EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW TO BUY, SELL, OR RENT A PROPERTY YOU HAVE ON THIS WEBSITE

Today we will answer two of the questions that our customers ask us the most,

1. IS IT POSSIBLE TO BUY A PROPERTY WHILE IN CRISIS?

The health and economic crisis caused by coronavirus in Spain has paralyzed thousands of home sales. Only transactions with mortgage deeds that are of extreme urgency will be signed before a notary. And for those looking for a new home now is a good time to contact the vendors and resolve questions about the desired home.
Here’s a guide to buying a home and a mortgage buy with idealist/mortgage tips:

Buying housing in the midst of the coronavirus crisis

Real estate portals are still 100% available in all their formats (web, mobile, apps) so it is an ideal time to take advantage of all its advantages (photos, descriptions, details, etc.) and make a list of properties that you like or interest. You can use search and favorite save tools. And visit the houses virtually.
You can contact the sellers, in fact, it is highly recommended to do so. Although you can not visit the apartment, you can solve doubts that allow you to know better the house: the real estate or the owner can send you more photos, clarify the condition of the house or its availability, give you more information that is not detailed in the advertisement… even if the price is negotiable.
If you also contact a real estate company, it can indicate other properties that resemble what you are looking for. Professionals continue to work 100% from home and are the ones who know best about the area and the product that is marketed.
If you are really interested, go further in knowing the property: you can take a simple note of the house, ask about the community expenses or if it has any current or planned spills, etc.
If you do not know the area well, you can find out about it: what public services it has, gyms, transport, supermarkets… a key part of the decision to buy a flat is its surroundings.
Make numbers about what the purchase entails, not only the disbursement but also the mortgage fee (this is what we talk about later), cost of moving, purchase of furniture, reform if necessary…
It is important to know that, if the purchase of the house is made without a mortgage, it is possible to avoid the signature before a notary: the sale of a house can be made in private document and raised to public later (before notary). However, it is not recommended for the least guarantees and security offered by an agreement between parties without notarized intervention, but it can be temporary until it is elevated to public deed.

Buying home with mortgage in the midst of coronavirus crisis

Use a simulator to see which quota best suits your needs.
You can even compare different offers from banks, and even apply online to find out if the bank would grant you the mortgage. But remember, banks don’t give 100% valid approvals until they check all your data with documentation and the appraisal of the home is done. Even many do not have an initial price, but make tailor-made suits depending on each customer. Whether you already have the home agreed, or if you haven’t decided on a specific floor yet, you can start a mortgage application.Services like idealist/mortgages allow you to send the application to multiple banks without moving from home, at no cost or commitment, and this can help you buy time. You can even talk to remote bank managers to help you better understand their offers and compare them.
The appraisers continue to work, even if they have some limitation when visiting the homes, so if you have already decided on an entity, you can move forward in this part of the process, which usually takes a few days.
Finally, formalization: this is the part where the process is currently most stuck, on the one hand, because most banks require the opening of accounts and signing other documents that do not have a remote digitized process, and on the other hand because notaries can only act in cases of proven urgency, and always by appointment.

2. IS IT POSSIBLE TO BUY A PROPERTY COMPLETELY VIRTUALLY?

No. This is not possible. The coronavirus crisis has left many home sales processes, many mortgage deeds or loan novations in stand-by. Only operations that the notary really considers to be extremely urgent will be able to succeed. The rest will have to stay in a drawer until the situation returns to its normal channel.
Within the process of buying and selling a home, there are paperwork that can be done online, but many others that do not. And this is because one of the functions of the notary in the authorization or intervention in public document implies the duty to attest to the identity of the parties (buyer and seller), that in their opinion they have the capacity and legitimacy, that the consent has been freely given and that the grant is adapted to the legality and the duly informed will of the granters and interveners, as they remember from idealista/mortgages.
That is why it is so important that the operation of buying and selling a house is signed before a notary in person. From the General Council of the Notary they point out that there is currently no alternative to online management and that it is necessary to contact the notary chosen to see if the situation is urgent and can give an appointment in person.
The agency recalls that notaries cannot close the office as a public office. Once the state of alarm has been declared, it is only mandatory for them to attend to those urgent actions, as well as those determined by the Government.
On the one hand, the start of the mortgage application process remains smooth, because banks continue to serve and continue to analyze mortgage applications received, although it is true that the lower availability of some bank branches can make the process difficult. That said, real estate credit intermediaries as idealists/mortgages continue to function 100%, so in cases like this they can be a very convenient option to start the mortgage application process.
On the other hand, the final validation and signature of the mortgage process is greatly complicated: some appraisers are not visiting real estate (others continue with their routine), and without the appraisal report the bank cannot issue the final offer or send the documentation to notaries. And they have restricted their activity to the strictly urgent, so that only those operations that are already prepared for signature and have a compelling reason that each notary will value (such as the expiration of the arras contract, or the need to occupy the new home) will be able to complete the process.

In case the future buyer of a home considers its operation urgent, you must contact by phone or email with the notary.
If the action required by the person concerned is urgent, the provision of the public notar service shall be subject to the following measures:
Access to the notary shall not be allowed to anyone other than the person concerned and in accordance with the notarial legislation other parties such as interpreters or witnesses.
Notary action shall be carried out exclusively in the notary office. In any case, such notarial action will extend the essential time, as a means of guaranteeing the purpose set out in Royal Decree 463/2020 of 14 March.
The interested party who attends the notary will do so on the day and time indicated by the notary, for which he must go to it with those means of self-protection that guarantee health security. In the notary, both the staff of the notary public office and the notary shall take the physical separation and clearance measures recommended by the authorities.In order to ensure the provision of the notarised public service, the notary shall establish in his notary, if possible to attend the number of employees, shifts for this purpose, in accordance with labour legislation.
For this purpose, the notary shall provide his employees with a document in a safe conduct way which would enable them to justify the coming to their job.
It is very important that the person facing a possible emergency situation, which may have related to the sale of a property, write to the notary who is taking it and consult him. If you hadn’t chosen any notary yet, you can do so in the www.notariado.org locator.