Buying on the Costa Blanca: a German Buyer's Guide

I was raised in Spain with German roots and I handle these purchases personally, so this is written from the specific gap I watch German buyers fall into. It is not a language gap. It is that German property law is unusually protective, and Spanish law protects you in different places, so the instincts you bring are correct in principle and misfiled in practice.

The market context first, because it is the honest part. Our Calpe book holds 58 properties at a €670,000 median, and every single one is new build. If you want a 1990s villa with a mature garden above the Peñón, we do not have it today. That is the sort of thing you should hear before you book flights, not during a viewing.

Registration is protective, not constitutive

In Germany, ownership passes on Auflassung plus entry in the Grundbuch. The register is the event. In Spain, ownership passes when the public deed is signed before the notary. Registration at the Registro de la Propiedad comes afterwards and is, strictly speaking, voluntary.

It is also completely essential, and here is why. Spanish registration gives a good-faith registered purchaser protection against third-party claims. Unregistered, you own the property but you are exposed. So: register immediately, and before you buy, obtain the nota simple, the register extract that names the owner and lists charges, mortgages and embargoes. It is the closest thing to a Grundbuchauszug and your lawyer should pull a fresh one shortly before completion, not just at the start.

One further point Germans systematically underestimate: debt attaches to the property in Spain. Unpaid community fees, unpaid IBI and certain other charges can follow the house to its new owner. Your lawyer must confirm these are clear, in writing, from the community administrator and the town hall.

There is no Notaranderkonto

German buyers expect the notary to hold the purchase money and release it against registration. Spain has no equivalent as standard practice. At completion, funds change hands in the notary’s office, typically by a bank cheque drawn on a Spanish account, sometimes by confirmed transfer.

Three practical consequences. First, open a Spanish bank account early; you will need it and it needs your NIE. Second, order the bank cheque several days in advance. This is a routine cause of last-minute completion delays. Third, if you want a form of escrow, it has to be constructed deliberately by your lawyer, and the seller has to agree to it. It is not automatic and it is not free.

Who pays the agent, and what that means for you

In Spain the seller pays the commission. There is no split with the buyer as there is in much of Germany, which sounds like good news and is, mostly. But it means the agent is contractually the seller’s. A good agent will still tell you when a property is wrong for you (we lose deals that way regularly and would rather), but do not confuse a friendly agent with an independent adviser. Your independence comes from your own lawyer.

Ask an agent these two questions and judge the answers: what are the community fees and are they current, and has the property had any building work carried out without a licence. An agent who does not know should find out in writing rather than reassure you verbally.

Taxes, and the one German-specific thing to sort now

Purchase tax in the Valencian Community is 10% ITP on a resale, or 10% IVA plus 1.5% AJD on a new build. Notary, land registry and legal fees sit on top. That is the whole purchase-tax story and it does not vary with your nationality.

What does vary is the annual and eventual picture. As a non-resident owner you pay Spanish IBI and an annual non-resident tax based on a deemed benefit from the property. How Germany then treats Spanish rental income or a later gain depends on the current Germany–Spain double taxation treaty, and the method changed with the treaty now in force. Ask a Steuerberater who actually handles Spain. This is not a question for a generalist.

The German-specific item worth doing before you leave Spain after completion: make a Spanish will covering your Spanish assets. Under the EU succession regulation you can elect the law of your nationality to govern your estate, which keeps German succession law in play. But electing German law does not move Spanish inheritance tax: the property is situated in Spain, so Spain taxes it, and the reliefs available depend on the region and on the heirs’ relationship to you. A short Spanish will costs very little and saves your heirs a long, expensive process.

North or south: the honest comparison

German searches concentrate on the Costa Blanca North (Calpe, Jávea, Moraira, Denia) and there are good reasons: the landscape is dramatic, the towns are prettier, and the German-speaking presence there is long established. But look at that table honestly. Calpe’s median is two and a half times Torrevieja’s, and Jávea’s book on our side is eleven properties with a median above two million. That is not a market you shop in; it is a market you wait in.

The counter-argument for the south is not just price. Torrevieja is flat, walkable, open all year and has genuine choice: 250 properties, half of them resale. The counter-argument for the north is that you can see mountains from the sea and the summer is less crowded inland. Both are legitimate. Just do not go north expecting southern prices, or south expecting northern scenery.

What to do first

Instruct an independent lawyer, apply for the NIE, open the bank account, and only then start viewing seriously. Nothing about the Spanish process rescues a buyer who signs first and takes advice second, because there is no statutory cooling-off period on a resale purchase.

Then look properly: Calpe and Jávea for the north, new build across the coast if a warranty and a fitted kitchen appeal, and Torrevieja if the price gap in the table above changed your mind. Write to us in German with a budget and we will tell you honestly what it reaches in each.