The Spain Forums

Lee

Anyone reading this forum, will be under the impression that buying in Spain is a total no go along with all estate agents being untrustworthy

This is not true in any way

All you will hear in the news is the bad side of buying houses in Spain. What you do not hear of, are all the people who are happy living here, with no problems.

I am personally involved in selling houses in Spain.
With my own business recently started
So putting potential buyers and property investors off buying in Spain, is not my intention in any way.

Being personally caught up in the present fiasco in Catral and Dolores as a home owner, its more to warn people about what can go wrong, has gone wrong and to try and help people avoid getting caught out and making the same mistakes, many of us already have.

If the information on the forum can help save one person from being caught out, it will have made it worth while running

So do not be put off buying in Spain.
With over 1 million British people living in Spain, it cant be all bad

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Jan and Johnny

No we do not want to put people of buying in Spain, we would like to try and help the people who are in the same situation as us, and there are many like us.
We would like to think that we can try and make sure it doesnt happen to anyone else.
What of all the people that have used their hard earned savings , paid all of the money over and have not got anything, and have had to return to the U.K. penniless .........Its a real story, The Pensioner Lady of 67, who lives 11km of the main road , she cannot move down to the village as she cannot sell her house (it is illegal), Father and Son who handed over money for plots of land that werent even for sale.
Why do they not show these real stories on the television.......... It wouldnt neccesarily put people off buying, it would make them more aware surely ! It would give them information that they may have not even thought about, water and electricity for one.
Channel 4 did come and film us 4 years ago , but they never used the film !I wonder if they wonder what has happened to us now ?

chaiq

Lee thank you for the appology, it was begining to seem as tho since you were as you say 'caught up in the catral fiasco you were becoming bitter towards catral , the mayor and spain, spain is a great place although it does have some out date and out of p[lace laws, one poece of advise ' dont bring english values ( what you can do, what you should do etc etc ) to spain it doesnt work like england out here, put pressure on to much and you've had it,,,be patient and let the powers that be do what they do,,,,ok keep on eye on proceedings but dont push to hard

rose23

Hi everyone,
I feel deeply sorry for the innocent people who have been duped into buying illegal properties but I must say that quite a large number of these people have no one but themselves to blame.
Several years ago I used to sell rural properties and one of the reasons I got out of the business was because I lost count of the times I tried to warn people about buying illegal properties. I tried to warn them about all the pit falls and I was often told that it was sour grapes because the properties on my books were a bit more expensive.
So I would tell them to, at the very least, find a good independant lawyer to check the paperwork of any cheap new property they found and to also consider taking out a mortgage for at least 50% because they would soon find out if the property was okay because the banks would reject it if it was not. This all costs money and unfortunately these people opted to save the money instead and later found themslves with worthless properties that they cannot sell.
I could write a book but I wont and all I would like to say is please dont buy a property in Spain without asking a lawyer if the property is 100% legal and apply for a mortgage, even if you repay it again after a short period. There will be a penalty but not very much and it will give peace of mind.

Rose

Kas in Spain

Thanks Rose, some good advice there.

Kas in Spain from FORUM Friends 4U Abroad

vantage

Very sound advice. I am in mortgages and have worked for a local Estate Agency too and if I was to disagree with you on just one point, it would be to choose your lawyer very, very carefully.

Many solicitors in Spain do not have the same ethics that you would expect if you are used to UK codes of conduct etc. I have actually had a solicitor ring me for advice on residency. The Spanish rarely use solicitors for conveyancing so they do not always know what to do. On the flip side, English clients are very often looked upon as 'cash cows' with non existent or very minor problems being turned into huge dramas in order to increase a bill.

There is no easy answer I'm afraid. I am fortunate that here in Murcia I know several Estate Agents who are ethical and I can always ask their advice regarding grey areas on properties.

Essentially the problems rarely occur on 'Urban' land, but regularly on 'Rustic' land.

Have a look at what you are buying, as a 40 square meter tool shed has little value, even if there is a 200 m2 villa there. You are storing up problems for the future. If in doubt talk to the local notary, your bank manager or get your mortgage broker to find out.

You should also get someone to check if there are plans to urbanise the area or if plans are pending. that is another can of worms.

Basically, do everything the same as you would in the Uk. You might need to hire a translator for a day or two, but the potential savings are huge.

Caveat Emptor.

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www.mortgagehelplinespain.com

El Sid

A mortgage on a Spanish property guarantees nothing about it's status.

We almost comitted to buy a finca which had a mortgage on it ( the agent told us the mortgage was a sign that everything was OK - yeah right ). When we checked the escritura it referred to a totally different parcela, nearly 1km away.
Obviously the bank didn't know or didn't care.
This was a 'mistake' and easily sorted out we were told. Ok, we said, go and sort it out if it's so easy. That was a year ago now.

How can you tell if an estate agent is lying ? - easy, their lips are moving.

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When I was here I wanted to be there. When I was there, all I could think of was getting back into the jungle.
I've been here a week now. Waiting for a mission, getting softer.
Every minute I stay in this room I get weaker. And every minute Charlie squats in the bush he gets stronger.
Each time I look around the walls move in a little tighter.

rose23

Hi El Cid,
That must have been scary to say the least and that is why I said a minimum of a 50% mortgage because banks will not want to risk that much and certainly not in todays market. In fact I would suggest that people apply for the maximum mortgage that the bank will allow because they will then go over everything with a fine toothcome to ensure that they are not exposed in any wayl. Finding a really good lawyer who is well versed in rural properties is also vital and doing these two things should result in the purchase of a legal property and a happy life in Spain.

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