Marbella’s microclimate is one of the main reasons why so many people choose to spend more time on the… more
There is more than one way to buy a property on the Costa del Sol.
You can search the property portals, contact different estate agents and arrange viewings as you find properties that interest you. It is how many people buy property here, and for plenty of buyers it works perfectly well.
But you may prefer another approach.
You may want to have one person working specifically for you, somebody who gets to know what you are looking for, understands your priorities and helps you search the market with your interests in mind.
That is the idea behind our Home Finders service.
Finding properties isn't particularly difficult. There are thousands of them online. Working out which ones are actually worth your time is rather different.
The better we understand you, the more useful we can be.
That means understanding not just your budget and how many bedrooms you need, but how you intend to use the property, where you want to spend your time, what matters to you and, equally importantly, what doesn't.
Sometimes our advice might simply be, “No, don't bother looking at that one. It isn't right for you.”
At other times we may find something that meets almost everything you are looking for but involves a compromise. Rather than dismissing it or wasting your time arranging a viewing, we can discuss that compromise with you and decide together whether it is worth seeing.
The aim isn't to show you as many properties as possible. It is to help you find the right one.
This is where our Home Finders service differs from the normal estate agency relationship.
When an estate agent is instructed to sell a property, the seller is their client. There is nothing wrong with that. It is simply how conventional estate agency works.
With our Home Finders service, you are our client.
We agree in writing at the outset that you will work exclusively with us on your property search and that we will work for you. We also agree exactly how we will be remunerated if you eventually buy a property.
That means our financial position doesn't depend upon which property you choose.
If the right property is one we are selling directly, we can recommend it. If it is listed with another estate agent, we can recommend that. And if the right property is one where there is no commission available from the seller's side at all, we can recommend that too.
We earn the same agreed percentage whichever property you ultimately buy.
Not necessarily.
Our fee is agreed with you before we begin and is based on a standard percentage of the eventual agreed purchase price.
Depending upon the property you buy, some or all of that fee may already be covered by commission available from the seller or another estate agent. Where it isn't, the difference is taken into account as part of the overall figures for that particular purchase.
So when we look at different properties with you, the financial position is clear and can be considered alongside the price and other costs of each transaction.
There are no surprises. We both know from the beginning how the arrangement works.
If you don't buy a property, there is no fee.
The commitment you make is to work exclusively with us while we search for your property. We make the corresponding commitment to work for you.
It is a straightforward arrangement, set out in writing so that both of us know exactly where we stand.
Probably not.
Thousands of people successfully buy property on the Costa del Sol without using a dedicated buying service, and you may be perfectly comfortable doing the same.
But you might want one.
You might prefer having one person you know and trust who understands what you are looking for, can search and filter properties for you, discuss the advantages and disadvantages honestly and tell you when they think something simply isn't right.
For some buyers, particularly those searching from another country or unfamiliar with the Costa del Sol property market, that relationship can make the whole process considerably easier.
It can also save an enormous amount of everybody's time.
Once we understand what you are trying to achieve, we can help you consider the wider questions too.
Would the villa you've always imagined actually suit the way you intend to use the property, or would a lock-up-and-leave apartment make more sense?
Is the location you've been concentrating on genuinely right for you, or might somewhere you haven't considered offer more of what you're looking for?
Are the swimming pools, gyms, spas and other community facilities something you will actually use, or simply additional costs you don't need?
There isn't always one correct answer. Our job is to help you ask the right questions and make your own informed decisions.
We can also introduce you to independent lawyers, mortgage advisers and currency specialists where appropriate, so that you can obtain the specialist advice you need during the purchase.
This service won't suit everybody, and we don't expect it to.
But if you've been looking at property on the Costa del Sol and find yourself wondering whether it would be easier to have somebody working specifically for you, we would be happy to explain how it works.
There is no obligation to use the service and no pressure to proceed.
Call us on (0034) 952 90 52 00, WhatsApp us, email info@michael-moon.com or use the contact form below.
Sometimes a conversation is the easiest place to start.
