Choosing the Right Estate Agent
One of the most critical aspects for people interested in buying a property in Spain is finding a good real estate agent to assist you. Although we can always recommend to get advice from a lawyer as well as explained in our Real Estate Intro Guide a good agent can help you with much more than just finding the ideal property.
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Below you can find further information about what to look after when searching for an estate agent in Spain.
What to look after before choosing an Estate Agent
When looking for an estate agent make sure that they are a legally recognised company with all their papers in order and that the people behind the company are qualified. The experience and years in business can give you an indication of the company’s legality as few “un legal” companies stays in business for long although experience is not always the best way to measure the quality of the service offered. If you have any doubts about the legality of a company get you lawyer to look into it or simply find another estate agent.
A good agent will be able to understand exactly what you are looking for but not only regarding to the property itself also in respect to type of vicinity, neighbours and other aspects which are not so easy to discover immediately for a buyer that might not know the area very well.
The service of a good agent is also broader than strictly related to finding the right property. Services often included are after sales services such as help finding a school for your children and in general getting settled in Spain, setting up gas, water and electricity in your name and some companies can even offer complete solutions regarding to decoration, painting, reforms and much more.
An estate agent that encourages their clients to not use a lawyer or using the lawyer recommended by the agent might be trying to hide something. In most cases the purchase of a property in Spain (including all the paperwork) could be handled by an experienced estate agent but an honest and professional agent would newer have any objections if their clients want to consult their own lawyer.
Do not fall for cheap sales tricks as it is not worth saving a few hundreds now if you later find out that there is a serious problem with the property. Some agents will try to put pressure on you to sign an agreement contract but take your time and if you have any doubts contact your lawyer.
It is right that many properties are sold fast in Spain so you might not be able to wait for weeks before taking a decision but if you are interested you will nearly always have the time to consult your lawyer and friends or family and see the property again before taking a decision. Remember that it is better to maybe loose out on a good opportunity than to buy something you finally do not like or even worse with some type of legal problem involved.
To provide you with help finding the right agent we have created a directory of some of the best and most recognised agents all over Spain. In this directory you can find useful information about the agents including facts like number of offices, years in the business, languages spoken, information about the service offered and contact details for each agent. See - Spain Estate Agent Directory for further information.
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