A viewing trip to Mallorca is short and emotionally loaded: sunshine, sea views and a well-staged terrace can make almost any property persuasive. A checklist is how you keep judgement in charge — especially when you are seeing five homes in two days.
Use this before, during and after each viewing. It will not replace professional due diligence, but it will tell you which properties deserve it.
Before the viewing
Ask for the basics in advance so the visit confirms rather than discovers: exact address and plot, year of construction and any renovations, community fees, IBI, and whether a cédula de habitabilidad and energy certificate exist. An energy certificate is mandatory to sell, so its absence is a question in itself.
- Exact location on the map — check orientation and afternoon sun
- Year built and renovation history
- Community fees and what they include
- Cédula de habitabilidad and energy certificate available?
During the viewing: the building
Look past the staging at the fabric. Damp is Mallorca's recurring issue — check ceilings, window reveals, ground-floor walls and anywhere below terraces. Test water pressure, note the heating and cooling systems and their age, and look at the state of window frames and flat roofs. On villas, walk the plot boundaries and ask what exactly is included.
- Signs of damp or repainted patches on ceilings and lower walls
- Windows, glazing and shutters — condition and noise insulation
- Heating, hot water and air conditioning: type and age
- Terraces, flat roofs and pool condition
- Parking, storage and boundaries actually included in the sale
During the viewing: the setting
Return at a different time of day if you can. Morning quiet can hide evening restaurant noise; a shaded winter garden can hide a west-facing oven in August. Check distances on foot — to the beach, cafés, parking — rather than trusting the particulars, and in apartment buildings look at the common areas: they tell you how the community is run.
Questions that surface red flags
Ask directly: Are there any unregistered extensions or a pool built without licence? (These need review before committing — age alone does not legalise works.) Are there debts with the community? (The property answers for the current year plus three previous years.) Is there a holiday rental licence, and is it verifiable? (Never assume an ETV licence transfers; current Balearic rules restrict new ones.) Why is the owner selling, and on what timeline?
After the viewing
Score each property against your original brief the same evening, while impressions are fresh — and before the sunset photos do your thinking for you. If a property survives the checklist and the scoring, that is the moment to involve your lawyer for real due diligence, not after the offer is emotionally made.
If you would rather arrive at viewings with pre-filtered options matched to your brief, that is what our free search provides.