Thank You

[SueB]

This week we completed the sale of our holiday apartment after owning it for 21 years. I would just like to thank everyone for sharing their knowledge and information over the years. Without all the information available on this forum we would have missed out on so many things, places to go, new bars, advice etc. I will still visit the forum on a regular basis as it is hard to let go after all those years.

Thank you.

Sue

[mushte]

Hi Sue
 Am so p!eased you have enjoyed your experiencs over the years as have we
 We also brought over 20 years and seen many changes some for the better others not So .
 mushte

 

[Block 509]

Hi Sue

May I ask who you used to sell your apartment and how smoothly it went?

Many thanks

[SueB]

We used Top Alacant by the library. Helen who steered us through the process was absolutely brilliant, nothing was too much trouble, often going out of her way to ensure the process went smoothly. Always kept us in the loop as to what was happening from beginning to end. Would highly recommend her.

[Tony Gillam]

I sold mine seven years ago now after buying around the same time but still browse the forum from time to time. We did stop off in Santa Pola in our motorhome earlier in year for a few days on our way back from Andalusia and took the opportunity to visit friends in GA. What's that phrase? "You can check out but you can never leave"

[Aficionado]

"You can check out but you can never leave"

Final line of Hotel California (Eagles) - "You can check out any time you like, but - you can never leave"

One of the all time classics.

[steve watson]

Hi sue, I’m going to ask the question that everyone wants to know ! Have you managed to get all the money from the sale or did you need to keep some in your bank, what was the cost of selling your property etc etc ??

Thanks

[Ron l]

We have just sold our apartment after 20 years, we did it through homefinders, a lady called Louise did everything and was brilliant kept us all up to date with everything. Would recommend then at homefinders  no problem

[SueB]

Hi Steve, we had the non-resident’s 3% deducted from the sale price to be used against the capital gains tax bill. Then following the sale we have applied, through a solicitor, for some of this money back by submitting information such as the original purchase price, taxes paid, notary fee and expenses incurred during the buying of the property and hopefully we will receive a refund, minus the solicitor’s costs.  This takes about 6 months. We had to pay Plusvalia tax (tax on the increase in the value of the land), for an Energy Efficiency Certificate and a Community house owner’s certificate and of course the estate agent’s fee. You do get back a proportion against any community fees and IBI you have already paid in advance. Our Spanish bank account is still open because we are still waiting for the water contract to be changed over to the new owner which apparently can take quite a few weeks and then we can pay what we owe. We have given the solicitor our UK bank details for the capital gains tax refund to be transferred to, so we will probably close the Spanish account before our 3% refund comes through. We also have to pay the non-resident’s tax for the months we had the property in 2024 which as you know is normally calculated at the beginning of the new year. The solicitor has told us that if this is sorted out this year then the tax office may take what we owe out of the refund. There is the problem that if they do not take the non-residents tax out at that point then we do need to pay a solicitor to calculate what we owe and then we need to pay them so whether we are doing the right thing by closing the Spanish account I am not sure. If we keep the account open then Sabadell will continue to charge commission, card charges etc. Perhaps someone on the forum can advise both of us on this point. The one good thing about the selling of the property was that in our case as there were only us and the buyer involved the whole process only took a matter of weeks. Hope this is of some help to you.

[steve watson]

Yea great help thank you , sounds a bit of a do but luckily you had a good solicitor. I think that the only way to sell.

Thanks again

[Tony Gillam]

It seems that, as time progresses, everything in life gets more complex. I find as I get older I have less patience with all the admin and red tape that goes with anything you either do or own. I certainly don't miss the hassle of banks, council, taxes and even the car rental companies.

[Ron l]

We was advised by homefinders to cancel our bank account as soon as possible after the signing at the notary, as we couldn’t do this as going home next day we went to the bank at 8-15 am to make an appointment to cancel she said I can do it now she cancelled our account and gave us in cash all the money that was left

[John H]

We were advised exactly the same Ron.
The evening before the sale was completed our solicitor emailed me the "completion" account and phoned me to talk through it.
At the notary office the following day I was given a bankers draft for the amount due, I arrived at the bank just before closing time to deposit the draft.
The following day I returned to the bank, transferred the balance of the account back to our UK account and closed the account.
The 3% retention was paid direct into our UK bank account about 3 months later direct from the Spanish tax authority.
It was all a quick and pain free process with the exception of the plus valia tax which I hadn't been expecting

Regards all

John

[SueB]

Hi  Steve, it does sound quite involved but I have to say that the estate agent did virtually everything.  It is just this last part, trying to get the final water bill issued so that we can close the Spanish bank account which the estate agents are trying to sort. Apparently I have to ring Sabadell to close the account, it cannot be done on line. Helen from the estate agents, let us store our luggage in the office as we were homeless and had a late flight home, then she came back and opened the office up so we could get it. We tried to get a taxi to no avail, but she was on the case and got us one. Cannot fault the service we received.

Sue