How long does it take from reservation to the keys?

On a resale property, usually one to three months. On a new build it depends entirely on the phase of the project: roughly two months if you come in near the end of construction, and up to about three years from the ground up.

When exactly do I get the keys?

At the notary, at the same moment the balance is paid. The money and the keys change owner in the same room and at the same time. What should already have happened by then is the inspection and the defects list.

How many times do I have to come to Spain for this?

Once is enough and twice is better. The whole thing can be done remotely with a power of attorney, and even so we would rather you came at least once. The trip that is worth making is the one where you see the property.

Who does the final check if I cannot fly?

We do, on your behalf. We look at whether the property matches the agreed condition and whether what is named in the inventory is still there, and you get the result before anything is signed rather than after.

Can I get a professional survey as well?

Yes, and it is a genuinely different thing from the handover check. An architect or a technical inspector looks at the structure, the roof, damp, the installations and the pool, and writes up what he finds. On an older property that is where the things that would otherwise appear after you move in get found. We arrange it separately.

What if the developer does not finish the project?

By law every payment made before completion has to be covered by a bank guarantee issued in your name. Your lawyer checks the specific wording for your unit before any money leaves and tells you exactly what it covers. The detail of how those guarantees work is a subject of its own and we link it rather than summarise it here.

Does your involvement end when I get the keys?

No. Ordinary help and contacts stay free after the keys. Property management, cleaning and renting are our paid services and are optional. What most people actually use in the first year is the second kind of thing: which tradesman, which doctor, how something is done here.

Services

Coordination of property handover on the Costa del Sol

Signing at the notary is not the end of the purchase. The property still has to be taken over and made usable, and that is a different job from the legal one. We re-check it before you sign, we are in the room on the day, and we stay on it until the keys are actually in your hand. It is taken over after an inspection and with a list of defects, not after a signature.

The order matters more than anything else on this page

There is a version of a handover where you sign, collect the keys, and start finding things afterwards. Everything that is wrong then belongs to you, and every conversation about fixing it is a conversation you are now having from a weaker position.And there is the version where the property is looked at first, what is not finished is written down, and the keys follow. The two versions cost the same and they are not the same purchase.

The property is checked before the signatureOn a resale property we re-check it before signing, either with you or on your behalf: that it matches the condition that was agreed, and that things like the equipment listed in the inventory are still where the inventory says they are. It is the last moment when a discrepancy is still somebody else’s problem.
What is not finished goes on a listA defects list is not a complaint. It is a document, written before the handover rather than after it, and it is the difference between an agreed set of outstanding items and your word against theirs in March.
Then the deed, and then the keysThe signature and the balance come next, and the keys change hands in the same room at the same moment as the money. That sequence is the point. Reversed, it is a different transaction.
And on a new build, the developer sets the timingHere we are honest about what we do not control. On a new build the procedure depends on the developer: with some, the snagging happens before ownership transfers, with others it happens afterwards. We find out which it is for your project, early, and plan the handover around the real answer rather than the preferable one.

If you want a professional technical inspection by an architect or an inspector on top of this, we can arrange that separately. It is a different thing from what we do at the handover and it has a page of its own.

Handover of a new build

What happens if something is wrong at the final check?It gets written down and passed to the other side before the handover, not after it. What happens next depends on what it is and on what your contract says, which is your lawyer’s territory rather than ours. Our part is that it is found and documented while there is still leverage, instead of discovered in the first week of ownership.

The day at the notary, and who is actually in the room

The public deed of sale is signed, the remaining balance is paid, and the property officially becomes yours. It is the moment the whole process has been pointing at, and it is shorter and more procedural than most people expect.The one thing worth knowing in advance is who everybody in the room is working for, because it is not what a foreign buyer assumes.

Who is there	Who they act for	What they do on the day
The notary	Nobody. A public official.	Verifies the identity of the parties, the conduct of the signing and the correctness of the public deed. In Spain the notary is not a legal adviser and not the representative of either side. This is the thing most often confused with the Czech arrangement and it is worth clearing up before the day.
Your lawyer	You, and only you	Completes the transfer. Independent of us and of the seller, paid by you. If he holds the appropriate power of attorney he can sign for you and you do not have to be there at all.
The seller’s side	The seller, or the developer	Signs, and hands over. On a new build this is the developer’s representative rather than a person who has ever lived in the building.
Us	You	We are there with you, watching how the handover goes and dealing with whatever needs dealing with, right up to the moment you take the keys. A Spanish deed is read and signed in Spanish, so we translate for you in the room as it is read, and your lawyer translates between Spanish and English on the legal wording itself. Nobody has to be booked for that and it is not a separate cost. If your lawyer signs under a power of attorney instead, you are not in the room at all, which is one more reason the power of attorney is worth having.

The balance is paid by bank cheque, a cheque bancario, handed over at the signing of the purchase contract. The money and the keys change owner in the same room and at the same moment, which is the mechanism that makes the whole thing safe. Until that point the funds sit on your lawyer’s separate client account, under supervision, and the seller does not receive them until the notary.And you do not have to fly for it. Not every step needs you in the country: with an appropriate power of attorney your lawyer completes the purchase on your behalf. Once is enough and twice is better, and the trip that matters most is the one where you see the property, not the one where a document is signed.

Key handover

Do I have to be at the notary in person?No. If your lawyer holds the appropriate power of attorney he can complete everything for you. Plenty of purchases are finished that way, and the power of attorney can be signed long in advance, ideally while you are already here on a viewing trip rather than from Czechia with an apostille and a translation on top.

How is the balance actually paid?By bank cheque, a cheque bancario, handed over when the purchase contract is signed. Until then the money sits on your lawyer’s separate client account and the seller gets it at the notary and not before.

When something does not match, and what you are actually holding

What you can do about a problem after completion depends almost entirely on which of two purchases you made. This is the single largest practical difference between a new build and a resale property, and it is worth knowing before the handover rather than during the first argument.

What you have on a new buildWhat you have on a resale property

Warranties on the building: ten years on the structure, three years on the installations, one year on the finish. They come with the property.: None. The seller answers only for hidden defects he knew about and concealed, which is a much narrower thing and much harder to establish.
Payments made before the building is finished are covered by a bank guarantee, issued in your name and for your specific payments.: Not applicable. There is no pre-completion payment schedule to protect, and the protection is the due diligence instead.
Everything is new, so the defects are the small unfinished ones a snagging list is designed to catch.: It depends on the age. Expect a kitchen and bathrooms to need replacing at some point, and expect other things to start announcing themselves gradually.
If the developer is late, the guarantee returns every euro paid, with statutory interest. The real cost of a delay is lost time.: The wait is short by comparison: usually one to three months from reservation to keys.

The practical consequence is not subtle. On a resale property, the work that protects you happens before the signature, because there is very little standing behind you after it. That is why the final check is not a formality, and why on a property where the documented and the actual condition do not line up we would rather stop than complete and argue afterwards.Defects, claims and the paperwork around them are their own subject and they are governed by rules we are not the right people to state. Where a claim has to be made we coordinate it and we know who to call. What it entitles you to is a question for your lawyer.

Defects and claims on a new build

When does the snagging happen on a new build?It depends on the developer. With some it happens before ownership transfers, with others afterwards. We find out which one applies to your project rather than assuming, because it changes what you should be doing on the day of the signature.

The first weeks, and who is doing what

Taking the keys is not the end of the process either. You have just bought a property in a country where a lot of things everyone local treats as obvious are still new to you, and the first weeks are when that shows.The division of labour is stable and worth knowing. Your lawyer finishes the post-completion administration, transfers the utilities and helps with the annual tax obligations. We stay your contact here on the coast.

What comes up	Who handles it	Free or paid
The first days
Energy, water and the post-completion administration	The lawyer, as standard. If something changes or a problem shows up later, we help you work out who to call.	Free
Confirming the deed was actually registered	Your lawyer pays the tax and lodges the deed, and the Land Registry inscribes it. Weeks later the registered escritura comes back, and that copy is the one you should end up holding rather than assuming somebody else has it. This is the one piece of paperwork that can quietly fail to happen, because nothing tells you when it does not. We hold the date, ask for the confirmation, and ask again if it does not arrive.	Free
Insurance	We introduce you to a specialist who goes through the options with you. It is one of the six jobs in the handover, not something to get to later.	Free
Furnishing and interiors	We recommend people and suppliers we have good experience with. A designer can handle the whole thing while you are in Czechia.	Free to introduce
Tradesmen and repairs	Plumber, electrician, air conditioning, pool, garden or larger work. You are not starting from a search engine and a stranger.	Free to introduce
When you are not here
Keys, checks and the community	Ours, and we do it ourselves. A property standing empty for months wants airing, checking for damp, and somebody on the spot who holds keys and can deal with the community.	Paid
Cleaning	Ours, in-house.	Paid
Short-term renting	Ours, in-house, if the specific property allows renting at all. Preparation and then running it.	Paid
Ordinary life
The annual tax obligations	The lawyer or a tax adviser. Never us, and never presented as us. What you get from us is knowing who holds them and when they fall.	Not ours
Doctors, schools, everyday life	Ask us. A GP, a dentist, a specialist, international or Spanish schools, or simply how something is done here. If we do not know, we probably know who does.	Free
Where to eat and where to take visitors	Also ask us. After a while the questions stop being about the property, and we live on the same coast.	Free

Ordinary help and contacts stay free indefinitely. Property management, cleaning and short-term rental are our paid service, which you can order and do not have to. That boundary is the same one the homepage draws and it does not move.

Property care after purchase

Who transfers the electricity, the water and the internet?The lawyer does the transfers as standard part of the post-completion work, and they are one of the six things on the handover list. If something changes later or a supplier makes a mess of it, we help you find out who to call. The transfers themselves have a page of their own.

What we check during the handover

This is the list the handover is run against. On a resale property most of it happens at the final check before the signature; on a new build the timing depends on the developer. Either way, nothing on it is meant to be discovered after the keys.

What we check	Why it matters	What happens if it is not right
Before the signature
The condition matches what was agreed	The property you are buying is the property as it was when you agreed the price, not as it is after three months of somebody moving out of it.	It goes to the other side before the signature, while it is still their problem rather than yours.
The inventory is still in the property	Equipment and furniture named in the inventory have a way of leaving in the last week. This is the most common resale property discrepancy there is.	Item by item against the list. A missing item is either returned, replaced or reflected, and it is agreed before completion.
The defects list is written and handed over	It is the document that separates an agreed set of outstanding items from a disagreement you cannot evidence.	Nothing is handed over on the strength of a verbal assurance that something will be finished next week.
The documentation is complete	What the property is on paper has to match what it is on the ground. Where it does not, that is a reason to stop and not a detail to tidy up afterwards.	Your lawyer holds this one. We make sure it is asked for early rather than on the day.
At the handover itself
Every key, and every access card	A gated development runs on cards and fobs, and the set you are given is often not the full set that exists.	Counted at the handover. It is a five-minute job that is a fortnight of emails later.
Garage, storage and the parking space	They are frequently separate entries in the paperwork and just as frequently forgotten in the walk-through.	Opened and looked at, with the rest.
The community, and who to contact	The administrator is the person you will be dealing with about the building for as long as you own it.	We get you the contact at the handover instead of you looking for it during the first problem.
What the building’s own policy covers	The community insures the common areas out of the fees you are already paying. Your own cover starts where that stops.	Asked at the handover, so your own insurance is arranged against a real boundary.
The condition, photographed	Electricity, water, and gas where there is a supply. The first bill after a handover is where the argument about who used what actually happens, and a reading nobody wrote down is a reading nobody can dispute.	Read and recorded at the handover with the date on it, photographed where the meter can be photographed. It takes a minute and it settles the first bill without a conversation.
What the seller has already paid for the year	IBI, the community fee and the refuse charge are paid for periods rather than for days, so on the day of the sale part of what has already been paid belongs to the buyer and part to the seller. It is real money and it is regularly settled from memory.	This one is your lawyer’s check, not ours: he works the split out against the actual bills and the community certificate and settles it at completion. Our part is making sure it is on the list for the day rather than being left to whatever anybody remembers paying.
On a new build, the guarantee paperwork	The warranties on a new building are worth what you can evidence. The ten-year structural cover, the certificate of completion of works, the occupation licence, the installation certificates and the manuals all exist on the day and are considerably harder to collect a year afterwards.	Asked for at the handover as part of the documentation instead of chased later. What each document entitles you to is your lawyer’s answer, but having them in your hands is the part that has to happen on the day.
So the property actually works
Electricity and water	A property with the supply in the previous owner’s name, or not connected at all on a new build, is not a property you can use.	The transfers are the lawyer’s standard post-completion work. We watch that they actually happen.
Internet	The one utility nobody puts on the list and everybody wants working on the first evening.	Arranged with the rest rather than after them.
Insurance in place from day one	Cover that starts a fortnight after the keys is cover that did not exist on the day the water heater failed.	Arranged at the handover, with a specialist. It has a page of its own.
Repairs, and who does them	Something on the list will need an actual tradesman, and the first week is a bad time to be finding one from Czechia.	We have the people and we coordinate them.

What we do not do is the survey. A professional technical inspection by an architect or an inspector is a different job, done by a different person, and we arrange it separately when you want it. This list is the handover, not the structural assessment.

Technical inspection

Where this sits in the purchase

The full purchase is fifteen steps from the first call to the keys. This page is the last three of them, plus the waiting that comes before. Everything up to the reservation belongs to the other service pages and is linked rather than repeated here.

Steps 12 to 15 of 15

Payments and waitingBy property type
Weeks can pass between signing the contract and taking possession, and on a new build it can be months or years. Throughout it we watch what has to happen and when: further payments, documents, deadlines, and the communication with the lawyer, the developer or the seller. When something is needed from you, you hear it from us in advance rather than on the deadline.
New buildFurther payments follow the project’s own payment schedule. We follow the construction for you and send photographs and video as it goes.
ResaleAfter the relevant contract is signed you are generally waiting for the agreed completion date at the notary.
The final checkBefore completion
The last look at the property before the signature, and the point at which the defects list is written. This is the step this page exists for.
New buildThe procedure depends on the developer. With some, snagging happens before ownership transfers; with others, afterwards. If you want a professional technical inspection by an architect or an inspector, we can arrange it separately.
ResaleWe re-check it before signing, with you or on your behalf: that it matches the agreed condition, and that things like the equipment named in the inventory are still there.
Notary and keysCompletion day
The public deed of sale is signed, the remaining balance is paid, and the property officially becomes yours. You do not have to be there in person: with an appropriate power of attorney your lawyer can complete it for you. Legal representation and the seller’s side are at the signing, and we are there with you, watching how the handover goes and dealing with whatever needs dealing with until the keys are in your hand.
Now it really is yoursFrom day one
Taking the keys does not usually end the relationship. The lawyer finishes the post-completion administration, transfers the utilities and helps with the annual tax obligations. We stay your contact here on the coast. At first you will mostly ask us about the property. Later, perhaps about which tradesman to call, where to find a doctor, where to eat well or where to go at the weekend.

The entire buying process, step by step

Taking it over alone, or with us

The same completion, run two ways.

	On your own	With Arevont
The order of events	You sign, you get the keys, and you find out what is not finished afterwards.	It is taken over after an inspection and with a list of defects, not after a signature.
The final check before signing	If it happens at all, it happens because you flew out for it.	We do it, with you or on your behalf, against the agreed condition and the inventory.
The room at the notary	You between your lawyer and the seller’s side, in a procedure you have never seen before.	We are there with you, watching how the handover goes, until you take the keys.
Getting the property working	Electricity, water, internet and insurance arranged by telephone from abroad, in Spanish.	They are on the handover list from the start, and the lawyer’s transfers get watched rather than assumed.
A year later	You are looking for a tradesman on the internet, in a language you do not speak, about a building you see twice a year.	In three years, you will not need to look for someone to call.
Once the sale is done	The agent’s role generally ends when the sale completes.	We stay with you after the keys as well.

A specific example

The villa where the problem was not what you could see

A four million euro villa in Marbella, finished and to a high standard. The client was ready to continue with the purchase, and on any walk-through there was nothing to object to.

What the client was buyingA completed house that looked like a property needing no significant work. Nothing about the condition suggested a reason to slow down.
What the legal and technical review foundWhat stood on the plot did not correspond without reservation to what the documentation recorded. There were parts and alterations whose legal and administrative status needed verifying.
What we didWith the lawyer and a technical specialist we set out precisely what had to be evidenced or put right, and passed those requirements to the seller’s side.
The condition we attached to the next stepThat the real and the documented condition of the property be clarified before the purchase was completed. Not afterwards, and not on an assurance.
Where it stoppedWhile it was still unclear what exactly was being taken on in legal terms, we advised against continuing with the transaction.

The risk stayed with the seller instead of crossing to the client at the signature. That is the whole reason the order of events on this page is what it is.

How much does it cost?

Buyer0 €The final check, the handover, the day at the notary and the coordination afterwards are not billed to you. Ordinary help and contacts stay free after the keys as well.
Developer or seller
New build
2,5 to 6 %
Resale property
1,5 to 4 %
The commission is already inside the price and is paid by the seller side, whether you come through us or go direct.
ArevontOur fee is part of that commission, and only if a purchase happens. A completion we advised you to walk away from pays us nothing, which is the arrangement that makes the advice worth anything.

What does cost money at this stage is not ours. Connecting and transferring the utilities appears in our published purchase-cost tables at about 600 €, on every price level shown, because it is a fee rather than a percentage.Furnishing is deliberately not in that table. Its cost can differ by tens of thousands of euros, because furnishing an apartment you are going to let is a different job from furnishing a house you are going to live in. We would rather work it out on the actual property than publish a number that is wrong for everybody.A professional technical inspection by an architect or an inspector, and a separate snagging survey, are arranged individually when you want them. We do not publish a figure for either, because we do not have one we would stand behind, and a made-up range is worse than an honest gap. Ask us at the point it becomes relevant and we will get you the real quote.Property management, cleaning and short-term rental are our paid services and are the one part of the after-keys relationship that is billed. They are optional and they are ordered separately.

You continue to receive standard help and contacts from us free of charge.

Frankly

What we do not do at a completion

We do not complete the transfer and we do not sign for you. Your lawyer does that, he is independent of us and of the seller, and he is paid by you. We are not a law firm, we do not perform the technical inspection or the snagging survey, and we do not do the tax work. Where a specialist is needed we introduce you to one and stay your main point of contact.On a new build the snagging sequence is the developer’s call and not ours. Some projects snag before the transfer of ownership, some afterwards, and we cannot change which. What we can do is find out which it is for your project early enough that it is a plan rather than a surprise.And a resale property carries no warranty at all beyond hidden defects the seller knew about and concealed. That is not a scare, it is the reason the final check before the signature is the most valuable half hour in this whole page. After the signature there is much less standing behind you.We care that you buy well for a reason that is not entirely noble: we live on this coast and we stay in touch with our clients for years. A property somebody bought badly is a property we would be dealing with too.Rules in Spain change and they differ by location, by type of property and by how it is used. Treat this page as an explanation of how the handover fits together, not as a substitute for advice on your specific purchase.

Frequently asked questions about property handover

How long does it take from reservation to the keys?: On a resale property, usually one to three months. On a new build it depends entirely on the phase of the project: roughly two months if you come in near the end of construction, and up to about three years from the ground up.
When exactly do I get the keys?: At the notary, at the same moment the balance is paid. The money and the keys change owner in the same room and at the same time. What should already have happened by then is the inspection and the defects list.
How many times do I have to come to Spain for this?: Once is enough and twice is better. The whole thing can be done remotely with a power of attorney, and even so we would rather you came at least once. The trip that is worth making is the one where you see the property.
Who does the final check if I cannot fly?: We do, on your behalf. We look at whether the property matches the agreed condition and whether what is named in the inventory is still there, and you get the result before anything is signed rather than after.
Can I get a professional survey as well?: Yes, and it is a genuinely different thing from the handover check. An architect or a technical inspector looks at the structure, the roof, damp, the installations and the pool, and writes up what he finds. On an older property that is where the things that would otherwise appear after you move in get found. We arrange it separately.
What if the developer does not finish the project?: By law every payment made before completion has to be covered by a bank guarantee issued in your name. Your lawyer checks the specific wording for your unit before any money leaves and tells you exactly what it covers. The detail of how those guarantees work is a subject of its own and we link it rather than summarise it here.
Does your involvement end when I get the keys?: No. Ordinary help and contacts stay free after the keys. Property management, cleaning and renting are our paid services and are optional. What most people actually use in the first year is the second kind of thing: which tradesman, which doctor, how something is done here.

Not sure how far your budget really goes?

Talk it through with us