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Kimmy11 wrote on Thu Feb 9, 2023 10:51pm:
Hi Owen and welcome to the forum,
Estate agents work for the vendor, not the buyer - although some may try to tell you otherwise, especially if they market themselves as 'property finders', as that implies they're working on behalf of the purchaser. Linked to this is the so-called "reservation deposit", a creation of t...
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...he estate agency industry that has no basis in law, but became commonplace during the pre-crash property boom. The first you may hear of this is when you make an offer on a property and the agent asks you to sign a "reservation contract" and hand over a deposit, typically, around €3,000, but could be as much as €6,000. There are people who have done this and will tell you everything proceeded to plan. However, there are others who, when the sale fell through for whatever reason, couldn't get their deposit back from the selling agent. You should not sign such a document and you should NEVER pay money to an agent - if an agent tries to pressure you to do this, tell them that you want to run it by your lawyer first. And don't use a lawyer recommended by an agent, always use an independent lawyer who is working solely for you, not tied into the agent and their vendors - ask forum members about recommendations for independent lawyers.
The only legally required deposit is the 10% of purchase value that has to be paid to the vendor's lawyer once the vendor has accepted your offer and lawyers have drawn up a draft contract, subject to searches. Your own lawyer should ensure there are no bad debts on the property which, if not cleared before completion, become your responsibility as the new owner. Once the 10% deposit has been paid, should you pull out of the purchase, the vendor has the right to keep your deposit. If the vendor pulls out, you have the right to claim twice that amount although, in reality, the actual sum claimed is usually negotiated between the parties.
A lawyer's quote should cover their own fee and disbursements, the notary's fee and the costs associated with updating the land registry (Cadastre). If you're receiving large variations in fee quotes, it could be that you've approached gestors, as well as lawyers. Gestors are great for helping you navigate Spanish bureaucracy, such as applying for a NIE (Foreigner's Identity Number), but I would not recommend using one for anything contractual. A lawyer in this area should be registered with Alicante's 'Colegio de Abogados' and their registration number should appear on their letterhead. If it doesn't, you can check their registration by name on the Colegio's website.
Kind regards,
Kim
Hi I just had a similar experience I paid 5000 euros deposit got a contact drawn up me thinking it was done deal low and behold just when the mortgage was sorted and ready to finalise got a call from agent saying they had sold it to someone else behind my back and his lawyer he said use said the sellers never signed the contract stinks to me but what can you do I wish I had used m
