Valuing a flat in Spain: bank tasación or free agency valuation

When people talk about valuing a flat in Spain (tasar un piso), they mix up two different things. An official tasación is a regulated report signed by a valuation firm approved by the Bank of Spain, and it is what the buyer's bank requires to grant a mortgage. A valuation is a price estimate from an agency or an online tool, usually free. When you sell, the valuation sets your asking price and the tasación decides how much the buyer can borrow.

What an official tasación is

An official tasación follows Orden ECO/805/2003, which sets the calculation methods and the content of the report. Only firms approved and supervised by the Bank of Spain and listed on its official register can carry out a mortgage valuation, and the certificate states the firm's registration number. The valuer visits the home, measures it, photographs it, compares it with real transactions in the area and checks that there are no planning irregularities.

When it is required and who pays

It is only required when the buyer takes out a mortgage: Ley 5/2019 requires the property used as security to be valued before the loan is signed, by a valuer independent of the bank, and assigns that cost to the borrower. The buyer therefore pays for it and can choose the approved firm. The bank must accept a tasación provided by the client if it was done by an approved valuer and has not expired (article 3 bis of Ley 2/1981).

Cost, validity and effect on the sale

The price of a tasación depends mainly on the size of the home; OCU, the Spanish consumer organisation, puts it at around 300 euros on average. The report expires six months after it is issued (article 62 of Orden ECO/805/2003), so a tasación ordered before the home goes on the market may have expired by the time the buyer applies for a mortgage.

Even if you do not pay for it, the buyer's tasación affects you. According to the Bank of Spain, the loan normally reaches at most 80% of the valuation figure. If the valuation comes in below the agreed price, the buyer has to put in more savings or renegotiate, and the sale can be delayed or fall through if the arras made it conditional on the mortgage. A price in line with real sales in the area reduces that risk.

A free agency valuation

An agency valuation is free and carries no weight with a bank. Done well, it starts from sales closed in your area and from the buyers searching right now, and it takes into account what a formula cannot see: condition, renovations, light, views, noise, floor and building. Ask which sales your home is being compared with, and be wary of a high figure with no reasoning behind it, which is sometimes put forward mainly to win the listing.

Online valuations

Online valuation tools give a figure in minutes from the address and the floor area. They are useful as a first reference, but they do not visit the home and cannot see its condition or renovations, which can move the price a great deal. Two free public sources complete the picture: the Portal Estadístico del Notariado (penotariado.com), with real sale prices, and the Catastro reference value, which is used to calculate the buyer's tax and can differ from the market price.

Setting the price before you sell

To set your asking price, combine these references: prices signed before notaries in your area, comparable homes still on the market and the valuation of someone who has seen yours. Think too about the tasación the buyer would get, because a price far above it will complicate their mortgage. If you get few viewings in the first weeks, review the price before the listing loses interest.

At Alveo Properties the valuation is free and done by a local advisor. We show you which real sales we compare your home with and, if you entrust us with the sale, you pay nothing upfront: the commission is paid when the sale is signed.