Buying to renovate as a non-resident: checks before signing
By Ross Alinari · Last checked · Editorial policy · How we check facts
A property can be attractive to buy while the renovation you have in mind remains uncertain. Treat the purchase decision and the works proposal as connected but separate investigations. A title record, a cadastral plan and a contractor’s visit answer different questions. Before signing a binding commitment, assemble a file that lets the relevant advisers identify the property, explain the transaction and assess the proposed changes. The checklist below helps organise that work without promising that a purchase or design is suitable.
Read the title information for its actual purpose
The Colegio de Registradores distinguishes a nota simple, which is informative, from a registry certification, which is a public document signed by the registrar and has the evidential function described in its guidance. Registry information can identify the property, registered rights and relevant charges. The guidance also explains the need to state a legitimate interest when requesting information about another person’s property.
Obtain current information for the correct registered property and ask the professional advising on the purchase to explain entries that affect your intended transaction. Do not treat a document relating to a neighbouring plot or an earlier owner as sufficient. Keep the reference and request date visible in your purchase file. A renovation plan may depend on rights or limitations that are easy to miss in a sales description, so share the intended use and proposed works when asking for the review.
Source: Registradores: nota simple and certification.
Match the cadastral information to the property
The official Catastro electronic office provides a property search, a map viewer and services for finding or checking a cadastral reference. Use those tools to identify the records you are discussing, rather than copying a reference from an unverified advertisement. Retain the relevant extracts with their retrieval date.
Compare the records, sale particulars and physical property systematically. Note any difference in the stated area, layout, boundaries or description and ask the appropriate adviser how it should be investigated. A discrepancy is a question to resolve, not evidence from which this guide can determine ownership or planning legality. Photograph the parts of the building relevant to the intended alteration and label them on a sketch. This practical cross-check gives the technical adviser a clearer starting point and helps prevent separate professionals from unknowingly assessing different versions of the same property’s history.
Source: Catastro: property search and cadastral reference services.
Understand a commitment before making it
The Notariado’s buying guidance recommends obtaining information before signing or handing over money and explains that an arras agreement can be binding even though such a preliminary document is not compulsory. It identifies matters to check including who signs for the seller and the property’s relevant legal and financial position.
Give the professional advising on the transaction a written list of the renovation assumptions that matter to your decision. If you are buying because you expect to extend, alter a frontage or change a use, say so before the contractual terms are settled. Keep the advice and the contract review separate from an estate agent’s description of potential. A favourable view of the property’s appearance is not an answer to a condition in a purchase agreement. For a buyer abroad, allow time to read the final version in a form you understand and resolve questions before authorising signature.
Source: Notariado: checks before buying a home.
Test the renovation idea against planning rules
The Valencian planning framework distinguishes acts requiring a licence from those within responsible-declaration categories. New construction and specified heritage interventions are among the licence categories in article 232. Your purchase investigation should therefore describe the intended alterations well enough for a property-specific planning assessment, rather than assuming that ownership makes every improvement available.
List the changes essential to the purchase decision separately from optional preferences. Ask which current planning documents, protection designations and existing permissions need checking. Record the source of each answer and whether it concerns the existing building or the new proposal. An old approval for one intervention should not be read as approval of a different extension. Where the position remains unresolved, identify the missing document and the decision that depends on it. This helps the buyer judge the significance of the uncertainty instead of hiding it inside a general statement that renovation should be straightforward.
Source: TRLOTUP arts. 232–233.
Assess the building and community constraints
In a community of owners, the LPH addresses private alterations, common elements and owner obligations. Article 7 limits changes affecting building safety, general structure, external configuration or other owners’ rights. Article 9 contains obligations concerning common installations and private parts. These matters can affect a renovation even where the purchased unit appears self-contained.
Request the relevant community information and explain the proposed works to the adviser reviewing it. Identify any intended intervention involving the facade, shared drainage, roof or other potentially common element. Separately arrange a technical assessment suited to the building and the planned alteration. Keep observed defects distinct from assumptions about their cause. A contractor’s quotation can price a defined scope, but it should not be used as a substitute for unresolved investigations. Ask what additional access, opening-up or documents would be needed to turn an uncertain item into an assessable proposal, and record who will decide the next step.
Plan ownership and construction from abroad
The LOE defines the scope of relevant building interventions, the project and the promoter’s role. A buyer intending substantial works should consider these responsibilities while planning the purchase, because being abroad does not turn a technical appointment or permission requirement into a purely administrative detail.
Build a decision schedule linking the purchase investigation to the renovation brief. Identify what can be assessed before access is granted, what depends on a measured survey and what remains subject to technical design. Keep a separate record of key access, communications and authorisations so the contractor does not receive instructions from several people without a clear owner decision. Start the construction enquiry with the town, property type, intended changes and available plans. Our process is a free estimate followed by a fixed-price quote after a site visit. The quotation should reflect a defined scope; it cannot resolve title, planning or technical uncertainties that have not yet been investigated.
Worked example
A non-resident buyer likes an apartment because the sales particulars suggest opening the kitchen to the living room. The buyer obtains current property information and asks a technician to assess the wall and proposed services route, while the purchase adviser reviews the transaction and community position. The purchase decision is then made with the essential alteration identified as confirmed or unresolved. This is a hypothetical checklist, not a recommendation to buy a particular home.