In addition to any interest and Mortgage costs, there are other cunning costs to be taken into account, whether the property is used the whole year or only as summer residence.
Property Taxes
Local tax (IBI) is calculated on the basis of the official assessment of the property, but the percentage differs according to which municipality the property is located in.
The property tax is relatively low. For a regular apartment or a townhouse, it is generally between € 250 and € 800.
If the owner is not a resident, then a separate capital tax (“Valor Catastral”) must also be calculated, it is calculated by the fair value.
Communal Expenses
Most homes will be part of a “Urbanization”, thus having a landowner association that takes care of community areas and collects community costs.
Community expenses depend very much on which facilities the community area has, such as swimming pools, gym, tennis courts, community satellite TV, as well as administration offices and security guards. Normally it is from € 250 to € 650 yearly, but may in some community´s be higher. The cost depends entirely on which services are included in the community expenses and how many homes there are to pay the total expenses.
Waste Collection
All properties will be charged an annual amount for waste collection, which will be determined by the municipality. If the property is part of a major urbanization, this amount is usually less than € 100 per year.
Electricity and Water
Electricity and water, are paid by meter. So it is difficult to calculate how much is used per year, as it depends on how much the home is used.
Insurance
In Urbanizations, the landowners’ association takes care of the insurance of the communal area; However, accidents such as water damage, which may affect the downstairs neighbor, fire, burglary and home insurance, are of course the responsibility of the owner himself. The size of the prize depends on the value of the property and the age of the property, but usually it will be between € 250 and € 500.
Tax Representative
Anyone who owns a property in Spain must file a tax return. If you are not very good at Spanish yourself or want to get into the entire Spanish tax system, it is necessary to appoint a tax representative who can charge your tax and pay it. (It is now mandatory that you appoint a Spanish tax representative, but you may be responsible for your tax return anyway).
If you only have the property to declare, it should not cost more than € 150 to € 300 per. year.
I can recommend you to use Danilservice as your tax representative. I did not manage to find a company that could make it cheaper than them and I have asked many places. There is also the “small” advantage that Pia speaks Danish, English and Spanish.
