Knowledge
Knowledge
The words that turn up in a purchase long before anyone mentions the apartment: a reservation agreement, a nota simple, a NIE, a notarial deed, a registry extract, the areas that are measured two different ways.
They are grouped here in the order a purchase actually happens, so you can start where you are. Each entry is written by the people who sign these documents for a living, and none of it replaces your own notary or tax adviser.
01
Before you commit
What you read, and what you sign, before any money moves.
- Reservation agreement (contrato de reserva)A reservation takes a flat off the market for a set period. Then comes the contract with arras — and the word that decides whether you may walk away is not "reserva" but "penitenciales". Where the document is silent, Spanish case law presumes you may not.Spain
- Comprar sobre planoComprar sobre plano es pagar durante la obra y ser propietario al final. Lo que decide si eso es seguro no es el folleto: es si cada ingreso va a una cuenta especial y vuelve con un aval o un seguro a su nombre.Spain
- Nota simple: the registry extractThe nota simple is a printout of what the Spanish land registry currently says about one property: who owns it, how it is described, and what burdens it. It is read before money moves, not after.Spain
- Lithuanian Real Property RegisterThe Lithuanian Centre of Registers records every flat, plot and parking space, its owners and the charges against it. An extract is the document a buyer reads first.Lithuania
02
Signing and paying
The notary, the registry, the numbers you have to hold first, and the taxes attached to the day itself.
- NIE number in SpainNo deed, tax form or utility contract in Spain functions without a NIE. The paperwork is short; what consumes the calendar is the appointment and, if you are not travelling, the apostille on the power of attorney. So the number is applied for first, not last.Spain
- Escritura pública and registrationThe notarial deed is the day a purchase becomes real; the entry in the Registro de la Propiedad is what makes the ownership hard to attack. They are two separate steps.Spain
- Taxes on a Spanish purchaseA Spanish purchase carries a sequence of taxes rather than one, and each is set at a different level — state, autonomous community or town hall. Knowing which level fixes a rate is more useful than any percentage you will read online.Spain
- Notarised Purchase in LithuaniaA Lithuanian flat changes hands in notarial form. The steps before that deed — reservation, preliminary agreement, payment arrangements — decide how safe the day of signing is.Lithuania
- UAB, Company Code and VATBehind every flat sold in Lithuania there is a legal entity with a code. Knowing what a UAB is and where its details can be verified takes a few minutes before a transfer.Lithuania
03
After the keys
The handover, what the developer still owes you afterwards, and who runs the building from then on.
- Handover and defects liabilityHandover is an appointment with a document at the end of it. What is written into that document, and what is reported afterwards, decides how the first years in a new home go.Both markets
- La comunidad de propietariosLa comunidad no es un servicio que se contrata: es usted y sus vecinos con un presupuesto y un libro de actas. Quien compra un piso compra también los acuerdos tomados antes de llegar.Both markets
- Energy performance certificateThe energy certificate rates the building, not the household. Read as a comparison between dwellings it is useful; read as a forecast of next winter's bill it is not.Both markets
04
What you are actually buying
The square metres, the ground floor underneath you, and the chain of decisions that produced both.
- Útil, construida y con comunesUn mismo piso tiene tres superficies verdaderas y un anuncio casi nunca dice cuál está citando. La diferencia entre la útil y la construida con comunes puede ser una habitación entera.Both markets
- Mixed-Use Ground FloorCommercial ground floors are a planning decision, not a letting decision. Whether they work for the people upstairs is settled in the drawings.Both markets
- The Development CycleDevelopment is a chain of decisions, and most of the ones residents feel daily are taken long before the first wall. Here is what each stage settles.Both markets
Tell us which market your question is about
Two or three sentences are enough: the country, whether it concerns an apartment, commercial premises or a partnership, and how to reach you. The answer comes from the person who handles that market rather than from a sales desk.