We arrived back in Serón, it was great to be back and now we started the serious job of house hunting ! The amount of ruins for incredible prices was unbelievable, properties ranging from about 60,000 euros to 200,000 euros and it seemed the higher the price the more unliveable the property was ! Just because the website said they were liveable did not mean they were ! It was a real eye opener. As an ex-estate agent I found it totally incredible how the system worked here, at that time there was not rules or guidelines that were visible to protect either the vendor or the purchaser. Now things are slightly better with the paperwork having to be right and a copy held by the agent, although I would be surprised if all the agents do this !
I decided that there was no way being an estate agent in Spain would be an option for me, as I couldn't be unethical, however I have helped friends by renting out their house for them and done property details for others, just to help them out as property details here don't normally tell the buyer anything. That is as far as I am prepared to go.
The properties I liked where mainly what my Dad called 'money pits' because of the shear amount of work they needed ! The properties Barry and Dad liked were in the most part either two small, too far out or just had no soul. It was not a relaxing trip, everyday viewing properties that looked great on the Internet, but in reality were just pits, some with roofs down, animals living in them, basically, what ever you can imagine we saw it !
Then we found it, one we all liked ! It was partly renovated so we could live in it whilst we finished it. I would still be able to put my mark on it. The house is four bedroomed, the ground floor was almost completed just a few bits and bobs to finish off. It had a second floor which was water tight but needed everything else doing. It had just about the right amount of land and a stable/garage which could easily be turned into a apartment for my Dad and Barry's parents to stay in when they visited.
Because we had been looking around so much Barry had noticed that with this agent the price was 20,000 euros more than with other agents, we found out that the difference in price is the difference agents charge in commission. The Vendor tells the agent what the want for the property and the agent put it on at more and the difference is their commission, nice if you can get it !!
Although we all liked the house we were slightly confused by how the house had been left. Imagine, your messiest morning ever and then imagine double that mess, clothes laying about, washing up on kitchen units, food still on the side (growing) ! This is how we found this house, but no-one lived there, it had personal items everywhere, very odd !
The agent made up a story and because we wanted it we choose to believe it, in hind sight a bit daft really, as this was the same agent who told us it never snowed in Serón, even though he knew we had friends here. It does snow and even at that point I knew that and had seen the pictures !
(Note to self just because you want something don't loss sight of the warning signs!)
We made an offer on the house, which was accepted, we drove to Albox to pay the 3,000 euro holding deposit, the agent handed over a receipt, which stated the deposit would be refunded if the vendors pulled out or the paperwork was not correct. They promised they had seen the paperwork and it was all in order.
We instructed a Solicitor in Mojacar, we had heard stories about solictor's in the area may take back handers to get a sale through and the buyer could end up paying fines and taxes further down the line, we didn't want to risk that happening, so went to Mojacar.
Using a solictor not recommended by the estate agent was against everything I knew from my estate agent days. In England I would only use the solictor recommend by the agent as normally the sale goes through quicker and easier. But I was fast learning that property sales in Spain was a totally different ball game !
Back in the Uk, our house wasn't moving, we dropped the price, which got us an offer, but later they backed out.
We received some unexpected money which allowed us to carry on with the purchase. The solicitor gave us a date that all the paperwork would be ready to sign. My great friend agreed to have the girls, so they could keep going to school. Barry and I booked a flight.
Full of expectations and excitement our first stop was Mojacar to sign the paperwork.
The solictor said 'so you are buying a 40 square meter, single storey property with no land ...'
'NO ! No! No! That's the stable !'
She advised us not to touch it with a barge poll !
I was so livid, I am sure I was breathing fire !
How could they have lied, they told us the paperwork was correct ! They lied and now not only had we flown out for nothing, but also they had 3,000 euros deposit .....