north spain estate agents

Blakemore Walker Chartered Surveyors & Legal Consultants

SPECIALISING IN PROPERTY PURCHASE AND SALES IN ASTURIAS, CANTABRIA & GALICIA

MEMBERS OF THE ROYAL INSTITUTION OF CHARTERED SURVEYORS

PROPERTY AND THE EURO

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BUYER BEWARE Estate agents' commission discussed.

Independent advice provides peace of mind.

Blakemore Walker Chartered Surveyors has no ties or agreements with any agents including the agents displayed on this page. This information is provided purely as an information service.

COMMENT ON ESTATE AGENTS IN NORTHERN SPAIN - Below are some of the estate agents in northern Spain with web access - not all have offices and our comments may help your search.

ASTURIAS Inmob Occidente Nortecasa Reinas Allenglobe La Isla Factorhouse Prada Cubera	CANTABRIA Cantabrustica Pradainmobil Reinas	GALICIA Gestinse Quasar Homes Galicia Paradise
	PRADA GESTION INMOBILIARIA Established spanish agent with offices covering Asturias. A few of their expensive properties can be found advertised by a central London based international residential agent. Some property priced at very interesting levels. Buyer beware. Poor english translation in many cases. No english spoken.	INMOBILIARIA CUBERA One office agent based in Villaviciosa. Small selection aimed at spanish purchaser mainly with some rural/ rustic property. Some properties are farmed out to english websites. Beware prices. No english spoken.
QUASAR HOMES Located and operating in the southern part of Galicia and especially in the Montforte Region. A professional approach to their work can be relied upon. Good selection of rural property. Good english.	NORTECASA One office Asturias based spanish agent. Reasonable selection and specialising in the Nava region. Worth a look as most of their property offered is via direct instructions from the seller. Some property farmed out to english sites. Little or no english.	REINAS Franchise mentality but plenty on offer. Fairly wide office base but some are closing. Mainly aimed at the spanish market they specialise in high turnover apartments that the spanish demand. Buyer beware. No english.
ALLENGLOBE Franchise aimed at the spanish market. Some offices are closing. You need to sort the wood from the trees but there is a lot on offer. Buyer beware. No english.	INMOB. OCCIDENTE Specialising in the Luarca region of western Asturias this one office set up has a reasonable approach and are genuinely helpful. There is a good selection of properties. Some english.	CANTABRIARUSTICA Spanish agent with english speaking contact serving the cantabrian region with an office in Torrelavega. Be mildly aware but good selection from an extensive website with a heplful attitude. English speaking contact.

BUYER BEWARE

Property advertised in northern Spain can often involve several agents both Spanish and English. There are examples of this in all the price ranges, but with a little research, property on some english speaking web sites can be found in the window of the original agent in Spain, and the price is not always the same! The buyer must be aware of how the system works.

Most agents in Spain advertise at a price which reflects the level of commission they expect to take from the transaction. As a purchaser, consideration must be given to the element of commission and how it reflects on the final agreed price. The more agents involved the potential for more commission to be paid. One example, recently involved an agent in Galicia. Our clients were asked to sign an agreement and pay 250 euros in order for the agent to submit an offer. In this case they checked with us first, and following a quick phone call the truth was revealed. The agent was not directly instructed and was simply trying to procure a fee. Later it became apparent that the property was never really for sale unless someone was prepared to pay over the market value.

Many property web sites do not have direct instructions from the vendor and english speaking agents are often purely web based, but some are more reputable firms with offices, for example, in central London. Property is advertised to serve the english speaking purchaser where the original spanish agent is based in northern Spain and does not speak english.

It is important that the prospective purchaser does not waste time in dealing with agents who do not have direct instructions and, in the case that sub-agents are involved, to ensure that the asking prices does not reflect additional commissions added by multiple layers of agents.

Not only is there the potential to waste a significant amount of time but also to pay too much for a property, or to pay fees for achieving nothing. As ever the advice of buyer beware is fundamental to any property transaction but especially in unregulated areas such as northern Spain. Always take professional advice and above all never sign anything without taking professional advice.

Clive Robbins MRICS