Buying Property Abroad Blog

As we continue to address the historic mortgage issues which face thousands of foreign property owners in the UK, we have in recent days successfully settled another French mortgage issue for one of our clients. After many years of worry and anxiety for our...

We have recently seen a number of estate agents in Spain asking prospective buyers to pay an amount of money to them before they will even put forward an offer on a property to the Seller. Is this normal practice in Spain and is it necessary or advisable to...

A property CAN be transferred through sale to another individual even if a Title deed has not yet been issued, as this phenomenon is rather common in Cyprus. When it comes to owning a property in Cyprus, it is surprisingly true, that it is not necessary to...

Whether you are looking to purchase a property in Cyprus or simply would like to have information as to the legal status of a property in Cyprus or a parcel of land in Cyprus, we are able to assist clients looking to carry out a search at the Department of...

For UK pensioners who are potentially looking to the island of Cyprus as a destination for their retirement, a degree of caution may now be required. Presently the conditions for UK retirees seeking to relocate to Cyprus mean they have to acquire a property...

Another landmark ruling by the Dubai Courts nullifying the Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA) of 30 units, which are not registered with the Dubai Lands Department (DLD) in terms of the Law no. 13 of 2008 i.e., Regulating Initial Property Registration in the...

‍A landmark ruling by Dubai Courts has gone in favour of a Claimant deciding that “floating villas” are indeed real estate properties and not ships in terms of the UAE Maritime Code. The renowned developer's default in completing/handing...

We are delighted to announce our strategic partnership with Player4Player, a dynamic and unique football management group. An extraordinary group of individuals make up the team who have a combined football pedigree of over 2,500 league games, 226...

Is my dream of living in Europe still alive? Yes, but it’s clearly not going to be as easy as things were, that’s for sure. There’s been lots of people firing questions about their long-term life plans so I thought it would be helpful to...

One of the unintended consequences of Brexit is the fact that a little-known Spanish law is now being enforced with British people buying property in Spain. The law, which was introduced by Franco in March 1975 and a corresponding Decree of February 1978,...

We recently began airing a new series of A Place In The Sun and the response to the new episodes has been phenomenal. Of course, with the new lockdown and cold weather outside, the idea of an hour of ‘feel good’ escapism in front of the TV is...

Judicare Law joins FEIFA - THE FEDERATION OF EUROPEAN INDEPENDENT FINANCIAL ADVISERS We are proud to have been accepted as an Associate Member to FEIFA. FEIFA is a trade association that represents English-speaking Financial Advisers operating throughout...

As specialists in international property transactions, we are often contacted by people asking if we are able to draft a Power of Attorney for the sale of their overseas property. This property can be located for example in Spain, Italy, Cyprus, Portugal, or...

When a UK resident decides to buy property in Spain, hiring a local Spanish property lawyer might seem like the obvious decision. However, this can result in several problems that you may not anticipate – problems which can be avoided by using a UK-...

If you own a property in Andalucia, particularly one in a development, which has been built illegally then a new law passed by the Junta de Andalucia on 25 th September gives hope that the property can now be “regularised”. How many illegal...

We were delighted to be again recognised at the Symphony Legal Source conference and to receive the award for Member Law firm of the year 2019 at the gala dinner of the annual event in Leicester. Symphony Legal are one of the UK's foremost legal...

When it comes to buying a holiday home in a sunny destination, access to a swimming pool ranks high on most people’s wish list and if the property is a fair distance from the beach it becomes almost a necessity. But what are the things to...

When buying property overseas, it’s important to be aware that property laws in other countries can be very different to those in the UK and there are often issues to consider that you wouldn’t normally have to worry about when purchasing a...

As well as being one of the faces of Channel 4’s ‘A Place in the Sun’ I’m also the proud owner of a holiday home in San Pedro, close to Puerto Banus on the Costa del Sol.  During the economic crisis of 2007 (which seems like a...

I was recently charged with the task of finding a couple A Place in the Sun, in Southern Spain. Sound familiar? Of course it does and whilst I enjoy my job I was somewhat relieved to hear that they wanted me to focus my search somewhere a little less known,...

When buying a property in the UK you may be used to there being a purchase contract. When buying in Spain there may be several different types of contracts to sign and there may indeed be several in one transaction. Unfortunately these different types of...

What sort of offer will secure my overseas property? So there we are, I’ve shown my buyers a property they love and they ask me ‘that’ question - “What sort of offer should I go in at”? There is no formula but there is a...

Unless you have bought property in the USA you may not have heard of Title Insurance. Title insurance is, in effect, an indemnity insurance policy which protects against financial loss as a result of defects in the title to the property. It is not a...

If you are buying a property abroad which is in a complex then the likelihood is that there will be some form of Community of Owners. You will own your property and also a share of the communal areas – after all somebody has to own them. This is...

After the result of the Brexit Referendum we are frequently asked about the effect of this by both current and potential property owners within Europe.  The reality is that until Article 50 is invoked there is no change and all the rights that owners...

In many countries the final payment for the purchase of a property will be done via a Bankers Draft. Having typically paid a reservation fee or initial deposit to secure the property and having hopefully instructed an independent lawyer to conduct all of the...

With British people being one of the main groups of foreign owners of properties in Spain it is hardly surprising that occasionally a British person sells his or her Spanish property to another British person. Typically, we see the buyer initially converting...

Estate agents sell properties. They are not as a rule there to carry out extensive  due diligence . They should therefore also not be expected to carry out searches on resale properties that they have on their books. In theory they shouldn’t...

When you sell a property in Spain there is a requirement for 3% of the value of the property to be paid to the tax authorities as a retention if you are non-resident in Spain. There is a lot of misunderstanding regarding this 3%. Some people think that this...

The authorities in Spain have had issues with illegal planning permission over the years. For decades many people ignored the requirement to obtain planning permission and built properties anyway without planning permission – either extensions and...

When buying a property overseas often a buyer will need to take out a mortgage to help them fund the purchase, just like they do when buying a property in the UK. What is different when buying a property abroad is that there can be several different options...

Over the last few years there have been a great many people who have been trying to sell their properties abroad but without success. Typical comments from Sellers are that there aren’t the numbers of buyers that there used to be, there are so many...

As specialists in the various problems which can arise with an overseas property investment, we are frequently approached by investors who are concerned about or are experiencing problems with their foreign property purchase or their foreign developer. And...

Over the last few years Spanish Banks have unwittingly become the biggest estate agents in Spain. The banks have had to repossess so many properties from owners who could no longer pay the mortgage that almost by default they have become the biggest property...

During the boom times of property sales in Spain the vast majority of people purchasing properties did so “off-plan”. They were persuaded by glossy brochures and liked the thought of being the first owners and deciding the specifications to their...

At some stage when you buy a property in Spain you will need to obtain an NIE. NIE stands for “Numero de Identidad Extranjero”, which translates as “Foreigners Identification Number”. The NIE is a cross between an Identification...

When a legal issue is encountered in a foreign jurisdiction, you will often hear talk of a Power of Attorney. In reality this is nothing to be afraid of. A Power of Attorney is simply a document which grants the ability to somebody else to do something on...

Often when dealing with a legal issue abroad it will be necessary to get a document “legalised” for a specific legal purpose. This may sound like a rather complicated legal procedure but is actually quite a simple and easily understood process. ...

The property market in Spain is starting to pick up as confidence returns and buyers look for bargains. However, the market has changed and most purchases are now looking at resale properties and an increasing number are looking at more rural areas. Buying...