Difference between house & flat - Is an apartment in Spain leasehold or freehold?

Hi Steve,  I am also looking to buy another property,but this time Costa Calida.Have lived Costa Blanca before Spain joined the EU.Apartments are freehold usually(unless you are thinking of buying in Gibraltar) which means you are responsible for that but will pay a Community fee for the upkeep of the rest of the building.i.e.cleaning,all the maintenance ,lighting & of course the Administrator's fee etc.There is an annual meeting of tenants to discuss issues.Often townhouses & similar also belong in "a community" where again there would be a charge.You cannot compare buying property here with the UK where,even there,there are differences.I once bought a property in Scotland by agreeing on"my word is my bond" basis!I think ,speaking as a person who has bought & sold property including businesses in 3 different countries,that Spain has a straight forward method of property transactions.

Alice thks for the Information looking for a good estate agent and an independent lawyer do you think I should have a building survey done also pls thks steve x

Surveys are not usual but if you have a concern about a property,it is  maybe sensible to have it done.As I am not yet resident in the area I am sure there are others who can help you with the real estate agent & lawyer's name.Good hunting.

Thanks alice cant wait first time for along time doing something for my self hope it all works out well stevex

We got our place through Louise at Your Move Spain, they're based in Los Alcazares and are still very supportive to us. 

 https://www.yourmovespain.com 

Mods, I hope I'm ok putting their web address on this, I know some forums are a bit disapproving of this sort of thing, if that's the case then sorry and please feel free to remove.  Thanks

Hi keithnelaine thks was the advice  was your move good then pls Its trying to find companys I can trust hoping to buy somewhere I can stay 3 or 4 months a year did you move to los alcazares and if so do you like it and any advice you can give me pls cheers steve 

Hi Steve. 

You will find that nearly every estate agents have at least one English speaker. We have bought  three times in Spain through Spanish agents and never had a problem. Found that the Spanish agents have more properties on their books too. We've bought older properties and one new one - Would do go for old anytime! You can see exactly what you're buying. We've never had a surveyor. Good luck.