How to fit flat viewings in Barcelona into a single trip

A single viewing trip delivers results if the list has been cut down beforehand using documents and video and the days are grouped by district. The main risk of the trip is money: in Catalonia a sum handed to the seller is by default treated as arras confirmatorias (a confirmatory deposit), part of the price of a contract already concluded (art. 621-8 of the Código Civil de Cataluña (CCCat, the Civil Code of Catalonia)). If the sum exceeds 1% of the price, the agent must provide extended written information before payment (art. 60 of Llei 18/2007, the Catalan housing law).

A viewing trip is the final stage of selection, not the start of the search. The aim of the trip is to choose among three to five checked options, not to get to know the market.

What to check before buying tickets

From a distance, everything that fails on the facts is screened out. Every flat that could have been excluded from home takes time away from the finalists.

• Floor plan and area. Ask for the plan, not only photos, and check the area against the description. Look at load-bearing walls, windows in every room and what is labelled as storage.
• Live video tour. Not a promotional video but a call in which you are shown what you ask for: windows, fuse board, bathroom, entrance hall. What should be in the frame is described in the article on the video tour.
• Nota simple (land-registry extract). It is ordered online on the Colegio de Registradores website: it contains the description of the property (finca), the owner, and the scope and limits of rights, including mortgages and prohibitions. The document is informational and carries no legal certification, but it is enough for screening.
• The street. Street-level panoramas on maps show what is under the windows: a bar, a school, a building site, a main road.
• The building. Ask the seller for details of debts to the comunidad (owners' association) and of planned works.

How to build the viewing schedule

Districts first, then time, then a buffer. Barcelona is compact, but moving between districts at rush hour eats up more than it seems, and after the fifth viewing in a row the flats blur together in memory.

An example three-day schedule for a buyer with five finalists:

Three rules for the schedule. No more than two districts a day. Confirm each viewing the day before, because listings are withdrawn and the keys end up with another agent. And at least one slot for a second visit: light, noise and life in the courtyard change over the day, more in the article on noise, light and ventilation.

What to record at each viewing

One checklist for all flats: then in the evening they can be compared rather than recalled.

1. Photos and video of every room, the windows, the electrical board, the bathroom and the entrance hall.
2. Window orientation with the compass on the phone.
3. Measurements, if furniture matters.
4. Right after leaving, three lines: what you liked, what raised doubts, what questions there are for the seller.
5. In the evening, consolidating everything into one table.

What can be signed before leaving and what cannot

Before leaving, it makes sense to agree terms and receive documents for checking. Signing arras before assessing the price and checking the documents is dangerous: money handed to the seller becomes part of the price of a contract already concluded, and the right to withdraw by forfeiting the sum (arras penitenciales, a penalty deposit) arises only if it was expressly agreed. If the buyer withdraws, the buyer loses such arras; if the seller withdraws, the seller returns them doubled (art. 621-8 CCCat).

The intermediate step is called a reserva (reservation agreement). It is useful only if the document states for how long the flat is taken off the market, and when and on what conditions the money is returned. What to check before this step is described in the article on reserving a flat. The arras contract itself can be agreed by the buyer's abogado after the trip, and it can be signed under a power of attorney.

The pressure of "there is another buyer, sign today" is familiar to many buyers. Sometimes it is true, but a decision made under such pressure is usually worse than one made two days after checking.

When a single trip does not work

The "single trip" format does not suit three cases. When the list has not been filtered beforehand and the trip turns into getting to know the city. When a detached house outside the city is being bought: the technical check of the house, the plot and the permits requires a separate visit by a specialist. And when the buyer has not yet chosen between renting and buying, or between two or three districts: then the first trip is honestly called reconnaissance.

If the search and preliminary selection have to be done without being there in person, the way of working is described on the page about the DNPI Capital approach, and the price of the finalists can be checked through a property valuation.