Costahouse.com Estate Agents, Benalmadena

Has anyone had any dealings with this co/Terrence/Terry McKinley?

His web site looks very good, but I see some of the properties for sale mention dates that are very out of date.

I always like to know in advance who I am dealing with!

(Lots of info on Google of properties he is selling, plus also mentions that he is based here and in N.Ireland and services both the Brit and N.Ireland market)

Just looking for a heads up that he is a professional and legal and we are not going to regret dealing with him.

Never heard of him - but in Spain that could be a positive!

Does he have an office?

He does not seem to describe to multi-listing systems and he only seems to be listing about 70 properties in total.

I recognise the name of lawyer he details on his site - he's ok - but if buying I would suggest you find your own lawyer just to make sure he is independent etc

Are you buying or selling?

If buying also never hand over any money to an agent. Insist on your lawyer dealing with all money.

Hi Faro,

Is there a safer way of dealing and keeping track of the money intended for a house purchase, rather than having your  Lawyer deal with it  ??

In our particular case our original Spanish Lawyer will not assist us in tracing our money, which he paid to the Developer, consequently we have no idea into which Bank or which Bank Account our money was deposited in, in 2004/5 

Generally money should be paid into the bank account as stipulated in the contract and you would keep the bank stamped reeipt or whatever.

Another method which is commonly used is to pay by bankers draft (cheque bancario) made payable to the party as named in the contrcat and also a copy attached to the contract.

It sometimes done differently depending on whether new/off-plan or resale and if off-plan then your lawyer should make sure to collect the bank guarantee.

The problems many encountered were that deposits were paid sometimes to agents in UK and it's always questionable where this money went and if it was ever paid into bank accounts.

The problem is further compounded by the high burden of proof required by the Spanish courts .....

But your Spanish lawyer must surely know to whom he paid the money. I'm guessing he was not independent and probably in cahoots with the developer and by not co-opertaing he is messing up your case ..... it's just an endless uphill battle!

Susan, if you are looking for a trustworthy company in the Benalmadena area let me know. I would strongly recommend using the people we used. We are now personal friends and I can vouch for their integrity 100%. Also they only take you to properties that match your requirerments (i.e. they put some work in beforehand). We tried using some people that took us to completely inappropriate properties because they had not done their due diligence.

Let me know if I can be of help.

Dave

Thanks Faro.  We are now looking at a ready built townhouse rather than a plot (on which to build).

Terry seemed very on the money and I guess if we spoke to someone who had used him, we might go ahead. (But our plans have since changed, so we have not been back to him.)

Re the money/deposit - we are hoping our (newly found) lawyer will take the deposit into her account, rather than the vendors, as there may be issues ahead with Escritura/legalities etc. We don't want to lose a cent, so this seems the best option.

Thanks for othe reply re Benalmadena based property agents. Will let you know if we start looking in that area.

Thanks again.

SJ