Investing in Spanish new-build property
Plenty of people buy in Spain partly as an investment. This page is the checklist we'd want a friend to work through before they did — what to decide, what to budget for, and what to verify about a specific property rather than about “the Spanish market”.
What you won't find on this page
Projected returns, rental yields or price forecasts. Outcomes vary by property, town, timing and how the property is run, and anyone quoting you a single number for “Spanish property” is selling something. BuildMatch is not a financial, tax or legal adviser and nothing here is personal advice — for your own situation, take professional tax and legal advice in Spain and in your country of residence.
Twelve things to work through
Start with the objective, not the property
A place you'll use for two months a year, a property you intend to let year-round, and a purchase you expect to sell on in five years are three different decisions. They point at different regions, different building types and different developers. Deciding which one you're making first saves a lot of wasted viewing time.
Own use versus letting
The two pull against each other. The weeks you'd most want to use a coastal property are the weeks it would earn most, and a property furnished and managed for short-term guests is set up differently from one you'd live in. Be explicit about the split you're actually willing to accept.
Location, in more detail than 'the Costa del Sol'
Distance to an airport, whether a town keeps working out of season, walkability to shops and restaurants, and the immediate surroundings of the plot matter more to both enjoyment and demand than the name of the coast. Two developments twenty minutes apart can behave completely differently.
The price is not the cost
New-build in Spain carries VAT (IVA) rather than transfer tax, plus stamp duty, notary, registry and legal fees. Our guide puts the combined additional cost at roughly 12–15% of the purchase price, with rates varying by region — confirm the exact figures for your specific purchase before committing.
Taxes and costs when buying new-build →Ongoing costs continue after completion
Community fees, local property tax (IBI), rubbish charges, utilities, insurance, non-resident income tax where it applies, and — if you let the property — management and cleaning. These are ordinary and predictable, but they belong in the arithmetic from the start rather than as a surprise in year one.
Financing takes longer than people expect
Non-resident mortgage terms in Spain typically differ from residents' terms, and approval takes time you may not have between reservation and the first contractual payment. If you intend to borrow, start that conversation before you reserve, not after.
Completion dates are estimates
Off-plan purchases run on construction schedules, and schedules move. Ask what the contract says happens if completion slips, and plan on the basis that it might.
Payment schedules and bank guarantees →Rental rules are local, and they change
Tourist-letting rules in Spain are set regionally and at municipal level, and some communities restrict short-term letting in their own statutes. Whether you can let a specific property to holidaymakers, and under what registration, is a question about that property — never assume it transfers from another development you've read about.
Someone has to manage it
If you're not in Spain, letting and maintenance mean a management arrangement, which has both a cost and a quality risk. Ask what the developer or community offers, and what independent managers charge in that town.
Resale is slower than most asset classes
Property is illiquid. Selling takes months, costs a percentage, and depends on the market at the moment you need to sell rather than the moment you planned to. If you may need the money back on a fixed date, that's a serious constraint.
Currency, if you don't earn in euros
Staged payments over a construction period mean several transfers over one or two years. Exchange-rate movement between them changes what the property costs you in your own currency, in both directions. Prices on BuildMatch can be displayed in other currencies for orientation, but the contract is in euros.
Due diligence on the developer, not just the building
Who is building it, what have they delivered before, is the licence in place, and are the staged payments protected? Spanish law requires developers to guarantee buyers' off-plan payments; confirm that the guarantee actually exists for your purchase, in writing.
Where BuildMatch helps
We can't tell you what a property will earn. What we can do is make the comparison possible and keep the process organised:
- projects from many developers described in one structure, so completion status, property types, amenities and prices can be compared directly;
- filters and saved searches that hold your criteria — including the unglamorous ones like completion timing — and tell you when something new matches;
- side-by-side comparison of the projects you shortlist, rather than three brochures and a spreadsheet;
- an advisor who can put the questions above to a specific developer on a specific project, and bring back the answers in writing;
- a purchase roadmap that keeps documents, milestones and outstanding steps in one place once you commit.
The legal, tax and financial judgements stay with you and the professionals you appoint. That division is deliberate.