Buying Costs Spain (Gastos de Compra) — Full Breakdown
Gastos de compra are the full set of purchase-related costs on top of the price — tax, notary, land registry, tasación and, where used, a lawyer — and are paid from equity as a rule, not financed by the bank.
What is Buying Costs Spain (Gastos de compra)?
Gastos de compra are the full set of purchase-related costs on top of the price — tax, notary, land registry, tasación and, where used, a lawyer — and are paid from equity as a rule, not financed by the bank. The largest item is usually the tax itself — ITP for a resale property, or IVA plus AJD for a new-build (see ITP (Impuesto Transmisiones)). On top come notary fees for the deed, land registry fees for registration, and the cost of the tasación, the independent valuation every lending bank requires. Buyers who hire a Spanish lawyer for the transaction — often advisable for non-residents — add a further, but predictable, cost line. In practice, Gastos de compra typically add up to around 10–13% of the purchase price depending on region and price level — the range is wider than in many other countries because of the regionally varying ITP rate. Knowing the exact rate for the relevant region allows for a far more precise budget than a rough flat assumption.
What matters about these two points
The answer box above states the case. The two points it is built from carry their own heading here — together with what each of them means in practice.
What the individual items add up to
A fixed order helps when assembling the items: first the tax by property type, then the fixed fees (notary, land registry, tasación), and last the optional items (lawyer, translation, power of attorney). Only the first block varies by region; the rest are quite predictable.
How much to budget for in total
The range is not a safety margin but genuine uncertainty. Once you know the rate for your region you can usually strike out the upper half of the range — and then you know how much equity is tied up alongside the purchase price.
Why the Gastos dominate equity planning
Because Spanish banks already apply a lower LTV to non-residents (see LTV para no residentes), the required equity reserve is the sum of the unfinanced portion of the purchase price and the fully separate Gastos de compra — both figures together, not in isolation, give the realistic total capital requirement for the purchase.
Who bears which item — law, custom and agreement
The split comes from three different sources, which is why it confuses people. By law the seller bears the plusvalía municipal and the cost of the original deed; the buyer bears the copies, the registration and the ITP or IVA. Regional custom varies, and either can be reallocated by agreement in the contract — which happens routinely in sales to foreign buyers, usually to the buyer's disadvantage. The second point concerns the agency commission: in Spain the seller normally owes it, and it is priced into the asking figure. A buyer asked to pay it in addition should want to see the basis in writing before agreeing, because there is rarely one.
Related glossary terms
Property Transfer Tax Spain (ITP) →
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Spain Mortgage LTV for Non-Residents →
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Tasación (Valuation) →
The Tasación is the property valuation prepared by an approved company.…
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