go by your self and have a drive round.
just like you would do over here.

Agreed. Thats what we did, and it worked gr8.
You dont get owt for nowt, they'll just add costs on to their commission.
Plus they will make sure they are with you all the time so that you only see properties that THEY sell.
I'm not saying they are all the same, but most I am aware of are.

It is best to go on your own if you are confident. You could book a weeks working holiday and use it as a fact finding mission. Then when when you are in a place you like, get some details of local agents and see what you think.

What was posted above that agents "add on" costs to the commission is not correct. They already have an agreed commission with either private seller or developer or in most cases another agent, so they collaborate.
The costs of the trip come out of their own expenses and so if you buy, they get a reduced balance from the commission.

I was always against agents because I felt they were out to get what they could from you, but I must say once you know what you are looking for, a good agent can give you invaluable information. So don't be quick to judge people who are earning a living, just like you and I.

Like posted, you get nothing for nothing and that goes for information!!

Thanks to everyone who replied and for the advice.

I note the comment about agents and commission thanks.
Yes - I have assumed that there would not be any free time - exactly for the reason mentioned - in that we could look on our own at local estate agents.
We do have so many thoughts running at present but would like to see just what is available - probably Murcia/Almeria - so think we may take the plunge and go with one organised.
Do you know anyone who has actually taken one of these tours and if so just how pushy the companies are - they all say there is no obligation to buy.

I for one would never go on an organised house hunting tour as you only see what they want you to see not what you want to see.

Remember all the time you are with them you could be missing your dream home just round the corner. If I had not done a search by myself I would have missed the villa I live in. Most of the estate agents you visit will speak resonable english and if they have information on a property you like make sure they give it to you don't let them just tell you all about it.

.........I would think that its highly unlikely that a "dream" property could be found in a short grand prix style inspection tour....even if it exists ! - it takes time to weigh up all the good and bad points of any particular property, let alone a fair appraisal of the surrounding area, and all the other considerations to be made when contemplating such an important decision....even more so when it is to be a main residence.

The purchase of our apartment took over a year of research, including a whole month of serious viewings....if we were going to actually live out there, I'd probably still be making my mind up

Going on an inspection tour you may not miss your dream home but would probably find it thousands of euros cheaper yourself by looking around the corner in another agents, something you will not get chance to do, they won't lose sight of you.

hi we are wanting to sell our properety then buy in spain near Quesada south costa blanka . we have been on 3 inspection trips the best are Atlas and iberian . fantastic time ,hotel reps nothing bad to say at all showed a wide range to suit what we chose. all meals amd food and most drinks included. At the end of the trip not presurised at all. Both were really excellent loved every minute. saw loads we are interested in in great areas. we have friends who already live there and some purchased through both these companys. we visit our friends who live there and have made loads of friends so we are well away we finally get there ourselves.

According to other forums Atlas and Iberian are the last agents you should use!! Beware of any who spend vast amounts on TV advertising. If you wanted to go around on an inspection tour make it a rule that you will not make a decision to buy anything and then return and revisit yourself. Don't be fooled by thinking the properties will not be available its a buyers market, thousands of homes for sale.

I would hold off Murcia for the time being - they're clear out of water there and the construction is coming to a grinding halt. Polaris World is going over budget to the tune of 30 million quid, because they now have to factor in the cost of building a massive desalination plant - and that's assuming they win their battle against the environmentalists. If they lose it could stay as a load of half built stuff for years if not decades.

No water in Murcia!! Blimey! It has not stopped raining there for the last few days, lets hope somebody put out a bucket!!

Seriously though, why not combine both elements book an inspection trip through Medsea we used them and I cannot praise them enough, they do not take you round in coach loads but you get your own sales advisor, who will collect you in the morning and take you to the type of sites YOU want to see, we found them to infomative and knowledgable about the local areas, we had absolutely NO hard sell at all, but found by telling the agent exactly what we wanted we did not waste time looking at developments which did not 'tick all the boxes'.

You get wined/ dined and accmodated in comfort all for free, no commision, the builders need the agents to sell the properties, then when you have had your 3 or 4 days being taken around spend the next 4 or 5 days hiring a car and looking around on your own.

I can't beleive it takes a year to make a decision to buy a place in Spain, live is too short, just make sure you get what you want, be precise when you tell agents , don't spend time looking at stuff you know you are not going to want e.g property on a golf course, if you want to be overlooking the beach or run down finca's if you want a slick modern apartment.

Buy it and enjoy it.

I can't beleive it takes a year to make a decision to buy a place in Spain

..........It does when committing an awful lot of life savings into a venture for which its very easy indeed to get wrong. And in fact, a lot of time was spent considering which country to buy in anyway....

......Buy in haste, repent at leisure....

Aye. It's not like the Spanish rush into things, and when in Rome....

........well, the manana attitude isn't applied to everything in Spain......buying our apartment took just three weeks from first viewing to signing at completion......our last UK move took over three months....

If you are unsure of the right area an inspection tour could be a good idea as long as it was just to look and not buy. We looked in Northern Costa Blanca with Ocean Esates but they where very sneaky they knew our budget and started off showing us some real rundown places below budget to then those above budget so we could get what we wanted.

So we did not buy with them and continued to look around ourselves. When you find a n area it is good to then look in all esate agents in tht area as not uncommon to maybe be up to 50000 euros difference between some properties for sale with different agents. Some villas etc can be advertised with 20 + agents

My wife and I have just been through this. We went to a few 'property exhibitions' in the UK and hated them, the sales reps seemed only interested in signing us up for a property tour and were really not interested in hearing what we wanted to see, I guess they are on commission on 'sign ups'. We decided to make our own visit to Spain and arrange our own viewings through agents while we were there.

We decided to spend a week looking on our own and before hand I spent a lot of time on the web looking for properties and agents and made contact with lots. We found the small ads in Costa Blanca News very useful.

Then at the Southampton Boat Show on a small property stand I met a girl - Lorraine Hanson who was full of enthusiasm and knowledge of the Murcia region, she has her own business and represents a number of developers

We booked our own flights and hotels for a week away but arranged to spend two days with her so she could show us what she had available.

It was really interesting and worthwhile, she was a mine of information and there was really no hard sell - she only tried to show us properties that met our needs, and in two days we saw more than we did in five days on our own. She also took us to some great restaurants and shops that we would otherwise have never found.

In the end we found an apartment, through some friends in the Costa Blanca North, an area which suited us better than Murcia - but I would say that if you were thinking of the Murcia/Cartegena region then you could do a lot worse than spending a day or so with Lorraine.

Even after we told her we had bought elsewhere she remains helpful, friendly and is a mine of advice. I feel like we made a friend, something I suspect is rather rare on these sales trips!

From some of the posts on this forum I think we get better help from her as a non-buyer than many who have bought do get from their sales agents.

She publishes some very simple newsletters about shopping, restaurants and so on - basic stuff but if you go to an area cold like we did they were invaluable and would take years to accumulate such knowledge.

I had never met Lorraine before last November but I would strongly recommend her services to anyone looking for someone honest and conscientious to deal with in their first step in buying in Spain. She can be reached at ** email address removed **

Pat & Martin

** Edited by MarkJ HT Mod to remove email address. Please exchange this information via our PM system **

Hello,
Would just like to thank everyone for taking the time to reply.
Well we have been on the "inspection tour" - the company was very subtle in their sales pressure, but certainly not forceful. I must say they looked after us extremely well -and drove us miles and miles in our search for the ideal house. We could set the pace and the criteria for each day.
We did not buy - but are now absolutely sold on Spain - so will be back asap.
The company did however come very close to finding just what we wanted - and I would say to others considering a "tour" not to be necessarily put off by all these companies - the one we went through in fact showed us properties far below the asking price for exactly the same house in estate agents windows and on the internet !

Success to all who are also searching,
Cheers,
Topsy