Beware The Cowboy Builders Are Back

Going back to the key reason why I started this post was to advise people that yes to be careful and to do independany due dilligance but of course there are many reputable developers still around like Quara, Cosan and Grupo Uno, Victoria Playa, TM and many mor,e that do have excellent reputatons and ALL of the peperwork in place

One of the biggest advantages to the smaller type villas with pools is thay you don't have a community or commuity fees, you pay your annual IBI to the Town Hall who collect the runnish and sweep the streets

As the markett and demand grows however there will always be chancers but at the moment they seem to be in a minority, simply ask the right questions and get the right support

As has been explained on here there is a dramatic increase in off plan purchasing

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The properties being referred to, those at La Zenia and so on, are built by Euromarina. Everything is totally and utterly above board and legal with them. They are probably one, if not, the best builders in this area. Every t is crossed and every i is dotted with them. Bank guarantees are always in place, legality is always checked and every home has the Habitation Licence before handing over. Deeds are shown and explained. They are so good that the notary, bank officials and others come to their offices to do the notary work and so on rather than have to attend a notary office.

We bought from them and the difference between the way they do business and our original builders, Technologica Urbanistica, is staggering. Full snagging is done by a team before being handed over, all paperwork is checked and double checked. Any problems after you move is swiftly dealt with. We even had a leaky tap after owning the place for nearly 5 years.

There are some good developers and builders around. Finding them is quite hard but Euromarina is definitely one of them.

I suspect that promotors who fail to do their own due diligence in this regard and fail to protect clients from cowboy builders will soon lose credibility as their activities that place clients at risk in this way are exposed. Promotors have culpability in this equation and should play their part in regulating the real estate industry by refusing to do business with those who continue to place clients at risk.

As with most effective regulatory controls it requires transparent reporting and monitoring mechanisms with effective power to enforce penalties/disincentives, however. This appears to be a common problem in Spain where agents, conveyancing lawyers / notaries, Banks, all continue to fail to adequately regulate their own professions, thereby providing a mechanism to restore faith (and sustainable growth) in an industry that has been sadly riddled with corrupt practice.

To depend upon others for due diligence or failure to regulate and stamp out bad practice from within is a deriliction of duty is it not?

Just a few thoughts!

ps Our postings crossed Mariedav so its good to hear of some positive news but it still begs the question why there is little recognition to effectively cleanse the industry from within instead of depending on those so badly affected to drive the clean-up process (after the event so to speak)!

This message was last edited by ads on 20/06/2015.

Case Law for full guarantees when handing money off plan is now much solider than back in 2000-2007 and there is a reform of Law governing this type of businesses coming very soon.

I would say that with the help of a good independent lawyer ( never linked in any way to estate agency, developers, banks....) buying in Spain is safer than in many other countries in the world which have not had a regulation like law 57/68 .