Looking for Estate agent suggestion /recomendations please. Rural property

Hey folks,

I'm looking for property, both farmland & also a small house in a (ideally mountain) village outside of Granada, in the Aljapurra region (open to other similar regions too). Would love advice on how to go about seeking an estate agent, I'm planning on driving down from London in a few weeks to have a look around. 

Would be keen to line up some property visits.

Thanks!

My advice would be to take only a tentative look at property pictures and details on the net with agents in the area you are considering.  You'll find some agents just by putting the relevant details into your server but do email them to ensure they are actually still trading.  You will not know exactly where you want to look until you've physically searched  and found an area where you'll feel happy living, if that's what you decide to do. 

You really can waste a hell of a lot of time looking at properties in areas you then decide are not for you. We did just this in our excitement to make the 'dream'  feel real.  Eventually, we narrowed the area we liked to within a few square miles and found the place we bought on a 3- week house-hunting trip.  Our one-week and two-week trips just weren't long enough to make a  carefully-cconsidered decision.

Hi Maddie,

Thanks for the advice, I've decided the best to go about it is drive around and spend a couple of nights in differrent areas (I've converted an MPV into a camper) and a get feel for different places. 

I've looked at a few places online but without knowing what an area feels like it did feel like a waste of time. Also, I get the impression that the asking price online is quite inflated & that I'll get a more realistic idea seeing property & making low offers on them to see what responses I'll get back.

I'd like to get an idea of what realistic property market prices are like. This will probably be the hardest thing to do.

some of the propertys advertised are still with 2009 prices.

you can see places at 1200, 800, 850 and if you go to current websites you can see the very same property for 500

whatever price they are advertising for push very hard for lower because 90% of the time they take it.

its a renters market in a lot of areas.

Hi

First of all take your time.  most of the properties for sale have been so for a while and  I dont believe they will be snapped up soon.  Like previous advise - have a good drive around if time permitts and get to know an area first.  Rents are cheap at the minute and if you can do this and get to know the locals you can find out about houses for sale.  There are a lot of brits heading back because of the recession right now and bargains to be had.  be careful with estate agents.  ours (who is no longer in business) was very transperant re. commissions but I know of people whose agents added a massive amount to the asking price.  If you have the money ready you are in a great positionat the minute.  Good luck

Thanks Vanda  for the advise, I'm in no rush to buy, but in a position to snap a bargain if I find one. I have a good idea of what kind of area I'm looking for and also property. Not speaking Spanish is probably going to be the biggest hurdle!

Unfortunately I know of a number of people who have just left in the past couple of years.  One particular friend who if they could have sold - even just enought to pay off the mortage and a bit left over to start again would have done so.  But they had enough so up and offed and left the house with nothing but a couple of thousand and 2 young kids to start again.  Locals got to know the house was empty and have stripped it of everything - absolutely everything.  The bank would not help them and now no one wins.  The house is in a terrible state, open to the elements with no bathrooms, doors, kitchen, nothing of any value left.  If they could've found a buyer in time - that buyer would've got an absolute bargain.  Find your area and ask around.  The people I'm taking about were all British.  It's a rotten way to acquire a house but under the circumstances would have been a good result all round.

nomadicamel:

I run the Propsavvy property website in London and I'm here as these topics are my areas of interest, obviously. 

I appreciate your decision to drive around and spend a couple of nights in differrent areas and finally fix a property. Actually this will help you find the property that best suits you and reasonable for you.

My advice would be, once you find the right property just call upon a Property Agent or Realtor nearby and enquire on the property whether its been tied up with some legal issues or any hoax. Because you will not be told all the legal issues etc by the owner or anyone else. But a property agent will be dealing with all these issues and will be much aware of properties in their area. And also with the agent dealings all the legal policies regarding property buying will be smoothly done, which otherwise can lead to disputes and clashes if there are ditches in the legal procedures when done alone.

Once you have identified a property you like, you can go to the local land registry office and get a nota simple.  This is an abbreviated version of the deed and will have any charges against the property listed on it. The cost is minimal - normally a few euros.  You will also be able to see the local plan for the area at the town hall, just as you can in the UK.  You will then be aware of any  plans for new roads etc.

 Most of our clients are offering 25% below asking price at the moment!

I moved to Spain few years ago and recently began to work for a real estate agency PandOapartments and I have learned that it does not really matter which agency you really pick as they all cooperate more or less and share the celection of the properties. Some teams are just nice to deal with and some are not that nice. Just make sure the agency you are going to deal with has someone speak your language.

Good luck,

Monika