Pros and Cons of Living in Spain and Buying a Villa Via an Agent or Dealing Direct With the Owners

Owners

Buying Through an Agent or Buying Direct from the Seller.

The boom and bust of the Spanish property market is fast drawing to a close with ever diminishing supplies of ‘bargain basement’ properties on offer. Savvy owners who know the real value of their properties refuse to be swept along by the sheer panic being installed into the others by ruthless property agents and fortune seekers alike.

Some of these agents have little or no interest in their clients who are trying to sell and they willfully drive the sellers prices down to ensure that they continue to achieve their margins – come what may. These agents make little or no effort beyond, listing the property on the internet and a quick showing in their shop window for a few days. Ashamedly, most of these Agents are British.

Over recent years, there has been a significant increase in the number of sellers listing their properties themselves. This means that they can offer a real discount to prospective buyers of around 5% of the sale price by not having to pay an agent this money west palm beach family attorney!

Agents will tell prospective buyers that they are able to protect them against unscrupulous sellers but who protects the buyers from unscrupulous agents?

Just 5 or 6 years ago, some Agents in Spain were charging up to 10% of the sale price in fees whilst in the UK the charges were often less than 1%

What can an Agent offer that a Private Seller Cannot?

*Most offer free transport from your hotel to the viewing and back

*They have a selection of properties in a variety of areas to show you

*They can negotiate on your behalf with the seller over price

*They can point you in the direction of their favorite lawyer

*They will sometimes collect and return you to the airport for free

*They will email you frequently to update you about properties and prices**

*They can sometimes Speak a Language that Some Sellers Cannot

What are the Advantages of Dealing Direct with the Seller?

*The Seller strips the Agent’s fees out of the price – The Buyer gets 5% discount

*Most Sellers know instinctively how far they can go on price reductions

*Sellers know their way around their own home, Agents seldom do

*The Buyer can ask any questions directly without fear of later contradiction

*The Seller can explain exactly how the Buyer can get the best out of the property

*The Buyer can agree all the arrangements with the Seller without complications

*The Seller can be just as helpful in directing you to a number of lawyers

*The Buyer can generally communicate 24/7 with the Seller but not with an Agent

*Some Sellers do speak more than one European language

*With the Seller you have as much time as you want to inspect and re-inspect

There is now an abundance of websites advertising Direct Sales by Owners, why give 5% to the Agents for their mediocre efforts?

This situation is much the same whether you are buying in Spain, France, Italy, Greece or anywhere else on the Mediterranean.

Living in Spain.

Spain continues to be the favorite hunting ground for property and the English in particular have had a long love affair with Spain. The German people love it here too and thousands have made their home here accompanied by the French, Dutch, Belgians, Swiss and more recently the Russians.

Broadly speaking there are few coastal places in Europe as beautiful as the Costa Blanca region and in particular around Moraira. This area of Spain is considered by the World Health Organisation to be one of the top places to live a long life.

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