Yesterday I went on a photo walk in central Birmingham.

I got chatting to one of the guys there and he happened to mention he had moved back from abroad. In the conversation it turned out that he had invested his life savings in properties in Spain through a property developer and that the developer actually stole the money through a network of builders/estateagents/solicitors that it appears were all working together.

I'm sharing this because the guy was clearly on the verge of being made homeless in the UK because of what happened. He's done an ebook on the whole story

I guess Rosemary & Fred can take this down if they don't think it is ineresting or appropriate. You can buy the ebook on amazon, but thats not why I'm posting the link (which is a preview), it's just so you can see a short resume of what happened to him and how it almost bought him to suicide and possible homelessness

FlipBook

"It deals with the issue of international property fraud. What is it like to lose your wealth to a corporate monster? I trusted, only to have my home stolen from underneath my feet to satisfy their rich lifestyles? Find out, read this book, could they have driven me to suicide. I have had to live through the memory of this every second for that last six years"

started reading but nothing new, people will always want more.. some get it... some do not..... will we ever learn?

A boat was docked in a tiny Mexican fishing village.
A tourist complimented the local fishermen on the quality of their fish and... asked how long it took to catch them.
"Not very long" they answered in unison....
"Why didn't you stay out longer and catch more?"
The fishermen explained that their small catches were sufficient to meet their needs and those of their families.
"But what do you do with the rest of your time?"
"We sleep late, fish a little, play with our children, and take siestas with our wives. In the evenings, we go into the village to see our friends, have a few drinks, play the guitar, and sing a few songs.
We have a full life."
The tourist interrupted, "I have an MBA from Harvard and I can help you! You should start by fishing longer every day. You can then sell the extra fish you catch. With the extra revenue, you can buy a bigger boat."
"And after that?"
"With the extra money the larger boat will bring, you can buy a second one and a third one and so on until you have an entire fleet of trawlers.
Instead of selling your fish to a middle man, you can then negotiate directly with the processing plants and maybe even open your own plant. You can then leave this little village and move to Mexico City, Los Angeles, or even New York City!!! From there you can direct your huge new enterprise."
"How long would that take?"
"Twenty, perhaps twenty-five years." replied the tourist.
"And after that?"
"Afterwards? Well my friend, that's when it gets really interesting," answered the tourist, laughing. "When your business gets really big, you can start buying and selling stocks and make millions!"
"Millions? Really? And after that?" asked the fishermen.
"After that you'll be able to retire, live in a tiny village near the coast, sleep late, play with your children, catch a few fish, take a siesta with your wife and spend your evenings drinking and enjoying your friends."
"With all due respect sir, but that's exactly what we are doing now. So what's the point wasting twenty-five years?" asked the Mexicans.
And the moral of this story is:
Know where you're going in life, you may already be there! Many times in life, money is not everything.
“Live your life before life becomes lifeless”

So badly written and full of sh**te. If it wasn't such a sad tale it would be hilarious.

From what I understand he did everything like we all tell people to do it, just got caught by unscrupulous people

To be honest it is a sad tale, and I dont really care that it's badly written if it drives home the point to people that might be thinking of doing such a thing.

Well not quite. He walked into a Spanish property show in the UK.

We did that too

And did you also use a solicitor with a connection to the developer and agent?

I am pretty sure that's not the advice given here.

Property fraud is so rare in Spain, that the UK government recently appointed a special overseas property advisor to help deal with the lack of scams and to better understand how to help those who haven't been ripped off.

British government intervenes to help expats caught in Spanish property scams - Telegraph

Oh for Gods sake

He walked into a property show in the Uk. NOT a law against it
Then he used a solicitor, and did it the right way. His mistake, if you like, was niavity in that he believed it would be handled correctly by solicitors

He is not the only one who thought a Spanish solicitor would act in a professional way in the interests of his client. Nor I suspect did he envisage other Spanish crooks would be complicit in this sad situation. I can sympathise with the author and it is comforting to see that Horlics who finds generalisation such an anathema, giving a detailed and informed review.

I hope others read this account as it will hopefully avert more disasters. My Spanish nightmare is nearly at an end and I am being optimistic when I say I will just about fill my car to return to England with what I have left from a not too dissimilar situation.

You should read the book you recommend to us.

Pete,

No generalisations here, I am talking about one specific case. I read the book, did you?

I'll be clearer about my thoughts on this.

I think the person in question is very unfortunate indeed to have become involved with these people. Clearly, they were not operating honestly and if such a thing as karma exists, they shouldn't be sleeping very soundly.

What I am arguing is that the path taken was not the one that is most often "like we all tell people to do it".

I see advice about getting to know an area, renting before buying, discovering the good and the bad about a place.

The thing not to do is walk into a Ramada hotel (or other) somewhere in the UK. We are talking about buying a place to live somewhere on the Iberian peninsula (a pretty big place). The Ramada probably isn't the best place to experience it.

The error was when the desire to buy a home turned into the "opportunity" to make a quick buck.

I agree, I think you nailed it, especially the last sentence

So, you appear to be saying that those who wish to turn a legal profit deserve to be cheated at every turn?