Hi All

Anyone got any experiences to share regarding the use of 'Buying agents' to find and subsequently purchase a property?  Do they do anything that an Estate Agent would'nt do?   How do their fees compare to the Agents?  Etc Etc

 As I understand it they work only for the buyer.

Thanks

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Hi we got a apartment on our own some time ago we find its the best and you can save a lot of money Now we have a gret place that we are now selling May be you would like to know more about  if so go the properties on this site  and look for the onw which shos appol at 100,000 or email me tcpdj@hotmail.co.uk

tony

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I've never actually heard of "buying agents" here in Spain. Sounds more of an American thing to me.

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dead on Gillespie...

We get them all the while.

"we have a client looking for etc....please do all the work for us,give us your knowledge,point us in the right direction,open the door for us......"

" and by the way,you need to add 5% to the price for us!"

Bugger off!

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Blamy this is get a lot of replies maety ,wish we could get this many for our long tern rent / sale HAHA !!

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Like I said before, I've never actually come across the phenomenom - but then, I'm not an agent myself. I'm struggling a bit to understand what a "buying agent" is anyway. Isn't every agent a "middle man" working between, and for, both buyer and seller? I think Georgia & Gillespie have hit the nail on the head - it's basically just another agent, which means either split, or more likely additional,  commissions.

If you don't want to buy from a regular estate agent, then why not just look around for private "se vende" signs? Why pay someone else to do that for you? That's basically what the estate agents have already done on your behalf, so paying a buying agent to do it instead seems a bit pointless.But if anyone feels like paying me to look for private property for sale in Torremolinos, feel free to PM me!

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OK, now I think I understand better. They are an estate agent offering a lot more than simply selling you a property. They will also assist in all manner of other things related to your move to Spain. Most of which I'm quite sure Georgia, Gillespie, and let's face it, most agents worth their salt here in Spain, will do anyway if it helps to close a sale.

I have never heard of this particular company and have no knowledge of them, so cannot say whether they are worth trying or not. But a couple of things on their site caught my attention on a brief glance through.

"There is no need to rent at first because we get it right first time." That sounds like a pretty bold statement! I think most members on this forum would probably agree that, unless you already know for certain exactly where you want to be, renting initially is not a bad idea at all.

And in their "hypothetical fee justification", they mention "Avoiding lawyers fees".  I haven't studied the site fully, so don't know if their fee therefore includes legal fees for the purchase of your property, but this seems to suggest there's no need to use an independent lawyer if you buy through them. Again, I think you will find the general consensus of opinion goes against this.

Don't apologise for being new to this. Luckily, your Googling also turned up EyeOnSpain, and by joining this forum you've probably stumbled upon the best online resource for researching the whole minefield of relocating to and buying property in Spain. As of today, I understand there are over 25,000 members here, many of whom have extensive knowledge and experience to offer - all for FREE! So ask away on the message boards, anything you want to know!

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I've had a longer look at the aforementioned site. It's very interesting! It certainly looks quite impressive & professional etc. and I can see why some may agree with their statement that "less than 3% of the cost of the property" for their services represents a "bargain". Maybe so, but I'm still a little confused. Why do they not offer this service for a fixed fee? How come it's a percentage of the price of the property you buy? Clearly, the service is only available if you actually buy a property they source for you. But they aren't estate agents?? They claim that by using their services, they will save you (but not gaurantee) money on your property by using an independent negotiator. I can only imagine this means that they will try to find private vendors rather than listing agents, thereby getting a lower price for you since the vendor won't have to pay the agent's fee - usually around 5%. But this brings us to the "glass half full/half empty" question of who really pays agent's fees. I know (from personal experience!) that if vendors have the opportunity to sell privately, rather than knock off the agent's fee that's built into the asking price, they'll just try to pocket more themselves.

The lawyer's fees I notice are included in their fee. They offer "in-house" conveyancing. Fair enough, so long as you don't mind not choosing your own lawyer. This does make their basic package (1.5%) seem attractive, because lawyer's fees are usually 1% alone. But then as I said before, most of the other services included in that package you can get from most estate agents anyway, or do yourself quite easily. Particularly if you are moving to the Costas, where there has been a well established ex-pat community for decades, opening a bank account or getting quotes for insurance is not exactly taxing stuff.

I'm not saying you shouldn't use this company or any other like it. I'm merely suggesting that you do plenty of independent research first, and then decide whether or not you need their services, or whether the supposed savings are real or not.

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Thanks for that Roberto, some interesting points made.  I'm not going to rush into anything and intend to do plenty of research and I guess things will become clearer the more I get into it.

As you point out they charge you a fee based on a percentage of the property you buy yet they claim to negotiate a lower price which will in turn lower their fee, plus I notice the comment made by Georgia and Gillespie 'add 5% to the price' doesn't quite STACK up!

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Hi

we found that if you have a good solicitor and you find something yourself then he can deal with everything. We found our property and yes we negotiated a price with the vendor which is what you would do in England and when the price was agreed our solicitor did everything else. I don't know if this is what normally happens but it was so straight forward it was great, he opened our bank accounts,sorted our NIE numbers and made everything run really smoothly maybe we were lucky we don't know but with the market as it is we would strongly suggest that you go out and drive around and if you find something then make a cheeky offer! you just never know, the other thing is get a solicitor that has been recommended to you, we would gladly recommend ours but im sure there are plenty of people on this site that can recommend theirs too.

cheers

_______________________
 without those blonde moments... life would be dull!  

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I can see that a buying agent would appeal to some people looking to buy in Spain. Whilst the dream of moving abroad appeals to many the idea of buying abroad is quite daunting to some, with the prospect of a different buying process, a different language and the time constraints on looking around for property on short visits meaning that a reliance on a 3^rd party to help is almost a necessity.

Unfortunately in the UK, many people distrust estate agents and apply this to any country. There have also been many horror stories reported of people’s buying experiences in Spain, and as they never publish the success stories, the bias is towards the negative.

In my view (and I speak as someone involved in the UK property market for over 20 years but not involved in Spain) the smaller independent agents involved in the Spanish property market, whether based in the UK or Spain, seem to be much more focused on making the whole buying in Spain process a positive one for buyers. I think the most important thing for any buyer not confident enough to arrange viewings themselves etc  is to look for an agent they have a comfortable rapport with. I lost count of the number of agents I spoke to before I came across the one we used who we felt we could work with. Fortunately, we have so far had only positive involvement.

Whilst a buyer may feel that by instructing a buying agent they have someone on their side, unfortunately, with all unregulated industries, whilst the majority do a good job there will always be some that see it as a way to make a quick buck at the expense of the less knowledgeable and the buyer agents will be no different, especially when their commissions are percentage based rather than a fixed price.

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