Solicitor recommendation

Hello everyone , I am in the process of selling my property which i have had from new for 9 years. can anyone recommend a solictor who is truly efficient and cost effective. If so would really like to hear from you.

thank you in anticipation.

terrance43

terrance43

difficult to recommend for 2 reasons

1. It may be deemed as advertising on here so suggest anyone who wants to recommend then they should send you a pm

2. Where is your house this will help

Good luck

Are you using an estate agent? If so, you really don't need to waste money on a lawyer too. The agent will tell you what documentation etc. you need to provide; other than that you just need to make sure you get the money when you sign! Plus Valia tax after the sale & any other loose ends, if you can't manage it yourself, use a gestor. Maybe you already have one doing your annual tax returns?

Are you using an estate agent? If so, you really don't need to waste money on a lawyer too. The agent will tell you what documentation etc. you need to provide; other than that you just need to make sure you get the money when you sign! Plus Valia tax after the sale & any other loose ends, if you can't manage it yourself, use a gestor. Maybe you already have one doing your annual tax returns?

Not the best advice in the world as there is not a single estate agent I would trust with this in Spain or anywhere else.

Roberto I guess you have done this a few times in the past yourself?

My advice to terrance43 engage a lawyer and be safe it wil be worth it rather than trusting to an estate agent etc. Finally ask yourself what would you do in the UK?

I would not "trust" any estate agent either, but buying and selling are very different circumstances. On another thread about buying (which you contributed to as well) I said:

"Definitely do NOT rely on an estate agent to check legalities etc.; get an independent lawyer".

However, when selling, it's in the agent's interest for everything to go smoothly, and any agent with a smidgen of experience in the field (i.e. has actually sold a property previously) will be able to (and want to) ensure the seller has all the neccesary documentation in place. And remember, the seller is paying the agent, so he might as well make him work a bit. Failing that, or if no agent is involved, go to the notary prior to the completion date to check what you need. If it's a case of language barriers or lack of confidence in the process (which almost by definition, having originally bought, the seller must have some experience), then use your gestor. 

"ask yourself what would you do in the UK" - yes, normally I would agree with that sentiment whole heartedly, but buying & selling property is very different in Spain to the UK. When was the last time you sat at a desk in the notary's office, together with the buyer, in the UK? If you can give me a convincing list of exactly what a lawyer would do for a seller in Spain, I'll concede on this one. Yes, I've done this many times - the last time I employed a lawyer, he turned up so late it was all over and I was already at the bank. The basteward still charged me for his time!

Roberto

Maybe you have done a lot or are you just (sounds a bit familair to me and a bit of de ja vu)

There are many reasons I can see why the seller should need a solicitor in Spain especially with the standard (or lack) of estate agents in Spain.

The OP may have no or little experience (unlike you and maybe other self proclaimed experts do). Your comment about a smidgen of experience is quite frankly patronising to say the least

Claiming it is easy for you is not the same as for others and you may be causing a problem for them if they follow your advice and make a mistake

Although I do not know how much money is involved I would prefer to take the safest option and remember the OP asked for a recommendation of a solicitor NOT how to do it DIY style  so IMO the OP is using his head and wants a solictor.

"Maybe you have done a lot or are you just"  Just what?

"There are many reasons I can see why the seller should need a solicitor in Spain"  So name one. 

I am not a "self-proclaimed expert", any more than you are. Neither did I "claim it's easy" for me. I'm just a member of this forum offering an opinion based on personal experience. Patronising? Who, exactly? Estate agents? Really? 

I haven't forgotten that the OP asked for a recommendation of a solicitor, either. I could very easily recommend one, but since he neglected to tell us where in Spain he is, as you pointed out, it would be pointless. So instead I merely suggested that if there is an estate agent involved, he probably doesn't need one for anything prior to the sale, and at the very most, use a gestor for things like paying the Plus Valia after the sale, since the chances are he's already employed the services of one for his annual tax returns. I assume you know the difference between an abogado and a gestor?

Well there you go again why do I get the feeling we have been her before 

Again your last sentence is another patronising statement 

Maybe you shoukd stick to the question and say to the OP YOU can't help until you know where he lives instead of...........

apologies submitted twice so deleted this one

I don't know what your problem with me is, Tadd. I didn't post on here to pick a fight. And I usually try to refrain from posting on threads where I have nothing to offer. Such as "well, I don't know the answer, but I'm sure someone else will be along shortly to answer" followed by a stupid smiley. Compare your first response to the OP, and mine. You give two reasons why you can't answer the question, but then criticise me for offering an opinion based on experience. I couldn't give a hoot whether the OP takes any notice of it or not, but the idea of a forum is to share information & experiences for the potential benefit of others. I never passed judgment on your first post, but you've done nothing but criticise me: "Not the best advice in the world", "patronising", "stick to the question" but failed to actually "answer" the question in any meaningful way yourself, other than to say "use an independent lawyer", which, after all, is what the OP wanted to do anyway. You sensibly said "ask yourself what would you do in the UK". There are many things people here in Spain do differently, often costing them dearly, because they know no other way, through a lack of information or help, so if I can offer a bit of info or advice that may (or may not) be helpful, I don't know why you think you are qualified to shoot me down. Have you ever even sold a property in Spain? Perhaps you'd recommend the poster on the other thread I mentioned to use (and pay for) a lawyer to open a bank account? Even though that's NOT what they would do in the UK?

So, unless you CAN recommend a lawyer for the OP, for the time being I suggest you try answering my question, namely, can you name one thing a lawyer does for a seller in Spain? You might like to ask your Spanish friends for help on this one, although it might be difficult to find one who's ever used a lawyer when selling....

Edit: I feel like I'm repeating myself, when I'm sure the OP got it first time, but I did start this off by suggesting he/she uses a gestor if they don't want to DIY, since they probably already have used one for the past 9 years.

Seems you don't like being challenged on anything - so many deja vu moments.

A lawyer can help buyers and sellers in many ways and a lot better than teh DIY experts. If you don't know that then.................

I would have possibly been able to recommended a solictor if I knew where OP lived etc. and would have done it via pm so as not to advertise on

I can stand any challenge, warranted or otherwise. If you're experiencing de ja vu, it's because you keep repeating yourself, and keep avoiding my question:

NAME ONE OF THE MANY THINGS A LAWYER DOES FOR A SELLER IN SPAIN.

If you don't know that, just say so....

I have answered your question and I have no intention of carrying this on as we are thread drifting and as you haev said before drifting or going off topic is distracting and irrelevant to the OP.

If you really want a fight (notunusla for you) suggest you send a PM

So anyway, back to the thread and for the OP (nobody else needs to comment): in my opinion, based onpersonal experience, if you are using an estate agent they will tell you what documentation etc. you need to provide; other than that you just need to make sure you get the money when you sign at the notary! Plus Valia tax after the sale & any other loose ends, if you can't manage it yourself, use a gestor. Maybe you already have one doing your annual tax returns? Hope this may be helpful. If you still definitely want to use a lawyer, or don't know a gestor, post your location so that members in your area can recommend one.

Roberto is right (I don't want fight here) There really is no reason to use a lawyer when selling a property. We sold 2 years ago and the estate agent did everything. We reckoned that as we were paying a huge amount for the little work that the agent did (3rd viewer bought after property was on sale for just 10 days) we would use them for everything. It all went smoothly. They even paid the money into our bank for us and claimed back the retention money a year later.