Episode 34: An Expat’s Experience Buying Property in Spain

The International Living Podcast

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This week, the Bigger, Better World podcast takes a trip to Spain, talking to writer Maria DiCicco about her experience buying a property in Zaragoza.
House-buying can be stressful, even in your home country. Transferring large sums of your hard-earned money, dealing with real estate agents, lawyers, vendors, and all the complicated processes and procedures that go with buying a new home make for a challenging time. Now, imagine all that, but you don’t know the language or the procedures in the country you’re buying in and…due to a pandemic, you can’t even visit it in person!
None of that stopped Maria and her husband from purchasing the historic property of their dreams in the ancient Spanish city of Zaragoza. Determination, desire, and a dollop of patience paid off for them, and now they have their happy place in the sun. A place to make memories for themselves and their young daughter, a place, perhaps, to settle down and retire to one day.
In her article for International Living magazine, and in her discussion with podcast host, Jim Santos, Maria explains how she found her dream home overseas, the process for buying it, how much it cost, and how she overcame all the obstacles in her way to become a homeowner in Spain.
Join host, Jim Santos, as he meets Maria DiCicco in the latest episode of Bigger, Better World.
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Chapters

1. Episode 34: An Expat’s Experience Buying Property in Spain (00:00:00)

2. A City With a Roman History (00:01:21)

3. Buying a Place in Spain, Sight-Unseen, Via the Internet (00:04:36)

4. Why We Don’t Rent it Out—It’s Too Convenient to Keep it as Our Own (00:09:13)

5. Passports, Citizenship, and How Anyone Can Buy a Place in Spain (00:13:21)

6. Browsing the Property Market With Idealista (00:15:25)

7. Spaniards Want New, Modern Homes, So the Historic Ones Are Easy to Find (00:19:37)

8. Practical Details of Owning a Home Overseas, and How to Deal With Them (00:23:40)

9. Deposits, Payments, Fees, Taxes and Paperwork—Step-By-Step (00:28:50)