What documents do you need to sell your home in Marbella, and how long does each one take?

To sell a property you need, at a minimum, the purchase deed, an up-to-date nota simple from the Land Registry (Registro de la Propiedad), the energy performance certificate, the latest IBI (property tax) receipt and a certificate showing you are up to date with the community of owners. If there is a mortgage, add the bank’s debt certificate. If the house has had building work, add the planning documents that cover it. Most of these can be obtained in under two weeks.

The ones with no fixed timeline are the planning documents: the licence of occupation, the certificate of age or the regularisation of an extension. They depend on the town hall and on a technician, and can take weeks or months. The community certificate has a legal deadline: the administrator has seven calendar days from your request (Article 9.1.e of the Horizontal Property Law, Ley de Propiedad Horizontal). The nota simple arrives within hours or one working day. The timelines on this page are indicative and should be checked with your notary.

What are the essential documents for selling a property?

There are seven, and five of them are required in every sale, whatever the value of the house. The table lists each one with where to request it and its usual timeline.

Document	Where to request it	Indicative timeline
Purchase deed (or inheritance, gift deed, etc.)	Your own records, or the notary who authorised it	None if you have it. A copy takes a few days, depending on the notary
Nota simple	Land Registry, online	Hours or 1 working day
Energy performance certificate	Certified technician, with subsequent registration with the Junta de Andalucía	Between a few days and two weeks, depending on the technician’s diary
Latest IBI receipt	Town hall, or your bank if the payment is direct debit	Immediate if you download it
Certificate of being up to date with the community of owners	Property administrator	Maximum 7 calendar days (Art. 9.1.e LPH)
Mortgage debt certificate (if there is a loan)	Your bank	Depends on the lender
Licence of occupation or certificate of age	Town hall or competent technician	Weeks to months

Three more items are not requested in advance but you must bring them to the notary. The first is your identity document (DNI, NIE or passport). The second is your marital status and matrimonial property regime. The third is the details of the account where you will receive the money. If the property is your family home and you are married, your spouse’s consent may be needed even if the house is in only one name.

What does the nota simple say, and why is it the first document to request?

The nota simple states who the registered owner is, the surface area and description of the property, and the charges registered against it: mortgages, attachments or easements. You request it first because what appears there determines everything else.

If the Registry says the property has 180 m² built and the actual house has 240, the buyer and their lawyer will see it the same day they request it. Better that you see it first. If there is a mortgage you thought had been cancelled and it is still registered, that will appear too. Request a recent nota simple, a few days old, and do not rely on the one you were given when you bought.

How long does it take to gather all the documentation?

If the property is an apartment with a clear deed, no mortgage and no building work, the file can be ready in one or two weeks. The biggest source of delay is the energy certificate, because of the technician’s diary, and the community certificate, because of the administrator’s.

With a mortgage, you also need to allow for the debt certificate and the cancellation procedure, which is carried out at the signing or shortly afterwards. With undeclared building work, the timeline stops being in your hands: the technician, the town hall and the Registry set it. That is why it is best to start before the house goes on the market, not when there is already an offer and a deposit contract (arras) date.

Which documents delay a completion, and why?

Delays always cluster in the same places. Short administrative procedures, such as the nota simple or the IBI receipt, almost never cause delays. The ones that do are those that depend on a third party with its own calendar: the bank, the administrator, the town hall.

What happens if the house has an extension, a swimming pool or a renovation that is not recorded in the Registry?

The sale can go ahead, but the buyer, their lawyer and the notary will spot it, and it can end in a price reduction, a delay or a signing that collapses. What you need to do depends on when the work was completed and how the land is classified.

There are three common scenarios:

• The work has a licence and is registered. Nothing to do.
• The work has a licence but is not registered. It must be declared in a new-build deed (escritura de obra nueva) and registered. This is done with a technical certificate and is a short procedure.
• The work has no licence. What to do is determined by a technician, together with the town hall. It may be a certificate of age, a regularisation or, in some cases, the work may not be regularisable. We cannot give a timeline or a cost without knowing the property.

This is common in houses more than 15 or 20 years old with successive renovations. If you suspect it may be your case, put the paperwork in order before the valuation. An asking price that ignores a planning problem gets corrected downwards during negotiation, and almost always by more than it would have cost to resolve.

What extra documents are needed if the seller is not resident in Spain?

You need a valid NIE and, for the tax withholding, your certificate of tax residence. The buyer is obliged to withhold 3% of the price and pay it to the Spanish tax authority (Hacienda) on account of your tax, which reduces what you receive at the signing.

That 3% is not the final tax. It is an advance payment. The capital gain is calculated on the difference between the sale price and the purchase price, with documented costs. That is why you should keep the original deed, the invoices for renovations and the receipts for the purchase costs. If the withholding is higher than the resulting tax, you reclaim the difference afterwards. A tax adviser should calculate the figures in your case, because the rates depend on your country of residence.

If you cannot attend the signing, you need a power of attorney. If it is granted outside Spain, it must carry an apostille and be translated, and that adds days. Start there if you live abroad.

What if I am selling an inherited property, one with a mortgage, or one held in a company?

Each case adds a document and its own timeline. Inheritance is the slowest: the property must be registered in the heirs’ names before it can be sold.

• Inheritance. Deed of acceptance and allocation, with inheritance tax paid and registration in the Land Registry. It can take months.
• Mortgage. Debt certificate and, on the day of signing, either a bank draft in the lender’s name or a subrogation. It is coordinated with the notary.
• Company-owned property. Deed of the administrator’s powers, a shareholders’ resolution if applicable, and a certificate of being up to date with the tax authority and Social Security.
• Rented property. Current tenancy agreement. Depending on the date and type of contract, the tenant may have rights that affect the sale.
• Tourist rental. Registration number in the Andalusian Tourism Register (Registro de Turismo de Andalucía) and, where applicable, a certificate of being up to date with the associated taxes.

When should you start preparing everything?

Before the valuation and before you sign the sales mandate. With the papers in order, the asking price is set on a house you know completely, not on one that can still hold surprises.

A sensible order: request the nota simple first and compare it with what you have. Then commission the energy certificate, which takes longest of the quick items. Request the community certificate shortly before putting the house on the market, because its validity is limited. Leave until last what depends on a third party, and allow plenty of margin. If you are unsure what you are missing, the selling page sets out the process we follow with each owner. If you want to see what your house is competing with while you sort out the papers, the properties for sale give an idea of the documentation and condition of those coming to market now.

Everything here is indicative and reflects the regulations as of November 2026. Fees, town hall timelines and tax rates change, and a notary or tax adviser should confirm them for your specific case.