Statutory charges

We are just about to go to Spain and complete on our property.  We bought off plan and have seen the place recently, so don't have any qualms about quality etc, but have just received our lawyers estimated bill.  When working out our likely costs we consulted EOS and based our estimate on "Buying Property in Spain - 10 Points to Consider" available on the EOS web site.  In this excellent article it states that Land registry taxes and notary fees are each about 0.3% of the price.  In our case our lawyer has now quoted 0.42 % for the land registry and 0.84% for the notary.  this may not sound a lot, but is actually double what we expected when added together and quite a substantial sum of money which we could have spent on something else (several return flights etc).

Are we being ripped off?  I would be very disappointed in our lawyer if this was the case as they have been reasonably helpful and verging on the efficient to date.  Has anyone got thoughts on this subject?

Mike

Hiya Mike,

Total purchase costs should come to around 12% of the actual purchase price.

Your Lawyer (If they are any good) will estimate higher than this, and then give the extra back to you after completion.

In my own experience my Lawyer got it wrong and I got it right!

I agree with Techno, the notary usually "overcharges" i.e. you pay on account, then when you get your deeds a few weeks later and the exact charges are calculated for Land Registry etc, you should get a bit back, which I always feel is like a bonus! Maybe your lawyer is just doing the same.

12% seems a bit hefty to me, unless that includes mortgage fees?

Hi all

Just to back up your thoughts we completed on a property in April and the total costs inc wills and everything was 12/13 % of purchase price