Before signing with the agency, not the night before the notary
The papers to sell your home in Spain
Completion is Tuesday and one paper takes three weeks
A sale does not collapse over the price: it collapses over a certificate nobody ordered in time. The buyer has their bank, their date and their hurry, and the missing paper is always the one that depends on somebody else.
Free guide · PDF
The seller's papers, in the order in which they are slow
No sale falls through over price. It falls through over the paper that depends on a third party and that nobody asked for in time.
It is yours.
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What you get
- The full list of what must exist on signing day, marked with what you already have and what you do not.
- An up-to-date land registry extract and a check that there are no charges you do not know about.
- The energy performance certificate, with a technician and official registration, if yours is missing or expired.
- The certificate that you are up to date with the community, requested from the administrator in good time.
- The latest IBI, refuse and utility bills, and whatever occupancy document your town hall requires.
Why this matters now
The energy performance certificate has been compulsory to sell since Royal Decree 390/2021, and the Horizontal Property Act requires the seller to produce a certificate of being up to date with the community, which only the buyer can expressly waive. Those are two papers that depend on a technician and on an administrator: neither of them works at your buyer's speed.
What this service is NOT
We are not an estate agency, we do not value your house and we do not find buyers: we take no commission on the sale and have no interest in you selling fast or dear. The energy certificate is signed by a qualified technician and the deed is authorised by a notary; we gather, check and warn. And whatever turns up on the registry extract, we will tell you, even if it spoils the deal.
Questions about this service
What exactly is the second-occupancy licence, and what is it for?
It is the document with which the town hall certifies that an already-built home is still habitable: floor area, ventilation, water, electricity and drainage in order. The first-occupancy one is issued when the building is finished; the second-occupancy one is requested afterwards, and that is the one you need in order to sell. What it is for, concretely: without it the water and the electricity cannot be put into the buyer's name, and many notaries will not sign. The name and the form change from one municipality to the next on this coast (cédula de habitabilidad, licencia de segunda ocupación, declaración responsable), and in some town halls the document no longer exists at all. We do not give you the general answer: we ring YOUR town hall and give you theirs.
What does the energy certificate cost?
The technician sets it. The market we measured on 06/09/2026 in Torrevieja and Alicante ran between €45 and €140, plus the regional registration fee. We show you the quote before ordering it; we take nothing on top of it.
My energy certificate is eleven years old. Is it still valid?
No. It lasts ten years, and an expired certificate is the same as none at all on signing day. It is one of the three commonest reasons for a postponement we have seen.
And the agency?
HolaOwners does not sell your home and does not look for a buyer. If you are looking for an agency, HolaBlanca (same publisher) forwards your request free of charge to at most three agencies listed in the RAICV register of your municipality; you decide whether one is enough.
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This page was last checked on 4 September 2026
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