Can you recommend Vincent Real Estate, Benijofar?

I would like to know of your experiences with this agent. 

So far I have heard good things.  I am just about to buy an apartment through them and need to part with a deposit......need I say more.

Thanks

Elena

best to pay your deposit to your lawyer.

Yes have to agree with Faro on that.  Have heard good and bad there is a thread on the forum somewhere about them Perhaps someone might be able to help you try doing a forum search.  But good luck with your purchase.

Pat

In the current market there is every reason not to pay over a reservation deposit or enter into a private contract - you don't have to!

You can simply go to completion once your lawyer has undertaken all searches and hand over all monies there and then.

Make sure you find a good local lawyer that is not in any way associated or recommended by the agent and make sure you can communicate freely with this lawyer with direct phone and email access.

Also remember in Spain there are no laws and you can lay down the law on this deal to provide yourself with maximum protection right up to completion.

I would rather run the risk of losing the property than losing my deposit or ending up in litigation.

 Hi, in general there is NO need to involve a lawyer in Spain, as long as you buy from a trustworthy source it's just money spent for nothing. We bought our property through the agent, they organized the notary, translation, checked the deeds and even contracted electric and water supply. 

Hi Faro,

I can understand anybody's hesitation to hand over a deposit re. the purchase of a property, but how do you expect to secure it. I think it works both ways and I also think it depends where you are and how well you know the estate agents and lawyers and this takes time and knowledge, which if you don't live within the area or country of your prospective purchase can be very difficult. I am selling my apartment and have been doing so since April, and believe me there are as many sharks amongst the buyers never mind estate agents and lawyers. However because we live here and know the area and the local estate agents we are very much clued up on what goes on in and around the area. We have had so called prospective  buyers who want our property taken off the market  because they want it but don't even have the money to buy it.  Then you have the time wasters who have nothing better to do so they will have an evening out being ferried around by car looking into other people's property. Then there are the clients who come back to your home when the estate agents are not around and make a ridiculous offer for your property. One of the questions we get asked regularly is if we are going back to the UK because they think they can get a really knock down price for it. However we are not, and are not desperate so we can wait it out. There are people now who live here who are not estate agents but are looking for properties to sell on to people who are living in countries where there are problems (I am not going to mention any nationalities because I don't want to cause offence) and they buy and then sell on at an over inflated  price to the person who is desperate to leave his/her country. I do agree however that lawyer is the one to pay deposit to, providing you know your lawyer well enough to do so.

Agents - definitely best not to trust them!

Lawyers - if you don't speak the lingo and know the law then find a local lawyer and negotiate on the fee if need be. If selling then I would go along with no lawyer but to buy I think for most that's a risky strategy.

Deposit - if vendor or vendor lawyer has paperwork in order and buyer has cash then you can be before notary in no time at all. A big problem these days is availability of mortgage and that's another reason not to pay deposit becuase you might not get a mortgage!

Alternatively ignore my advice and join the litigation queue!

My Agent spent the 10% deposit I gave him .... nightmare .... luckily, for me,  the vendor agreed to complete with the Agent owing him the balance.  Don't know if they ever got it back?

Thus, i would never trust an agent with the deposit again.

Oh and my Spanish lawyer was invaluable in sorting this mess out.
 

the problem is agents are totally unregulated and many spend deposits or take their commission upfront and then if for some reason deposit needs to be returned it's gone or at best we have what you would call teeming and lading.

I merely tell it as it is and I know there are one or two good agents out there but why run the risk?

Can you not pay into Escrow in Spain?

Escrow does not really exist. I have tried using on one or two occassions but Spanish lawyers would appear to have difficulty understanding the concept.

Another problem in Spain is no use is made of undertakings between solicitors as you do in the UK.

Spain is a frontier country and there are no laws and legal solutions of other countries do not work.

I know we are a bit off thread here, but I am concerned that there is repeated advice on the forum not to pay a deposit to secure a property.

I don't know of any agent who will take a property off the market without having a deposit.  If you were the seller would you want your property off the market for months and then the buyer just disappears?  Faro talks about going quickly to the Notary but this is not always possible - we managed to complete for a client last week after the bank messed about and took 9 weeks to do a valuation for their mortgage.  Even then the seller's lawyer tried to cancel the Notary the day before completion because they hadn't done all the checks on the property they were supposed to do.  It only went through because we had done all the checks and could prove that to everyone's satisfaction.

We ask for 3,000€ deposit and it protects both sides.

claire T,

Yes, i am hearing what you are saying.  But, unfortunately, as i said earlier, my Estate Agent managed to spend the 10% deposit i left, as advised, by my lawyer,  before completion.  So, it would make me very wary to leave a substantial deposit again.

Hi TP1 - I do understand, the bad practice (ie criminal practice) of some agents means no-one will trust any of us now. 

Large deposits are usually only asked for on off-plan properties and 3,000€ is usually what is required to reserve a resale.  You should not part with any money without a reservation contract, which proves that you have handed the money over.

And I do agree that a good lawyer is essential. 

Thanks everyone for your messages. 

I think the best thing to do is research, research research and trust your instincts!!!!

The agent I am buying through has received nothing but good comments on forums like this and I have spoken to two solicitors who have used them and found them to be professional.

If I dont pay a deposit I will loose the apartment for sure.  (As Im not a cash buyer). Sometimes you have to have a little trust and just cross your fingers that all will be ok.  It is a risk, but I dont want to loose my apartment.  Ive been searching for a bargain since the new year and have missed out on 2 other properties due to my cautiousness.

The cheap ones are going fast and I cant wait to be back on the spanish property ladder! 

The government should change the law and regulate better, then only the serious agents will remain!

I was gazumped years ago here when after two months of going through a sale the seller put the price up £10,000!  Why cant we or Spain get it right.  Surely its not that difficult!

Hasta pronto espana, te hechas de menos!