I was involved in a bizarre situation last week. A client of mine, let´s call her Mrs. Smith, responded to a property advertisement on the internet for a 3 bed property for sale in Marbella , priced at €195,000. Another Costa del Sol property agent had advised me that he was dealing directly (and exclusively) with a local bank that had repossessed the property and that he had been asked by the bank to find a buyer within an agreed timescale of 3 weeks, of which there were 7 days remaining when my client took a look at the property.Of course, my client feel in love with this distressed property in Marbella , and a deal was agreed at the asking price. We faxed through all the necessary paperwork to the bank and advised them that we had taken a reservation deposit……..and heard precisely nothing back from them. We followed up with several phone calls over the next 48 hours, but nobody within the bank with any power to sign off the paperwork was ever available to talk to us or ever returned our calls. After the weekend we then made further efforts to make contact with the bank, and all the while Mrs. Smith was becoming increasingly frustrated and concerned that she may be in danger of losing her bargain property in Spain . But how could she lose it? The agent was operating under an exclusive agreement with the bank, so nobody else could surely arrange viewings or reservations to beat our client to the sale. But the silence continued past the expiry of the period of exclusivity, and we then received a call from one of the administrators within the bank to ensure us that the property had actually been sold. There was no explanation, no apology, no nothing. My client was distraught and very, very angry. We have since discovered exactly what happened. It seems that the details of the distressed property in Marbella were circulated to the staff of the bank as part of a regular newsletter, and at fairly late notice, a bank employee decided that he wanted to take a look at the property for himself. So during the same weekend when my client was panicking about losing the property that she had reserved in good faith, the guy from the bank was inspecting the property and securing the deal. And the reason for the delay? The buyer from the bank had to arrange his flights to Spain and was struggling to get the time off to make the trip. You see, this wasn´t a bank in Spain messing everyone around. No, no – this was a highly reputable British banking institution with an offshore division here on the Iberian peninsula. It seems that bad manners can be found everywhere. Related Posts Repossessions in Spain – worth the fuss?? Repossessions in the Spanish property market Telefonica – What´s the Problem?
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Spanish Property Buyers Lose Out to Bank Staff!
The Council of Ministers once again focused its attention on those social groups most affected by the economic crisis and those in a more severe situation of social vulnerability. Therefore, approval… [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
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The Fight against Poverty – Government Agreements
Even with the current economic downturn there are many many readers interested in Andalucia. January and February stats showed more than 43.000 uniques visitors reading a total of 217.000 pages.
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Stats 2010
The Guardia Civil [Spanish Civil Guard] discovered four weapons stashes and one drop-box owned by the terrorist group ETA that were located at various points around the Autonomous Region of the… [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
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80 Kilos of explosives and bomb-making material found in ETA stash
During the Spanish property boom that took place during the earlier years of this decade, buyers became so caught up in the purchasing frenzy that the type of stock that they actually acquired really didn´t make too much of a difference to them. The most important thing in the (then) rising Spanish property market was to get a foot on the ladder, and with the glut of new-build 2 bedroom Spanish apartments that were built, most speculative investors ended up with this type of stock. If you analyse the proportion of 3 bed units that were actually built within any given development of apartments in places such as the Costa del Sol or the Costa Blanca , you will son realise that in most cases, only a small proportion of the development was allocated to 3 bed stock – normally the corner units and maybe some of the penthouses. So if we estimate that 3 bed apartments make up approximately 20% of the total number of apartments and penthouses within most developments in Spain , it is safe to assume that this ratio still applies in today´s rather more depressed and distressed Spanish property market. When we couple this with the fact that most buyers in today´s market are making the purchase with a longer-term vision and with the intention of using the properties themselves for family and friends, then a 3 bed property suddenly holds extra appeal. This is something that we have noticed in the last 6 months here at Your Key to Spain. Most enquiries via our website are from prospective purchasers looking for a 3 bed property in Spain . This presents the market with something of a problem. The glut of available stock is made up of 2 bed properties, while the majority of demand is focused on the harder-to-find, less frequently available 3 bed properties. Therefore while there are savage price wars developing between vendors of 2 bed Spanish properties in some developments, the well-located 3 bed units within the well-regarded projects are holding their own, and are actually sometimes in high demand. This doesn´t prevent eager buyers from expecting big discounts across all sectors of the Spanish property market, but prospective purchasers need to be realistic and take into account that smaller, micro-markets exist within the market as a whole, and these micro-markets are governed and manipulated in line with the same rules of supply and demand. Related Posts Everyone is after a Bargain Don´t Forget Spanish Property Purchase Costs! Don´t Buy Cheap – Buy Value!
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3 Bed Spanish Properties – Not as Cheap as You Think
Powerful winds have hit parts of Spain, Portugal and France, causing serious damage, officials said. As winds of up to 140km/h (87mph) lashed parts of Spain, the interior minister warned people to… [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
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Storm lashes Spain, Portugal and France
Two people died after jumping out of the windows of the Hotel NormandÃa in the tiny Pyrenean state of Andorra this morning after a fire broke out there in the early hours. According to local media… [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
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Hotel fires results in 2 deaths as guests jump to safety
Take a stroll around the streets of Elx and you will discover an urban layout that provides faithful testimony to the splendour of this city. A past that harmonises perfectly with the elements of a… [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
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Discover the charms of Elx
Relentless rainfall in southern in Spain has prompted the authorities to evacuate hundreds of people as a precaution. Around 1,500 people have been evacuated from some 400 homes in the provinces of… [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
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Rain forces evacuations in southern Spain
I believe that the best way to go about searching for Spanish properties in the current market is as follows: 1.   research the areas so that you have a specific location in mind, eg Marbella 2.   browse the internet and speak to agents with properties advertised in your chosen area. 3.   ask the agents how they work – do they have their own stock of properties and do they have access to any more? 4.   ask them if they collaborate with other agents, and ask them if they work purely as ´property finders´ . With the sheer volume of properties in Spain for sale, many prospective buyers are turning to Property Finders for guidance. Here is why: Good property finders will have access to several thousand properties via their network of agents and the various multi-listing databases at their disposal. They will also have an intimate knowledge of your chosen location, and will be able to suggest plenty of options to help you. Property finders work by talking to you at length to ascertain your buying criteria, and they will then approach other agents via their network to get hold of the most suitable stock – imagine Phil and Kirsty on Location Location Location! This means that instead of only having a few hundred of the agent´s own properties to choose from, buyers can literally access the entire portfolio of available property in their chosen location. The other huge benefit is that buyers only need one point of contact to co-ordinate viewings, so rather than having to liasie with several different agents, you can work ´with´ the property finder very closely to fine-tune the search and secure the best property. Also, property finders have no allegiance to the vendors, so they are sure to try and secure the best possible deals for the buyer. Also, they are not tied by the handcuffs of representing both parties and so can give you their honest opinion of the Spanish properties that you are inspecting. And if you think this property finding service attracts an up-front cost, you are wrong. Property finders simply take a cut of the commission that the listing agent earns from the vendor. Related Posts Advice to Buyers – Who Can You Trust in the Spanish Property Market? - PART 1 The Weak Pound – Tips for UK Buyers of Spanish Property – Part 2 Mortgages in Spain
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Advice to Buyers – Who Can You Trust in the Spanish Property Market? - PART 2
