Our lawyer has recommended that we give them power of attorney to assist in the purchase of an off plan town house.  What advice would other members of Eye on Spain give.  Should we agree to this?

Many thanks

Stephen

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"Our lawyer has recommended that we give them power of attorney"

Just one question - why? The ONLY reason for doing so in my opinion would be because there is absolutely no way that you can possibly be present yourself for signing on completion. Then you may have no option, but otherwise, I cannot honestly see any reason for it. I would be suspicious.

As for setting up bank accounts, utility contracts etc., if you cannot find the time to pop over and do such simple things yourself (thereby avoiding completely unnecessary charges to boot), I wonder why you would buy a property here at all. Sorry if this seems a bit harsh, and I realise you may have your own reasons for buyng here (purely investment etc.), but the number of times I have read now about lawyers charging hundreds to do simple tasks that incurr absolutely no cost whatsoever, really irritates me!

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It's not necessarily a case of just being able to pop over. We thought we would have to do just that to sort our NIE problem out and it would have cost £450 for Thursday to Saturday. We can only travel in school holidays when we all know that everything increases. We intend to come over as often as possible but can't just "pop over" except for maybe weekends when official things are closed.

Noreen

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By the way, our POA didn't cost "hundreds" - just the fee of 50 euros at the Notaries office.

Noreen

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Our solicitor is charging us 1%. Included is the conveyancing, NIE application (in Cartagena) and power of attorney. We too can only really come over at weekends due to schooling commitments, so it seems the easiest way and isn't costing a fortune over there. Over here is a different scenario as the POA has to be notarised  and then a la hague apostille granted which is going to cost another £80 +vat and the £27 FCO fee.

Mark

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Noreen & others, I hope I didn't offend any of you by my comments. It's just that I believe buyng a property, anywhere, is a major investment & commitment (well, at least it is for me) and I don't trust lawyers or anyone else "official". Did anyone see the lead article in this week's Sur inEnglish about the former Mayor of Mijas? His party gave him an ultimatum - reduce his self-awarded salary of €126,000 pa or resign. He resigned on principle, saying his salary was justified because politicians should earn a big enough sum so as to "avoid temptation coming their way" Beautiful!

I know the POA does not cost "hundreds" - at least, it shouldn't, but plenty of other members have posted about being charged further fees for opening bank accounts etc. All I'm saying is be careful - once you have given POA, even if limited, your lawyer may go ahead and perform other simple tasks for you and charge for each one. If you are aware of these charges beforehand and feel they are acceptable, then fine, but I know many others have fallen into the trap and wish they had known better before the event.

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Many thanks to you all for your advice.

Regards

Stephen

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