Selling a flat without an estate agent in Spain: what it involves, step by step

In Spain nothing requires you to use an estate agent to sell a home. The sale is a contract between you and the buyer, and the deed is authorised by a notary whether or not an agency is involved. Selling on your own saves the commission; in return, you take on the work and the decisions you would otherwise share with a professional. Here are the steps in order, and the points to watch.

Setting the price

It all starts with the price. Compare it with real sales in your area: the Portal Estadístico del Notariado (penotariado.com) publishes the prices signed before notaries, by municipality and postcode, free of charge, whereas the portals show asking prices. If the buyer needs a mortgage, their bank will have the home valued (tasación) and will lend according to that valuation, so a price well above it makes financing harder.

Documents before you advertise

Gather the documents before you advertise: the nota simple from the Registro de la Propiedad, the energy performance certificate, whose label must appear in the listing (Real Decreto 390/2021), the cédula de habitabilidad or an equivalent document if your region requires it, your purchase deed and the latest IBI receipt. If the flat is in a community of owners, also ask for the certificate of debts signed by the community's secretary: without it, the notary will not authorise the sale unless the buyer waives it (article 9 of the Ley de Propiedad Horizontal).

The listing and viewings

The listing decides how many people ask to view. Well-lit photos, a floor plan, the usable and built areas, the floor, the orientation, the community fees and the IBI answer the questions every buyer asks. Property portals accept listings from private sellers; compare their terms before publishing and keep the same price and details on each of them.

Viewings take time and a little method. Group them into fixed slots, ask for a name and phone number before giving the address and try not to be alone when you show the home. Ask early how the buyer plans to pay: cash, a mortgage already assessed by their bank, or the money from another sale still in progress. The signing date you can commit to depends on that answer.

Offer, arras and notary

When an offer comes in, negotiate in writing: the price, what stays in the home, the date of the deed and the method of payment. The agreement is usually sealed with a contrato de arras and a deposit paid on account of the price. With arras penitenciales (article 1454 of the Spanish Civil Code), a buyer who withdraws loses the deposit and a seller who withdraws pays it back twice over. If you sell without a professional, have a lawyer review that contract, especially the deadline and what happens if the bank refuses the mortgage.

The sale is signed before a notary, as a public deed (escritura pública). The notary's fees follow a tariff set by the State (Real Decreto 1426/1989) and depend mainly on the price. Unless agreed otherwise, the seller pays for the original deed (escritura matriz) and the buyer for the first copy and registration at the Registro (article 1455 of the Spanish Civil Code). The deed records the method of payment, banker's draft or bank transfer (article 24 of the Ley del Notariado), and any outstanding mortgage is paid off at the same signing from the sale proceeds.

The seller's taxes

The tax rules are the same with or without an agency. The municipal plusvalía is declared within thirty working days and is not due if you can show that the land has not gained value. The capital gain is taxed in that year's income tax return, in bands from 19 to 30%, unless an exemption applies, such as reinvesting in a new main home or selling your main home when you are over 65. If you are not resident in Spain, the buyer withholds 3% of the price (modelo 211) and you are taxed at 19% on the gain (modelo 210).

Where an agency helps

Selling alone carries specific risks: a badly judged asking price, a buyer without financing who ties up the home for weeks, ambiguous arras or a missing document in the week of signing. Those are the points where an agency adds most: a valuation based on comparable sales, exposure to buyers who are already searching, a check on financing before taking the home off the market and coordination with the notary. If you prefer to sell on your own, use this guide as a checklist.

At Alveo Properties the valuation is free and done by a local advisor. If you entrust us with the sale, our photo and video studio prepares the listing, we present the home to our network of buyers, including international ones, and you pay nothing upfront: the commission is paid when the sale is signed.