Do plenty of research before buying.

spanishpropertyinsight.com

housepricecrash.co.uk...(overseas section of forum)

.......a few years ago we were also looking at those Atlas and Iberian publications, full of artists impressions of "paradise"...soon realised they were more or less the same company.....but the more we looked into it, the worse it looked......but mainly it all came down to cost; the days of the 60k villa near the sea vanished a long time ago, possibly just before the euro was introduced......
We found that, for our requirement, prices for anywhere suitable on the mainland were out of our reach; so we extended our search and found better value for money in the Canary Islands......

I was going to send a PM on this one - and then decided to post on the subject. I will keep this brief, but if anyone wants to PM me, I will do all that I can to help.

The first thing that I need to say is that I actually no longer work for Horizon, but at one point one of my resposnsibilities was looking after their Costa Blanca clients.

You do not mention whether you are looking for a property to relocate to, to spend the winters, to rent out etc etc. The reasons for purchasing a property should be well thought out.

I can hear alarm bells ringing (for some reason). I mention this because most of my conversations with prospective clients went along the lines of ... 'We are going to relocate to CB or CDS'
Me: Any ideas as to where!
Client: We don't know. We have never been.

Enough said. I'll stop now, but if anyone does want to contact me - please feel free.

If you are sure that you want to buy in Spain and have done your homework then buying from private sellers (resales of new and in progress properties) will no doubt save you a lot of money. Remember that agents fees can add 10%+ onto the price of a property so either go directly to the vendor or the builder if you can.

To Dorothy,

I've looked at HPC.co.uk many times and there is a hell of a lot of useful information there but the forum is also full of doom and gloom merchants who have unrealistic views and seem to think that the end of the world is nigh.

If the builder is a large developer you won't get any discount by not going via an agent - if the developers did so the agents would stop bringing them clients, and you don't bite the hand that feeds.

I wouldn't recommend off-plan on the CDS at all at the moment - the market is pretty flat and I am concerned that many developments that have been started recently will never be finished. Most will have to sell enough apartments to finance the construction and they're struggling. If the development is already nearing completion then in almost all cases there will be "distressed sales" available there - people who bought with a view to selling before completion but can't. These properties can be 10% to 20% cheaper than those offered by the developer.

Hi RBA,
Yes, like you say a lot of doom and gloom, but also some interesting comments, particularly the posts by the Spanish lawyer re. the property market in Spain.

Hi Eventhorizon, a really professional agent in the Costa Sol is Sierra Properties S.L. If you would like their details please feel free to mail me.

Hi eventhorizon,

I bought in Punta Prima , south costa blanca through Medsea Estates .The lady that took us round was great if you would like her details please send p.m

all estate agents want your sale,we bought with a very big co in c d s ,yes they treat you like a royalty,one thing in their mind,commision,please ,please,do reserch on your own as well as estate agents.know of area that you are buying,is it quiete,noisey,to near things ,far etc.check on property in the area you want ,do they sell quickly,renals in the area.you can do a lot of reserch on computer,on various sites,so it will take hrs ,days,but you have to be sure what you are doing,don,t listen to ;i can rent it for you if you buy it for x amount of wks:,lot of crap,we paid 12% on top of our price this year,a lot of extra cash to find.this time last year is when we were looking and purchased,we love our place now,but it has also cost a lot of tears,reserch,reserch and more reserch,and good luck as it is lovely having a place to escape to the sun lawyers of spain are ex solicitors,i torcherd them but they were a1