Villa Sales in Spain – The Pitfalls
A multi-billion dollar industry now feeds off villa sales in Spain. The competition is fierce, the sales tactics can be ruthless and foreign buyers often come a cropper.
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For some reason which is hard to fathom, many buyers (especially the British variety) seem to leave their common sense and natural caution on the luggage carousel when they arrive in Spain in search of their dream home. It’s an odd phenomenon which unscrupulous developers and estate agents are all too quick to exploit.
Despite all the bad publicity and dire warnings about the potential problems involved in buying Spanish property, foreigners are still making some horrendous mistakes. In fact the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) regular advertises in English language newspapers in Spain, asking foreign owners for their horror stories. Things are still going so badly wrong that it makes prime time television viewing!
Spanish Villa Sales: avoiding the pitfalls
That’s not to say you can’t buy a Spanish property without falling headlong into any of the common pitfalls. Of course you can and hundreds of thousands of foreign buyers do just that every year. But it’s important to know just what those pitfalls are and it’s absolutely vital to employ a good lawyer top make all the necessary checks BEFORE signing anything or handing over a deposit.
Here are some of the common traps waiting to snare the unwary buyer:
- Huge debts are attached to the property at the point of sale (debts which are the responsibility of the new owner)
- The vendor turns out not to be the legal owner of the property (and has now done a runner with your money!)
- Urban development is about to take place all around your lovely detached villa (development which your estate agent assured you would never take place)
- The property has never been registered with the appropriate authorities
- Off plan properties are not completed on time, not completed at all or not completed to the agreed specifications
All of the above horrors can be avoided with the services of a decent lawyer – see our hot tips for buying property in Spain safely.
Another important thing to bear in mind if you’re considering buying a villa or some other type of Spanish property is that most sales incur fees and taxes amounting to an average of 10% of the purchase price. And these costs are carried by you, the buyer.
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