Agents
 

Hi All

Can anyone recommend a good agent (for sale of apartment in Cabanas) in the Tavira / Cabanas area? Agents that have a reliable and good track record rather than ineffective ones.

Do you know of any recommendable agents also based in UK who know this area and likely to source clients to purchase apartment?

Your suggestions and recommendations would be much appreciated.

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Portuguese homes in Tavira and ask for Calvin. He knows the area well and also used to live in England.:thumbup:

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Land & Houses Algarve

Remax

Portuguese Homes

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Thanks for that and will follow up. Any more would be greatly appreciated?;)

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Sorry but even the best agent in the world is gonna struggle to sell anything at all in the current climate. No one is buying unless its an amazing bargin. There are probably 5,000+ apartments for sale in or around Cabanas you will have to do something to make yours different if you want any chance

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Not exactly what I wanted to hear but hey I understand and appreciate your reality check on this!!

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The Irish are still buying like crazy around the Lisbon coast...just 'cos the Brit market has slowed,doesn't mean that everywhere has ;)

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No shortage of buyers in central portugal too, many now coming from the usa and canada as well as high numbers from the Uk and ireland.

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Totally agree. Look further than the British buyer.:fingerscrossed:

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Sarah in Algarva Manta Properties, based in Manta Rota, is a really nice woman to deal with and I have found them to be very professional and efficient. She is originally from the UK and owns the company with two Portuguese Nationals.

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Many thanks everybody for the replies and leads.

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Totally agree - Sarah was extremely helpful to us when we were looking. In spite of everything she could not show us what we were looking for. We bought through Verdeland in Tavira - Henry was fantastic - answered all our calls/emails immediately and sorted many things that were outside of his role of agent just to help us - he worked at getting the sale but in a non pushy way. We found Sarah and Henry the best - some of the others told porkies which we saw through or were so pushy it frightened us off. I know it is different buying rather than selling but buyers need to have confidence in the agent so I would recommend either of these two firms.

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Many thanks for your helpful suggestions. I know of Verdeland and had forgotten to contact them. I sent mail to Sarah. She has responded already and yes comes across as very efficient. Fingers and toes crossed now!!

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Yikes, that many?:eek:

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I am finding that hard to understand, with most of Ireland in debt and some massive financial problems to overcome you are telling me they ignore the rest of the country but still flock to Lisbon coast to buy :unsure:

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I've absolutely no idea if they are ignoring the rest of the country,I don't live there...how would I know?

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I would of course expect an agent to do a good job if I am BUYING, what we need are recommendations of those who do a good job SELLING.

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Exactly the point.

It's fine having a discussion around this topic but to be honest it doesn't address the original question posed i.e. Can you recommend effective SELLING Agents.

Thanks again.

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I think even the best effective agent would have a problem selling in this environment, but you could get lucky

I find it hard to believe when agents say the market is picking up, I think its bravado and BS

I don't think the market is going to change much for the next 2 or 3yrs, in fact I think things will get a lot worse in the next 6 months or so and prices will fall again, PT and Spain broke, double dip UK!!

one of the problems is, properties are still being way over valued and owners thinking it is worth this, unfortunately if you bought 2 to 5yrs ago you paid way over odds

hang on to your property if you can for the next few yrs, if not and you really need to sell then make sure the price is very attractive to the few potential buyers

but hey who gives a monkeys when the sun is shinning

PS.......I have never meet any good estate agents, is there such a thing?

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I dont think we have ever met.....iam a good un!:)...lol

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No offence and present company excepted

I am just going from my experiences, I have dealt will agents in the UK, Spain and Portugal and never had a good service from them, they are just out for one thing, the biggest commission they can get and they will do anything to get this. This is a massive problem for the industry.

I think it says it all when this thread has been viewed over a thousand times and there is 3 or 4 recommendations!!

But I think in 5yrs our so agents will be a thing of the past, as sell you own property websites will take over, its happening already.

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Web sites still need people to sell and as these are the same people who work for agents so nothing really changes.
As you say the property market in Portugal has attracted some just looking to make as much money as they can in as short a time and then move on.
But there are some changes to be seen.
Because of the recession the lightweights have gone as lacking knowledge and ability they could not survive.
This winnowing out process will continue and hopefully we will see a smaller number of agents but ones with more ability and knowledge.

I know of one seller who gave 2 agents a figure that he needed to make.
Agent 1 allowed for costs and some negotiating room listed a higher price still within the market range.
Agent 2 ( one of the Franchises ) just listed the property at the figure given by the seller. A lower figure than agent 1.

The seller if he accepted agent 2 after commission and selling costs would actually end up in a negative situation.

This is an example of the agent putting his needs ( a sale ) above that of his client.

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yes you are right they could be the agents that run the website but it would be a package you buy from them, sales board, property's details, ad on rigthmove etc.........there would be no commission......it would be in your hands not theirs, there are a few websites doing it already, search google.......in 5yrs time it will be you who sells the house and collects your sales board from Tesco!........it will happen and that's because of technology and the c*rp service given by 99% of agents

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We have met you Derek and yes you are a good'un. We have no complaints about the service you gave us when we bought on the Silver Coast last December

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I am not sure that companies such as Rightmove etc could be lisenced in Portugal as the rules regarding selling property are quite strict.
Also in the UK only a very small percentage of sales go through such sites.
Most are " Portals " where enquries for property are passed on to agents who have them on their books and they then deal with the sale.

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when I mentioned rightmove it was just an example and I understand that they are portals for agents, but they do sell overseas property's http://www.rightmove.co.uk/overseas-property.html

what I am saying is the day will come when you and I can put your house on sites like rightmove if they be in the UK or PT and you will not need the agent, you can do it now to certain extent http://www.agents4u.co.uk/sell.html

as far as I am concerned the sooner the better, it will put more money in our pockets and agents will be a thing of the past

just google sell your own property, its the start of it

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Many thanks for your considered responses to this request. I read with interest the discussion around this topic and yes I often think there has just got to be a better way. I will look at websites mentioned.

Much appreciated and of benefit to all.

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the best of luck with it Dympna

think out of the box

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Interesting thoughts about people selling their own properties in the future,
but would they really be selling them on their own, they would still need to market the property somewhere, website or printed media, in order to attract intrest.
This will no doubt involve a cost from these companies doing the marketing, I think this cost would be less than what the average agent charges to find a buyer and handle the process of selling. but would a combination of these companies offering advertising only and the property owner get the same results,
no dissrespect intended to the average home owner.
but marketing a property in a way that will attract interest and then presenting it to clients, then mediatating and overseeing a sale (often can be very complicated), also does the average home owner have the time or the inclination to show several clients around, answering endless questions, helping the buyer to relocate to another country, offering a helpfull service before and after the sale is often what makes a buyer choose to buy,(when moving abroad) if the client was dealing direct with the home owner would they feel as confident knowing that as soon as they sign the owner will (in most cases) be moving on and not be on hand to offer help and assistance over the first 6 months or so, as most good agents do.

What about the inconvenience to the house hunter?
if they wanted to look at several properties (most do) they would need to deal with lots of individual owners, in lots of different locations, rather than meeting up with one person (the agent) who then takes them around the various properties. sets up all the appointments to view the different houses,

I have nothing against the idea of people selling their own homes, and right now there is nothing to stop people trying this route, it may well save them some money, but i think the reason most people choose to employ the services of an agent is that they know that the agent has a better chance of selling their property than they would have on their own, the agent already has the infrastuctures in place to promote the property to the widest audience, the available trained staff to answer complicated questions on buying, financing, planning, relocating etc.

I think if in the future technology makes it easier for people to find buyers and sell direct then it makes sense for people to do that, but at the moment most people wanting to sell, want to do so quickly and with the least amount of hassle, the estate agency route is probably the best way of achieving that

At the moment i dont think there is a viable other option that would get quick results for home owners wanting to sell their property other than working with a "Good agent with a good reputation for getting rersults" of course this does cost money, and so it should as the agent like any business has overheads to cover, the fee should be a fair amount that both the home owner and agent are happy with,
but as we all know this is not always the case, some agents do try to overcharge for the service they provide, the balance is getting the cost to sell using an agent right, if its a fair price then I think people would be happy to use their services, if its too much then they will look at other options.

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There is even more to it.
A good agent to facilitate the sale ensures that all the paperwork is in order ( and those of us who have homes in Portugal know how complicated this can be ).You need the energy certificates. What about condominium agreements etc etc
Your buyer may need a bank account, mortgage, fiscal number etc.
All of this can be dealt with by a good agent.
Selling yourself or via a Portal may not be as easy as you think.

Our agent did most of this for us. Without it we may not have bought.

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sooner or later all the above will be available over the internet, they are not big hurdles to over come.

you will just buy the package you need or you will buy them as add-ons when you require them, bank account, mortgage, someone to show people around the house etc.

all peoples circumstances for selling are not the same, so they don't need the same things, so they would be able to create their own package.

like I said you need to think out of the box, just because we are conditioned into thinking that this is the only way to sell property doesn't mean it is

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Ref your last post. Do you live in Portugal ?
Do you speak Portuguese ?
Are you familair with the laws and practices in Portugal.

You are not selling in the UK where it is a much simpler process and most people with time can complete the process themselves.

But an expat or non resident trying a DIY job in Portugal.

I don,t think so.

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it has nothing to do with if you live in the UK, Portugal or Timbuktu, speak the language or local laws, there will be ways to overcome these hurdles, this is why the WWW was created.

websites for other products have already overcome the above hurdles years ago, so why can it not apply to selling property

I agree at this moment in time you would need to know your onions but I said in 5yrs or so

plus I believe you can do it right now, as long as you did your research, look at the post about Matriculation and how much they saved, I say good on them, all you need is one post about someone selling their own house and away you go!

fortunately I think there is enough people out there that when they are told, you cannot do that , go and do it

anyway we must be boring people now, only time will tell