Expenses after buying real estate in Spain
Once you have completed the purchase of your dream house or apartment, you can fully start to enjoy it.
There are, however, a couple of things to take into account. These are the expenses after buying real estate, and although they are undoubtedly much cheaper in Spain than in your home country, you cannot ignore them.
The most obvious costs are of course water, gas, electricity and probably also the internet and/or cable television.
Hint: some providers offer the possibility to activate your internet connection only for the time of your stay, so you do not have to pay for an entire year if you only need a couple of weeks.
Owners of Spanish real estate are subject to:
Taxes related to the ownership of a real estate
- Income taxes for non-residents or IRNR (Impuesto Sobre la Renta de No Residentes):
This yearly tax is only applicable to non-residents, i.e. for people who have their residency in their homeland, but own real estate in Spain.
You will be subject to this income tax. Even when you do not get any income out of labour, renting or any other activity.
The tax rate is calculated on 24,75% of 1 to 2% of the cadastral value of the property. This depends on when this value was set.
Example:
Cadastral value = € 100.000,-
1% = € 1.000,- x 24,75% = € 247,50 / year - IRPF-income tax for residents (Impuesto sobre la Renta de Personas Físicas):
When you have your residency in Spain, the IRNR (see above) is not applicable.
Like before in your home country, you will have to declare your income in Spain now and you will have to pay taxes on your yearly income. - Taxes on real estate or IBI (Impuesto Sobre Bienes Inmuebles):
This real estate tax is applicable to residents as well as to non-residents and is calculated on the regional cadastral value. Normally this value is set well below market value.
Roughly estimated, you could take into account € 200,- to € 600,- / year.
Other expenses after buying real estate
- A community of owners (Comunidad de propietarios)
If your property is set in urbanization or a communal residential area or if you have a flat in a building, you will have to contribute to the yearly communal expenses of the community of owners.
The budget of the community of owners is used for maintenance of e.g. communal roofs and outer walls, swimming pools, plantations, cleaning of communal spaces, embellishment, and refurbishment.
This budget is set every year in an official meeting where all owners have a vote.
Depending on the communal parts, on the number of owners to split the costs over and on the contracted services (e.g. 24/7 security), you might count on € 20,- to € 100,- per month in general. - Other communal costs
Naturally certain services, organized by the authorities, like garbage collection, will have to be paid too.
The nature and the amount of these costs will depend on the town and/or the province where you have your property. - Insurance:
In Spain too it is always a good idea to take insurance on your property and on its contents.
Just to give an idea, you might count on about € 150,- to € 400,- yearly. This depends on your property and on your household effects. - Property management / rentals
If you would choose to outsource all the payments and paperwork (especially when you do not master Spanish very well), you can put this in the hands of your (Spanish) lawyer or service company (gestoría). This might cost you about € 100,- to € 150,- yearly.
Maybe you want also property management or rental services for your property. Many companies on the Costa Blanca offer these services.
Here too, it is best to work with official companies with a permanent location. So that you can easily reach and with a clear and user-friendly website.
Depending on the service package you choose, you should count on about € 150,- to € 450,- / year + possible extras (extra cleaning, extra check-ups, extra sheet and towel package, etc.)
For rentals, it is common practice that a month’s rent is charged for the first year (for long term rentals). Continued by a yearly fee for the following years. For short-term rentals, you will have to pay a yearly fee + a margin on every rental period. Extras can be: key handover outside usual hours, extra interventions not included in your package, etc.
It is good to know that as owners after purchase through Z-Yachting & Golf-Estates, you can always fall back on us. Although we cannot solve everything, we will gladly take the time to explain it to you. For instance, that letter from your electricity provider or, if we cannot solve something ourselves, we will be happy to refer you to someone who can. In any case, you can always count on our after-sales service.
