Some property finders offer their services free. Why is that?

There are many companies that set themselves up to sound like property finders, but in fact they are working on behalf of the seller, taking commission from the selling agent or the developer. We work exclusively for the buyer, your interests are our interests, and we aim to secure you the right property at the best possible price. Any discounts available will be passed on to you, so it’s not unusual for the cost of our service to be offset against savings you make elsewhere. Equally importantly, our network of contacts across the region is vast; our search will not be limited to a particular developer or agent. If you were to use a property finder who is affiliated to an agent, you will be missing out on a huge number of potential properties.

We would like to buy a property in Spain, but our knowledge of the language is very limited. Is this a problem?

Not in terms of the actual buying process. Our service is completely bilingual, so we’re on hand every step of the way to provide translation and/or interpretation. We frequently work for clients who have little or no Spanish.

Living in Spain isn’t impossible if you don’t speak Spanish. And the quickest way to pick it up is to live in the country, so you’ll find your language skills make rapid headway. Choosing the right location if you don’t speak Spanish is crucial. In some areas of rural Spain, very little English is spoken, and this can make your first months in the country difficult and isolating. In other parts of (mostly coastal) Spain, English is widely spoken, and it’s possible to get by with very limited Spanish without too much difficulty. Having said that, you will only really come to enjoy Spain at its best when you are able to communicate in the country’s own language. Don’t worry – you’ll pick it up very quickly once you’re here!

What if you’re unsuccessful in finding me a property? Do I still have to pay your fee?

We ask our clients to pay a nominal registration fee (375 Euros plus IVA) at the beginning of our search. This goes some of the way to covering our expenses during the time it takes for us to establish your requirements and conduct the search on your behalf. But it doesn’t cover our time. Only when you have successfully exchanged contracts on the property we find for you do we send you an invoice for the remaining fee. If the purchase is unsuccessful for any reason there may be a fee of 500 Euros plus IVA (read more about this). However, we have made successful purchases on behalf of virtually all our clients – it’s very rare that for some reason there is an unsuccessful outcome.

You say that using your services can save money – how is that the case?

We can save you money in many ways. Most obviously, we will keep the number of trips you need to make to a minimum, saving you money on sometimes fruitless and unnecessary visits to look at property that turns out to be unsuitable.

There are often discounts available on property that aren’t made available to the end purchaser. We will always look for discounts, especially on new developments, and pass them on in full to our clients. Whether there is a discount available or not, we negotiate tenaciously on behalf of our clients, reducing the asking price by anything up to 20% -30%. Our knowledge of the local market, and our contacts within it, make this possible.

In addition to the savings we can negotiate on the property itself, we also aim to save you money by referring you to known specialists, professionals, and other third parties that will offer you better rates than if you approached them direct. And we’ll ensure you avoid the less reputable companies that may exploit your lack of experience.

We also point you in the direction of the best value ways of dealing with bureaucracy – currency transfer, setting up bank accounts, organising insurances etc.

Finally, much of the work we do for you in securing the property is work that you would need to pay an expert for in the normal course of events – due diligence, etc etc.

I’ve heard a lot about ‘land grab’ and other unscrupulous activities related to buying Spanish property.  How can I avoid buying a property that turns out to have underlying problems?

Years ago properties were very often sold by private contract and proper title deeds may never have been drawn up or worse, recorded in the property registry. We will always meticulously check to make sure the title is in order on your behalf, and if not, to see if it can be rectified. We will also check to make sure the property isn’t the subject of some form of listing, or earmarked for a specific use.  We will also check at the Town Hall on the planning situation (at regional level) of neighbouring land.