Purchasing property in the Spanish Countryside between Alicante and Murcia

Hi Everyone

I moved to Spain 3 years ago and purchased a new build property in a lovely village called Dolores. The Agent wo will remain nameless informed me it was 100% legal and they would also organise legal representation. A long story however to summerise, the property I purchased was totally illegal and the Solicitor wasnt qualified in fact acted as an interpreteur. The rason I´m telling you this is that we my wife and I dont want people to go through the pain that we went through. If you need any advice then I would like to think Im in a strong position to give you the facts.

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Hi

Name and shame them is the only thing to do!

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quote LAM1963  "Name and shame them is the only thing to do!"

By all means do! - But beware, there are 2 sides to every story.

I have seen this happen on other forums and often the namer and shamer had twisted or only told half the story.

I think it is good to have such a facility to highlight bad agent´s they harm my profession, however, and I know this from my own experiences, it is not always the agents fault!

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In reply to Gillespie

I agree that there is always two sides to a story but if the you believe in what you say and can back up what you say then go ahead and name and shame. 

As you have said if the bad agents are removed and we are left with genuine agents all the better for all buyers in a consumer market where it is believed that the bubble is bursting.

I agree it is not always an Agents Fault but an agent is there to Guide and communicate to completion, hence why an agent is used and if communication breaks down then the agent being the so called professional should have the experience to back the customer 100% and the conviction to do it.

Another saying is "That the customer is always right"

This is no reflection on yourself i believe from the threads and replys that you have written that you would back your customer 100% and if the developer was slightly dodgy or involved in illegal build you would have nothing to do with them.

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True LAM1963, as said ,if one can prove the agents negligence we must do so.

Agents can be let down by vendors and developers without any power to change that, but a good agent will always keep the buyer informed at all times and should not be afraid to cancel a sale in the interests of the buyer.  In fact that´s a good motto LAM, I might use that in my advertising   Seriously though  I do stay away from anything remotely suspicious, there are plenty of projects and properties out there with correct paperwork.

I believe that most agents would prefer to do a good job for the buyer rather than a bad one, it´s human nature to seek compliments and praise, and estate agents are human.  However it is the ignorant or inexperienced agents that tend to get it wrong then hide in a hole rather than put it right.  Most bad agents don´t know how to put things right, if they did know how they would, if only to get praise.  It´s easier to sleep at night when you have happy clients.

As for the larger companies here in Spain, they may have 20 years in the profession but the staff they employ are often novices, usually only been in Spain for a few weeks or months, so the big boys are only as good as the staff who tour with the clients. Not good for the profession in my opinion.

My policy is that all buyers become my neighbours, I will see them many times after they have moved to Spain, so I would much prefer them to buy me a drink than tip one over my head. 

Seems we agree Lam1963 in honesty and integrity.  I only sympathise with good agent´s who are badly let down by a developer or a vendor.

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Oh BTW, add to that list of people that let down the estate agents, Banks not responding to phone calls, valuers who do not turn up 3 times in a row to value for mortgages so the clients is screaming to know if they have a mortgage in place or not, Iberdrola who take 7 months to connect a clients electricity.  the water company who takes the clients meter away while the clients are in the UK and have not payed their bill who then arrive in Spain at mid-night and come to my house and insist I get their water back on NOW!!!!!   Clients solicitors who blame me for not supplying documentation, yet when I make a suprise call to their office I find it on their desk unopened for 2 weeks!!

Telefonica who never turn up when one is waiting with clients.  Kitchen fitters who cause more damage than an earthquake (clients choice of fitter not mine) but my fault anyway!!  Developers who do not finsh snagging lists despite a million call a day from me. 

The list goes on and by now, you all get the idea and are begining to pick up the phone and ring your agent with sympathy and flowers from interflora........ no need to do that,  just buy us a drink.....mines a large Glenlivet .....no ice...ta!

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Hi from what you have said it is a shame that i never met you as an agent,  i think the problem today is that we all expect possibly to much from people. I have a business in England and know how customers are so when i become the customer i expect the same from my supplier.

Quality Assurance in England " As long as shit is produced consistantly it is a quality standard" I believe in Spain the standard as to be watered down verbally

Back to the Glenlivet

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lemongro

That must be truly horrific for you.

I have just posted on another thread about the illegal builds in Catral CB.

1,200 homes have now been given demoliton orders, all due to a corrupt Mayor who handed out building permits to greedy builders like he was handing out sweets.

It's always the poor innocent buyer that loses out in this situation.

What is the outcome of your story?

It will be of interest to many forum members.

Kind regards

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Same thing happens in inland Almeria,

I have a good friend there who builds around 3 houses a year, well built and always on time.

He get´s his planning permissions and building licenses and does the whole thing properly.  However I had just sold one of his houses to a client when the townhall revoked all building licenses issued over the past 12 months.

I had to react quickly and put my client into another property he was OK.  But my poor friend (the builder) is about to go bankrupt because he will recieve no income until the investigation into the mayor is concluded.

The way I see it my friend did everything right and it appears the local mayor was the villain.

The Catral issue along with others is not always the builders fault and neither is it the selling agents.  The situation is serious enough for MEP´s from the UK and mainland Europe to be looking into it on behalf of foreign buyers. 

The townhalls are probably the key to the issue, and much needs to be done to clean up the local politicians act.   In the meantime a corrupt mayor and planning officer can issue a couple of dodgy licenses to a few friends and all of the developers in the whole area can be the victims by a blanket revoke of all building until a lenghty investigation aquits them.

So it´s not just the poor old UK buyer that suffers, it´s all the players, developer, agents, buyers, banks etc.

What I´m trying to say is spare a little of the sympathy for other innocent parties, a buyer may loose a few grand but the builder could loose his house and his wife, as is the case of my friend.

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First of all, many commiserations to all who have fallen into this trap.  Bad solicitors seem a constant theme on these threads.

However, they are being called "illegal".  Surely they can't be illegal if IVA has been paid?  The Spanish government has taken tax off you for that property.  Isn't someone, somewhere responsible for accounting where this tax comes from?  If the Spanish government is saying that have taken tax from something they knew was illegal, then they need to be taken to court for raising money by false pretences.  I would suggest all those who are in this position should write to their MEP, their local council, the local government office and anyone else you can think of. 

It really makes you wonder just who is responsible for all this.

 

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Fibby;
I think it was Catral that was featured on Selling Houses Abroad last night.

LAM & Gillespie;
Yes, the general public are a nightmare, I'm glad I'm not one of them!

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