INTERNATIONAL
seeing many TV horror stories of what some buyers have gone through, I was pleased to learn there are steps people can take to safeguard their investment. We were introduced to this part of Spain by friends and we immediately fell in love with the area. We were aware of the difficulties some buyers have faced but at the time there seemed to be no way around the problem. However, when we finally found the perfect villa, Safe Purchase Spain had been launched. We completed the purchase with a 20 year Safe Purchase Guarantee in place and can now relax and enjoy our home in the sun, knowing we have the rights as owners, fully protected.” As with all new ideas, it takes time to
Sensationalism seriously damaged Spain’s property market... but help is at hand.
Will it Work?
Ian believes that the guarantee will revolutionise the way properties are sold in Spain and agents who have already signed up to it agree. Des Rowson, a member of the NAEA International Committee, says; “Safe Purchase is advertised on our websites and in the office in Spain, it has experienced good media coverage in the North Costa Blanca with the South just getting used to being able to purchase protection against land grab and, worse still, no proper planning documents. Purchasers need to be aware that if advised not to go ahead with a purchase there will be specific reasons so they need to walk away from the sale or end up as a statistic. There are many illegal properties on the Costas, you need to use a registered agent.” Jo Stimson, of Wise Buy Spain says that
reputation is everything and the guarantee can definitely help sales. “We have spent a great deal of time building our business. Living in the area we service, we are more than aware how easy that is to destroy. Safe Purchase Spain represents everything our company stands for. We had no hesitation in signing the Code of Ethics and are proud to display the official badge. It’s crucial that buyers know who to trust and up until now, there’s never been an easy way to tell.” And the buyers are impressed. Roger
Cox from Walsall, pictured with Ian Hawkins, recently completed the purchase of his new villa in Moraira. He says, “After
convince some people and there have been comments that the scheme is actually a turn-off to buyers, because it highlights the issues even if they do not exist in that particular area – but the same can be said of most insurances, the whole point is peace of mind. Other agents feel it doesn’t apply to their
market. Aylesford Spain’s average sale is around €2M and at that level buyers would be certainly be using a top lawyer who would check the items covered. Aylesford’s Michael Corry-Reid tells PROPERTYdrum, “The guarantee costs €20 a year for 25 years protection, so for €500 it doesn’t seem a bad deal but the Costa del Sol does not have the same problems as, say, Almeria which had the high profile demolition stories. We have
had our own problems with Marbella Town Hall, corruption etc., but this hasn’t resulted in any demolitions, despite threats from The Junta Andalucia against Marbella Town Hall.” And improvements have been made;
“95 per cent of all properties here are now legal, many having been retrospectively legalised. There are exceptions; Banana Beach, 200 apartments east of Marbella, occupied for eight years, has not been passed as legal. But what can they do? You cannot demolish a luxury complex and throw 300 people on the street and they do have very strong resident action groups.” On the other hand, as Sally Bloom of
spanish-property-sales.net, says, “Many people will not be aware that the Spanish property market rarely has any exclusive sales agreement between vendor and agent. It’s common to see the same property on with any number of agents with varying prices. As property finding experts we always find the lowest price but that’s not all! We think it is essential to be ahead of the competition and anything one can do, add or include as a service that will directly benefit the client has to make perfect business sense. The negative press the Spanish property market has been subjected to has taken its toll and it is no wonder buyers are cautious. Since we joined Safe Purchase in August we have seen a significant increase in the loyalty amongst our many clients and we can only put this down to the fact that we provide legally backed and insured reassurance as a certified member of the Safe Purchase Scheme. It’s not just cheap talk!”
Ian Hawkins (left) with Roger Cox at his new villa.
We completed the purchase with a 20 year Safe Purchase Guarantee in place and can now relax and enjoy our home in the sun, knowing we have the rights as owners,
fully protected.’ roger cox
Peace of mind sells
Clearly, peace of mind always helps a sale and agents wanting to start or boost sales in Spain may find that this is the added extra that they need. In the USA it is mandatory to have title insurance on every purchase. In Denmark, buyers have a 20 year right to go back to their home’s vendor and demand compensation for faults that are revealed after the purchase; so vendors take out insurance against this. In the UK, we have robust legal systems on sales and purchase and the problems suffered in Spain don’t arise, but in Spain and, it seems, in emerging international markets, this has to be a very good idea.
www.safepurchasespain.com
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www.propertydrum.com/articles/safespain
PROPERTYdrum MARCH 2010 57
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