May 22, 2006
Regulating real estate
It's going to be a tough call to reintroduce regulation of the industry in Spain. Trouble with the existing regulatory bodies such as FODPAC and GIPE is that they are usually subscription based communities that really do not offer much in the way of a guarentee of a good service. Disciplining memembers is unheard of.
The best source of information is really word of mouth and the testimonials a company can provide, preferably with contact emails for the people who are supplying the testimonial.
Things to watch out for.
I wouldn’t really trust any company that offers reduced rate inspection visits as this form of real estate is really pushy as there is pressure on the sales people to close because the trip is costing the company money. If I heard this I would be cautious about what the company showed me.
My view is real estate is changing in Spain, any agency that is hoping to make money from booking inspections at exhibitions is not going to be able make ends meet as the prices are too high to facilitate an easy sale, which is why Mcanthony, Ocean, etc have made cheaper markets their focus while keeping their head offices in Marbella.
IMO commisions will come down, I think I heard somewhere that the Spanish gov is thinking about capping rates at 5%. I know in Madrid that rates are around 3% so it wouldnt be unreasonable to see that happening along the Costas too.
Category: The Costa del Sol Property Market.