Investment approach
How to Choose an Agency to Sell a High-Value Property in Catalonia
In Catalonia an agent must be on a public register and sign a nota de encargo with the owner before advertising the property. It must state term, price and fee, and you check it before signing.
In Catalonia, an agency that sells someone else's property must be listed in the public Registre d'agents immobiliaris (register of real estate agents) and must sign a nota de encargo with the owner before showing the property to the market. A nota de encargo is the owner's written instruction to the agent, stating the term, the price and the fee (art. 55 of Llei 18/2007). The register is mandatory and public, and the agent must show its number in advertising (Generalitat de Catalunya). Everything else, including exclusivity and the size of the commission, the law leaves to the contract.
What should you check in the register before signing?
Find the agent in the Cercador d'agents registrats (search tool for registered agents) on the website of the Agència de l'Habitatge de Catalunya (the register page links to it) and match the number in the contract with the number in the register. The market calls it the AICAT number, but that abbreviation appears neither in the text of Llei 18/2007 nor on the register page, so what you need to match is the registration number.
To register, the agent declares an office open to the public (or a physical address if working remotely), professional training, insurance and a guarantee. Minimums per the register page: liability insurance of 100 000 € per claim and 600 000 € per year per office, and a guarantee of 60 000 € per year per office; for online-only work the minimums are higher. The application is filed as a declaración responsable (a sworn self-declaration), and the register carries out whatever checks it sees fit, so an entry shows formal admission, not the quality of sales.
One more point: the absence of an entry does not make the contract void (art. 56.4 of Llei 18/2007). That is why checking the register stays with the owner.
What must be in the nota de encargo?
The law lists the mandatory content of the instruction in art. 55.6. For a high-value property, each item comes with its own question.
| What the law requires | What to clarify for a property above 3 M€ |
|---|---|
| Agent and register number | Who exactly signs and is liable: a legal entity or an individual |
| Owner and representative | If the owner is an SL (Spanish limited company), who signs and under what power of attorney |
| Term of the instruction | Whether early exit is possible and what is paid for it |
| Description of the operation | Sale as a whole or with furniture and plots |
| Property data: registry, encumbrances | Whether they match a recent nota simple (land registry extract) |
| Offer price | Who may change it and within what limits |
| Fee and payment terms | Percentage or fixed sum, with IVA (Spanish VAT) or without |
| Legally relevant circumstances, including litigation over the property | What the owner discloses on their own responsibility |
| Rights and obligations, the agent's powers | Whether the agent may receive money and sign preliminary contracts |
The last item matters more than the rest: the nota gives the agent the right to make an offer, advertise, receive sums and put in place any preliminary agreements with third parties (art. 55.5.b). Each of these powers can be narrowed.
What is exclusivity and how much is the commission?
The word "exclusiva" does not appear in Llei 18/2007: I checked the full consolidated text. So what exactly the owner is barred from doing during exclusivity is determined only by the text of your nota or contract. Ask the abogado (lawyer) what happens if you find a buyer yourself.
The law does not set the size of the commission. It sets the form: a percentage of the price or a fixed sum, and a fee from both parties for the same operation is prohibited unless there is an express agreement to that effect (art. 55.6.i). IVA at the general rate of 21% is, as a rule, added to the commission (art. 90 of Ley 37/1992); how this applies to your deal is for an asesor fiscal (tax adviser) to say.
A worked example, not a forecast and not a market rate: price 4 M€, commission 3%. Fee 120 000 €, IVA 25 200 €, total 145 200 €. Every 0.5 percentage points of commission changes the amount by 20 000 € plus 4 200 € of IVA. Open sources do not say what rate to expect for properties of this class, so I do not give a figure.
What does the agent check by itself and what will it ask you?
Before signing any documents with third parties, the agent must verify the owner's details, title and encumbrances in the registry (art. 55.7). In advertising it must show its register number (art. 59.e). Advertising a property without a nota de encargo is expressly prohibited (art. 58.5), and a closed viewing "for insiders" is no exception: the rule covers any offer and advertising.
The agent itself is an obliged entity under Ley 10/2010 (art. 2.1.l, the anti-money-laundering law): it will ask for the owner's documents, the ultimate beneficial owner of the SL and the buyer's source of funds. Owner anonymity towards the agent is ruled out: identifying the owner in the nota is mandatory. For the buying side, see the articles on agency commission and on off-market property.
Who is this analysis not for?
An owner selling without an intermediary: agency rules do not apply to them. Someone whose property is outside Catalonia: a different regime applies there. And an owner expecting a guaranteed result from the register: the register confirms admission, not the price or the time to sell. An agent without an office in Catalonia that works on a permanent basis from another EU country does not have to register (according to the register page), so a missing number in that case is not always a breach; confirm this with an abogado.
To plan the exit in advance, see the articles on the exit strategy and scenarios A/B/C.
Questions and answers
Must an agent be on the register in Catalonia?
Yes, if it has an office open to the public in Catalonia: the register is mandatory and public. Exceptions are listed on the register page: administrators of fincas (property managers), agents from other EU countries without an office in Catalonia, and non-professional intermediaries acting without a fee.
Can I pay the agent from both the seller's and the buyer's side?
The law prohibits taking a fee from both parties for the same operation unless they expressly agree otherwise. That is why the nota must state who pays.
For how long should an exclusivity be signed?
The law requires the term of the instruction to be stated but does not set its length: I did not find it in Llei 18/2007. The parties set the term; in the contract it can be tied to verifiable stages, for example viewings and offers.
Can the agent receive an advance from the buyer?
Only if the nota expressly gave it the right to receive sums. Money the agent accepts is backed by the guarantee it must maintain until it hands the money to the recipient (art. 55.3.c).
What if the agent advertises the property without my nota?
That contradicts arts. 58.5 and 55.6 of Llei 18/2007, and the list of infringements is in arts. 122–125. What to do in your case is for an abogado to decide from the documents.
