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The usuall strategy of many an off-plan investor is to sell on the rights to a property before completion, taking lets say 20,000 Euros profit on a 20,000 Euro investment (100%) over 16 months and avoiding any tax on profits earned. A nice little earner.
Crucial to the success of this strategy is the ability to sell on before completion, which, if not done successfully, often lands investors in hot water.
So it should not come as a surprise to anyone that many estate agents, knowing as they do just how important the sell-on will be, exaggerate the ease with which investors will find ready buyers for their off-plan investments. These claims need to be treated with great scepticism. Though not always completely wild– it depends upon the quality of the property and the integrity of the estate agent – in many cases these claims are very wide of the mark.
Does anyone feel they have been made exaggerated promises on this point whilst looking for property in Spain? Details please?
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I agree totally with Mark’s comments having been ‘bitten’ so to speak by an agent – follow the link to the Sunday Times in the Forum Heading ‘Investing off Plan’.
I have recently, Feb 2nd 2005, been updated by several investors who ‘believed’ an agent’s false promises and as a result have been stuck with their properties or worse still lost their stage payments. Some agents are still exagerating their claims today. A little trick is to phone them on the pretence of buying investment property and listen to their sales spiel. They never change!
Often the sales person then moves to another agency and the original Company says they are not responsible for their former employee.
The UK market has slowed down and this will affect the Spanish market so be warned!
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My experience of trying to sell prior to completion has been one of frustration. I have found one or two good estate agents but their efforts of trying to sell have been made almost impossible by the developer who will not allow anyone in to the property to view it.
I have not had one enquiry from the agent that sold me the property even thought they emphasised how easy it would be to sell it prior to completion.
I am now resigned to the fact that I will need to make the final payment. I’ll then rent the property out. There is still a shortage of rental properties in Spain for the local population.
Renting will probably be the sensible thing to do anyway given the depressed property market in Spain. Nothing much is selling at the moment. I suspect this will improve if the UK interest rate drops a bit. So many people are looking for alternatives to pension plans and stocks and shares. Spain is also very accessible from most local airports and flights are cheap. This is the advantage it has over Eastern Europe destinations.
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I have posted messages to this site last year telling of my attempts to sell my off-plan property. We are now 2 years down the line and still not able to sell. I have been registered with Investor Partners now for over a year and they have been unable to sell the property. Even if they do it will mean very little profit for us and a nice little buy for someone else. The property is due for completion in December so we are now coming to terms with the fact that we will have to complete on the apartment and then rent it out – if that is possible!! I had a look today on the web site of the estate agent who sold us the property and who promised that “it just doesn’t happen” that off-plan properties don’t sell, they are now advising all investors to buy now because there are cheap off-plan properties up for grabs!! Why is it never the estate agents who lose out!
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Hi Patricia,
I’m sorry to hear that you are still struggling to sell your off-plan property investment. Believe me when I say that you are not alone. I should warn you that renting the property out may also prove to be a Herculean task, though it depends upon the characteristics of the property, competition, and price you ask. I don’t want to cast a pall over your plan B but it’s important that you keep this in mind if you are going to be borrowing funds to finance the purchase under the assumption that rental income will cover some or all of the mortgage costs.
Non-professional investors should steer well clear of off-plan property on the Costa del Sol. In my opinion it is almost a guaranteed way to loose money in the present climate, not to mention guaranteed way to take on some most unwanted hassles. The problem, as you found out, stems from the hard sell and claims being made by some estate agents, and also, dare I say it, a certain degree of naïevety on the part of buyers. They way some estate agents in Spain are acting is certainly unethical and probably illegal. I am looking at ways to 1) Raise awareness of this issue to prevent others from falling into the same trap, 2) Put pressure on estate agents to clean up their acts and 3) Find solutions for people in your situation. Please keep checking the forum as if I need to start collecting evidence and testimonials from buyers who have been mislead by estate agents making unjustifiable claims (there are consumer protection laws covering this sort of thing) I will need to get in touch.
Kind regards
Mark
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Mark, we have spoken before on this subject and I am particularly pleased with your approach to ‘clean’ up these dodgy practices.
Is there any way to pressurise the Spanish Government and the regulatory bodies there to force agents to be members of a bona fide register who would monitor and eject such agents from operating in Spain?
To often, agents hide behind a plethora of questionable awards for being the best agent in Spain such as Bentley International and Jaguar who are after all car manufacturers and nothing to do with property. I don’t believe for one moment that these awards are worth a light yet these agents ‘boast’ of such awards in the National Press adverts.
The whole industry in Spain especially the Costas Del Sol, Blanca and now the so called ‘new’ costas for development, need cleaning up along with many of their law firms who are hand-in-glove with these agents.
An expose on UK television would also be welcome.
Paul
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Mark
Why do the Spanish Government allow so much building work to continue when there is so much over-supply of properties?
Should they not call a halt on building work until the market settles down again?
Patricia
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The unfortunate comments and experiences being relayed by members on the forum here are sadly too typical. Clients turned in to speculator/investors by fancifull sales talk lacking any true substance.
Being Devil’s Advocate I must also pose the question as to how many of these clients opted to consider any down side? It is generally accepted that all investment markets experience both bull and bear periods and the secret of optimising any particular investment is timing and current dynamics. Add to this the difficulties often experienced when attempting to promote an investor unit to an end user,plus the more attractive and easier gained commissions to be had elsewhere
A company has been mentioned in this thread as being a genuine answer to assisting clients looking for support in reselling pre completed investment units. My knowledge tells me that the reality is somewhat different. They do NOT purely concentrate on the marketing of such units, they charge a listing fee and attach ridiculous levels of commissions to any unit and thus making it less attractive to any potential buyers.
Perhaps taking a look at the following link might be of some use to contributors to this thread. -
Hi – look I’m sorry but you are what is known as the ‘patsies’ in a vast pyramid scam – the rearguard; the ones left holding the can etc.
You SPECULATED (probably ‘on margin’ with borrowed money) and have simply lost your shirt (or are about to).
Read any children’s book on the Wall Street Crash and discover that it has ALL HAPPENED BEFORE!
I know it’s horrid but don’t complain about it – it’s what happens at the top of an ASSET BUBBLE.
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Wallstreet,
You’re right about pretty much everything except one thing. Many are speculating with their savings, not on margin.
I expect that professional investors who specialise in Spanish property, understand the market and know what they are doing can still make a living out of it, though nothing like what they made in the past. But amateur overseas speculators buying off-plan in Spain are just desirous of loosing money. Amateurs seem to specialise in buying the wrong kind of property in all the wrong places.
If you are considering speculating off-plan, and someone tells you that failure to sell on “just doesn’t happen” then you know it’s time to walk away. For a start you can be fairly confident that they won’t be there to help you sell on. Sound familiar?
Mark
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I see what you are saying Mark – I have justed checked my history book about the Wall Street Crash and yes – a lot of speculators investing on margin caused the crash at the end but the end result was that in the first ‘mini bust’ hundreds of thousands of individual (‘poor’) Americans’ SAVINGS were wiped out. Caused untold misery not just in USA but worldwide – some say was the driving force behind WWII.
By the way, thanks for not accusing me of trolling – I just want the view that property speculation is leading to a ‘YOUR Street Crash’ to be understood before too many more suckers lose everything they own.
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if you look at off plan as an opportunity to buy a home you will use at a lower price than comparable resales, then off plan has a use. If you are using off plan to buy and then sell for a profit, keep your money in your pocket. the days of making money from off plan have long gone on the Costa del Sol. High prices + huge supply= low demand
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There are many people who has been talked into buying off plan with promises of a resale before completion.The methods and promises used by some estate agents is more than unethical and have to be exposed for what they are. These people are well trained and oiled and driven by commission, they become your best friend and will always be there to help and of course they will sell your off plan before completion.When it comes to selling, they don´t want to know, they don´t even have the courtesy to return your call.
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a bit off topic, but might be of interest to you Mark and whom ever has a property there.
Heard a rumour that all of Arenals assets have been repossed by the bank.
So I don’t know how that will affect people who have bought a property that has not gone to completion or if they were trying to resale through the developer.
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@Fuengi wrote:
….So I don’t know how that will affect people who have bought a property that has not gone to completion ….
No doubt this will mean them having to pay out even more thousands of Euros to take out an embargo 👿 if they are suing.
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Re Aranal – my understanding is the bank took ove and are releasing properties for sale in small amount so as not to crash the market.
Re a TV programme- there was one – the Trevor MacDonald show, but it was quite amazing how many people argued the bias and how it showed the property market in a bad light!!!
Unfortunately many people have lost and are continuing to lose great amounts of money either by walking away from their deposits or by accepting a loss in order to move on.And yes Mark – it would be great if there were some legislation and surely there must be, by where the agents who caused an awful lot of this mess can be bought to task.
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Hi Mark,
I have’nt found it on this site, but maybe it would be worth mentioning certain developers or developments that regardless of what an agent says, the chance of selling before completion are next to none. Example: Aifos. We have a few resales in some of there develpoments, where after years and years of waiting and no completion in sight, they just want to be rid of them. But as soon as people hear the word aifos, especially the spaniards, they laugh and say “not a chance”. The only potential buyers are the ones who can’t afford anything else, and even then its a last resort.
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Also maybe its worth “investors” knowing about decree 218. This is especially relevant when it comes to developers as I’m sure a few people here have bought south/west facing 80sqm apartments with a rap-around terrace to land up with a north/west facing 74sqm apartment with only a north facing terrace…
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It was reported at the first AGM for my development that the developer still accounts for some 60% of the properties.
Considering that he started selling off plan in 2002 and obtained First occupation licences for completed blocks in early 2006 he must be feeling the pain of the turndown in the market and early buyers attempting to re sell at well below his current prices.
If this scenario is repeated across the CDS I can see a number of developers going under.
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@Michael521 wrote:
It was reported at the first AGM for my development that the developer still accounts for some 60% of the properties.
Considering that he started selling off plan in 2002 and obtained First occupation licences for completed blocks in early 2006 he must be feeling the pain of the turndown in the market and early buyers attempting to re sell at well below his current prices.
If this scenario is repeated across the CDS I can see a number of developers going under.
similar story on two developments I visited yesterday complete and about 50% remain unsold
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having read the previous replies i now find myself to be experiancing the same problems ie.
1.”easy sell before completion,then re-invest your profit ” which from reading the previous replies will not transpire
2.Non return of e-mails and phone calls.Do not get updates on property anymore
therefore i am now looking for the best mortgage for my completion at the end of the year
glad i didn’t buy 2, which was also pushed by my estate agent(who surprise to say no longer works for the company) -
Mark
Many UK buyers have paid cash but I would guess that for every one that has there will be two that have released equity from their UK property to fund the deposit. Many will be effectively 100% mortgaged. With prices now falling in Spain, the US and Ireland and with reports of similar in other fly to buy to specu/invest markets that we have rushed into, its going to be a disaster for many over the coming years (24,000 brits own in Florida with prices down up to 44% in 2 short years). For example in Bulgaria price never actually went up ‘only the prices to new mugs off the plane’. I have no doubt you’ll be able to buy ‘2 bed ski/beach apartments’ sold in some Bulgarian resorts for discounts of up to 50% on the prices paid over the last few years.
You can hardly blame the commissioned sales people for telling buyers what they want to hear. The responsibility for instructing independent legal advisors who are competent and straight, and backing off the veracity of all vested interested parties claims, sits firmly with the buyer/investor.
Having seen hundreds of apparently switched on Brits ‘leave their brains on the plane’ in Florida loose tens and in many cases hundreds of thousands of pounds, I have great fears for many other markets including Dubai and North Africa.
The credit squeeze that is now just getting underway was well and truly telegraphed a few years ago. The correction in global property markets and especially those ‘polluted’ by ‘rich’ western buyers pushing prices to levels unsustainable by local (and now global fundamentals) will be massive.
Be in no doubt property in the UK will correct back towards the mean and prices that are sustainable by fundamentals. When that starts (as it is) the newbie BTL brigade will start to head for an ever smaller exit. In the last 4 years or so many people I know have canibalised equity out of their main (and in many cases BTL) properties, because they thought having to much equity and not enough gearing was dead money. That’s fine in rising market but now many are going to learn some basic lessons in market economics.
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