Selling In Spain - Agents or not?

Hello all.

I've had an apartment in San Pedro Del Pinatar since 2006 which my wife and I originally bought off-plan. We get such little use from it that we decided to try and sell it.

The estate agents in the region all seem to have disappeared, though there are one or two "web based" operations that offer to put up a sign in addition to listing the property on their web sites.

At the moment, I am trying to do it all myself, with some help from a local translator who's letting me put her phone number on the "se vende" board, so that I can take enquiries from Spanish people as well as English.

I realise that it's not a great time to be selling and have adjusted my price accordingly, but wonder if this is enough.

Should I be with an agent? Are there any good ones around San Pedro Del Pinatar?

Naturally, I've listed it on eyeonspain, but I don't think that many Brits are buying in Spain at present.

What would you do?

Hi, Yep it is poor time to sell so I reckon that a DIY selling job with a board up is going to be a hit and miss - i.e. is someone passes. Surely you need to spread the word far and wide so an agent and web based marketing is essential I would have thought. So don't  just concentrate locally - there's a whole world to tell !!!

 Hi Eggbilly, I can only comment as a buyer. We bought a property at the tail end of 2008. I did all the research and made a short list on the net. Made arrangements before I went to see properties with the agents. Within 3 days of arriving we had narrowed it down to one. Made a very low offer. However, the agent was fairly sure it would be accepted. By day 6 we had an accepted offer, got the NIE numbers with the solicitor arranging everything and the deposit paid by day 10. We wanted a 6 week completion period which we managed to agree with the vendor and our solicitor dealt with everything. We did not go to Spain to complete. 

I cannot believe without the help of an agent that we would have bought. We certainly would never have done it in that time frame. We wanted various jobs done and again the agent was able to point us in the direction of a builder. We tried ourselves to find one and they were either unable to do the job or were so expensive it was untrue. The agents builder has now done the work and made a stunning job for the amount we paid! Whenever we had second thoughts or doubts we had someone to talk to who would either answer our concerns or direct us on how to find out. We now have a stunning villa at a very attractive price. I doubt without the agents help we would have got this far. From a buyers point of view the agent has not cost us a penny. Guess what, we have told lots of our friends about the incredible service we've had. Trick is to find a good agent! 

Thanks for the comments!

I am advertising the property on it's own web site and on here. It was the advertising that caused me to register :)

That said, I do think I probably need to go through an established local agency. The problem is, they've all gone now I think.

If anyone knows of one local to San Pedro Del Pinatar / Lo Pagan, please let me know.

 There must be Spanish agents still around?  Maybe aiming at a sale to Spanish market would be worth considering as they do seem to be looking at the right price.  You could put it on some free Spanish websites.

I agree. One of the reasons I have asked a Spanish speaking person to take calls on my behalf is that when I first placed it for sale, one of the neighbours offered to show people around.

The problem was that he wouldn't show Spanish people and they are the only ones buying at the moment.