Viva Estates

I emailed them a few weeks ago in respect of a property they were advertising, I am still awaiting their reply. In the interim I noticed an add for a beachside townhouse with them in an area we are conversant with, I checked their full listings and found another in the same area, the photo was the same one as the other townhouse. I have, in the past, called into one of their offices for a brochure of a property with their board outside it, only to be told that they had never heard of it, Are these guys totally incompetant, or are they advertising properties that they have not been instructed on in order to make their stock look larger than it is?

We have further heard of other agents asking for €4,000 deposits on properties that prospective purchasers had not even had an acceptance of their offer on. I would be minded to buy privately from a none Spanish vendor, using a bilingual lawyer who had been well recommended by independent parties, and would only part with any money via said lawyer.

Am I being paranoid or sensible?

You can never be paranoid enough.

Using a private and independant lawyer is certainly a sensible approach, it's by no means a guarantee of anything but if they are good and doing their job right then the lawyer will quickly sort out any rogue estate agents. If an agent does not agree with the approach a lawyer is taking then there will be no sale but they normally tow the line as soon as someone starts quoting the law at them.

** EDITED **

Well I'm glad that I wasn't imagining it, yet another valid reason for showing great caution when purchasing property in Spain. 

Everything in my previous post ** EDITED - Against forum rules ** about this company, and all can be seen online if a Google search is made of them. It speaks volumes that the post was not edited  as forum rules mentioned, but deleted in it's entirety, there was no abuse nor spam! 

I suggest interested parties do an internet search on them.

Scambuster The post was not edited because of abuse or spam, and we would like to take the opportunity to remind you and others of the following forum rule :

"DON'T MENTION COMPANY OR EMPLOYEE NAMES - Please do not use the forums to complain about companies or individuals.  We are not in a position to be held liable for defamatory content on our site over which we know nothing about.  Therefore, please do not mention any company names or their staff if you have any complaints. This is not the place to vent your anger."

Thank you.

I initially trusted information supplied by rightmove, who I've found to be very professional in the UK. However they can only show what is available, the ethics of individual Spanish sales agents need to be policed by a regulator with teeth.