Preparing a reasoned offer

An offer is price plus conditions

Sellers compare more than numbers. The deposit amount, the date for signing at the notary, a mortgage condition, the state in which the flat is handed over and who pays which costs are all part of one proposal. Sometimes easier terms matter more to a seller than a small difference in price.

Before sending anything, split your points into two lists. The first holds preferences you can give up. The second holds limits without which you will not buy. Work out your price limit from the full budget: purchase tax, notary and registry fees come on top of the price.

What evidence supports the offer

• Registry data. The nota simple (an information extract from the Registro de la Propiedad) shows the owner, the share owned, mortgages, attachments and restrictions. A charge that has to be removed changes the terms of the deal.
• Condition. A written quote from an architect or builder after a visit. The seller must hand over the cédula de habitabilidad (certificate of fitness for occupation) and the energy performance certificate.
• The building and its debts. The budget of the comunidad de propietarios (owners' association), recent minutes and a debt certificate. The flat answers for association debts for the current year and the four previous years.
• Transaction prices. Ajuntament de Barcelona publishes average prices from notarised sales and from registry records on its Barcelona Dades portal. An area average is not the price of a specific flat, but it gives you a reference point.
• Tax base. ITP is calculated on the highest of three figures: the cadastral reference value, the declared value and the contract price. Understating the price in the escritura (notarised deed) achieves nothing.

What to put in the offer and the deposit contract

The deposit contract should identify the property and the parties, state the price and how the balance is paid, set a deadline for signing at the notary, list charges and how they will be cleared, include the mortgage condition, the type and amount of arras (deposit), the allocation of costs, the account for payment and a receipt. The checks are explained in nota simple and arras.

The law sets no amount for arras. Ajuntament de Barcelona says around 10% of the price is common, but that is practice, not law. In Catalonia the default is a confirmatory deposit (arras confirmatorias): it counts towards the price and gives no right to walk away. A penalty deposit (arras penitenciales) must be agreed expressly: a buyer who withdraws loses it, a seller who withdraws returns double. If the contract provides for bank financing and the bank refuses in writing within the agreed period, the buyer can withdraw unless the parties agreed otherwise (article 621-49 of the Catalan Civil Code).

Costs and payments to agree on

• Notary and registry. In Catalonia the buyer pays by default; the contract can allocate them differently.
• Plusvalía municipal (tax on the increase in land value) is paid by the seller unless agreed otherwise.
• IBI for the year is due from whoever was the taxpayer on 1 January. The parties decide in the contract how to share it.
• Non-resident seller. The buyer withholds 3% of the price and pays it to the tax office on account of the seller's tax. Build this into the payment schedule. More: purchase taxes.
• Tenanted flat. The buyer takes over as landlord within the periods of article 14 LAU, and the tenant has a pre-emption right: the seller notifies the price and terms, and the tenant has 30 calendar days (article 25 LAU).

What a lawyer checks before you send it

ReloVictory is not a law firm. Wording on arras and withdrawal, the mortgage condition, clearing of charges, the power of attorney of a seller's representative, a tenanted flat, an inherited property or several co-owners are for a lawyer to check. An architect assesses condition, and a tax adviser calculates the tax. On building debts see the comunidad de propietarios.

Before you pay any amount, you must be given the identification of the home with its usable area, the total price including taxes and the terms of sale, and you must receive a document confirming any sum paid (Agència Catalana del Consum). Pay by transfer to the seller's account named in the contract.

Guide updated on 26.10.2026.