Estate Agents
 

Are Estate Agents regulated in Spain and if so what is the name of the regulatory body, how would I go about checking so see if an estate agent is registered as a member of the regulatory body,

would the estate agents/company names be registered or would an lindividual employed at the agency be registered.

Would English estate agents operating in Spain be subject to the same regulations ?.

mick

Re: Estate Agents
 

Although I believe there are moves afoot to change this, I understand that Estate Agents in Spain have no official regulatory body. My only advice can be to work off recommendation. Which are are you looking in?

Re: Estate Agents
 

In my many years of living in Spain I have yet to find an Estate Agent who is reputable - unfortunately as soon as they have their commissions which is all they are interested in, it is bye bye and you have to get on with any problems yourself.

I sold my house on the Costa Del Sol privately and it only cost me 3Euros in advertising. The sale went through without a hitch and the buyers are very contented with their purchase...

Re: Estate Agents
 

Mitzipurr and Mitzyboy are completely right. There is no ombudsman as there is in the UK. Estate Agents can say and do whatever they wish in order to make a sale.

All that matters the them are the league tables!

The only Estate Agent I know which I beleive has had nothing to do with any ilegal buildings is Andalucian Dream Homes.

Best to go on recommendation, but I wouldnt personally use the solicitor that the agent recommends. Best to find everyone yourself personally through recommendation.

If you are selling, numerous agents have dropped their commission to 2 or 3 % rather than 8 or 10%. So shop around or negotiate.


Good luck

Re: Estate Agents
 

Its not unusual for different estate agents to put the same property on at different prices either!!

There are good ones around though, and I know of several around the Oliva / Gandia Area who have good names.

Re: Estate Agents
 

It is true to say that there are a lot of dodgy Estate Agents out there. Unfortunately for the better ones, they too are automatically judged in the same bracket as the rogues.

With regard to illegal buildings (Malaya case), the Estate Agents in most cases have also been caught up in the web of deception and have been completely unaware of the situation, along with everybody else until it hit the news headlines.

Look closely at the Agents who only charge 2 or 3 % commission for lsting your property but insist on a 'Listing fee' upfront. Many of these 'Listers' are now working purely for their lising fee and have no interest in what happens after that stage.

Confused? Join the club!

Re: Estate Agents
 

Hey, where you all living........obviously on 'Cloud Number Nine'. YES, there is a Regulatory Body in Spain controlling estate agents, whether they be Spanish or English. There are many websites for you all to visit which explain these regulatory rules.

Re: Estate Agents
 

:rolleyes:

Re: Estate Agents
 

Please tell us where then, and what the body is?

Re: Estate Agents
 

Hi
I am interested in property in the Oliva/Gandia are and wonder if you would be prepared to recommend agents?
thanks

Re: Estate Agents
 

well I think I'm allowed to do this as you asked:

www.spanishselection.com
Comes highly recommended, and I've seen his name on other sites.

I think there is an agent called Oranges & Lemons also in Gandia that I have seen recommended and they have been around for quite a time.

If you want a low down on the area then I'd be pleased to help, and if you're over on a trip be happy to have a coffee to tell you about the area.

Re: Estate Agents
 

many thanks for that, came over in november last year and drove for miles (and miles!!) around the valencia region and have narrowed down to Oliva/Gandia area...seemed to tick all the boxes for me...guess that you agree as you live there!??. will be back over in the spring to look at the towns in more detail

Re: Estate Agents
 

Both Gandia and Oliva have two areas ..... the main towns and the playa areas. Its worth checking out both as they are very different.

Have a look at Piles and Pego as well!

Re: Estate Agents
 

The governing body for estate agents in Spain, (of any nationality), is A.P.I., short for 'Agente de Propiedad Inmobilaria'. This qualification is equivalent to the British N.A.E.A., short for 'National Association of Estate Agents. It's not illegal in Spain to be an estate agent without the A.P.I. qualification, but I just don't understand why Brits and other nationalities choose back-street, meet in the bar, no proper offices type agents, over bona fide agents; then whine when things go wrong. After doing a survey of British estate agents, in my area, surprise surprise, only a handful are A.P.I. qualified. I wonder why? Can any non A.P.I. British estate agents in Spain, explain why they have not 'bothered' to become qualified? Lastly, to find out more, try a search with Alta Vista, Google, etc etc.

Re: Estate Agents
 

The "problem" with the API, GIPE etc is that membership is no longer compulsory since the Spanish estate agency sector was de-regularised in the early 80's (I think it was). Membership of the API is purely voluntary and so the API cannot, unfortunately, be considered as the regulatory body for estate agents. As one has to have proper qualifications (oo er missus) etc to become a member that explains why there are so few "expat" members of the API.
There are other "trade organisations" but that is really all they are: you pays your membership and displays your plaque/logo.
There is talk of re-regularising the industry again. Bring it on.

Re: Estate Agents
 

Yeah I know what you mean.
I used to be a member of " The Guild Of Master Craftsmen " for a year, using the logo on vehicles, paperwork etc and all they wanted to see was my 25 quid. :eek:

Re: Estate Agents
 

No jdr, A.P.I., is not quite as you have tried to insinuate it is. Maybe, a bit more information is in order..........

Although the property sector was deregulated, the "Colegio oficial de
agentes de la propiedad inmobilaiaria" (official college of estate
agents) or "COAPI" is still the only state recognised body of estate
agents in Spain and its members, the "Agente de la propiedad
imobiliaria" or "API" are the only officially qualified estate agents.

The official college of estate agents is not a trade organisation and
just like the official college of Lawyers or the official college the
Architects, only those properly formed and qualified can become members.
It is quite true that to sell property in Spain it is no longer
compulsory to belong to the official college of estate agents but only
those that do can officially call themselves estate agents "Agente de la
propiedad inmobilaria".

Ask yourself this; if they deregulated say the legal sector who would
you prefer to use a qualified member of Spains official college of
lawyers or somebody with a law book, 10 words of Spanish, an office in
their garage and who watches LA law on a regular basis?

Re: Estate Agents
 

I was just saying how easy it is to get paperwork that people look up to and assume is kosher, I mean it is an impressive title for 25 quid and nobody even checked who I was.
Are you trying to tell me that estate agency is not a trade, but on a par to a Lawyer or an Architect ?
My daughter in law used to work for the biggest legal estate agent in Spain and she and hundreds of others are still owed loads of money with no recompence at all when it went down the pan.
Probably a lot of their clients will be in the same position also, so you cant say that any paperwork with letters on in Spain is a safeguard.
I will mention no names but as you are in the business you will know them.

Re: Estate Agents
 

So ..... how many estate agents are in this association then, and is it bonded in any way. Its just that when you come to Spain and you see the number of agents here all selling the same properties at different prices, and you see and hear all the stories on the forums etc about rip offs and misrepresentations, its difficult to believe theres any control whatsoever.

I think JDR is just pointing out that in the UK you can become members of recognised associations for a few quid, but in reality it can mean nothing. Blimey, I was a Fellow of the Institute of Freight Forwarders (FinstFF) but to be truthfull all it meant was I was £299 a year worse off!!! :)

Re: Estate Agents
 

Having said that about the £299 a year worse off, perhaps it brought in more than that in increased contacts and work. I knowfrom UK experience, that when looking for a firm like a removals firm, I would look to see if they wre a member of BAR, if not, no go. I always felt thqt if someone had joined their proff. body then you at least had some comeback even if only through the proff. body as I assumed they did have some sort of insurance cover.

Re: Estate Agents
 

Oh yes it did for sure, but my point was that it was not really a regulatory body and the worst someone could do would have been to report me to them. I wouldn't be disbarred from trading or have any action taken against me. If being a registered estate agent in Spain is the same then its really a false comfort.

Re: Estate Agents
 

With respect, I think you've misunderstood. If you read the posts nobody has likened the API to a pays-your-money trade association, just pointed out that there ARE many worthless trade association type organisations out there for real estate agents.

Whilst only those that have trained, qualified and as a result belong to the API can call themselves "agente de la propiedad inmobilaria" there is absolutely nothing in law to stop any newly arrived Ryanair wannabe estate agent calling him/herself an "estate agent". And which route will those wannabe estate agents go down? Train, qualify, become an API member and have their commissions regulated and capped? Or, don't train, don't qualify, don't join the API and charge 10-50% commission? Hmmm, difficult choice!

I'd not heard of the API before moving to Spain and neither will the majority of other expat newcomers - to them an estate agent is an estate agent.

Nobody can call themselves a lawyer, doctor, architect, engineer etc without the relevant qualifications (or at least, not without getting into severe trouble!) because these are regulated professions and will never be otherwise. For now, estate agency in Spain is most definitely NOT regulated.

If you Google for API you will see what a small number of estate agents belong. And who knows the real number of "expat" estate agents here.

Re: Estate Agents
 

I would say that the same applies to lawyers in Spain. In order to be a Spanish lawyer all you have to do is bribe or bluff your way through law school and get a degree.

The provincial Colegios de Abogados are certainly not a regulatory bodies and exist mainly to protect their associates against highly justifiable complaints from members of the public.