Just joined - just starting

We found buying a property in spain far more stressful than buying a property in the uk.We went through Iberian International and i must say i would NEVER recommend them to anyone (not even my enemies).We were promised €3,000 cashback and because the sale of  our home in UK didnt go as smoothly as we hoped they refused to give it to us.We found the whole buying process through them very stressful and going from my in-laws experience Atlas is no better.If i were to do it again i would go through an independant agent as i think it would be more intimate.

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Hi Mervy and Smiley,

Your advice is much appreciated, we need all the pointers we can get to avoid the stress that such a big move may bring and we have found this forum very useful.   A friend recommended Homeespana in the Playa Flamenca area and we have been viewing their website for properties.   Have you heard of them?  are they a reputable company?  Also if I may ask another question!  can you recommend any good international removal companies as we will need to move our furniture to the Costa Blanca and possibly store it for a while.

Moving house is one of the top most stressful things on the stress top ten!  However, we are looking forward to our new life and are being as positive as we can.

Thanks

Norffys

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Hi Norfyss

                     From my own experience and through reading  lots of posts here and on other forums , ther are good and bad points about every agent. That includes the UK as well. All you can do is try and trust your own instinct and use that old saying "if it seems to good to be true it usually is". Stick with what you want were you want and how you want it , you will find your property. You may have to compromise at some stage. Remember for every bad post you read on here or elsewhere there will be hundreds of good experiences and happy endings, if there wasn't these agents would not exist. I don't think I am being naive just realistic. I have moved home in the UK and come up against all sorts of delays , excuses and oh so slow solicitors screwing you for all you are worth, why should it be different in Spain. As I said trust your instinct , if you think it is wrong DO NOT DO IT.

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Hi Norffys perhaps worth looking for Georgia on this forum and sending him a PM or something - he is closer to the area you are looking and might have some that he can recommend - for removals there is a separate thread for this if you use the search facility but we used Britannia Cestrion and they were pretty good

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Hi Norffys,

The buying process is as easy or as hard as the person controlling the sale allows it to be,get a good agent and a good solicitor and things can be reasonably stress free,the best i have ever done for a client is 11 days from reservation contract signed to the delivery van turning up,they did not have time to get stressed!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It really depends on what you are purchasing,whether it is rustic or urban,occupied or vacantt possession.

Having been an agent in both the UK and Spain i would say it is can be easier(if handled correctly) to buy a house here because there are higher commitment levels from the purchaser earlier in the stages of the sale,people do not generally pull out as often.

If you use the wrong people it can be a nightmare as many forum members will tell you(disclaimer, so not to be shot by smiley)

The pitfalls of legality are generally the biggest downfall for people considering property in Spain,if you have a decent agent and your solicitor is on the ball then they should eradicate these problems very early on,how you decide on whether the afforementioned are good enough to handle your "hard earned" is generally down to word of mouth and referalls,at some point there must be a element of trust for such a major purchase.

Always use someone who's business practices are transparent and do not hide away in an ivory tower,if you have questions people must be there to answer them.

In this day and age the rogues are thinning out a bit as you do have to have great customer service skills as reputation is King with forums like EOS making everyone more accountable for their actions.

The biggest tip i could give to anyone is to take the buying process in stages,do not try and get ahead of yourself,take small steps towards your goal and you will get there a lot quicker and safer with a smile on your face.

Hope this helps

Regards

Georgia

 

This message was last edited by georgia on 9/10/2007.

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Hi Georgia and Smily,

Thanks for your advice, any advice we get is gratefully received as we are putting a lot of investment into this move and we really want to make it work for us.  We will keep you posted on our progress.

regards

The Norffys

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Once again, Hola!

We're sorry we haven't been back to this thread for a couple of days - wretched work can be a blessed nuisance sometimes

Thank you all for all the splendid advice and information, which we will work through.  And hopefully we'll get a minute to answer the PMs too.  Apologies for long delay.

With all the reading we've been doing, we are beginning to wonder if  "key ready" might be a better/safer option for us.  Apart from the obvious disadvantage of maybe not being able to choose the exact position of your villa, are there any other disadvantages you can think of that we should know about?

Our biggest problem seems to be getting everything organised into the right order.  Our business (which we run from home) is proving to be a bit of millstone around our necks as we really need to sell it before we can sell the house.  How on earth does one go about selling it !!!!!????  And putting a value on it....

So much to do, its all a bit overwhelming for old codgers like us!

Whilst posting this post, can we just also add our thanks to Justin for this fantastic site and forum.  It is truly brilliant with lots of fantastic information, and some wonderful people!

Have you noticed that I use too many exclamation marks? 

Have you wondered why we are called The Batties?  

 

 

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hI

This forum is probably the best place to start. 

Lots of great people who have experienced just about every scenerio

 If you are un-decided on an area then either use the inspection trips as a research tool.  Leave the credit cards at home so that you can't be tempted and then find the right area and rent a place for a couple of weeks or longer to see if you REALLY like the area.

If you are moving here for good then I can't stress enough how important it is to find the right area

If your are ever in Mojacar (Sunny Almeria) come and say hi

Good luck, believe me you'll never look back, my gran is moving out here and she is 92 and trying to learn basic spanish!!!!!

I am an agent but please don't hold that against me! I offer a lot of advice to clients who have had their fingers burnt by the big boys - just look at the forum to figure out who they are!!!!!

 

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Hiya,

We have found this forum to be very very useful.  I am currently in the process of clearing out about 11 years worth of accumulated junk - and there is a lot of it, all sitting in the front room.  Unfortunately after running up and down the loft all day yesterday I don't think I have the energy to do a bootfair!

We are waiting for exchange of contracts (which will hopefully be very soon) and are intending to rent initially whilst we work out the areas/schools etc - we will be bringing out our computer so that when we get out to Spain we can contact as many people as possible to make sure that we make the right choices with respect to areas, property etc etc and all your help is gratefully received.  It would be great to meet up with as many of you as possible and we are very excited about starting our new life in Spain.

Your gran sounds like an amazing person!

The Norffys

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Hi, I know how you are feeling as I was also in the same position this time last year waiting for exchange and sorting out the junk for the pending bootfair, however our junk came with me (crazy-I know) and didn't have the heart to have a boot fair after I'd been to the kennels at Paws(animal charity in Mojacar), so gave the junk to them to sell in their shop As for my gran she came here in May and feel in love, her other option she was considering was The Gambia but she didn't like the idea of the rainy season and long flights home, if she was ever to come back to see blighty! When she got home she got jumped upon in her sheltered housing unit, in a rough area of Leeds (where the first asbo was handed out). However as typical as the British weather has been this year, she had her brolly on her and hit her attacker with such force she knocked him out, so you could say she is one feisty lady. Good luck with your move, and the boot fair (if you have any energy !) I f you're ever in Mojacar, Almeria area send me a mail.

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