Selling property in Mallorca, and what the island decides

Selling property in Mallorca runs on the same national rules as a sale anywhere else in the country, and then adds four things the island settles for itself: what was built without ever being declared, the habitability document the buyer’s lawyer will ask for, who customarily pays the agent, and when in the year the buyers are actually here. The national mechanics are set out in the guide to selling property in Spain. This page is about what changes because the property is on Mallorca.

What the national rules already cover

If you are not tax resident in Spain, the buyer withholds three per cent of the price at completion and pays it to the Agencia Tributaria against your capital gains tax. Anything overpaid is reclaimed by filing, not refunded on its own. The gain itself is computed from your documented acquisition and disposal costs, which is why the purchase file from when you bought is worth keeping for as long as you own the property. Plusvalía municipal, the tax on the increase in land value, is normally the seller’s and is assessed by the town hall. All of that, together with the returns that fall due after completion, is on the national guide.

What is registered, and what stands on the ground

This is the item that does the most damage here when it is missing.

Rural Mallorca is full of extensions, pools and annexes built years ago and never declared. The house was enlarged, a pool went in, an outbuilding became a guest cottage, and none of it reached the Land Registry. An owner can live with that for a decade without consequence, because nothing tests it until somebody sells.

A buyer’s lawyer will find the discrepancy. They pull the nota simple, set it against what they walked through, and the gap is on the table before the price is. From there it goes one of two ways: the buyer discounts for the risk, or the buyer withdraws.

If a discrepancy exists on your property, deal with it before the property is marketed rather than during a negotiation.

The cédula de habitabilidad

The habitability document a buyer’s lawyer on Mallorca will ask for is the cédula de habitabilidad. It belongs in the file you assemble before the property is listed, not in the scramble after an offer, and an owner who has not seen it since completion should find out where it is before the listing goes live.

What a buyer’s lawyer will ask for

The file is the one any Spanish sale needs: energy performance certificate, IBI receipts, community fee statements, utility contracts, the original purchase deed and your NIE. The national guide lists it in full, together with the Spanish mortgage that was repaid years ago and stays on the register until it is formally cancelled.

Two items are worth pulling early here: the cédula de habitabilidad described above, and your own nota simple, so that you see what the buyer’s lawyer will see before they see it.

Commission, and the mandate you sign

On Mallorca the agency commission is customarily borne by the seller, so the largest single cost of selling sits on your side of the deal and belongs in the net figure you plan around from the start. It is negotiable.

The choice between an exclusive mandate and an open one works the same way across Spain, and the trade-off, together with the clauses worth reading before you sign, is on the national guide. What the island adds is the term: measure the length you agree to against the season described below rather than against the calendar.

The season decides your timetable

Mallorca buys and sells on a season. Serious international buyers view heavily from spring into early autumn, and a property launched in November has often lost its momentum by the time the market returns. A winter sale is not impossible, but the listing should be ready before the window opens rather than during it, and a seller who needs to complete by a particular date should count backwards from the viewing months rather than from the deed.

Pricing from recorded sales, not asking prices

Why a valuation belongs on registered sale prices rather than on portal asking prices is set out on the national guide. The point specific to Mallorca is the size of the gap: asking prices and recorded transactions diverge more in this market than in most, so a figure taken from portals can sit well above what buyers in your own municipality have actually paid. That recorded figure is the number to argue from when an agent proposes a price.

Selling without being on the island

You do not need to be on Mallorca for completion. A power of attorney granted to your lawyer allows the deed to be signed on your behalf, and a fiscal representative appointed at the same time deals with the filings that fall due after it. The form the power of attorney has to take, and the deadlines behind the representative, are on the national guide.

Frequently asked questions

My extension was never declared. Will it stop the sale?

It can. A buyer’s lawyer pulls the nota simple, compares it with the building, and an undeclared extension, pool or annexe is then either priced down as a risk or refused outright. Rural Mallorca is full of them. Regularise the position before marketing rather than under a completion deadline, when you have no time and no leverage.

What is the cédula de habitabilidad?

It is the habitability document a buyer’s lawyer on Mallorca will ask to see as a matter of course. Locate it while you are assembling the rest of the file, alongside the purchase deed, the IBI receipts and the community statements, rather than once an offer is on the table and a buyer is waiting on it.

Who pays the agency commission on Mallorca?

Customarily the seller. It is quoted as a percentage of the sale price plus VAT, it is the largest single cost of selling, and it is negotiable. What the mandate says about commission if you find the buyer yourself, and about what happens when the mandate expires, is worth reading before you sign anything.

When should I launch a property on Mallorca?

The island trades on a season. International buyers view heavily from spring into early autumn, so a launch in November frequently drifts until the market returns. Have the price, the paperwork and the presentation settled before the viewing months open, rather than assembling them while the best weeks pass.