READING NEWSPAPERS

Looking at newspapers and gazing in the window of an estate agent is a quite normal method of starting the search for a new home. After all the newspapers have large property sections, sometimes greater than the news content itself. Similarly a walk down the main street of any town will see a number of estate agents displaying for sale many attractively photographed properties. This initial browsing may not take place with any specific intent, but merely to give a feel of style, price and location.

Finding a property in Spain follows a similar course, but on a much larger scale.

Each week in the popular daily press and the Sunday press there are dozens of adverts for Spanish properties. They often have a drawing or photograph tending to emphasise a low cost, high specification property in a sunny location.

Of course there are English language newspapers published in Spain. As you would expect they too have large property sections. Living elsewhere in Europe, it is sometimes difficult to get hold of these newspapers but contacting the publishers should result in one being sent by post (see Appendix 8). Here are the main titles:

• The Costa Blanca News – a well read publication.
• The Costa del Sol News – equally popular.
• Sur in English – the big one for the Costa del Sol.
• The Mallorca Daily Bulletin.
• The Island Gazette – for the Canary Islands.

GOING TO PROPERTY EXHIBITIONS

Moving from ‘passive to active’ mode means making a positive commitment. This commitment is the first real step to the fulfilment of a dream. Armchair contemplation is now over. Going to an exhibition is metaphorically getting one’s feet wet. Property exhibitions are commonplace: small ones run in hotels throughout the year, large ones in conference or exhibition centres in the spring and summer. Some are specifically targeted at Spain but the larger exhibitions may also have representatives promoting properties in Florida and Cyprus.

Objectives

Before going to a property exhibition, you need crystal clear objectives. This is not the time to fall for the seductive charms of some salesperson. Nor is it the time to be woolly headed. What is the object of your visit? Here are a few suggestions.

• To confirm your perceptions about the area of your choice.
• To obtain more facts about properties, styles and prices.
• To acquire brochures, particularly those with property plans and photographs.
• To prepare a list of questions to be answered.

• To choose an agent, one who has sincerity, knowledge, and most importantly, the widest selection of properties to sell.
• Lastly, if relaxed about these facts, to plan a visit to Spain to look at some property.

The exhibition

It is a colourful, noisy affair. Orange and yellow are the dominant colours, not only representing the Spanish flag, but the lemon and orange crops. The noise is people talking, with much verbal fencing, displays of knowledge or lack of it, or holiday locations being revisited. Salespeople are anxious to ‘close’. Visitors are still wary, asking questions, getting facts. Sangria, the mass Spanish anti-depressant, is usually available.

What of the exhibitor? They may be an international company, or an estate agent or a small Spanish business. What are their objectives? It is not to sell a house since they do not have the necessary detailed, up to the minute information to hand. It is simply to move people to the next step in the selling process by giving facts and persuading them to go on a ridiculously cheap inspection flight.

VIEWING ALTERNATIVES

The importance of choosing the best method of viewing a Spanish property cannot be overestimated. There are three options: inspection flights, viewing while on holiday or renting a property for a short period to look around. Let’s look at the advantages and disadvantages of all three.

Inspection flights

A three day, escorted, highly focused visit to an area of your choice. The flights are cheap, a hotel is booked, and entertainment is laid on. Viewing is from the comfort of a minibus with only a short stroll to each show house. The ambience of the area is highlighted. From the properties shown most people can decide what is best for their own circumstances. It is, however, a pressurised trip, where time and space to think are at a premium. It does not give freedom to appreciate the bigger picture, or the true ambience of the town or countryside. It is a snapshot at a point in time.

Inspection flights depart almost every week, normally covering three or four nights over a weekend. These trips, by charter or scheduled flight, are solely for the potential purchasers of a property. Before travelling people are reminded of the currency and deposit arrangements required to secure a purchase.

Holidays

While giving more potential viewing time than an inspection flight, the use of this time is less focused. It is not possible to be escorted everywhere for a fortnight. When on a family holiday the emphasis is on enjoyment, on the area itself and on its facilities. Usually, it is only when this is satisfied that the more specific aspects of house hunting can begin.

Short term rental

Simply the best method. It gives all the necessary time to consider the options. It is no longer a snapshot in time. Property and location can be considered at leisure. But it can take a good few months, leaving this option open only to those retiring or with time available.

THE INTERNATIONAL COMPANY

Big international property companies have marketing and sales offices in all European countries. In Spain the selling package continues with prospective clients moving along a highly organised conveyor belt. Of course an inspection trip is geared to the needs of the individual! Of course the client does not have to buy! Or so they say. However, it is also fair to say the package offered by these companies is impressive. It covers inspection flights, property inspection, selling, bank and solicitor selection and most importantly assistance during the difficult moving-in stage.

These companies tend to dominate the marketplace in which they operate, namely new property sales. By focusing on one area they drive costs down. The huge scale of their operation gives the customer a wide choice. Their influence spreads to property design and development.

All large companies can attract criticism, particularly those in a service industry. The only valid criticism of international property companies is their lack of flexibility, which is directly related to the size of their operation. Big international companies are the trend-setters of the marketplace. Many try to follow with a smaller, more individualistic, more personalised offering.

ESTATE AGENTS

No one lays claim to the much-derided label ‘estate agent’. Preference is given to names such as ‘International Property Consultant’, or perhaps ‘Blue Sky Property’ or even a more focused ‘Torrecasa Property Company’. Whatever the title of the company, it is designed to reflect an image, removed as far as possible from that of an old fashioned estate agency.

And quite right too. No one will buy a new, white, house in Spain if it is marketed in a dull, boring way.

These companies only have one or two European offices, but usually have an additional office in Spain, or work closely with a Spanish associate. The selling process is again to visit Spain, probably on an inspection flight. Time is more flexible, but the consumer’s choice may be slightly more limited.

A word of warning. With such good value for money a Spanish property is a bargain, but it is no bargain if the dream home has been built on someone else’s land, or in a protected area, or is being sold by someone who is not the rightful owner. In 1973 the Federation of Overseas Property Developers, Agents and Consultants was formed and is now the UK’s primary overseas property organisation. Similar professional organisations exist in other European countries. A trouble free transaction starts here.

THE SPANISH ESTATE AGENT – INMOBILIARIA

It would be unusual for an estate agent of Spanish nationality to be at a property exhibition in Europe. In tandem with a European colleague perhaps, but not in isolation. They have a curious name – inmobiliaria, a word almost suggesting that ‘a person does not move’. Yet in Spain these people are very common – small local estate agents who know their patch well, concentrating mainly on resale properties. They need not be Spanish – and indeed many are German, Scandinavian or British.

It is a good idea to deal with a registered estate agent. In Spain they belong to the Agente de Propiedad Inmobiliaria, have a certificate of registration and an identification number. They can be sued if anything goes wrong. Dealing with such a registered business gives the purchaser more security and confidence.

There are always stories in Spain of people losing their life savings because they have dealt with an unscrupulous estate agent. They may have bought a house only to discover the person selling it did not own it in the first place. The only real way to avoid this is to deal with a registered agent whose number should be on a sign outside the office, or on a window display, or on the exterior of the building. Grandiose marketing names mean nothing, its the number that counts.

Additional services offered by these companies are limited, their main preoccupation being the selling of property. One of the most difficult situations facing a newcomer to Spain occurs in the first few days of moving into a new property when they are trying to cope with a multitude of issues. Someone offering help is often welcome but regrettably it is not generally an inmobiliaria.

VIEWING OVER THE WEB

If you are buying a home in Spain, using the internet to find a property will save time and money. There are now plenty of websites advertising Spanish property which can be viewed from the comfort of home. Many agents maintain individual sites which can be found through internet search engines, and more are signing onto property portals for advertising.

One Spanish company has details of more than 100,000 properties from 550 agents. It offers virtual reality tours that give a true impression of the property.

Another alternative is to visit websites that specialise in private sales. Direct sales are more common in Spain than in other European countries. Buyers often prefer dealing with owners rather than agents because they trust owners more and they have a better knowledge of the property. The sales price too will not be inflated by the agent’s commission.

UNDERSTANDING ADVERTISEMENTS

When an advertisement appears in a newspaper it has a few words of description, accompanied by a photograph. It is often ‘word art’ to describe a home in as few abbreviated words as possible. However, an additional complexity in Spain is the language barrier: difficult enough at the best of times, but in the abbreviated form, even more obtuse.

Example 1 – a standard description

Playa Flamenca Al Andalus 702. Delightful 2 year old duplex. Immaculate condition. Partly furnished. End plot. 3 beds, 2 bathrooms, large lounge, fitted kitchen, balcony, solarium, 82 sq meters. Colourful mature gardens, car parking and communal swimming pool. Price ... Tele ...

Taken from the property section of an English language edition weekly newspaper this advertisement describes the house adequately. Note the use of square metres to specify the size. A solarium is a top floor sun terrace.

Example 2 – a Spanish language description

Chalet, tres dormitories, dos banos, piscina, 80 sq metres, situada Playa Rio, Precio ... Tele ...

This example is very similar to the previous one, but in Spanish. Translation is not difficult. It means ‘A detached house, with 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, private swimming pool, 80 sq metres, situated in Playa Rio’. Again the size is quoted which enables the price per square metre to be calculated.

Example 3 – detached, luxury house

Chalet Adosado aguas nuevas, parcela 425 M2. Const 125 M2, gran salon con chimenea, concina indep con galeria. 3 dor, 2 banos. Porche, solarium, garaje 50 M2, a estreenar lujo. Pricio ... Tele ...

An altogether more imposing house set in its own grounds: 425 M2 is again the size, this time of the plot. It has heating and many extras. Estreenar lujo means a luxury structure. Taken from a newspaper the advert is too abbreviated and does not reflect adequately the true nature of this property.

SUMMARY

• Reading newspapers and going to property exhibitions moves the search for a home in the sun to an ‘active project’.
• Before going to an exhibition clear objectives need to be set.
• International property companies tend to concentrate on new houses, inmobiliarias concentrate on resale property and traditional estate agents on both.
• Try to deal with agents who are professionally recognised. Do not be overwhelmed by grandiose marketing titles that may carry no accreditation.
• Viewing can be by inspection flight, a holiday and – considered to be the best – a short term rental in the area of your choice.
• Viewing over the web can save time and effort.
• Advertisements or descriptions of a property should always carry details of the price and the size in square metres. This enables a price per square metre of different properties to be compared.