Angel De Miraflores

You will find that, no matter what company you go with, all the inspection trips are going to be virtually the same.  They are, after all, subsidising your flight, hotels, meals etc.

You will be treated well and taken to a nice hotel, nice restaurants etc. but the whole purpose will be to show you properties.  The sooner you decide on your property, the sooner the soft sell (heavily disguised hard sell) will finish.  We went for a 4 day trip and everyone on our bus (only 3 couples) had chosed on day 2.  The company spent the rest of the 2 days showing us around, taking us shopping, pointing out the beaches etc.  and we had a nice, relaxing 2 days to contemplate what we had done.  Remember, they will ask you for a deposit (anything up to 10%) straight away which is normally non-refundable if you later change your mind. 

The couples who could not decide on a property were still being shown around on the morning of their flight and being gently pressurised to make a choice right up to the last minute.  We have heard that some of the companies treat you pretty poorly if you haven't made a choice on the last day but this didn't happen with the company we went with (Atlas).  However, we now know that the choice offered by the operator depends on the developers they work with and that limits what you are shown.

My advice would be to check out all the websites of the operators you are thinking of going with. Then check the web for details of the builders to find out if there are any adverse comments about them. This will give you an idea of what properties they are trying to flog you.  Then pick an inspection tour to view the properties you are interested in.  Again remember that the properties a certain company shows you may not be what you are looking for but you will only be shown what they want you to see.

Do not be pressurised into using their mortgage companies, their insurance brokers or their solicitors.  If you see a property you like, go for it, but arrange a separate trip (flights and hotels off season are very reasonable) and then go over and pick your own solicitor etc. 

The place we bought has been very nice as a holiday home but looks nothing like the show houses we were shown.  The advantage of having this base is that we have been able to view other areas, see real houses with people living in them and check out the build quality of real houses as opposed to show houses.  And we haven't been pressurised with company reps trying to sell us one of their houses. 

We have again bought off-plan (on the Costa Blanca) and now feel we have picked a place we will be happy to retire to and have taken advice from independent solicitors.  We feel we wouldn't have been able to do this if we had been accompanied by salesmen (and women, they often work in teams) all the time.

Hi BigAl,

I agree with a lot of what bobaol has written.

We too bought via an inspection trip with Atlas International, however, we didn't feel pressurised. The fact that they show you what they want is quite true. All through our few days with 2 other couples, we were shown properties inland. We wanted to be close to the sea with a sea view. Our hosts virtually said we were mad and although THEY lived by the coast they never took advantage of the beach, yeah right!

Anyway, they did finally show us exactly what we were looking for and we did buy on our trip. But interestingly, since speaking with other owners in our block, it seems we were virtually the only ones who bought through Atlas. So maybe they didn't have our property on their "list".

We used a UK Solicitor, John Howell & Co in Central London, who specialise in buying overseas property. Thier fees were almost equal to what a Spanish Lawyer would have charged.

However, Atlas were NOT impressed when we said we had our own solicitor signed up already, whilst we purchased on our trip.

Regards,

Thanks everyone, The advice has been very useful.

I am trying to do it unconventionally as due to work & children committments it has been impossible for me & the wife to get away together, so I am intending to go by myself and view as much of the area as possible and create a shortlist of areas/properties, then asap afterwards return together for a day or two to make a decision. I have explained this to the companies I have been speaking with and they seem OK about it.

So it is important that the company I go with can show me as much of the best options as possible. I have bought of plan before (in Tenerife), so I am aware of the mortgatge, solicitor bits & pieces and agree you need to have good reliable & independant represenation.

Thanks again, any advice warmley received.

Regards,

Al

Hi Big Al what you are proposing is often done due to logistics and family commitments etc. If on the off chance you do get "signed up" on first visit without your wife please, please ensure that any paperwork is in joint names with your wife. There is a complex situation going on at the moment which I have explained on another thread about deposits and tax etc (think it was buying property). Thus in case the situation is not fully resolved by the time you buy/complete make sure all paperwork is in joint names and if you can any deposits that are paid come from a joint account or from a joint credit card.

Also worth considering resale - with off plan you never know exactly what you are going to end up with as Bobaol says

 "The place we bought has been very nice as a holiday home but looks nothing like the show houses we were shown"

Agents not so keen to sell resale as their commission significantly less than off plan. You can sometimes strike a better deal on resales - additionally for a resale there is no Title Deed Stamp Duty which with off plan or brand new is 1% of purchase price.

BUY RIGHT NOT QUICK

Good luck 

Rgds

To explain about nothing like the show house we were shown, the place we have at the moment is an upstairs part of the duplex.  The show house had a nice wide road in front of it and was on flat ground.  The one we moved into has a very narrow road in front and is on a hill.  Therefore, the stairs going up are twice as steep and high as the show house ones, bit of a killer when you have to take shopping up.  The ground floor part had only two steps going up to the patio in the show house but the ones we bought have between 5 and 12 steps going up depending on which part of the hill you are on.

We were also shown a semi-detached house by Masa as the show house but the rep (excellent guy and very honest) pointed out that the ones being build were actually in a terrace of 8 houses). 

Regarding resales, yes these are great as you can see exactly what is around you but they do tend to work out more expensive as the seller is trying to recoup his money (including the tax he paid) and the companies add on their commission.  Disadvantage to off plan is that anything can be built around you.  I feel sorry for one guy on our current urb who bought a corner unit (for about 8000 euros more than the others) and then had a bank and chinese restaurant complex built about two metres away from him.  He now gets no natural light at all and has to have the lights on in the house during the day.  No mention of that from the company showing us around.

Even older houses, like one complex in El Galan, had lovely balconies looking out over orange groves and the golf course down to the sea....until they built a 5 storey Mercadona 10 feet in front of them.

The moral, I guess, is Caveat Emptor. 

Couldnt agree more Bob - if I knew what it meant anyway...lol.

Personally I think anyone who buys off plan is exceptionally brave - even if you know exactly where you will be on the artists impression etc. I have a friend here who bought off plan and wanted to be as far away from the coomunal garage (there are 140 spaces - thus the potential for the same number of cars) as possible because of the noise every time the doors opened. He was one of the earliest deposits taken and picked his apartment with every care - wasnt the furthest from the garage but not far off it. During construction the builder had to change things around because the planning officials insisted on it owing to some engineering problem. Consequently the garage door is immediately below his apartment - to be fair at this time of the year its not a major issue except weekends when he is in and not working. However in the summer, Easter, during Christmas itself  - nightmare.

Buying resale does not have to be more costly than off plan - sure there are people out there trying to recoup costs but if one takes control of the agent rather than the other way round then one can often find a good deal. Dont forget agents are not so highly motivated to show you resale as they get probably double bubble on off plan and they can be quite quick to pooh pooh an offer that you might make on a resale property - depends who you deal with I guess. But the good agents will always listen to you and will be happy to show resale and take an offer to a vendor. Certainly in my experience anyway.

Rgds

Hi BigAl.

Usually the promoters will show the properties on which they make the greatest commission.  If you have time, go on the organised tour just to get a feel for the area.  Afterward arrange a DIY trip.  Get a cheap flight and hotel and hire a car for a few days.  Then spend some time just driving around to see what other developments are in the area.  Do check with local estate agents about developments in their area and don't restrict yourself to off-plan. 

Hi JeansSis

Are you saying that you can get the same property for les if you go direct to the developer than go with an Agent.?

Regards

Terry

Most of the time I don't think you can actually get it cheaper from the developer although I suppose there's no harm in trying a bit of haggling.

If you are moving to Spain and don't know which areas to look at I would like to make a suggestion for your consideration.

I have lived in Lliria, just to the north of the city of Valencia, with my wife for the last three years. It is a great place to live. It is very convenient for the coast, the city of Valencia (the metro starts here) and for Valencia airport. The area is very Spanish but there are 2 or 3 bars owned by English people where it is possible to meet friends who speak your language.

I bought my house through an estate agent, Barceló, who have a dedicated English-speaking team and were very helpful, not only in finding us a house but also in helping us to settle into our new life when we arrived in Spain. You can see all about them and the properties they have for sale by visiting their website http://www.barceloinmobiliarias.com.