# Estate agents



## jules864d (Apr 7, 2010)

We are trying to sell an apartment in a typical Spanish village in Andalucia, we would like to reduce the price to help sell it quicker, but our estate agents are unwilling to drop their commission, can anyone tell me why estate agents in Spain charge so much anyway, when estate agents in England only charge 1%-2%, I know a lot of estate agents share websites but even so it's still a lot. We never hear from the estate agents we're with, an email every now and then would be good, we always have to get in touch to find out if anything is happening. Surely in these tough times a drop in commission to help us sell is better than no sale at all. Does anyone know of a good estate agent in the Velez Malaga region.


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

jules864d said:


> We are trying to sell an apartment in a typical Spanish village in Andalucia, we would like to reduce the price to help sell it quicker, but our estate agents are unwilling to drop their commission, can anyone tell me why estate agents in Spain charge so much anyway, when estate agents in England only charge 1%-2%, I know a lot of estate agents share websites but even so it's still a lot. We never hear from the estate agents we're with, an email every now and then would be good, we always have to get in touch to find out if anything is happening. Surely in these tough times a drop in commission to help us sell is better than no sale at all. Does anyone know of a good estate agent in the Velez Malaga region.


Estate agents are having a tough time too and I think that historically they were partly to blame for the "boom and bust" in the property market. In the height of it all, it wasnt unheard of for agents to charge 25% commission! They'd simply ask people how much they wanted for their properties and then wack their cut on top and that could be as much as they could get away with, there were so many buyers. Times are hard now and yes I totally agree with you, they dont seem to do much for their money and should do more, even just so you know that they're still there!! I'm not sure them dropping their commission would help either of you much - they probably have so many properties on their books and not many buyers. I think what I'd do is tell the agent to put an "o.n.o" on your price and should you be lucky enough to get an offer thru them, then is the time to start wrangling with them about their cut! Also you should put it on with several other agents. I cant reccomend a good one in your area, but I would certainly suggest one who has a good internet presence

Jo xxx


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## JBODEN (Jul 10, 2009)

There are a surprising number of incompetent amateurs pretending to know the business and thinking that they can charge both sides, without actually giving a service. But as you so rightly pointed out, JoJo, it was a buyers market for a long time and the 'agents?' didn't have to make an effort.


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## Cazzy (Nov 23, 2008)

In defence of Estate Agents. There are a lot of people desperate to sell their property so they have all reduced it dramatically, making it very hard for people who are not desperate to sell as their prices are higher. Unless your property is very cheap or something very special you will struggle to get a buyer, as there is so much cheap property about!! To top this off there are hardly any buyers out there, and the ones there are know they can get a bargain property. I think most of the Estate Agents that are left in Buisiness are the better ones as the others have now fallen by the wayside due to lack of buyers!


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## gus-lopez (Jan 4, 2010)

Jo, I know one couple who bought a house for 165k some 7 years ago. I was chatting to an old boy one day & it came up in conversation that he'd sold the house " & I was very happy with the 110k I got for it " he said.  If only he knew, & the couple who bought are oblivious too.


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

gus-lopez said:


> Jo, I know one couple who bought a house for 165k some 7 years ago. I was chatting to an old boy one day & it came up in conversation that he'd sold the house " & I was very happy with the 110k I got for it " he said.  If only he knew, & the couple who bought are oblivious too.


Horrific wasnt it and it just couldnt go on. Spain should have put some legislations in place, as in the UK. It should now in case it happens again! It could also address the illegal properties being sold on etc

Jo xxx


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## JBODEN (Jul 10, 2009)

Cazzy said:


> In defence of Estate Agents. ... I think most of the Estate Agents that are left in Buisiness are the better ones as the others have now fallen by the wayside due to lack of buyers!


Unfortunately the sharks are still circling. I met a couple in December who had just found out that the land that they were building on (they applied for, and got planning permission on it!) was not the one that they thought they had bought (that one was about a kilometer away). 
I met quite a number of 'agents' who wasted my time by showing me property that just didn't conform to my criteria. They seemed to think that the upper price limit could be doubled. 
One 'agent' actually showed me a note from the Ayuntamiento confirming that a 150m2 property could be built on the land, but when I spoke to an Spanish architect he advised me that I _could _apply for PP, wait 2 years and, although the Local Authority said YES, the Junta would most certainly say NO. He then spoke to the 'agent' and explained the law and the agent said 'oh, I did't know that'. 
Maybe I'm wrong but it seems to me that most of the expat 'agents' and a lot of the local agents instead of reading and understanding the various legislations, have listened to friends/aquaintances and decided that what was imparted was the law.


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

I've heard that some of the old "baddies", the guys who used to charge huge commissions are back and trying to subtly slip back into the marketplace?? Of course this could mean that there is a feeling that things are about to pick up here, which is good?????? But these "baddies" and their type need to be seriously monitored, or they'll just get greedy again

Jo xxx


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## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

jules864d said:


> We are trying to sell an apartment in a typical Spanish village in Andalucia, we would like to reduce the price to help sell it quicker, but our estate agents are unwilling to drop their commission, can anyone tell me why estate agents in Spain charge so much anyway, when estate agents in England only charge 1%-2%, I know a lot of estate agents share websites but even so it's still a lot. We never hear from the estate agents we're with, an email every now and then would be good, we always have to get in touch to find out if anything is happening. Surely in these tough times a drop in commission to help us sell is better than no sale at all. Does anyone know of a good estate agent in the Velez Malaga region.


The only agents I know who have a very good reputation in that area are ABAX properties. Spanish Property for Sale - Costa del Sol Property - the number 1 site Can't say I know what their commission rates are though but I think they would be worth contacting. They are located in Caleta de Velez


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## ivorra (Sep 24, 2008)

A neighbour of ours, an elderly English lady whose husband had died, tried to sell her very nice apartment on the Costa Brava through a local agent ostensibly at a commission of 2.5%. The agent could not find a buyer and passed the property on to another agent based in Barcelona. The property was then sold and the seller found that she was charged TWO commissions of 2.5%. Of course, this came as a complete surprise to her and we suspect that the agents deliberately kept her in the dark as to what she would be charged.
When we were looking for a property in Barcelona a few years ago, we used agents initially but after looking at several properties offered, came to the conclusion that we were only being shown the 'rubbish' - properties which had been on the market a long time and were virtually unsellable. We concluded this was standard practice in dealing with foreigners, gave up with the agents and eventually bought through a private sale.


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## geez (Apr 4, 2010)

*Estate Agents - Rubbish for renters too*

Jules, I hear you and wish you luck.

I've been struggling along for well over a month looking for a temporary rental in Bilbao and the biggest hurdle are real estate agents. I've come to the conclusion that there are oodles of places available as no one can sell at the moment but agents seem to have no incentive to leverage this supply.

Is anyone able to enlighten me as to why any property owner uses these 'professionals' to rent their properties? I too have been shown completely inappropriate properties that bear no relation to my criteria and had numerous examples of agents having no regard for the interests of the owners. If times are so tough, why has not one agent been willing to negotiate down from charging 1.5 month commission on a 6 month rental? Not one even willing to be paid in installments rather than up front. And I must pay the rental insurance. And cleaning fees of E300-500 have been mentioned. Owners have to take hits, renters have to take hits but never, never the agent. Where I am from agents have to also take a roll in ongoing management of property where it seems those I'm dealing with here in Spain are just in it for the letting fee.

It's sometimes difficult to adjust your thinking when you are from an environment where the owner contracts and pays an agent to one where the owner contracts an agent and they charge the renter. It always seems a bit daft that I pay for a service I have not selected (ie I don't get to choose the agent). Either way, it makes no difference to the lousy treatment I receive.

No doubt Spain needs a good deal of law reform in the property area (and also some sock-pulling up from online listing services) but I'm still puzzled as to why agents remain the go-to folks for renting your property. At this point they are making bankers look good which makes me hope real estate agents go the way of the travel agent. And I liked travel agents.


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## geez (Apr 4, 2010)

Cazzy said:


> In defence of Estate Agents. There are a lot of people desperate to sell their property so they have all reduced it dramatically, making it very hard for people who are not desperate to sell as their prices are higher. Unless your property is very cheap or something very special you will struggle to get a buyer, as there is so much cheap property about!! To top this off there are hardly any buyers out there, and the ones there are know they can get a bargain property. I think most of the Estate Agents that are left in Buisiness are the better ones as the others have now fallen by the wayside due to lack of buyers!


Cazzy, In my current frame of mind there is no defending em. Isn't the refusal of an agent to negotiate on price an outrageous example of price fixing. That would be illegal in most jurisdictions, me thinks. Other than that, aren't there 'professional ethics' involved?


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

SteveHall said:


> Here's a "rule of thumb" ...... if they do NOT speak FLUENT Spanish avoid them like the plague. They simply have (a) not commited to the country (b) genuine LOCAL knowledge re PP etc and will not have their enchufes in place.


I think longevity for agents is also a Rule of Thumb too. This recession has sorted out the wheat from the chafe so to speak and what we're left with now are the better agents. I doubt any of them are in a position to argue the finer points of their contracts and will have to accept whatever they get

Jo xxx


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## gus-lopez (Jan 4, 2010)

I bought through long established Spanish agents , only dealt with Spanish agents none of which spoke any english & had no new build properties specifically targeted at the english on their books. All , I found were legal, decent, honest & truthful .Even when you ran out of properties , they'd just get another agent they were friendly with to show their properties & if you bought through the other they'd just split the commission between them. They are all still in business albeit suffering like everyone else . The ones I've spoken too recently are all prepared to negotiate on price to the tune of 50% , in some cases, on their selling fees . 
All the english agents I know & the english speaking German ones are all devoid of even the most basic knowledge of Spanish law re: house sales, & some are downright liars, or completely stupid.


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## dunmovin (Dec 19, 2008)

I'm actually quite shocked by what I read on this thread or have been extremely lucky wigth the agent we went with. Both buyers and sellers agreed the price, all parties agreed the agent's fixed fee and the after sales service could not have been better. Our agent did not ask for a single euro until the deal was signed, sealed and we had the keys. Part of the deal was that we paid nothing until we were settled in and all the local legalstuff was complete(from changing the padron, dealing with the local health centre, to helping deal with buying a second hand car) The lady in question still calls us and asks if everything is going well.


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## Cazzy (Nov 23, 2008)

As I said we aint all bad, some of us treat our customers as we would expect to be treated!!!!


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