Real Estate & Investment Glossary

Interest that has already fallen due. If unpaid, it becomes overdue interest and may itself generate late-payment interest where the contract and law allow. In Spanish mortgages, default interest is capped at the ordinary rate plus three percentage points.

A formal declaration by which a debtor admits owing a specific amount, ideally in a notarial deed. It interrupts prescription, simplifies proof, and — when notarised — gives the creditor a directly enforceable title.

The official minutes of the community of owners' general meetings, recording budgets, disputes, approved works and voting results. Together with the community statutes, the acta is the document that reveals what a listing never will: an approved derrama for roof repairs, a lift that keeps failing, a brewing conflict over tourist rentals.

Requesting the minutes of the last two or three meetings is standard due diligence before any purchase in a community — a step SOBE Invest builds into every transaction it accompanies. The seller or the administrador de fincas provides them.

The professional property administrator managing a community of owners: collecting fees, paying suppliers, keeping accounts, calling meetings and executing what the junta approves. A regulated profession in Spain with its own professional college.

For a buyer, the administrador is the practical source of the community's financial truth — the certificate of no outstanding debt, the current budget, any approved levies. For a non-resident owner, a responsive administrador is worth as much as a good concierge.

Charges applied by banks or managers for handling an account, loan or fund — maintenance fees, servicing costs, management commissions. In Spanish mortgages, administration-type charges must be disclosed in the FEIN document before signing.

The Andalusian regime — Asimilado a Fuera de Ordenación — that gives legal recognition to a building constructed without a licence, or beyond its licence, once the period for planning enforcement has expired. It does not make the building legal; it declares it tolerated, which is a different and weaker status.

An AFO property can be sold, mortgaged in principle and connected to basic utilities, but it cannot be extended, and some banks refuse to lend against it at all. The certificate is issued by the town hall after a technical report, and the cost — a municipal levy calculated on build value — falls on the owner applying for it.

This matters more on the Costa del Sol than almost anywhere in Spain. Marbella's planning history left a large stock of villas, pool houses, garages and terraces built outside licence, particularly on rural and semi-rural plots inland. A property presented as "fully legal" may in fact hold an AFO certificate, or need one.

Every property SOBE Invest presents is checked against its planning status before it reaches a client. See the buying guide for the full urban due-diligence sequence.

The estate agency's fee for a sale. On the Costa del Sol it is customarily paid by the seller and built into the asking price — the buyer does not normally pay the agency on top. Typical resale commissions in the Marbella market run around 4–5% plus VAT; new-build developments pay the agency directly out of the developer's margin, so the buyer's price is identical with or without an agent.

What that means in practice: working with an advisory such as SOBE Invest costs the buyer nothing extra, while adding representation, market access and due-diligence discipline to the purchase. Always confirm in writing who pays what before signing anything.

How the buying process works end to end: the Costa del Sol buying guide.

The gradual repayment of a loan's principal over time, or in accounting, the systematic write-down of an asset's cost over its useful life. In a Spanish mortgage, each monthly payment combines interest plus amortisation of capital, almost always under the French (constant-instalment) system.

A series of equal payments made at regular intervals — typically monthly or annually — for a defined period or for life. Mortgage repayments, pension payouts and some insurance products are structured as annuities.

Spanish listings distinguish what English collapses into one word. A piso is a standard urban apartment in a residential building; an apartamento usually signals a smaller, resort-style unit; an estudio is a studio with living space and kitchen in one room; a bajo sits at garden level, and an ático crowns the building — see Penthouse.

On the Costa del Sol the meaningful differences are community amenities, orientation and outdoor space: a modest two-bedroom with a deep south-facing terrace in a well-run urbanisation will out-rent a larger, darker unit every season.

Browse current apartments for sale in Marbella and along the coast: SOBE Invest listings.

Two formalities that make foreign documents usable in a Spanish transaction. The Apostilla de la Haya certifies a document's authenticity between Hague Convention countries — needed for powers of attorney signed abroad, foreign marriage certificates, corporate documents. A traducción jurada is a translation by a sworn translator accredited by the Spanish Foreign Ministry, whose stamp gives the translation official force.

Plan for both early: a power of attorney granted abroad typically needs the apostille and, if not drafted bilingually, a sworn translation before a Spanish notary will accept it.

The Tasa Anual Equivalente — Spain's annual percentage rate, which folds the nominal interest rate, fees and payment frequency into a single comparable annual cost. Law requires it in all loan advertising.

Comparing TAE, not the headline nominal rate (TIN), is how mortgage offers should be judged: two loans with identical TIN can differ meaningfully once arrangement fees and linked products are counted.

Model repayments at different rates with the SOBE Invest mortgage calculator.

The Spanish deposit contract that binds buyer and seller before the notarised deed — the moment a purchase stops being an intention and becomes an obligation. The buyer typically pays 10% of the price, and the contract fixes the completion deadline, the exact price and every agreed condition: furniture included, charges to be cancelled, licence documents to be produced.

Under the usual arras penitenciales (Art. 1454 of the Civil Code), either party can still walk away — at a price. A buyer who withdraws loses the deposit; a seller who withdraws must return it doubled. Other variants (confirmatorias, penales) do not include that exit right and can allow the other party to force completion, which is why the label on the contract matters as much as the number in it.

The arras is signed after due diligence, not before it: once the nota simple is clean and the planning checks are done. It is a private document with full binding force — have your lawyer draft or review it, never sign the seller's version unread.

Where the arras sits in the full sequence, from reservation to escritura: the SOBE Invest buying guide.

A guest toilet — a WC with washbasin but no bath or shower. Spanish listings count it separately from full bathrooms (baños): "2 baños + 1 aseo" means two full bathrooms and a guest WC. Worth knowing when comparing listings, since portals sometimes fold both into one "bathrooms" figure.

Spain's best-known defaulters register. Appearing on ASNEF for an unpaid bill — even a disputed phone contract — can block access to Spanish mortgages and financing until the entry is cleared. Foreign buyers with a Spanish banking history should check their record before applying.

Anything of economic value owned by a person or company that can generate future benefit: cash, property, shares, receivables. Real estate is typically classed as a fixed (non-current) asset — and remains the anchor asset of most private wealth on the Costa del Sol.

The transfer of a creditor's right to collect a debt to a third party, who steps into the original creditor's position. Banks assign portfolios of loans to funds this way; Spanish law requires notifying the debtor, who can then only validly pay the new creditor.

A guarantor who answers for someone else’s debt with their entire personal wealth, present and future (Art. 1911 Civil Code). Spanish banks ask for an avalista when a mortgage stretches their comfort — a high loan-to-value, a short income history, a young or non-resident borrower — and landlords ask for one from tenants without a Spanish employment record.

The word that matters in the fine print is solidario: a joint-and-several guarantor can be pursued for the whole debt directly, without the bank first exhausting the borrower or the property. Guaranteeing a relative’s Spanish mortgage is a decision to take with advice, not affection.

The town hall — the institution behind half this glossary: it issues building licences and the LPO, sets the IBI rate, collects plusvalía, keeps the padrón and administers the municipal plan. In Marbella, its planning department is the address where a property’s legal history actually lives.

The financial statement that photographs a company's position at a given date: assets on one side, liabilities and shareholders' equity on the other. Reviewing a developer's balance sheet is a standard due-diligence step before buying off-plan — a solvent developer is the first guarantee behind every stage payment.

A cheque issued and guaranteed by the bank itself — the standard instrument for paying the balance of a Spanish property purchase on completion day at the notary. The buyer's bank draws the funds and certifies them, so the seller hands over the keys against guaranteed money.

Order it from your Spanish bank several days before completion, made out exactly as your lawyer instructs — often split into several drafts (seller, mortgage cancellation, retention amounts). The alternative for same-day settlement is an OMF transfer through the Bank of Spain.

The commissions banks charge for accounts and services. In Spanish mortgages, only the arrangement fee (comisión de apertura) may be charged at origination, and most account fees are waived against direct-deposited income or product holdings — always negotiable for good profiles.

A bank's commitment to answer for another party's obligation — the aval. In property it appears in two roles. Banks may request a personal aval to support a high loan-to-value mortgage. And in off-plan purchases, Spanish law obliges the developer to secure every stage payment with a bank guarantee or insurance policy, refundable with interest if the home is not delivered on time.

The aval is the single most important buyer protection in new-build Spain. Demand the individual guarantee document with each instalment, keep every one, and verify that payments go to the special developer account named in it. A developer reluctant to produce avales is telling you something.

SOBE Invest verifies stage-payment guarantees on every development it presents. Current projects: new developments in Marbella and the Costa del Sol.

SEPA transfers in euros settle within one business day — instant transfers in seconds, now without extra fees under EU rules. Completion payments for Spanish property move by bank draft or transfer, never cash. For same-day certainty at the notary, Spanish banks use the OMF — an urgent transfer through the Bank of Spain.

One habit protects six-figure sums: verify the beneficiary IBAN by voice with your lawyer before ordering funds. Invoice-interception fraud targets property completions specifically.

The bank's duty of confidentiality over clients' data and transactions. In Spain it is a professional duty, not an absolute shield: courts, the tax agency and anti-money-laundering authorities can compel disclosure, and international exchange of account data (CRS) is automatic.

Ownership of a property stripped of the right to use it, which belongs to a usufructuary — typically for life. Bare ownership trades at a discount that grows with the usufructuary's life expectancy; investors buy it as a patient play, consolidating full ownership automatically when the usufruct ends. Central to Spanish inheritance planning as well as to a small but active investment niche.

Spain's special expatriate tax regime — named after its most famous early beneficiary — which lets qualifying newcomers be taxed as non-residents while living in Spain. Employment income is taxed at a flat 24% up to €600,000 (47% above), instead of progressive rates reaching the high forties, and most foreign-source income and gains stay outside Spanish taxation. Wealth-tax exposure is limited to Spanish assets only.

The regime runs for the year of arrival plus the five following. Core conditions: no Spanish tax residency in the previous five years, and relocation for a qualifying reason — an employment contract, appointment as a director, and since the 2023 Startup Law also remote work for a foreign employer and certain entrepreneur and professional categories. The election is made on Modelo 149 within six months of registering with Spanish social security; miss the window and the opportunity is gone for good.

For a relocating buyer the arithmetic can be decisive: the difference between progressive and flat taxation over six years often exceeds the cost of the home's furnishing. This is precisely where tax planning must precede the property search, not follow it — the sequencing question SOBE Invest raises with every relocating client before contracts are signed.

Relocating to the coast? Start with the Costa del Sol expats guide.

The Bank Identifier Code — 8 or 11 characters — that identifies a bank in international transfers. Together with the IBAN, it is what you need to send funds to a Spanish account, for example to pay a reservation deposit from abroad.

The electrical installation certificate (Certificado de Instalación Eléctrica) issued by an authorised electrician. Utility companies require a valid one to contract or increase electricity supply — and in older properties, especially renovation projects, the boletín may have expired or never existed, adding cost and days before the lights come on. Worth checking before completion on anything built decades ago.

A debt security by which a state or company borrows from investors, repaying principal at maturity plus periodic interest. Bond yields set the reference for long-term interest rates — including the pricing of fixed-rate Spanish mortgages.

The party who receives loan funds and assumes the obligation to repay with interest — in a mortgage, the property buyer. Spanish mortgage law (LCCI 5/2019) grants borrowers pre-contractual transparency documents (FEIN/FiAE) and a mandatory advisory session with the notary before signing.

Homes developed in partnership with a luxury house — a hotel group, a fashion maison or an automotive marque — which lends its name, design language and service standards to the project. The developer builds; the brand governs the interiors, the amenities and the operating protocol.

The commercial logic is a documented price premium over comparable non-branded stock in the same location, alongside faster absorption and a more liquid resale market: the brand does part of the marketing for the owner, permanently. The trade-off is a higher service charge, since the operating standard is contractual rather than optional.

The Costa del Sol has become one of Europe's most active branded-residence markets. SOBE Invest represents DarGlobal's international portfolio, including residences designed in collaboration with Lamborghini and Missoni, across Spain, Dubai and Oman.

Browse current branded and new-build developments, or speak to a SOBE Invest advisor about upcoming releases.

The level of activity at which income exactly covers costs. For a rental property, the occupancy or rent level at which the owner covers mortgage, community fees, IBI and running costs — a short-term rental on the Costa del Sol might break even at 55–65% occupancy; everything above is profit.

Short-term finance that lets you buy the next home before the current one is sold — the hipoteca puente, sometimes settled through a dedicated bridge account (cuenta puente). The bank secures the loan against both properties and expects the sale to repay it, typically within two to five years, often with an interest-only grace period at the start.

Spanish banks offer bridges selectively and price them above standard mortgages; a strong equity position in the property being sold is the entry ticket. For international buyers, an alternative is often simpler: financing against assets at home, then repaying on sale.

How many square metres may legally be built on a plot — expressed as a coefficient (m² of build per m² of land) set by the municipal plan, together with occupation limits, height limits and setbacks. It is the single number that drives plot value: two identical hectares with different edificabilidad are two different assets.

Before buying any plot or villa with extension plans, the cédula urbanística from the town hall states the plot's classification and its remaining buildability. On prime Marbella land, unused buildable metres are latent value — and exhausted ones limit what any future owner can do.

Plot classifications and what they allow: see Land Classification.

Municipal permission required before construction or major renovation. Minor works need a licencia de obra menor; structural projects a licencia de obra mayor with an architect's project. Building without one risks fines, legalisation costs or demolition orders.

When buying a renovated or newly built property, verifying that the works were licensed — and match what was licensed — is core due diligence. Where enforcement periods have lapsed, the building may sit under the AFO regime instead, a materially different legal status.

The surface measured to the outer walls, including internal partitions and, in listings, often a share of common elements and weighted terraces. It is the figure that makes properties look largest — always ask which definition a €/m² price uses and compare it with the usable area, typically 10–20% smaller for the same home.

Spain's certified communication service — a message sent through Correos with legal proof of content, dispatch and delivery. It is how formal demands are made to count in court: claiming an unpaid rent, notifying a contract breach, demanding return of a deposit, interrupting a limitation period.

For landlords it is the first formal step of any collection routine; for buyers, the instrument for putting a defaulting seller or developer on legal notice. An email proves little in a Spanish courtroom; a burofax proves everything it contains.

A working day for banking and administrative purposes — excluding weekends and holidays. Transfer deadlines, tax payment windows (such as the 30 working days for ITP) and notice periods in Spanish contracts count in días hábiles, which matters when timing a completion.

An agent who works for the buyer, not the seller. Most estate agents in Spain are instructed by — and paid by — the owner of the property they show, which shapes whose interests the advice serves. A buyer's agent inverts that: sourcing across the whole market including off-market properties, filtering against the buyer's actual brief, negotiating downward rather than defending an asking price, and coordinating lawyers, valuers and banks through to the keys.

In a market like Marbella — fragmented listings, wide quality variance behind similar photographs, and meaningful planning risk on older stock — representation on the buyer's side is less a luxury than a filter. The right five properties beat the available five hundred.

SOBE Invest works precisely on this side of the table: a boutique real estate agency and relocation advisory in Marbella whose brief starts with the client, not with a listing portfolio.

Tell us what you are looking for — start with a conversation, or browse off-market opportunities.