Agents Commision

Hi Everyone

Whilst we were in Spain early last year an agent took us round to see properties and we put a deposit down on an off-plan villa which will possibly (watch this space!) be ready in summer of next year, after a complete lack of contact from the agent we have since found out that the agents office is no longer in use. My question is what will happen to the agents commision for showing the property to us if they are no longer assisting us. Any insight to this will be greatly appreciated.

Thank

Skippy

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I hope you won't mind the intrusion - you can e-mail me separately if you wish after this e-mail if you don't want to get into a discussion with hundreds of others.  Get your money back on this Off-Plan right away if you have any sense of self preservation.  The off-plan sales are a disaster for most people who have gone that route.  I am one of them.  We bought off-plan in October 2003 and the property was completedf in October 2007 but the site was not finished but we had to complete otherwise lose all the money we had already paid to the developer.  To this date the property still has issues and site is not completed.  In our off-plan site we have 277 properties with only very few sold or being used throughout the year.  On the other site again only 14 sold.  Burglary has been a big issue on these sites as well as people being in them illegally and using the facilities without permission.  It has been a nightmare setting up the services on both sites which we are only getting to grips with one year later.  My best advice to you would be to buy something which is already built and has someone living in it and they have no issues with their documents, etc.  Most solicitors in Spain are only conveyancing solicitors who you deal with and they are not equipped to take your developer to court there in Spain if anything happens to the off-plan buying.  There are currently hundreds of people in England and other countries in Europe who have nothign for the money they have paid for their off-plan properties and are trying desperately to get their money back from someone.  DO NOT use any solicitors to convey this property in England or Spain who have been recommended to you by the Off-Plan Sales Person.  They are franchise operators who walk away with your money having sold you a lemon.  Most of them are in financial business usually advisors of some kind and the only person they are interested in is themselves.  You will not get any follow up from them.  Sincerely, C. Frayne



This message was last edited by carolfrayne on 10/9/2008.

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Well done Carol for taking the time out to reply to the post of Skippy, and giving great advice. I read Skippy's post and confess that I could not be bothered to respond because I cannot believe that after all the publicity in the media about the off plan buying nightmares, people are still actually  buying off plan!!!! Unless of course they have no TV or don't read newspapers or live in a cave. (Apologies for being facetious...but really!)

Skippy, get out while you can from this off-plan. The agents commission will be the least of your worries!


This message was last edited by Tish on 10/9/2008.

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Tish,
       Wouldn't have been better to offer advice in the first place? You "couldn't be bothered" to reply to the original post but happy to give somebody a pat on the back for actually helping...............Shheeeeeshhhh  !
 

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The agent was probably paid his commission after you signed the contract and paid the main deposit.....this is the normal procedure

Sorry to hear that your agent has closed down but if you have any general queries or problems please get in touch [ no charge!!] or speak to your lawyer 

There is no reason why buying off plan in Spain should present any more problems than buying off plan in UK ......provided......you have done it properly 

There have been problems in the past and many buyers seem to have taken risks which they would not have done in UK but now regulations on builders is much more strict
Infrastructure comes before and during construction and you should not complete without the LFO [ Habitation licence] and certainly in todays market without protection that any outstanding facilities will be completed

In reality there is now no need in many cases to put down a non refundable deposit of say 3000 € as you can just pay a normal deposit when you exchange contracts
Get a bank or insurance guarrantee for your money at the same time as you pay the money [[ we have all in the past allowed this to take some time] but now insist and there is no real technical reason why it can not be given straight away

You do have to be selective in your location but this has always been the situation

Just now for life style buyers there are some very good terms on some very good developments because world wide the property markets are static and builders always want to turn over stock

Buying re sales is OK and what you see is what you get but make sure that the spec is up to standard otherwise make an allowance in your offer for modernising the property.......eg are the air con units modern, solar for hot water, new kitchen , power supply large enough, hot water boiler adequate etc

Buying a ready now has the advantage of it being built to modern building regulations and everything is new

I suspect that those who are able to buy now will look back in the years to come and see that they have had a good buy.....may not be the bottom of the market but the good properties are never as affected as the poor located ones,,,& not easy to know when it is at the bottom!!

Same applies about buying in UK  

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Tish,
       Wouldn't have been better to offer advice in the first place? You "couldn't be bothered" to reply to the original post but happy to give somebody a pat on the back for actually helping...............
Put into context I wrote:
I read Skippy's post and confess that I could not be bothered to respond because I cannot believe that after all the publicity in the media about the off plan buying nightmares, people are still actually  buying off plan!!!! 

I gave a valid reason

Absolutely! Give credit when & where it is due!  Come on, they bought off plan, paid a deposit, and the agent has b******d off! And they are worried about the agents commission!? Shheeeeeshhhh  !

Rowlansbb, again great advice, but...Even if you do everything by the book, without putting the agent in for a lie dectector test, you can never believe that the spec will be spot on, that it won't take Y E A R S to build AND what happens if it gets no LFO? What if you are told there is a BG...but there isn't? Too many people are testiment to the corruption in Spain to say it all works if you do the right things. It is too late  when the end result goes bad, and it takes even more years, more stress and loads more money to try and get your money back. Meanwhile the agent has done a runner and the developer is in administration. These are facts, not fiction.

This message was last edited by Tish on 10/9/2008.

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Hi

Oh dear! What have I started, it was just a general question. Just for your info we bought very early last year, we have now got a very good solicitor and our developers have not gone into administration and we don't want to get out of it. I was just curious as to what stage the commission is handed over. Thanks anyway for the informative answers.

Skippy

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Rowlandsbb
I cant believe the advice you have just given . I have been waiting 4 yrs for my off plan property did everything by the book have a BG and the bank wont pay I am having to take the bank to court and it is costing me thousands to get my money back .My agent doesn't want to know .I believe no one should touch off plan in Spain with a barge pole until they can sort out the illegal corruption of many if not most  Developers Agents Banks Lawyers and court officials .Skippy and anyone else considering off plan in Spain go through these forums General and development  and read the nightmares for yourself .Are we all just stupid or is something very wrong with the Spanish System .You tell me I know  the answer . JA

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Hi Skippy,

The Answer to your original question is; The Agent should have been paid All of their Commission from the Deposits you paid over to the Promoter.

Sadly, Any mention of "Off Plan" and "Agents Commissions" on this Forum can raise temperatures as many people have suffered greatly in the last few years!!

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Hello Miket

Thanks for answering the question that I asked re Agents Commission, ust wanted to know when it was paid, didn't realise I would cause so much anger.

Thanks

Skippy

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That's absolutely right Skippy. In our case OE were paid 15% commission which equated to an eye watering £45,000!!!!! When it all went pear-shaped they feigned disbelief..What did they do for their money, Well..let me think.(sometime later..) Oh! yes, they regularly sent us emails telling us that our apartment was well on schedule to complete on due date.  A year after paying said 30% deposit, we visited the site...nothing started, not even a blade of grass moved. We queried it, told not to worry.  Only later did we discover that the building licence had been suspended 4 weeks and 3 days after we paid our deposit. They continued to send us these update emails even though, 15 months after our contract was signed our Lawyer contacted us to say the apartment would not be built. That's when the nightmare began. So Skippy , my advise for what it is worth, is keep on top of your developer/lawyer/agent every single step of the way. Visit the site and ask for regular updates. Follow it up with phone calls if you're not happy. Good Luck!

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