Original price

[Tinnat]

I’m currently looking at a property to buy and would like to negotiate heavily on a house I’ve seen. However I would first like to know at what price my seller bought the house 5 years ago. Is such information available easily?

[Anonymous]

Hi Tinnat

Unfortunately that information is not public, and it only appears on the vendor’s title deeds (escritura de compraventa). What I would do is to start negotiations with the vendor and try to get a copy of the title deeds before any offer is made with the excuse that your lawyer needs to start some initial legal searches before you commit to pay any money and before you agree to any price (just say you had some terrible experiences in the past trying to buy a property, or something like that).
If the vendors don’t erase the price from the title deeds, you will get it there.
However, the vendor could tell you that there was part of the price that was not declared on the title deeds (which has been common ilegal practice during the last few years) and there is nothing you can do to find out if that is true or not.

You should also pay attention to the cadastrial value of the property and ensure that if you buy the property yo don’t declare less than the minimum value approved by the regional government (or if you do so, please be aware of the consequences).

Thanks

[Tinnat]

Many thanks for your answer! can I ask a further question: is it acceptable in the current situation to make an offer which is around 40% lower than the asking price. It seems to me that the asking price is very inflated, and I would only be happy paying 40% less.

[Anonymous]

@Tinnat wrote:

Many thanks for your answer! can I ask a further question: is it acceptable in the current situation to make an offer which is around 40% lower than the asking price. It seems to me that the asking price is very inflated, and I would only be happy paying 40% less.

Hi again

At the end of the day, you can offer whicherver price you are prepared to pay. On the current market, buyers are in a better situation to negotiate the best possible price, but it will depends on the flexibility of the vendor to accept your offer or not.

[katy]

I would try an offer. I f they are interested in negotiating they will come back with a counter offer. You have nothing to lose. Be prepared to be disappointed as most sellers aren’t as desperate as some people think.

[Author]

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