Hidden properties

1. Some estate agents want exclusive rights to bring you to the property. This obviates the chance that you will come to a private arrangement with the vendor.

2. Some estate agents have properties "For Sale" which are not for sale. Having these not for sale properties on their books they appear to have loads of excellent properties on their books. It also keeps you looking at their website.

Hi there,

When I first started my property search I was often amazed by the estate agents. One well-known family-run Agency  and the owner seem to get good reviews, I never met him. I was taken to see a couple of properties by one of his daughters, the last of which I tried to make a cash offer on.  I went to their office and was referred to the agency owner’s wife. I wanted confirmation of a few things the daughter had mentioned about utilities and she actually said that her daughter wasn’t too clever and made mistakes and gave me contrasting information! She produced a contract in both Spanish and English in which she had made mistakes regarding the houseowners’ names, then the address referred to a village house (I googled it) when the one I had seen was in the countryside. She eventually produced a third contract, again with an error. When I enquired as to the exact address, she waved her hand over a large map of Almeria/Murcia and said vaguely “Over there”. Needless to say, I withdrew my offer. How can you sign a preliminary purchase contract and pay a deposit for a property with no address? Also don’t pay a deposit to the agency - it goes to the lawyer.

Some agencies take money from the buyer as well as the seller. Why should you pay this? Choose agencies that do not take your money. Each province has different transfer taxes, be aware. Get an independent lawyer, depending on where you choose a property, on this forum everyone will help you find a good one. Don’t accept the agency’s choice. This lawyer will give you a good estimate on the amount you need to pay on top of your property price. 

Something which is quite common is that agencies ‘share’ the commission on properties. This I would say isn’t a big problem, it just means that you may deal with one agency instead of two or three. Some won’t give you a precise address as they don’t want you to deal directly with the owners. I understand that, too. 

Good luck with your house hunting and make sure the property is legal in every way.

Janice 

They may be worried that you´re going to deal with the owner directly and they would thereby lose out on commission.  There´s a lot of people who do this when there is no language barrier, eg. if you speak Spanish well enough or if the sellers are English speaking.

I think I know who your mentioning, as people we know in Vera say that they use strong tactics to force people into paying cash to them for  sales and rental, not exactly what you see on UK tv.