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I have recently spoken to a UK based spanish property agent, he has offered me a property at closed auction at a massive discount .This system seems to work by me getting an email from the agent telling me that the property is about to go to court for unpaid debts , i will be the only bid put forward on the property at vastly reduced price. It sounds to good to be true , any info on this.
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I spoke to a friend about these auctions as there seem to be quite a few websites advertising it. I heard though that although they are repos in Spain it takes years for the debts to be sorted out and yes, you could buy a bargin but it might also have lots of debt against the property which would then be yours to pay. I think the agents are trying anything to sell properties at the moment as they need to pay their own mortgages…. correct me if i’m wrong??
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There are a few places that are selling repos at (claimed) massive discounts, but the ones I have seen have completely unrealistic “original” valuations. Most are just selling at around the current market value, and this is just another angle.
However, yours could be a real bargain, you just need to research the market in the area 1st. And as always, be cautious!
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I also am in touch with a UK based company who has direct access to official appointed closed auctions, via an established Costa Del Sol lawyer,it appears I can definately bid a figure equal to half the current TINSA value or less, and stand a very good chance of being successful with my bid. The only down side I can identify, is that I need all the money in liquid funds ,(with quite a rapid completion)and the fact that they cannot offer me an internal inspection of the property until I have completed. They have offered me an outside viewing before I bid. I am in process of arranging the funding here in the UK via equity release, as soon as this is in place,I am arranging to meet the lawyer in person. I was getting very frustrated by the results of internet searching, leading me to so called distress sales, when in fact the prices quoted, didnt seem low enough to called distressed, so here’s hoping. They are not asking for any money from me for the initial meeting, so I have nothing to lose.
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Tinsa and other bank valuations are still showing rather high – Im guessing Tinsa were on the board of the banks valuers and so they will not reduce their valuations as it will show a negative on the banks assets!
You need to ensure it is at a minimum 50% discount before you bother. Also ensure no debts ie community fees etc as sometimes they catch you in this way.
Good luck!
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I think this method of court auction buying is possibly the same as I am currently investigating and in fact I posted questions today about this, but not sure which sectionof the Forum my questions end up in.
Is it from http://www.remspain.com – whereby spanish court has agreed to auction property to Cash buyers only. You have to put 20% of the proposed value of your bid, into one of the lawyers accounts so that he has power of attorney. If your bid is not successful you get this deposit refunded minus E1,000 for 2 court visits the lawyer will make on your behalf. You cannot view the property internally but 1 week before the auction you can view from outside. Also you get time to select what properties you want to put a bid in for. There are 5 lawyers in the practise.
The agent also has a regular real estate business called Best Value Spain.
I spoke to John Scott one of the owners of the real estate business. He said the Court dictates what fees the lawyers and agent get so there is no logic for them to go in to auction with a high bid. The long term business view they have is that the more satisfied customers they get, the better their business grows. Possibly this system more geared to Investors but for some of us who have been ‘sitting on the fence’ about buying cos like me too busy working, now have Cash to spend so if this system is legit, I am hoping I can pick up a bargain.Hope to hear from others about this. I spoke to J. Scott at end Mar 09 in UK office, as I live in Asia at present.
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@katy wrote:
Sounds like a scam, the banks don’t have cheap property yet. Not being able to see inside it should set the alarmbells off.
I completely agree. It sounds very dodgy to me.
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Have a look at the website http://www.bestvaluespain.com I think or .co.uk. I doubt they could legally advertise this Court auction method of buying, if it did not have authenticity to it.
Assuming they tell you the age of the property and that if you purchase you will have no other debts owing on that property, and you get out and view a choice of properties prior to auction, you could get a very good deal. You do need to take a bit of a risk though.
eclipse
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Well, it’s your money. But, to assume that they are legal & legit. without properly checking is a big mistake IMHO.
Loads of people (probably tens of thousands), have made assumptions like this about buying property in Spain, and have been misled to a greater or lesser extent.
Buying property in Spain is known to be a potentially risky venture, and caution & research are essential.
Of course it is possible that this is all legit. But, I have seen a lot of scams here, not seeing inside a property has a very odd feel to it.
Be very careful!
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I totally agree with you about checking the legality of it all and many other issues first. Which is why I am also writing in this Forum, in the event I can locate anyone who has actually gone through and bought in this manner. Or who knows anything more about this method of buying than what the 2 websites I have given tell us.
Not seeing inside is a problem and have yet to decide if I am prepared to take this risk.
I am not sure if Mark Stucklin will advise or not or is this Forum just for us website users.
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Yes I do have property for sale, and hopefully one day they will all sell, I am only a small time private investor, and as such have limited funds, thats exactly why this unique buying process appeals to me. BUT PLEASE GIVE SOME CREDIT ! I would not risk my hard earned money on any buying process, that cannot be verified as 100% legal and safe. Catty remarks serve no useful purpose here. These people bend over backwards to point out this process will not suit everybody, as far as I can deduce, there are no pushy salesmen involved in this system, I have only encountered professional advice, which, by the way,included the suggestion, that I check out the legal bona fides of the lawyer practise involved in the court procedure, which I have just done via my own Spanish lawyer, (you could do the same) I think this innovative method could well help in getting the mountain of mortgage debt down to a manageable level, which means the banks can start lending again (though hopefully sensibly this time)
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From Eclipse –
In response to Jon 2712, comments today 7th July – are you referring to the same people I am in my earlier posts today eg http://www.remspain and bestvalue spain?
Your reply did not make it clear and I would be pleased to hear if you are dealing with the same people that I am considering using. And if you are, have you bought some other properties via this Court Auction/Cash Payment system previously and being happy with what you bought based on the fact you cannot see the inside prior to purchasing.
I quite agree with your comment – these people make it Crystal Clear that this method of purchase is not suited to everyone. It is up to people like myself with Cash in hand to do all the necessary checking before embarking on Visiting and Parting with Cash. And I am trying to do some of the Checking via this Forum as I do not wish to be away from my Business for too long, when I do visit Spain to proceed further.
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How do they get around the legal system whereby all court auctions have to be legally advertised and any interested buyer has to deposit a certified bankers cheque for the full amount ❓ How is it that a guy from the UK only has insight into this system!
I still think it’s a scam. Having a website doesn’t give it cred. Do more than check the credentials of the Lawyers, get your own Lawyer to check it out and the background of the people involved. Better still file it with the Nigerian spammers. At best people may only lose a couple of thousand but may be more serious.
Why are all these new posters pushing websites allowed to stay on here 😕
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I only got involved in this debate because i felt other contributors were passing opinions, which of course they are entitled to, but were not based on any factual information, (as far as i can see) about this particular closed court auction system. Also i did not refur to teh company you mention for two reasons, 1, although they are extremely helpful and professional, i would expect no less, i am not being payed to promote their organisation. 2, (more selfish) i now realise that some of the properties on offer are so cheap when compared to todays market value, i am reluctant to incourage more competition from other bidders.Surley if you were at the advanced stage that i am, you would react just the same.
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If the Sceptics have Cash why don’t they check it out for themselves instead of the sarcasm that is now appearing. And if they do not have – then c’est la vie – those that do have, are prepared to take the time to investigate and may therefore gain on the back of other people’s misfortune – its busines, not personal…
Sooo, what do you know about buying in Portugal!!! -
If the Sceptics have Cash why don’t they check it out for themselves instead of the sarcasm that is now appearing. And if they do not have – then c’est la vie – those that do have, are prepared to take the time to investigate and may therefore gain on the back of other people’s misfortune – its busines, not personal…
Sooo, what do you know about buying in Portugal!!! -
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Katy, Inez,
I have to agree this reeks of a scam to me.
Jon, whatever your protests, you have no record on here other than having previously tried to sell property.
Eclipse, you have popped up out of the blue, not even on the main forum. You appear to be working alongside Jon – could even be him for all I know.
I’d advise anyone to avoid the sites listed like the plague.
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@eclipse wrote:
If the Sceptics have Cash why don’t they check it out for themselves instead of the sarcasm that is now appearing. And if they do not have – then c’est la vie – those that do have, are prepared to take the time to investigate and may therefore gain on the back of other people’s misfortune – its busines, not personal…
Sooo, what do you know about buying in Portugal!!!People are smarter now than they were 3 years ago. They do not trust
anymore sites like the one you are pushing. Why would anybody buy
property without seeing it?Stop spamming this forum with your rubbish.
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@katy wrote:
How do they get around the legal system whereby all court auctions have to be legally advertised and any interested buyer has to deposit a certified bankers cheque for the full amount ❓ How is it that a guy from the UK only has insight into this system!
I still think it’s a scam. Having a website doesn’t give it cred. Do more than check the credentials of the Lawyers, get your own Lawyer to check it out and the background of the people involved. Better still file it with the Nigerian spammers. At best people may only lose a couple of thousand but may be more serious.
Why are all these new posters pushing websites allowed to stay on here 😕
Well pointed out Katy, as I was rather bemused as to why anyone would use an intermediary, and if so, what on earth for.
The court auctions are advertised, often through the government portal, and often accessible online through the same government portal. Anyone with an account, nie and the deposit associated with their bid ….. can bid without involving an intermediary that adds no value.
It just doesn’t add up and may well evoke a whiff of bs passing by the nostrils.
Mike
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@robertacg wrote:
Sounds like a con to me too.
Why on earth do you suggest something sounds like a con ? please answer your many readers these questions.
1, have you actually been in touch with the administration company ?
2, have you had a meeting with the officially appointed lawyer ?
3, are you in possession of sufficient cash resources to participate in
this system of purchase.
I can guess your answer to the first two questions is NO, because if
the answers were yes, and you had the where-with-all as posed by question 3, you would know this is most definately no CON. What you
would have done is purchase an exceptionally cheap property, you would also relieved some bank somewhere of a little of it’s “toxic debt”and last but not least, because I guess you wouldn’t care either way you would help some poor person somewhere sleep a little more soundly, since the
bank are no longer hounding him for mortgage payments he simply
cannot meet.
To all you “doubting Thomases” instead of pontificating about something
which clearly most of you, know absolutely nothing about, and in all
probability could not participate in even if you wanted to. Relax, chill out,
as they say, and goodness sake, enjoy the season of good will. Life’s
shorter than you think. -
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@brianc_li wrote:
Still sounds like a con to me. 🙂
I´m not going near it and would strongly advise anyone else reading this n
ot to.
Sad fact of life, “You can’t educate pork”. You have made your opinion very clear, no one expects you to go anywhere near “it”, what baffles me, is, as you clearly know nothing about “it” why are you wasting your life (if you have one) standing on your soap box giving all and sundry the dubious benefit of your advice. What actually is your agenda ? It occurs to me there there must be a darker reason, for you not wanting anybody to take advantage of this new approach to property investment. By the way my friend there’s a clue for you. INVESTMENT. How many property purchases these days could truly be described as that ???? Long walk and short pier spring to mind. The rest of us grown ups who want to check out a variety of investment opportunities don’t need negativity, especially from an ill informed source. God bless the meek, sadly they don’t always inherit the Earth, and you know who loves a trier. Merry Christmas.
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