property Register should be consulted in the terms previously pointed out.
• Whether the building to be erected has been authorized by the City Council, through the granting of the corresponding license. Verification of such circumstance can be obtained through the Property Register, as if the description of the future building is registered in the Register, it is because the existence of the license, and the start of the construction works according to the approved project, have previously been justified to the registrar. In case the description of the building is not yet registered in the Register, it will be necessary to go to the City Council to check that construction can be carried out on the plot in question.

If before the construction of the building is carried out, we are required to sign a private contract and pay amounts on account of the price, we should bear in mind:

• If the contract includes abusive clauses, these will be considered as not stipulated, even if the buyer has signed them, and will be considered null and void. These are, among others, those that allow the developer to make subsequent modifications to the project without the buyer's consent, those that establish the buyer's waiver of the right to choose a notary, those that establish the buyer's obligation to take over the mortgage loan contracted by the developer, those that oblige him to contract accessory services, the stipulation that the consumer has to bear the costs derived from the preparation of the title deeds that by their nature correspond to the professional (new building, horizontal property, mortgages to finance its construction or its division and cancellation), the one that imposes on the consumer the payment of taxes in which the professional is the taxpayer or the one that imposes on him the costs derived from the establishment of the accesses to the general supplies of the dwelling, when it should be delivered in conditions of habitability.

In the event that amounts are delivered to the developer, it can be demanded of him to prove that he has deposited them in a special account, which he can only use to carry out the construction, and that he has contracted an insurance or constituted a guarantee that ensures their return plus six percent in case the construction is not carried out or the delivery is delayed.

Once the construction is finished, and before signing the purchase and sale deed, we should demand from the seller to prove that the work has been completed according to the description established in the plan, and that an insurance has been contracted that covers the damages that could be caused to the buyer by defects in the construction. Such circumstances can be checked through a consultation to the Property Register, as if the completion of the building is registered in the Register, it is because the existence of a certificate of end of work in accordance with the approved project, and the contracting of the insurances, have previously been justified to the registrar. Therefore, before signing the deed, it is necessary to check that the completion of the work has been registered in the Property Register.