What was your chosen path/venture to buying a property in spain?

Hello,

I'm keen to find out your path and venture into looking for a property in Spain. There are key pertinent things which we are now trying to establish and would like to know from your own experiences the following.

1. How did you discover the area you wanted? Was it while on a holiday, generally travelling about, etc?

2.Did you already have an idea of the type of property you were looking for? And if so, were you aware of the average costs before going out there?

2.How did you go about sourcing and making arrangements with property agents? Was it through internet searches, arrangements while actually in the vicinity, other methods?

3.How did you go about organising the visits to places? Did you fly out there for several days and make the most of your visit with lots of organised property viewings and reasearching the areas?

4.Were you uk based at the time or already out there living in spain?

We are in the uk, and although my wife is spanish she isn't well travelled in spain so we only know a couple of areas. We're trying to organise a week out in an area we think will suit our business ideas (either Asturias in the north or Girona in Catalonia). There are probably many other areas of suitablity, however, we only have limited budget and time off work each year so we have to capitalise on our available time out there on every visit.

I've been looking at a few property agent websites and prices dont seem to have changed in two years. Is this just because they dont update the website or are prices still very high and havent come down yet? I hear all this talk of property spiralling downwards in Spain but I've yet to really see it on internet sites.

For example, if I had a 150k budget, according to the prices I've seen I wouldn't even get a run down finca in Catalonia at that price. Whats the situation now?

 If you can answer some or all of the above queries we'd very much be grateful.

Thanks, Steve

Hi, this was our experience

1. How did you discover the area you wanted? Was it while on a holiday, generally travelling about, etc?  We started off in SE France and drove all the way down to the Costa del Sol.

2.Did you already have an idea of the type of property you were looking for? And if so, were you aware of the average costs before going out there?  We knew what we wanted and how much we could afford, prices varied a lot from one area to another.

2.How did you go about sourcing and making arrangements with property agents? Was it through internet searches, arrangements while actually in the vicinity, other methods? I searched the internet for agents and made arrangements with them to view on a specific date.

3.How did you go about organising the visits to places? Did you fly out there for several days and make the most of your visit with lots of organised property viewings and reasearching the areas? Arranged a 2 week trip driving down from Barcelona to Costa del Sol meeting with the agents I'd arranged prior to our departure in areas we'd identified as being of interest to us. We deliberately avoided any cheap trips offered by agents as we wanted to remain as independant as possible.

4.Were you uk based at the time or already out there living in spain? UK based.

I suspect that prices shown on websites are all 'negotiable' at the moment.

Good luck, Poppyseed.

1. How did you discover the area you wanted? Was it while on a holiday, generally travelling about, etc?

Internet then buying trip  + two later trips.

2..Did you already have an idea of the type of property you were looking for? And if so, were you aware of the average costs before going out there?

YES

2.How did you go about sourcing and making arrangements with property agents? Was it through internet searches, arrangements while actually in the vicinity, other methods?

!st did inspection trip - I do not recommend this. Then contacted agent from internet and bought off-plan. did not work out and i lost £2000! Then contacted 4 agents in my area and organised my own trip after which I bought a just finished house in alfaix near mojacar which i love!!

3.How did you go about organising the visits to places? Did you fly out there for several days and make the most of your visit with lots of organised property viewings and reasearching the areas?

Self -organised worked best - did a 5 day visit organised all the appointments myself and it worked well although pretty tiring and i saw a fair number of unsuitable places before faling in love with the one I bought.

4.Were you uk based at the time or already out there living in spain?

UK based - I have owned the house since last summer and am moving out permanently next week!

We are in the uk, and although my wife is spanish she isn't well travelled in spain so we only know a couple of areas. We're trying to organise a week out in an area we think will suit our business ideas (either Asturias in the north or Girona in Catalonia). There are probably many other areas of suitablity, however, we only have limited budget and time off work each year so we have to capitalise on our available time out there on every visit.

I've been looking at a few property agent websites and prices dont seem to have changed in two years. Is this just because they dont update the website or are prices still very high and havent come down yet? I hear all this talk of property spiralling downwards in Spain but I've yet to really see it on internet sites.

For example, if I had a 150k budget, according to the prices I've seen I wouldn't even get a run down finca in Catalonia at that price. Whats the situation now?

I think the advertised prices are unrealistic but the areas in the north may be more stable as there is less demand from sunseekers up there. Girona is I believe a relatively expensive area.

Hmm, it sounds like we should find our agents on the internet, make contact (by phone?) and give them details as you would do if you were buying in uk, then plan a trip and itinery which includes independant travel to view properties which they will arrange appointments for.

Does that sound about right?

I've seen that Girona does seem to be expensive an area to live, but I was considering a visit to Tarragona instead which is in the same province.

Thanks for the replies.

SteveBarbosa

we had an agent set up shop a hundred yards down the road from my business. My wife and i went in to see them, went through various options of apartments in areas we were interested in. Built up a good relationship, cups of coffee etc. Yes, they were new, but very keen, very enthusiastic, and prices were rocketing every month. How could we go wrong?  We watched prices going through the roof for a few months, then went over to have a look at few developments, then put down a deposit on return.The agents then even put us in touch with a uk solicitor dealing with Spanish property.

The agents kept us up to date with progress, told us it was built knee high so far, and all seemed well.  Several months in, a fellow buyer made their own way to the development only to find just rough land, nothing even started. He contacted me and said he wasn't happy with progress. The agents apologised and said they didn't want to worry anyone.

This was the first of many lies that followed. To cut a long story short, the agents were liars, they passed our money on to the developers without even a building license, the site never got built, they transfered us to another development, the developer sold our apartment 'by mistake'  and after about two years further again offered us a relacement half the size, no License of first occupation, no Bank Guarantee, and two years late. We obviously refused to complete on this scam, and have spent over 4 years trying to get our deposit back. Not only was the agent guilty of conning us, so was the UK solicitor they put us in touch with, as was the developer. It was a triangle of lies and deception. We then voiced our concerns to the Spanish lawyer who the UK lawyers had put us in touch with, only to be told '' we think you should complete also''........later denied!

So, we then found sites like this (far to late of course, but this was several years back) and decided to ask another Spanish  lawyer (recomended from people who had used them) what they thought. They were horrified, and said in as many words it's one big set up.  I said  'are you asking me to believe i've been set up by my local freindly UK agent,  a fairly local UK lawyer, a Spanish lawyer, and the developer''.....he said 'yes, that is it'

So here we are, nearly 7 years later and nothing!, no apartment, no returned deposit, just a court case still to come.  We do at least now have a supurb lawyer.

My advice would be, dont use anyone, or believe anything, or take any advice from an agent or lawyer unless you are very very sure that everthing is above board. Never buy off-plan, do everything you possibly can independant. Ask loads of questions on here about every stage, and don't be rushed, however good it seems.

Good luck!

1. How did you discover the area you wanted? Was it while on a holiday, generally travelling about, etc?

We first thought about buying 8 years ago after visiting Benidorm. Hated Benidorm but when on the "woolen blanket" tour which tok in some of the surrounding areas and loved it. We couldn't afford the €50,000 for a 3 bed detached villa with pool and double garage, plus fully furnised and waited a few years (what a mistake ). We did the inspection trip thing with one of the well known companies, saying we wanted to look in the Alicante/ Murcia area and gave some developments we were interested in. Closer to the trip time, the telephone call came that nothing was available in our range and would we want to consider another area? We agreed but had done our research and weren't optimistic.

2.Did you already have an idea of the type of property you were looking for? And if so, were you aware of the average costs before going out there?

We were realistic in our expectations that prices would have risen considerably in the years since first deciding we wanted a property in Spain. We had hoped for a 2 bed apartment, but the main stipulation was that it must be key ready.

2.How did you go about sourcing and making arrangements with property agents? Was it through internet searches, arrangements while actually in the vicinity, other methods?

The dreaded inspection trip arranged at the Royal Armouries in Leeds!!

3.How did you go about organising the visits to places? Did you fly out there for several days and make the most of your visit with lots of organised property viewings and reasearching the areas?

We had no viewing in the first two days of our trip. Those two days were spent with the rep visiting local estate agents, looking in windows and comparing prices. We searched in several of the local Townsto get an idea of te area and prices on offer. We have always been impulsive when buying and if we like something, we buy it (if we can). Tat is what happened with our apartment when we eventually saw it, although we did ask all of the right questions before committing and spoke to our independent solicitor.

4.Were you uk based at the time or already out there living in spain?

UK

We did a lot of research and didn't hand over any money for almost 4 weeks after agreeing to purchase, until our solicitor had checked the contracts. Unfortunately we bought at the peak, which showed when we tried to get a valuation as that peak had already started to drop. We still bought and after a little bit of grief towards the end of the process, we are happy with our puerchase. Again, I think it was easier for us as we had read all the horror stories and bougt key ready so there were no worries about the build falling behind.

At the end of the day, keep your wits about you when buying and don't take anything you are told by the sales staff as a truth unless you can verify what you are being told. So long as you are not lulled into a false sense of security, you should be fine.

Mark

Steve, can I offer a few words of advice based on my experience. Firstly, do LOTS of research. Take your time and don't rush or allow yourself to be pushed into, anything before you are absolutely ready and make sure you are armed with as much knowledge as possible.  Visit the area you like several times and if possible stay in the area for a holiday to really get a feel for the place, especially in winter.

Choose the agents you deal with carefully. They will all tell you wonderful things about themselves and promise the earth - most of them lie and have their own agenda. Contact lots of different agents and monitor everything they say and how they respond to you and try to get references or previous peoples experience with them - see the Spanish Estate Agents section in this forum. Be aware that many agents, particularly the English or UK based ones add their 'commission' on top of the price that the vendor wants for the property. The amount that is added on varies enormously and I have found some agents adding as much as 20,000 to 30,000 Euros (also covered on this forum)

So, expect to see the same property at varying prices through different agents and negotiate hard, especially in the present economic climate. I personally think you are better off dealing with local Spanish agents rather than the English ones that advertise widely on the web as the local agent is more likely to get the property at the 'local' price whereas the UK agents have to add their commission on top as explained earlier. There are 2 things that agents hate: you talking to or seeing properties with other agents and you having your own lawyer.

Which brings me to the legalities, make sure you know how the purchase process works, that the property is legal, the implications of paying 'black money’ and under-declaration of price etc etc. INSIST on using your own independent lawyer.

Spain is a wonderful country in many ways and has a great deal to offer, but equally, it has many difficulties that need to be overcome, particularly when buying property, most of which have been discussed in this forum. Ask lots of questions and, hey, don't let this put you off - just make sure you leave your rose tinted specs at home when you come to view property and make sure you go in with your eyes wide open. Good luck!

1. How did you discover the area you wanted? Was it while on a holiday, generally travelling about, etc?

On Holiday. We came to Duquesa three years ago and stayed in a friend’s apartment and just fell in love with this area. Close to Gibraltar and also close to Marbella, with NO noisy aircraft going over had at any point. The main Airport in Malaga is just under an hour’s drive away, especially if you use the toll motorway.

2.Did you already have an idea of the type of property you were looking for? And if so, were you aware of the average costs before going out there?

No! We started just looking in the windows of local estate agents to get an idea of prices and then went back home to the UK. We spent a few months looking on the internet and also considered our maximum budget that we would NOT go over and whether or not we could afford to purchase the property, which include the purchase price and purchase costs, AND pay the bills, without relying on ANY rental income (very, very important).

2.How did you go about sourcing and making arrangements with property agents? Was it through internet searches, arrangements while actually in the vicinity, other methods? 

On subsequent visits we went in ALL of the local agents and had a chat, then just gave them and idea of what we wanted. They asked us if we would consider off-plan properties and we said we just wanted key ready that means when you are viewing a property, you are standing in the property that you may consider buying. (Again very, very important)

3.How did you go about organising the visits to places? Did you fly out there for several days and make the most of your visit with lots of organised property viewings and researching the areas?

Yes! We arranged our holidays so that we had seven to ten days at a time, then one day we would look at a maximum of five or six properties with one agent, then do the same the following day with another agent, then have a day off, and then repeat the process, Each time we viewed a few properties we made a short list that night of any that we would want to see again,

Then we came home and again did more research, looked at more properties on the internet and went out again twice before we decided to purchase. During our visits and research on the internet we pretty much looked at or viewed all the properties available in our chosen area. It was a total of six months before we choose to purchase.

4.Were you uk based at the time or already out there living in spain?

We were UK based on both occasions we purchased. We currently still own both properties in Spain and are in the process of selling the UK property. We have successfully rented the 1st property to a great tenant and now live in our 2nd purchase.

So far what EVERYONE has said is absolutely spot on advice, don't rush, take your time, visit loads of different areas and different estate agents, DON'T hand over any money to anyone at any point until you have found the area you like, the property that ticks all the boxes, and as already said, the Lawyer has checked the purchase contract and you have received an English translation and both you and the Lawyer are happy, and at that point do not hand over anything more than 6000€ as a deposit, which should be given to your lawyer who will hold onto this money until the completion date.

Make sure that you have written into the purchase contract the time scale for you to conduct your snag list and also the time scale that the owner/promoter has to complete the snag list. I cannot stress these two points enough. Even though our lawyer said that there was ‘no need as it is common practice in Spain that such is done without this’ - Get it written into the contract. I had it written into the purchase contract that:

1)  We have six weeks to conduct the snag list which must be given to our lawyer on the last day.

2) That the promoter has three months to complete the snag list, once they have received said list.

Rubbish advice, again.  What you need to do is just come over to Spain, meet someone in a bar and buy their house.  Takes all the hassle out of going round estate agents and looking at the same old houses for sale over and over again.  Every bar you go into will have someone who has a place for sale.  By the way, if you're in the Pint Depot at El Galan next week, I'll be there and I have a wonderful flat for sale.  I promise it's all legal so you don't need a lawyer.  Slip me 20 grand and I'll declare I flogged it to you for 70 grand, that way neither of us will have to pay too much tax on it.  If you insist on a lawyer for the conveyancing ( and the Spanish never bother) then I'll happily recommend a good one that I know. 

If you think the above is far fetched, it has been known to happen.  One story (don't know whether it's an urban myth or not) concerned a guy who was coming out of an estate agents and someone asked him if he was looking for property.  After a coffee and brandy or two in the local bar, a deal was struck and a quarter of a million euros was agreed on a lovely plot of land near the beach at the south of Torrevieja.  The house was duly built and then the local council came round and asked why he was building a house on land that was designated for agricultural use only.  Down came the house, out came the sob stories.

Moral:  Do your homework and use a good lawyer.  Oh, and I really do have a nice flat for sale if anyones interested.  Going to Spain next weekend to collect (again) the deeds after over 6 years.  Why again?  Some of you may know I collected them last year and all done and dusted EXCEPT the deeds supplied by good old Aroca solicitors turned out to be illegal as my nationality was not stated on them.  Brill, huh?  New moral:  make sure you get a decent, highly recommended, lawyer.

Well, I lost the momentum for a few weeks there and hadn't visited this site, tut tut!

Lots of useful information posted - thanks.

It does sound frightening, and even though I have a spanish wife I still feel we're in the lap of the gods. My wife is too trusting of even her village folk whereas I dont' trust them - I can even read their faces at times and I don't get good vibes when I hear one story of goodness, and subsequently form a negative opinion after I 'see' something else later on. Too hard to explain in  text, but you may gather what I'm on about.

Anyway, my wife has instructed me to organise a holiday week in spain with a visit to several properties for a 'initial feeling' on the state of affairs out there. The time of the holiday must be end of March and I am thinking of going to Tarragona as a start. Now I need to locate the agents, get wife to speak to them, then get flights booked.

My wife wants to move to spain this year (even if its to live at her Dad's house), but I feel we should save while we can and take our time just like a few of you have posted.

This business about getting a good lawyer - how do you ensure this before the start? It must be a case of taking a gamble unless you are in 'the know'. Maybe if you are already living out in spain you get to know some recommendations.

Ah well, I feel the pain that some of you have endured. Still waiting for deeds after 6 years! Still trying to get a deposit back after x years! Why oh why am I going in to this?!!!

"Hold on tight" I think the saying goes! ;-)