This isn’t a step-by-step guide. It’s what I learned from watching many first-home buying processes from the inside — and what I would tell someone starting out today.
The market isn’t what it looks like from the outside
When you start looking for a flat in Madrid, the first impression is usually that nothing fits. You open Idealista, see prices that don’t match your budget, visit flats that looked perfect in photos but disappoint in person, and call agencies that don’t return your calls with the speed you’d expect.
The second impression, a few weeks later, is that some things move very fast. Flats that disappear before you can even arrange a viewing, offers that close in 48 hours, the persistent feeling of always arriving too late.
Both impressions are real, and they don’t contradict each other. Madrid’s market has a lot of mediocre stock that takes time to sell and very little good stock that sells very fast. Learning to tell the difference is the first thing.
What nobody tells you about the agent showing you flats
The estate agent taking you to viewings is, in most cases, a hardworking and well-intentioned person. They are also someone who is paid by the seller and has a mandate to close the deal at the best possible price for their client — which is not you. Although it’s increasingly common for agents to charge a fee to the buyer as well, the client who hired the agency is the seller.
That doesn’t mean they’ll deceive you. It means they’re operating under rules that are different from the ones you think they’re playing by. When the agent tells you “there’s another family very interested”, it might be true or it might be a closing technique. Without your own representation, there’s no way to know which.
Mortgage pre-approval isn’t admin: it’s your tool
Before you visit a single flat, get pre-approval from a bank. Not because you’re required to, but because it’s what allows you to act when the right opportunity appears. In Madrid, waiting a week to confirm financing can mean losing the property.
Pre-approval also gives you a clear picture of your real budget — not what you think you might be able to borrow, but what the bank is prepared to lend given your actual situation. Many first-time buyers start searching without this information and waste weeks viewing things they can’t afford.
The asking price is a proposal, not a price
The price in the listing is what the seller wants to receive. It’s not what they’ll get. In Madrid, the average discount on asking price is around 4–7%, but what matters most isn’t the average percentage — it’s knowing how much you can negotiate in each specific case.
For that you need three pieces of data the portals don’t give you: how long the flat has been on the market, whether the price has been reduced and how many times, and what the seller’s actual urgency is. With that information, negotiation has a real foundation.
Due diligence isn’t paranoia: it’s the bare minimum
Before making an offer — and certainly before signing the arras contract — check the nota simple from the Land Registry (it tells you who the real owner is and what encumbrances exist on the property), request the certificate confirming no outstanding community fees, check the IBI (council tax), the Technical Building Inspection (ITE), the official reference value, and verify there are no pending debts attached to the property.
It’s also worth reviewing the last few minutes of the owners’ community meetings. These reveal approved special levies, structural issues under discussion and disputes between neighbours. That information is worth far more than it costs to obtain.
The most valuable thing you can have in this process
It’s not a search portal. It’s not a lawyer. It’s someone who has been through many purchase processes, knows how to read the market, and is on your side. Because buying without that is like arriving at a negotiation where the other side is prepared and experienced, and you’re going in for the first time.
It doesn’t have to be a PSI specifically. It can be someone in the sector you trust. What doesn’t work is going it alone, trusting that “the agency’s agent will help me”. It’s not their job — and it shouldn’t be.
