The 5 most common mistakes when selling your Spanish property privately

Selling a Spanish property privately can seem like an appealing idea: no agency commission, direct contact with the buyer, full control of the process. Many owners try it, particularly when managing a sale remotely from the UK, the Netherlands or elsewhere in Europe. After more than thirty-five years working in Orihuela Costa, La Zenia, Torrevieja and Cabo Roig, we have seen the same mistakes come up time after time. Not because sellers are careless, but because the Costa Blanca property market has specific characteristics that are not obvious from a distance.

The five mistakes that can cost you the sale

These mistakes appear with such regularity that we have decided to set them out clearly. They are not rare situations: we see them in owners with business experience and the best of intentions. The market follows its own rules regardless of what the seller had in mind.

1. Getting the price wrong from the start

   The most frequent and most expensive mistake. Most owners set a price based on what they paid years ago, what a neighbour is asking, or listings on property portals with no further context. Prices in Orihuela Costa vary considerably depending on the floor, orientation, community fees, age of the building and whether there is a communal pool. A penthouse in La Zenia with sea views can be worth twice as much as a ground-floor flat in the same complex. Listing 15% above the market does not leave room for negotiation — buyers simply scroll past and look elsewhere. The first fourteen days on the market attract the most traffic; if there are no enquiries in that window, the listing loses visibility and buyers assume something is wrong. Going in too low without advice means leaving money on the table.

   We have been carrying out valuations in this area since 1988 and have access to actual closing prices, not just the asking prices that appear on portals. That difference matters.

2. Photographs that do not show the property at its best

   Ninety per cent of international buyers looking at properties in Torrevieja and Cabo Roig start their search online, many of them from the UK, the Netherlands, Belgium or Germany. The first impression comes from the photographs. Images taken on a mobile phone in poor light, with furniture piled up or a cluttered bathroom, do not generate clicks, and without clicks there are no viewings. A buyer who does not click never arrives at the door.

   What many owners do not realise is that the difference between a professional photo shoot and phone pictures can translate into weeks or months longer on the market. Some properties sit with no viewing requests for months, not because the price is wrong, but because the photographs do not invite a second look.

3. Listing on the wrong portals

   Idealista and Fotocasa are the dominant portals among domestic buyers. But the typical buyer of a property in Orihuela Costa or La Zenia is not Spanish: they are a retired or semi-retired British, Dutch, German or Belgian buyer who searches on portals aimed at the international market, in expatriate Facebook groups or through agencies with a client base in their home country. That buyer profile does not use Idealista because they simply do not know it exists.

   Advertising only on national portals is the equivalent of putting a sign in the window of a shop that the people you need to reach never visit. Reaching the right buyer requires a presence on the channels that buyer actually uses, and that is not achieved with a standard listing on two platforms.

4. The language barrier at the moments that matter

   Handling enquiries in English is already a challenge for many sellers. But the language barrier becomes a real obstacle when it comes to negotiating the price, explaining what community fees cover, answering questions about the NIE, addressing queries about non-resident mortgages or clarifying the status of utilities. A misunderstanding at that point can cause an interested buyer to walk away before any agreement has been reached.

   In our experience, many deals that collapse before the reservation agreement stage do so because of incomplete communication or a delayed response to a technical question. International buyers interpret silence as a lack of seriousness and move on to the next listing.

5. Tax matters left unplanned

   This is the mistake that surprises sellers most once the deal is done. Selling a property in Spain has tax implications worth understanding before signing anything: the municipal capital gains tax (plusvalía municipal), the capital gain for income tax purposes for residents, the 3% withholding tax that the buyer is legally required to pay to the Spanish tax authority on behalf of a non-resident seller, the annual property tax (IBI) for the year of sale, mortgage cancellation costs where applicable, and the subsequent tax filing. Taken together, these items can represent between 10% and 20% of the sale price.

   Leaving these aspects unplanned before setting the asking price often means the net result is far below expectations. With proper planning ahead of the sale, it is possible to make decisions about timing, how proceeds are structured or reinvestment options that can make a real difference to the final outcome.

Summary: mistake, consequence and solution

The concrete next step

If you own a property in Orihuela Costa, La Zenia, Torrevieja or Cabo Roig and are considering a sale, we offer a free valuation based on recent actual transactions in your area. A well-grounded valuation is not just a figure; it is the foundation of the whole sales strategy: which portals to use, which buyer profile to target and what timeline is realistic. We have been handling sales on this stretch of the Costa Blanca since 1988 and know the specifics of each development, each property type and each buyer profile.

Call us on +34 965 714 362 or write to info@bennecke.com. We respond in Spanish, English, Dutch and German.