This question was asked was on here in the past.

I just thought i would share the hassle i am having with a buyer that didn't take my advice.

I had a client that fell in love with a property and his wife was even planning their wedding in the new property.

They made an offer and it was accepted but would not pay a deposit.

I told the client that i could not control the property as it was multi agency.

They went back to the UK.

Another agent then had a viewing on the property at the weekend and his clients made a higher offer,which was also excepted.

His clients paid the deposit.

I then informed my client that it had been sold to another party.

He was fuming and his wife distraught.....he blamed me!!!!! i reminded him that i had told him to pay the deposit and also that the property may go to someone else......his reply was "He thought it was agent speak and didn't belive me"

I have received an email from him stating that he is suing me,the lawyer,the vendor,the new buyers and will stop the sale at any cost!!!

I may use this a case in point in future....he wont stop the sale as a verbal agreement means nothing here...it's all about the deposit.

Now, not only do i lose the sale i get a whole load of grief to go with it.....never pay a deposit eh?????

I can't believe anyone would be so daft as to spend money suing everyone involved but NOT spend money paying a deposit. Hopefully, once they've thought about it and actually researched the issue to see that the advice you gave them was good and true ...they won't take the matter any further as they won't gain anythiing from it. As you say....a good case to use as future reference!

Hi, Interesting post and something unknown to me.

As a person who may be buying a property in the next few years, could you answer a few questions for me.

Once a deposit has been paid is the property basically yours and taken off the market completely,  or like in the U.K, can someone else come along after that and offer more, up until the contracts are signed. If  the property is listed with several agents, do they also take it off the market.

Just good to know all this when the times comes to buying. Thank you  Karen

In Spain once both parties have signed the compraventa (the agreement to buy and to sell) both are committed.  I believe that either party can even force the other to proceed, but for sure, and the most usual, if the buyer pulls out he/she forfeits the deposit, if the buyer pulls out they must pay a sum equal to the deposit as compensation.

I infinitively much more sensible system than in UK where each party and can play silly games.

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 An article on the importance and need of the deposit contract:

Deposit Contract

Published on 11/15/2006 2:40:06 PM in Buying Process

Thanks for your replies.  Prefer this method than that of the U.K.

As with all business dealings - negociate.When I bought here in Spain the (selling) agent wanted 5000 euro deposit.

We haggled the deal and I signed his contract paying a 1000 e deposit.

Could somebody tell me what a reasonable time to complete a property purchase in Spain is seen as ?

Also, I understand that once the buyer and seller sign the "compraventa" for the purchase the buyer is obliged to buy or lose his deposit, but what about the seller. If they get a higher offer in and take it, what happens then ? Presumably they have to pay the original buyer the equivalent of the deposit ? But how would you enforce that if the owner no longer lives in Spain, can you stop the sale to the new buyer and legally force the seller to sell to you ?

Regards,

Mark .Y.  

Hi,

Very interesting info on here and certainly very useful for anyone travelling and interesting in purchasing properties in Spain.

I think they have answered their own question by admitt they ''thought it was agent talk'' his fault=he is to blame.

I wouldn't worry about it!

Have a good day,

Gina

 Not sure if you can force the seller to sell to you but, if you have paid a deposit, that should be the end of it.  If the seller then drops out, they are liable to compsenate you for the deposit and it should be written into the contract.  If you put a €3,000 deposit down, you should receive €6,000 back if the seller defaults.

Also, from what I have experienced, the compraventa contains a date; by which the deal should be done. Failure to do so, by either party, would allow the other party to claim. If seller fails, return deposit to buyer plus the same amount as compensation. if buyer fails, seller to keep the deposit..

My experience, not guaranteed fact.

OK, thanks, just wondered how you might enforce that if the seller does not live in Spain.

Mark .Y.

I would think that an embargo would be put on the owners bank account or on the property.

Not 100% sure though.

We put offer on a property that we were assured by Agent in Pego that all was Legal and all papers in place for a speedy sale, soon as offer accepted we get email from Agent asking for 3000 euros to remove it from the market , this demand has no Legal foundation and no one should pay it , if the house hasnt sold in 3 years then its hardly going to suddenley sell now one has made an offer , also if anyone liable to offer more then good luck to them as its not worth a cent more .

Anyway , once we started with our Lawyer checking everything he strongly suggests a 100000 retention as it soon transpires the property does not have an up dated Castasdo which includes new seperate 2 story building and a second patio !

Agent says 1000 retention is sufficient as waiting for new Castrado could take years, yeah, and by the time it does come the new owner could be in for an expensive shock as happed to friends of ours after they owned their property for 5 years , costs them over 100000 euros to sort out , something we have no intention of gpoing through !

this so called `speedy sale` as Agent assured us is now in its 5th month , we have had thousands in euros sitting in a euro account doing nothing when we hoped to have a house months ago!

Then Agent suggested we were being `abusive` as we had not signed a Contract , of course we havent, we need to know, as does our Lawyer that the bloody property is Legal and ready to be sold with ALL PAPERWORK complete with no nasty surprises!

No reply , we have now informed our Lawyer that we will only go ahead for 20000 euros reduction , this will free Vendor of retention and cover us for possible future expensive problems , also as prices fallen even more since we made offer then we think, as do many othres who know the saga including our Lawyer that we should make a lower offer as its taken so long to even get this far !

My advice is to any one thinking of buying , especially in Alicante area , find the property you like, DO NOT be cajoled into paying anything to take it off the market, any good Lawyer will tell you this is NOT a Legal requirement , also insist that ALL the relevant Paperwork is sent to your Lawyer to check the Property is free of all charges etc, its fully Legal and that searches are all as should be , yoour are paying your Lawyer NOT the `AGENT` ! once your Lawyer is fully satified that all is ok only then is it wise to pay a Deposit and sign a Contract , this way you will not have the problem of getting back any money the `Agent` is holding and you havent lost a lot of money if the sale goes tits up as many usual do !!

DO NOT believe an Agent when they tell you `oh yes its all ready for a quick sale as Vendor wishes for , its quite amazing that so many `Agents` seem to have property on their books , some for 3 years and more that are NOT ready for a sale and its the `AGENTS` job to make sure of this , be very amazed at how many simply do not do their job professionaly and with complete honesty ( no surprise there I can tell you ) also , its June 2012 , how come they are not doing their jobs in an effidient and professional manner , especially , even in this dire financial economic enviroment some are still adding 10% as commision which is still hidden in the asking price , our experienced advice is when considering an offer , look at lots of properties , make a sensible judgement as to what its really worth , then knock off 10% , after all why should the buyer pay the commision when its not you selling , then knock off what is relevant in the present market forces , if they dont drop, dont buy , other places to see anyway.

We all hear how some Vendors get crazy silly low offers , well its a taste of their own medicine after years of asking silly extremley overpriced asking prices , most want someone to come along and either pay what Vendors hope for to bump up their Pension Funds or pay off their debts , not going to happen , look at websites, look at the prices , some same as they were 5 years ago, sheer greed and those Vendors not serious will never sell , no matter how lovely they and we may think their property is , after all when one buys in UK one doesnt pay the Agent to remove from the market so why should one do it in Spain, its not as if there are queues of people out buying is there , even here in UK where we dont have the serious problems as in Spain!

Saw one property we liked today , funny its now on for 235000 euros, 3 months ago it was 190000 !! why on earth do they think that we are all stupid , prices still going down ,  certainly not the other way round!!

We still wait to hear if yet another attenpt to purchase is going to be another waste of time and money on Lawyers fees , by the way, we offered a very reasonable price , however , this was back in February , we would have not been bothered about falling prices as we are buying for the very long term , its the less than truthfulness we hate , that and the way `Agents` feel they are doing us a favour !  Such a shame Vendors are not being well served as clients , its a well known fact that as most purchasing progesses the majority collapse when its clear that there are problems with the Castrado , this only comes to light after most potential purchasers have already parted with a deposit and possibly the demand for money from `Agent` ro `remove` from the market , again, one does not have to pay this and its not quite easy to get it returned  unless you insist your Lawyer holds all deposits etc in a holding Account , that way any funny business can be resolved with out loss to the purchaser !

`Agent wanted to know everything about our financial business, nothing to do with them , we are simply trying to buy a property which they have on their books , just amazing that still these parasites are screwing up sales , no wonder its putting so many people off at the moment .

If this sale falls through we will have to give up , too expesive paying Lawyers for nothing in the end , not our Lawyers fault at all , he simply is doing a damn good job protecting our interests , pity most `Agents` cant do same for their long suffering Clients who are probably wondering why their properties arent selling , not all `Agents` faults though ,lots of owners do work , Register the extensions etc with the Town Hall but fail to have their Castrado`s up dated , thats wher serious problems occur , dont listen to `Agents` who say `oh that wont be a problem` it can be a very serious and expensive problem , especially if you cant be there to sort it all out !!  its still amazing what one learns and better forearmed is better than not , leaning more each time , lets hope we still get this property but not holding our breath, asked Lawyer to wrap it all up and send us Invoice for what we owe him should `Agent` / Vendor not recognise they have a problem that they cant expect a purchaser to sort out after the event!!

Best of Luck all who are looking , remember , be wary , ask everything, not right answers , walk away !!

 You could take the previous posters(si's partner) advice or you could do it the right way.

1. find the property you want.

2.agree a price.

3,sign a reservation contract to set the price and completion date.

4.lodge a deposit with your solicitor that will remove the property from the market,attach the transfer slip or receipt to the contract to activate it.

5.Get your lawyer to do all searches and request Notia Simple.

6.When and only when you and your legal advisors are totally happy go to notary and pay over the deposit and completion funds.

It is really that simple on an urban property,if you have any problems throughout the process the lawyer will return the deposit and the contracts are dependant on due dilligence so you have nothing to lose by paying a deposit.

This is based on resale property.

To answer the question and this is from experience not hearsay...you will find it very hard to get the 6,000€ compenstion from the vendor,yes you can embargo but that is a long process.

I refused to give a set of keys back once after a vendor caused the sale to fail,i told them to send the buyer 6,000€ and i would return the keys,they changed the locks and told me to f**...forget it.

My opinion is based on 52 cases a year and not on "bloke in the pub said"........

Anyone can make an offer on anything,with the Spanish system it's "money where your mouth is"

Of course you can do it without a deposit but if it gets sold during your process or the day before you complete,i can guarantee,speaking from experience, you won't be happy,

Georgia, why would any one lodge a Deposit with anyone other than the potential Pyrchasers Lawyer , for quite sensisible reasons that their money is protected , would you leave a deposit on a house other than with your Lawyer ?!!

 The deposit is lodged with the Purchasers lawyer as a sign of good faith and untill due dilligence is completed,then and only then will it be passed to the vendors solicitor or vendor direct once the compraventa is complete.

Considering the deposit is paid on the completion of a reservation contract,it is a show of intent from the buyer.

I think that is what you both asked?

 you will get control of the deposit,after due dilligence.

As soon as check have been completed,it gets released to you,as i have said.

This whole forum debates transparency and correct procedure....would you pay a deposit to a builder untill your solicitor has checked the paperwork.....hopefully not.....not these days anyway.

surely you cannot debate this??