Thread: Help Required Please

Good Morning

I spent several days viewing businesss etc this week. I returned to UK Thursday pm and emailed my agent with an offer on a business and this was accepted by the vendor.

However on viewing said business on the agent's web, the property had been reduced considerably to what I based my offer on.

The agent did not inform me of this and needless to say feel perturbed that this has occured.

I would appreciate your opinions on this, how I stand etc.

On a second matter my agent is pushing me to use his Gestor and has quoted 1500E, however I have had advice from my estate agent that he can put me in touch with someone for 600E.

I do have lots more questions but will leave it for the moment. I look forward to your advice and handholding!

Hi Jax, Retract your offer by email, say you need a few more days. Then send your new revised offer.
Don't use the agents Gestor, get a Costa Blanca news, look for a gestor / solicitor in your area. Use them. Ask for a copy of the escritura or a copy of the rental contract. Ask your new gestor to look into this. Don't take the option "He can put me in touch with SOMEONE?"

They will not want to loose this sale so you are in the driving seat. If it is a rental, the agent will normally take from landlord one months rent as his expenses. If it is a sale it should be around 3% commission, again coming of the sellers amount.

Thankyou Eljefe.

It's a leasehold, and a buyer has already paid a large deposit, the same Gestor has already done all the checks etc, then the buyer had to pull out, hence agent and gestor and seller have been in receipt of monies already.

I mailed agent last night voicing my concerns, and where as I usually get a very quick reply, I have not had a reply.

Seller is pushing for a very quick completion, within 4 weeks, saying she only accepted my offer on that condition...again this was info was not passed on to me until after I gave a completion date.

Thought everything was going too well lol........

I would walk away from the whole thing for now and have a good read about the corruption and cons that go on in Spain - especially with agents, gestors etc!! And then find yourself a gestor you can trust, who is only working for you and go into negotiations using him and not the agent!

Trust no one - times are hard in Spain and everyone is on the make

Jo xxx

When ever someone says:
"We have an associate that can help" Stop and ask your self what are they getting out of it.

I agree totally, Go and seek advice from someone independent, Most have free consultations - Get 3 that way you can be in a better situation to way up the average.

If a contact has been signed, GET IT CHECKED, small print is sometimes microscopic.

And the most important thing is make sure you know where the money is and get the information in writing, not emailed (posted by recorded delivery) so you have the actual signatures.

I hope all goes well, good luck.

And a small comment in regards to the corruption here in Spain...

Yes, it does exist and at a high rate.. But it exists everywhere....

Thank You all for your contributions.

I have spoken with several people during my trip and the agent has a very good reputation, and many have used his services since the original purchase.

The solicitor has reduced his fees also!

We send the deposit and then all get together for the completion mid April,so it's go go go from here!

To send the deposit we were going to use the bank but if there's a better way can you tell me lol!

Hope you are surviving the storms!
Jax

Good luck Jax, do let us know how things are progressing ;-)

Buying a property or business in Spain is not the same as in the UK as I'm sure anyone on here will tell you. Agents merely put you in touch with the seller and thereafter (seemingly) have nothing more to do with the transaction other than to sweat that it is completed. You mention Gestors and then Solicitors - the two are not the same. Gestors were set up in Franco's time to help the Spanish peasants to complete their official forms etc since most of them were illiterate. They perhaps could be best described disguised as knowledgeable amateurs - they certainly carry no responsibility if the financial dealings they undertake are flawed and I wonder whether it is the same for property purchase. A solicitor on the other hand does carry some responsibility - there is an official College and should something go wrong you have the likelihood of some redress. Before you commit yourself totally look at some of the comments made to people in other threads who are looking to buy a business. Ask yourself why the owner is selling and why have they reduced the price so much. Have they shown you their balance sheet ? Are the projected incomes based on summer figures, averages or winter figures? Why have they chosen to sell now? Lots of questions which you may have already considered..

As the boss said (Eljefe) the right bar, in the right place, with the right owners is more than likely to come up trumps.
Is the bar in question the right one ?

Jax take the advice given and use your own choice of people to check the deal !!!!
BTW the Gestor I use are very professional and have a very good reputation.