: Slippery Sales Agents be careful !!! :

[Wils & Nance]

I'm with MRS PETE.........a sledgy would have been the order of the day !
Nance

[Wils & Nance]

So what happens now Pete ? .......have you given up on that villa ?
Or is the vendor going to pay for the paperwork to be re-written and not lose his sale all together.....or is he going to chance his arm hoping the next buyer will fall for it ?
It never ceases to amaze me how people can be such "chancers" !........sad thing is he could have gotten away with it !
Nance

[Big Pete]

I still brought the place after the Notary had done the changes , and well pleased with it i am as well

The translator was recommended by my SOL Bank Lady . not connected to the German estate agent . hmmmmmm well i dont think so anyways unless it was all a scam and even the Sol Bank lady was to get a cut

On the Hasta not Asta , Chris i knew that ,its just i had a cold at the time


Chris your theory on the Germans with the lots of languages isnt right sorry ,

My neighbours are German and they dont speak any English and no Spanish ?? And they have lived there some 8 years !

I however know a small bit of German and we sort of communicate with a mix of our tiny Spanish my little German and her tiny English which she derived from our English songs

So as you can imagine we do have a laugh in chatting its like a game of charades a lot of the time

Anyways

Gutten acht

[chris(madrid)]

Originally Posted by Big Pete

I still brought the place after the Notary had done the changes , and well pleased with it i am as well

The translator was recommended by my SOL Bank Lady . not connected to the German estate agent . hmmmmmm well i dont think so anyways unless it was all a scam and even the Sol Bank lady was to get a cut

On the Hasta not Asta , Chris i knew that ,its just i had a cold at the time


Chris your theory on the Germans with the lots of languages isnt right sorry ,

My neighbours are German and they dont speak any English and no Spanish ?? And they have lived there some 8 years !

I however know a small bit of German and we sort of communicate with a mix of our tiny Spanish my little German and her tiny English which she derived from our English songs

So as you can imagine we do have a laugh in chatting its like a game of charades a lot of the time

Anyways

Gutten acht

Moin junge!

Pete like I said MOST of the Germans I know are multilingual. But they are folk of a similar ilk to me - so are communicators and travellers by nature. And as I say all from high formal education professions. Everybody I've ever worked with in Germany was at least bi-lingual.

Age & exposure is a factor too - My German landlords in '90 were simple farmer folk and were uncomfortable outside their Hessen dialect. I worked in Mannhein/Heidelberg are and there was a HUGE US base so exposure to 'merkin was high and most youngsters were comfy in English.

Their school system IMPOSES multilingal learning. However I did French at school and would not like to say I can speak French. Many folk even if they can use another language - are nervous about errors. Beer helps forget nerves.

[Wils & Nance]

BIG PETE,
Hi ,Glad you got it sorted, it would have been a real shame for it to go belly up !
All the best to you and Mrs Pete in your new home !
Nance
P.s , thanks for the comment on my "what next" post, I think your lovely too !

[crookesey]

Very interesting, well-done Pete you spotted the scam before you were stitched up like a kipper, your wife had the right idea.

I gritted my teeth when you mentioned the 'black money'; you are only helping the seller and could come unstuck if and when you come to sell it, and most importantly it's illegal. Your solicitor was at best remiss and at worst possibly complicit in the scam. You were lucky that the Notary was up to his job but as your Spanish is not yet up to the mark why didn't you use the services of a solicitor with fluent English.

Chris, your fluent Spanish would only have told you what an honest Spanish, English speaking solicitor would have told you. A bent contract, possibly two bent solicitors, a bent agent and a bent seller, you wouldn't have stood a chance without the intervention of the Notary. That is unless you are an expert on the wording of sometimes verbose Spanish property contracts.

Obviously learning Spanish is a must, but like Pete and Mrs Pete the wife and I intend to tackle this when we no longer have busy lives in the UK and can totally absorbe ourselves into every aspect of Spanish culture.

I side with jojo on this and offer Pete my thanks for the warning. Perhaps you guys who have bought Spanish property could come up with a list of requirements that we who haven't yet taken the step could then put in writing to our respective solicitors as requiring satisfying prior to the drafting of the contract.

Another way would to be to instruct someone such as John Howell and Co in London who are a leading firm of solicitors specialising in Spanish property purchase. They sort everything out for you, speak and write to the other party in Spanish and tell you what is happening in English. They even sort out your NIE number for you and can complete the purchase without having to be present in Spain. You would also have the full weight of the English Law Society behind you.

[chris(madrid)]

Originally Posted by crookesey

Chris, your fluent Spanish would only have told you what an honest Spanish, English speaking solicitor would have told you. A bent contract, possibly two bent solicitors, a bent agent and a bent seller, you wouldn't have stood a chance without the intervention of the Notary. That is unless you are an expert on the wording of sometimes verbose Spanish property contracts.

It's why I ALWAYS SUGGEST NOTARIOS. Like I said earlier, they'll question anything out of the ordinary.

I'm not an expert by any means - but worked long enough doing the IT for a franchise chain of "agencies" ( the one with a balloon ) to now have an idea where to expect trickery. Many franchises are run by ex-IT folk btw.

One is INSIST the property is transferred with all dues/taxes etc paid in full by the seller to the date of sale. Legally you can be obliged to pay but have a public document where the seller accepts responsibility - so have the law on your side to get it back. Useful if your seller has not paid his community dues - VERY COMMON on Urban estates. And if in doubt visit the town hall and and get a CATASTRAL as well as Local registration edict. This of course can fail if the Town Hall is bent!. Seen folk buy places (whilst here at the town hall) thinking they can build extensions - and they cant.

I've had recourse to use NOTARIOS twice - once in a property deal, where they questioned the details of the mortgage (we'd negotiated a rather good one and he asked the bank if it was correct or a typo). He also questioned the price. We'd insisted on full value in the document for reasons of mortgage - but it was still low for the area. the Builder explained why (basically the garden did not exist). He'd suspected "Black Money". If they do they often "leave the room" for a while when you exchange money. We asked him to stay and witness. He agreed to do so.

We've a lawyer called FELIX on here that's always offering advice. So far I cant fault anything he's said. He's never pushed his services either.

[Goldberg]

This is a very strange situation.

Whom is your lawyer in this affair?
Whom is your agent representing you?
I have not heard ever of a client expected to pay the capital gains tax of the seller. Of course every contract is to negiotiated.

The point leads to in what ever country you buy or sell in, get proper legal and professional services. Agents make money by providing a service. True not all agents are not correct.

But you should have a lawyer and agent, and thank good ness the notary explained the situation.

Very irregular. Who do you get yourself involved with. Get professional help. You will pay for this, but it is money well spent.

[Pete]

Just read this. Thanks for the info

Pete

[gyqn75]

Hi all,

Guess what is happening to us! We purchased in Murcia province and are trying to get our lawyer to provide an audit trail of the costs. An email was received and the deductions were as expected until he produced an entry saying "3% Retention". We asked for a written explanation but he will not reply in writing, only saying he needs to meet us to explain the Spanish system. Well the costs were all explained before we started the process and nothing like this was mentioned. The seller has had 3% retained for CGT from the money paid over. Am I right in smelling something off here?