50 Real Estate concepts
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Real Estate glossary:
1. Minutes of the owners' meeting: document with legal value, which collects the agreements adopted by the owners must be signed by the "president" of the Community of Owners (in case he is absent, the vice-president or the secretary).
2. Property Administrator (must be a Real Estate Agent): professional who, at the request of the owners of a Community, manages financial, legal and technical matters and mediates in possible conflicts. In this link we offer you our service of administration of communities.
3. Lessor: equivalent to being an owner.
4. Tenant: equivalent to being a tenant.
5. Lease: a contract between the lessor and the lessee under which the former assigns the use of the property to the latter.
6. Taxable base: tax magnitude used by the Administration to calculate the amount of a tax to be paid by the taxpayer.
7. Interest-only period: period within a loan during which only interest is paid without being able to amortize the principal.
8. Charges: economic obligation that falls on a property. Thus, before buying an apartment it is necessary to make sure that it is free of encumbrances.
9. Cadastre: census that contains the description of the different types of real estate. Registration in the cadastre is compulsory and free of charge.
10. Certificate of occupancy: official document that guarantees that an examined space meets the conditions to be able to be inhabited. There are two types of certificates: "first occupancy" or "second occupancy".
11. Energy Certificate: official document that since June 1, 2013 is mandatory for renting or selling real estate products. The EC provides information on the energy consumption and pollutant gas emissions of the real estate product.
12. Registry Certificate: document issued by the land registry which details the state of financial charges of a property.
13. Catalan Civil Code: Catalonia's own legislation governing real estate law.
14. Community of owners: group of owners who have exclusive ownership of private elements (dwellings, premises, offices, parking spaces, etc.) and co-ownership of common elements (gardens, terraces, stairways or corridors).
15. Technical Building Code: official document that establishes the basic requirements that any building must meet according to the Organic Law on Building.
16. Deposit Agreement: private document in which the parties involved in a purchase and sale transaction agree to reserve the transaction by advancing an economic amount as a "signal" that the transaction will be carried out.
17. Purchase and Sale Agreement: agreement whereby the buyer delivers an economic amount established in writing and, in exchange, the seller has to deliver the real estate object of the transaction.
18. Deed of sale and purchase: document signed and ratified by a notary that records the legal act of sale and purchase, which is registered in the Land Registry.
19. Facility Management: set of tasks related to preventive maintenance and property management by a technical architect. At Finques Feliu you can ask for it.
20. Deposit (of the rental contract): economic amount that every landlord has to deposit, at the beginning of the rental, in the hands of the tenant and, if there are no flaws, returned to the landlord at the end of the contract.
21. Mortgage (fixed, variable, mixed): medium and long-term loan for the purchase of the real estate product. The property remains in guarantee in favor of the bank.
22. "Home Staging": marketing technique that uses interior design to bring out the best in a property with the intention of seducing a potential buyer or tenant.
23. Real Estate Tax: municipal, direct and annual tax on the effective ownership of a real estate property. It can be paid by owners, usufructuaries or concessionaires. The amount of the tax is calculated according to the cadastral value of the real estate.
24. Tax on Documented Legal Acts: this tax is levied on the execution and registration of any document of a legal nature in the land registry.
25. Transfer tax: this tax is levied on second-hand housing and receipts in inheritance or donation. Until 2021 the taxable base of this tax was the real value that was equated to the purchase price or to an assigned objective value. Now, the reference value will be the market value, that is to say, the value established by the General Directorate of Cadastre, which will become the taxable base of the aforementioned tax.
26. Urban property: built on "developable land.
27. Rustic property: built in the countryside to carry out agricultural and livestock activities.
28. Technical Inspection of Buildings: examination that the building has to pass every 10 years to verify that it is in an adequate state of maintenance. Here we explain it.
29. Public indicator of multiple efects: since 2004 it serves as a reference for the allocation of: social benefits, aid, subsidies, as well as for minimum severance pay or access to subsidized housing. In 2022, if the budgets are approved, it will be 600 €.
30. Owners' Meeting: a body made up of all the owners of private elements. The Board must meet at least once a year to approve the budget of the community of owners.
31. Pay procrastination: lack of punctuality in the payment of a rent agreed in a contract. This fact for the tenants, in extreme cases, can lead to eviction. For an owner who has debts with the community, it means the loss of the right to vote in the Meeting.
32. Notary: public official who has the legal authority to attest with his presence to legal acts and, thus, to grant them validity. In the exercise of his powers, he is authorized to draw up documents such as wills and deeds of sale and purchase.
33. Book of the Owners' community: it keeps ordered all the documentation of the community (minutes, budgets, list of proprietors who owe money, etc.).
34. Physical (or natural) Person: the Law denominates this way the human beings, of legal age, with capacity to exercise rights and legal obligations. From a real estate point of view, they can be owners of houses, premises, offices, etc.
35. Legal Entity: this is the name given by law to companies (companies) that assume legal responsibilities. From a real estate point of view they can be owners of dwellings, premises, offices, etc.
36. Horizontal Property: legal regime that confers to the holders of this right the exclusive right on the privative elements and in community with the others in the common elements.
37. Vertical Property: legal regime where all the properties or premises belong to a single owner.
38. Participation quota: concept linked to vertical property that establishes the proportional value in relation to the total of the building of a property, premises, parking space, etc. Its purpose is to determine the value of the vote of the different owners.
39. Tax rate: amount that represents the levy and can be a fixed amount or the result of multiplying the tax rate by the taxable base.
40. Legal representative: person who by legal provision or, by written authorization, of the owner can act legally, on his behalf. Thus, the authorized person may attend and vote at the Owners' Meeting.
41. Easement: temporary and limited loss of ownership of a private property. Here we explain it in detail.
42. Taxable person: natural or legal person obliged by law to pay taxes.
43. Built-up area: the number of square meters occupied by a construction, including walls.
44. Usable area: the number of square meters really habitable.
45. Real estate appraisal (technically we call it a valuation report): document aimed at establishing the value of a real estate product according to criteria and methodology that must be established by a professional. At Finques Feliu you can request yours.
46. Will: legal instrument that makes it possible to order the succession and by which the destiny that the testator wishes for his assets, once his death has taken place, is established.
47. Will with benefit of inventory: it is one of the ways to accept it. In it, the acceptors do not acquire any type of personal obligation on the debts that can be derived from what is inherited.
48. Tax rate: percentage that is applied on the taxable base in order to calculate the tax.
49. Constitutive Title: legal instrument, normally formalized in a deed which is called Horizontal Division, by which the individualization of each floor, premises, parking space, storage room, etc. is legally determined, it will have to indicate participation quotas, easements, services and facilities, etc.
50. Hidden defects of the building: deficiencies of a building that we cannot perceive with the naked eye. These can affect: foundation, structure, waterproofing, thermal insulation or basic installations of the building.
For this article we have relied on our blog and, punctually, on: Kasaz, @finkus, Europa Press, Sociedad de Tasación, Garanley abogados, Iberley and @adminfergal (Miguel Fernández).