# Estate agent



## Jestomi (Dec 29, 2013)

Hi ,we are looking to relocate to Spain and looking at the possibility of setting up a real estate agency.Does anyone know how you set this up ,eg do you have to have a license and is there any kind of tuition or information regarding setting this up.
Thank you


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Jestomi said:


> Hi ,we are looking to relocate to Spain and looking at the possibility of setting up a real estate agency.Does anyone know how you set this up ,eg do you have to have a license and is there any kind of tuition or information regarding setting this up.
> Thank you


:welcome:

I was told by a property agent acquaintance of mine that there is some kind of license/register.... & that she's the only one in our town licensed/registered.....

now - I don't know how true that can be - we have property agents on every corner here & even more who work from home - so either they are all working 'illegally' or it's a voluntary registration

as for training..... I can't imagine how some of those I know can have had any training - unless they took a 2 hour course on the plane :bolt:


have you worked in this industry before?


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## DunWorkin (Sep 2, 2010)

I don't know about other areas but where we are (El Campello - north of Alicante) the last thing that is needed is more estate agents.

Property is just not moving and all the current agents are struggling.

I think you really need to think very carefully before considering this. As I said it may be different in other areas but I doubt it.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

DunWorkin said:


> I don't know about other areas but where we are (El Campello - north of Alicante) the last thing that is needed is more estate agents.
> 
> Property is just not moving and all the current agents are struggling.
> 
> I think you really need to think very carefully before considering this. As I said it may be different in other areas but I doubt it.


more or less the same here tbh - so very many agents & so few properties selling

the long term rental market is steady though I think


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## Jestomi (Dec 29, 2013)

Hello ,thank you very much for the information ,i will continue to look for information.


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## whitenoiz (Sep 18, 2012)

Just what the world needs... Spain in particular... yet another Estate Agent...


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

I had to look to see when the Original Post was posted to make sure that it wasn't yesterday because that was that day for it.


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## Goldeneye (Nov 12, 2011)

I wouldn't even consider purchasing a property from an agent that doesn't have a track record of living in the area am considering... 
I am sure many others would also feel like this.

If I was considering an agent the criteria for me would be..

Agent has lived in the area for at least 5 years.
He/she has shown a commitment to the area by having purchased own home and is an active part of the community. In other words has a reputation to preserve & can't just close shop and ****** off 'home' at a moments notice...

I've seen too many 'fly by night' agents trying to persuade others that they should commit and purchase a property in my case Playa del Carmen (Mexico) or Florida yet they themselves were only renting and could up-sticks at a moments notice..


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## Pazcat (Mar 24, 2010)

Personally I would be happy to use any agent that actually wants to sell you a property.
If they answer their phones it's a good start but any that actually returns phone calls, e-mails and turns up to their own appointments then they are head and shoulders above 90% of the rest of them.

Maybe there is a shortage of agent tuition though because it's certainly seems like it.


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

I know so many agents who have either returned to the UK, have diversified or are in desperation. The property market in Spain is still falling, rentals are falling and all in all its not a good profession in Spain right now. It used to be when property was on the up. Once upon a time estate agents made a fortune, but since the crash its not good!

o xxx


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## CapnBilly (Jun 7, 2011)

Whilst I agree with all the comments about the number of agents etc there are a couple of points to consider with regard to sales. The first is pricing, the general rate is 5% plus IVA so 6%. I really feel this is ripe for challenge, although having said that, this is not the market to do it, unless you have substantial capital backing. The second is the pricing of properties. The current market is full of properties which are overpriced in terms of the the market price, but not necessarily the value, but in this type of market, unless you have to sell, you should sit tight, although I know that people do have to sell.


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## whitenoiz (Sep 18, 2012)

jojo quote....

I know so many agents who have either returned to the UK, _have diversified or are in desperation._ (my italics)

Probably accounts for the high number of fly by night 'Offical Sky Dealers,' 'Telcoms Specialists' and 'IPTV Experts' and all the other myriad cowboys on the loose on the Costas...


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

whitenoiz said:


> jojo quote....
> 
> I know so many agents who have either returned to the UK, _have diversified or are in desperation._ (my italics)
> 
> Probably accounts for the high number of fly by night 'Offical Sky Dealers,' 'Telcoms Specialists' and 'IPTV Experts' and all the other myriad cowboys on the loose on the Costas...


Some yes - but not all. One of my friends is now working on other countries properties from Spain - she is Spanish/english. Another couple who have lived in Spain for 20 years are doing bits and bobs, selling other things! Another one married well lol..........!

Jo xxx


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## Megsmum (Sep 9, 2012)

I do think that there is a difference between, an Estate Agent and Property finders, when we initially visited Andalusia, although we saw some nice houses I would not have purchased through some of the, so called agents we met, and I am not convinced they were legal Estate Agents more like a go between


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## Triker54 (Nov 10, 2013)

*estate agents*

Apologies if this is moving slightly off topic but the original post - or the attitude behind it - scared the life of me. We intend to come over this year on 3 x 2 month 'research' trips before buying a property next year. Obviously we've read about the cowboy builders/agents etc etc but I've always assumed that there were recognised bodies that genuine professionals belonged to. Is that not the case? Is there no way of distinguishing between the rip-off boys and the real kosher professionals?


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## Jestomi (Dec 29, 2013)

Thanks again for all the comments .
I understand there are many real estate agents out there. We recently bought a property in the Jalon Valley a beautiful area. This is the area where we wanted to be so we set to looking for property.
We did meet some very nice agents who showed us property unfortunately nothing like the property we wanted just property that was in some cases way over our budget.
After all the time and effort put into looking at the property shown to us by agents we ended up finding a property ourselves and buying that one albeit through an agent we contacted who had the property on their website.
In conclusion i think that some or a lot of the agents are not proactive and do not treat it as a proper business but more as a sideline.
Our idea was to create an agency where we search long and hard for properties that we feel would suit our potential clients rather than a property which the agent has been promised extra commission to sell.


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

Jestomi said:


> Thanks again for all the comments .
> I understand there are many real estate agents out there. We recently bought a property in the Jalon Valley a beautiful area. This is the area where we wanted to be so we set to looking for property.
> We did meet some very nice agents who showed us property unfortunately nothing like the property we wanted just property that was in some cases way over our budget.
> After all the time and effort put into looking at the property shown to us by agents we ended up finding a property ourselves and buying that one albeit through an agent we contacted who had the property on their website.
> ...


Its a nice thought, but I suspect the "over budget" properties may well have been desperate enough to take "silly" offers, the unsuitable properties were probably owned by desperate owners. I doubt it had anything to do with commission to be earned. But the working as side line by the so called agents ?????? Most probably. They may well have to do other work to make ends meet.

So if you have an alternative source of income, understand the Spanish house selling/buying rules and speak, read and write Spanish (and possibly other languages too. Russian is a popular one in Spain right now), then maybe???? You need to do some market research and a viability study

Jo xxx


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## Jestomi (Dec 29, 2013)

I totally agree with your comments.
I speak a bit of Spanish ,i lived in Barcelona in the 80s and my brother has owned a property in Benitachell for 10 years so i have learned quite a lot about the area.
I am under no illusions that its a question of learning but you have to start somewhere. We have a very successful family business in the UK that was mine and now owned run by my brother,that involves bucket loads of customer service that is how the business has grown i feel that bringing that to any business is a major factor between success and failure.
All that said the estate agency is still just a possibility ,we do have some other ideas.
Many thanks again Jo
Geoff.


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## Goldeneye (Nov 12, 2011)

Jestomi said:


> Thanks again for all the comments .
> I understand there are many real estate agents out there. We recently bought a property in the Jalon Valley a beautiful area. This is the area where we wanted to be so we set to looking for property.
> We did meet some very nice agents who showed us property unfortunately nothing like the property we wanted just property that was in some cases way over our budget.
> After all the time and effort put into looking at the property shown to us by agents we ended up finding a property ourselves and buying that one albeit through an agent we contacted who had the property on their website.
> ...


We too fell in love with the Jalon valley and looked at 2 very expensive properties with 2 different agents... 
On chatting with locals as well as the B & B owners where we were staying, it turned out BOTH PROPERTIES were (along with a huge proportion in the Jalon Valley) were 'illegal builds' although they are sure they will one day be approved and become 'legal' The agents were well aware of this yet did not admit to knowledge of it..

An agent is NOT working for YOU, He/she is working for their commission !!


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## Goldeneye (Nov 12, 2011)

Jestomi said:


> After all the time and effort put into looking at the property shown to us by agents we ended up finding a property ourselves and buying that one albeit through an agent we contacted who had the property on their website..


A Cautionary note: We've since noticed that 'A place in the Sun' also has the property we 'fell in love with' on their web site.. 
The Villa is an illegal build, as are all the ones surrounding it.. When we were there we drove up some of the roads and surrounding tracks. We discovered many that were half built and abandoned...


Here in Canada, in this soft market there is a new 'trick' that is being employed...
Only Realtors can see the 'notes' where selling agent has an 'incentive' for showing certain properties, the home owners offer a 'selling Bonus' of say $10K or even $15K on top of the already extortionate fees they charge here...
When we listed our house this was 'suggested' as something that should be considered.. In other words. unless this carrot is dangled in front of the agent they will 'encourage' their clients to view other properties instead..

Agents work for their commissions NOT for you..

Darn it... Snowing heavily again here...


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