Spain &Uncategorized 30 Oct 2007 12:03 pm
Real Estate Agents in Spain
Up until the year 2000, anyone selling property in Spain had to be a member of the one of the two professional real estate associations – API and GIPE. Now, since the market was deregulated in 2000 basically anyone can play the role of intermediary in Spanish property transactions.
When buying a property in Spain, your biggest risks often come from your choice of estate agent. Their levels of competence, attitude and ethical standards can greatly effect the success or failure of your investment.
Although there certainly are some that should be avoided, thankfully there are many highly trained, very competent and ethical agents in the Spanish market. The challenge is finding them.
Types of Real Estate Agents in Spain
Before you choose an agent, it’s a good idea to get a brief understanding of how the market works. There are several types of agent – all offering varying levels of service.
Spanish Estate Agents
A lot of the Spanish agents belong to the API or GIPE professional associations. This should indicate a higher level of training and professionalism. The problem is that these titles are often abused so in some cases aren’t really a true guarantee of professional service.
Spanish agents normally just sell property in their local area. Sometimes they’ll have nationwide chains and networks throughout Spain and the Canaries.
Most of them don’t speak English, so this can be a problem for UK buyers. In the popular coastal areas (Costa del Sol etc.) you’ll find an increasing number of Spanish agents with English-speaking staff.
Foreign Estate Agents in Spain
It’s usually the case that a UK family looking to buy a place in Spain will instinctively go to an English or Irish-run estate agency.
Foreign owned-and-run estate agents normally try and sell to buyers from their home countries. British and Irish agents focus on buyers from the British Isles, the Germans focus on the Germans etc.
Most foreign agents are now adopting English as their operational language.
Setting up as a real estate agent in Spain is very easy. Ever since the market was deregulated (2000) no qualifications are required and barriers to entry are low.
Foreign estate agents in Spain have come under much criticism over the years. Unfortunately, there’s been a number of cases where these agents have been found to be incompetent or unscrupulous or in some cases both.
You’ll find them mainly in the very touristy areas like the Costa del Sol, Costa de Almeria, Costa Calida and Costa Blanca. A lot of times the commissions charged are blatantly excessive and the level of service low.
Outrageous (time-share style) pressure-sales techniques are often used and in some cases agents tell clients half-truths; anything to close a quick sale.
Be warned – such companies do exist.
UK-based Estate Agencies
There are more and more UK-based estate agencies offering Spanish property every year. They’ve been drawn into the market by the huge numbers of UK buyers that are looking for property in Spain and the very high commissions they can make.
Multi-listing Networks
This is where a group of foreign estate agencies participate in a network where they share clients, properties and commissions. For example, one agency might have a buyer but not the right property, while the other agent has that property but not the buyer.
They collaborate with each other, make the sale and “split” the commissions – everyone’s happy; you get the right property and they make the sale.
The only problem is that instead of splitting the commissions between themselves, they more often than not increase the commission. So the buyer pays an inflated commission for a service of little extra value.
Spanish Corredores
In rural parts of Spain, corredores are still used extensively. These are property brokers that know the local community extremely well and know when someone wants to sell their property.
If you’re looking for a place in a rural community, using a corredor is a likely to be your best option. It’s doubtful however, that they’ll speak any English, so be sure to bring an English/Spanish friend with you if you don’t have the lingo.
It’s usually an informal arrangement but there’s no reason whatsoever to think that a corredor might be less trustworthy than your average foreign estate agent.
They’re certainly a lot cheaper. They’ll often just charge a commission of 1% to the buyer and 1% to the seller. Some foreign agents add on commissions of up to 35%.
Corredores can often be difficult to locate, as they don’t usually work from a commercial premises. But, if you ask around the local community, you should eventually find one.