How to Sell Property in Spain: Step by Step

Selling a property in Spain is straightforward once you know the order things happen in, but the details matter, especially for non-residents. Here is the full process from deciding to sell to the day you hand over the keys, with the paperwork, the contracts and the tax steps that trip people up.

1. Price it right from day one

This is the step that decides everything else. A property priced correctly for the current market attracts viewings in the first two weeks, when interest is highest, and sells close to asking. An over-priced one sits, goes stale, and almost always ends up selling for less after a series of reductions. Base the price on recent completed sales of comparable properties in your area, not on what other listings are asking. A good local agent will show you the real comparables and the honest figure, not the one you want to hear.

Your asking price also decides which shortlist you appear on. Buyers filter by band, so the homes you compete against are the ones sharing your bracket. Here is how our own live book across the Costa Blanca and Costa del Sol currently splits:

Those are book-wide figures spanning both coasts, but the shape of them is the point. Competition thickens sharply as you climb: ask €310,000 and you land in a band holding 361 listings; ask €295,000 and you land in one holding 156. Pushing a price just over a round boundary to leave "negotiating room" often costs you the viewings that would have produced the negotiation. If you want a number to sanity-check your own expectations, our guide to what your Spanish property is worth walks through the comparables method in detail.

2. Get your documents ready

Having your paperwork in order before you list avoids delays later. You will need:

• Energy Performance Certificate (CEE): legally required to market the property; a technician issues it for around €100–€300.
• Nota simple: the land registry extract confirming you are the owner and the property is free of charges and debts.
• Title deed (escritura) from when you bought.
• Latest IBI (council tax) receipt and proof you are up to date.
• Community of owners certificate confirming your fees are paid.
• Recent utility bills and, for some properties, the licence of first occupation or habitation certificate.

3. Choose the right agent

You can sell privately, but on the Costa Blanca and Costa del Sol the overwhelming majority of buyers are international and find property through agents who market in their language. What matters is not the cheapest commission but who actually reaches the right buyers, photographs and presents the home well, prices it honestly, and handles viewings and negotiation professionally. Ask how they market, who their buyers are, and whether they work with a network of collaborating agencies. Wider exposure usually means a faster, better sale.

4. Marketing and viewings

Good photography and an accurate, well-written description do most of the work. The property goes live on the agent's site and portals, and qualified buyers are booked in for viewings. Keep the home clean, decluttered and bright for every viewing. First impressions decide offers. Be flexible on timing; many buyers are flying in for a few days and viewing several properties at once.

Presentation work is the cheapest money a seller spends, and it has to be done before the photographer arrives, not after three quiet viewings. A practical list:

• Repaint marked walls in a plain off-white. A property that has been let out for a few seasons almost always needs this.
• Clear the terrace of drying racks, storage boxes and dead plants, then set out a table and chairs. On this coast the terrace is what people buy.
• Replace dead bulbs and fit the same colour temperature throughout, so the photographs are not half yellow and half blue.
• Descale the shower screen and taps and re-grout anything stained. Buyers read limescale as a maintenance problem, not a cleaning one.
• Fix the small defects you have stopped noticing: a sticking window, a cracked tile, a blind that will not raise. Every one of them reappears as a deduction in the negotiation.
• Write down the annual IBI, the community fee and the rubbish tax before viewings start. A seller who cannot answer "what does it cost to run?" loses the room.
• If the property is furnished, decide now what stays and what goes, and say so in the listing. Arguing about a sofa after the arras contract is signed is a bad use of everyone's week.

5. The offer and the arras contract

When a buyer makes an offer and you agree a price, the deal is formalised in the contrato de arras, the binding private purchase agreement. The buyer pays a deposit of around 10% of the price. If the buyer pulls out, they lose it; if you pull out, you must return double. Your lawyer should review the contract before you sign. From here, the buyer's lawyer runs final checks and arranges any mortgage.

6. Completion at the notary

The sale completes when both parties sign the escritura pública (public deed of sale) in front of a notary. The buyer pays the balance, you hand over the keys, and the notary registers the transfer. This usually happens 4–8 weeks after the arras contract for a resale property.

7. After the sale: taxes and the 3% retention

If you are a non-resident, the buyer is legally required to withhold 3% of the sale price at completion and pay it to the tax office as an advance on your capital gains tax. You then settle your actual capital gains tax (19% of the net gain) via Modelo 210, and reclaim any difference if the 3% was more than your real bill. You also pay the plusvalía municipal to the town hall within 30 days. We cover all of these in detail in our companion guide on the cost of selling property in Spain.

If the property has already been sitting

Relisting a stale property is a different job from listing a fresh one, because the buyers who were going to see it at that price have already seen it. Shaving €5,000 off changes nothing: it keeps you in the same search band and simply confirms to watchers that the price is soft. Move to the band below instead, so a new set of filters picks you up. In our book the step from the €300,000–€400,000 bracket into €250,000–€300,000 moves you from 361 competing listings to 156, and puts you in front of people who never saw the original advert.

Do three other things at the same time. Re-photograph, ideally in different light and after the presentation work above, so the listing does not look recycled. Rewrite the description rather than reposting it. And ask your agent for the actual viewing and enquiry numbers for the last three months: if enquiries were healthy but viewings did not convert, the problem is the property or the photographs, not the price. Our guide on why a Spanish property is not selling goes through each cause in turn, and if you are weighing up representation, selling privately versus using an agency compares the two routes.

How long does it take to sell?

A correctly priced, well-marketed coastal property typically goes under offer within a few weeks to a couple of months, with completion 4–8 weeks after that. The biggest delays come from over-pricing, missing paperwork, or an outstanding mortgage that needs cancelling, all of which you can sort out before you list.

When you are ready to put it in front of buyers, you can list your property with us and we will price it against completed sales, photograph it, and market it in the languages our buyers actually search in.

This is general information for 2026, not legal advice. The exact process and tax treatment depend on your circumstances and region. We'll connect you with an independent lawyer to handle the legal and tax side of your sale.