The Documents You Should Request Before Buying a Property

Property documentation exists to answer four questions: who owns it, what exactly it is, whether it was built and used lawfully, and what it costs to hold. Every document below serves one of those four purposes. The specific names change by country and region — in Spain you will hear Nota Simple, Catastro and IBI; elsewhere the equivalents carry different names — but the underlying questions are constant.

Request everything early. A seller who supplies documents promptly is telling you something useful. So is one who does not.

Ownership and title

• Land registry extract or title record — in Spain, the Nota Simple. Confirms who legally owns the property and how it is described.
• Title deed from the seller's own purchase — shows what was transferred, when, and on what terms.
• Charges, mortgages, liens and embargoes registered against the property — these follow the property, not the seller.
• Easements and rights of way — access rights, drainage rights and shared driveways that constrain use.
• Co-ownership details where more than one person holds title, including any powers of attorney relied on.

The registry description is your reference point. Almost every later cross-check compares something else against it: the physical building, the cadastral record, the floor plans, the listing.

Property description and cadastre

• Cadastral record and reference — in Spain, the Catastro certificate showing built area, plot area, use and year of construction.
• Cadastral plan and site plan showing the plot outline and the buildings recorded on it.
• Plot boundary information, and a topographic survey where boundaries are unclear or disputed.
• Any record of ancillary buildings: garage, storage, casita, pool, technical rooms.

Compare the cadastral built area against the registry description and the listing. Where they disagree, you have found the most common discrepancy in residential transactions — explained in detail in why the square metres in a property listing may be wrong.

Planning and building

• Original building licence or planning permission for the property as constructed.
• Licences for every subsequent extension, conversion, pool, terrace enclosure or outbuilding.
• Completion certificate confirming the works were finished in accordance with the approval.
• Occupancy or habitation certificate confirming the building may lawfully be lived in.
• Regularisation or declaration documents for older works brought into the records after the fact.
• Planning classification of the land and any protections, setbacks or height limits that apply.
• Any open planning files, enforcement notices or infractions recorded against the property.

This is the category where absence matters most. A missing licence for a visible extension is a specific, priceable issue. A missing occupancy certificate can affect lending, utilities and rental registration. Ask your lawyer to confirm what is legally required in that municipality — requirements vary even within a single region.

Tax, charges and community

• Recent property-tax receipts — in Spain, the IBI, which also states the cadastral reference and value.
• Refuse, water and other municipal charges, with proof they are paid up to date.
• Community of owners information where applicable: annual fees, current accounts, minutes of recent meetings.
• A certificate confirming there are no outstanding community debts against the property.
• Approved or pending special levies — for example roof works, lift replacement or facade renovation.
• Utility bills for a full year, which reveal running costs and, sometimes, unexpected consumption.

Community minutes are consistently the most underrated document in the pack. They record the building's real problems, the disputes between owners, and the works everyone knows are coming but nobody has budgeted for. Read the last three years.

Technical and condition

• Building survey or condition report from an independent surveyor acting for you.
• Architect's report where extensions, structural changes or measurement questions exist.
• Energy performance certificate.
• Floor plans, elevations and site plans — ideally the as-built set rather than the marketing version.
• Structural or engineering reports where retaining walls, slopes or previous movement are involved.
• Installation certificates for electrical, gas, water, air conditioning and pool plant.
• Documentation of any renovation carried out: scope, contractor, dates, guarantees, invoices.

Note the difference between a report commissioned by the seller and one commissioned by you. Both are useful. Only one was written for your benefit.

Seller information

• Written renovation history: what was done, when, by whom, and whether it was licensed.
• Known defects and any past insurance claims — damp, leaks, subsidence, storm damage.
• Details of any works carried out by neighbours that affect the property.
• Utility arrangements: mains water or well, mains drainage or septic tank, gas supply.
• Rental history and any registration held for short-term letting.
• Reason for sale and how long the property has been on the market — context, not documentation, but useful.

Cross-checking: where documents earn their keep

Individually, most documents look reassuring. They are internally consistent, professionally produced and formally correct. The intelligence comes from reading them against each other and against the physical building.

1. 1Registry description against cadastral record — do the areas, plot and description agree?
2. 2Cadastral record against the listing — is the marketed area supported by the official record?
3. 3Floor plans against the building — does every room you walked through appear on the plan?
4. 4Photographs against licences — is there a licence for every structure visible in the photos?
5. 5Occupancy certificate against the current layout — was the building certified in this configuration?
6. 6Community minutes against the seller's account of the building's condition.
7. 7Tax receipts against the registered owner — is the person selling the person paying?
8. 8Renovation history against the survey — does the work described match the work observed?

Each comparison either confirms the picture or produces a question. Both outcomes are valuable. What you cannot afford is never making the comparison, because that is how a buyer ends up owning a discrepancy they paid full price for.

A note on jurisdiction

Terminology varies. In Spain the registry extract is the Nota Simple, the cadastral body is the Catastro and the annual property tax is the IBI. In other countries the equivalents have different names and slightly different legal weight. Preserve the official name of the document in its original language when you request it — asking for a translated approximation often produces the wrong document.

Always confirm the local requirement list with a lawyer who practises in that municipality. This article is a framework, not a substitute for local advice.

BuyerWingman takes the documents you have, extracts the facts from each one, records where every fact came from, and shows you which of these items are still missing — so the gaps in your pack are visible before you offer. If you want to see the method, read how BuyerWingman cross-checks property documents.