house buying

May 2003
Arrived in Andalucia to start looking at properties in the Iznájar area and discovered that a large number of the web based estate agents had not listened to our requirements, showing us everything except what we had told them that we were looking for. Spent many a dreary hour following cars loaded with fast talking agents, sub-agents, Spanish corredors and sub-corredors, all of whom were hoping to have a large share of our money. Why do these people waste their own time as well as ours ?

However, one agent in the Iznájar area, stood out from the rest and was able to show us some properties which were near to what we wanted although none particularly set us on fire.

Despite my emphatic statement on the plane that "we will not deal with anyone that we meet in a bar", met another delightful lady in a bar who was also an estate agent.. This proved to be the start of a good friendship and she showed us some properties near to our requirements although nothing particularly stood out at the time and we returned home.

July 2003
Two days before we were due to return to continue our search, the second agent emailed us details of the perfect property . On arrival we viewed it and decided that it was "the one". We made an offer to the six owners (!) and finally agreed to a counter offer.

It all made perfect sense. Situated in the countryside next to a small river, there was a small house for us and a larger one that would convert into three letting apartments and cottages. Enough land for a large garden and pool and near to the town of Loja to provide us and our guests with all the services necessary.

One small problem was a tiny plot of land between the two houses which was not included and housed some goats, so we set the agent the job of finding out who owned it and negotiate a price.

For the duration of this trip, we stayed with a couple who had bought their house the previous year and still had builders working on site. The information and insights that we gained by watching these builders at work enabled us to hone our own budgets and timetables for the work to be done on our properties. Making notes over breakfast of the different mixes of concrete and mortar may not be everyone's idea of a fun time but at least we don't have to learn that information by experience or worse, by error.

We also got invited to an ex-pat gathering and we were able to learn an enormous amount just by listening to some of the experiences (and the horror stories) of people who had already started. Following this particular reality check, we resolved to be as prepared for our new life as possible and to try to avoid approaching the whole project as an extended holiday, something which it is obviously easy to do because of the sun and relaxed atmosphere which abounds in this area of Spain.

August 2003
Our return home saw us downloading "what we have learned", making business plans, building work schedules, budgets and moving logistics. The agent spent all of August through to September locating all 10 owners of the little plot, eight of whom were not particularly interested but two of whom suddenly became very aware of it's value.

September 2003
Arrived back in Spain hoping to sign contracts but were informed by the agent that the owners of the tiny plot wanted €21,000 for 50 square metres of redundant land. As the vendors of the main property were not prepared to share the cost, we walked away so as not to perpetuate the myth that all English people who wish to buy a property in Spain, leave their brains at the airport.

After a sleepless night and deep discussion over an extended breakfast, we decided to buy a small town house to live in whilst we looked for the perfect country property. Upon visiting some friends that we had made during our May visit, they let us know about a small house in Ruté that was for sale by a Spanish friend of theirs. So with neither an agent to act for us nor a translator except our friends' "spanglish" but with hope in our hearts, we viewed the little house and on hearing the low price, decided that it would be impolite not to buy it.

A visit to the abogado (lawyer) the following day saw contracts signed and a deposit paid. Our lawyer assured us in his fractured English that small problems with the escritura were, in fact, "no problem" and could be sorted out in two or three weeks. We left it all in his confident hands and prepared to spend the rest of our visit as a holiday.

The first agent had different ideas however and the following day she showed us a number of country properties, the last of which was "just perfect".

An aging cortijo, it stood alone in it's own olive grove, near to the mountain village of Algarinejo and was for sale with 1800 square metres of land. An ancient corn threshing circle appeared to be included and we left to consider making an offer. Bright and early the following day, we went to inspect it again and discovered some new marker posts in a position which appeared to exclude the threshing circle. A hastily arranged further meeting with the owner confirmed that the threshing circle was not now included so, on our agent's advice, we left again to allow everyone a period of reflection.

The following day, a message from the agent confirmed that the circle was now included again but as the land would be split, there would be enough left for the vendor to legally put up another building. We decided that as the only bit of flat land left was on the other side of the threshing circle, we would avoid the inevitable and we made another offer to include the rest of the land. This amounted to 28,000 square metres and included 273 young olive trees.

Acceptance of the offer made us the unlikeliest olive farmers in Andalucia but at least we should have a lifetime's supply of extra virgin oil.

A further site meeting to walk the boundaries left one of us gasping for breath and vowing to get fit but after a decent recovery period, it was suggested that we pay a holding deposit to our lawyer that afternoon. As this seemed a simple procedure, we decided that we did not need the attendance of an interpreter and duly arrived at the lawyer's office. The vendors were already with the lawyer (they must have known the quick route...) and we were shown into another room to wait for a while.

An hour later, the lawyer and vendors then came in and lawyer proceeded to tell us in his mangled English that he had prepared the contracts for signing as the vendors had shown him the escritura which was up-to-date and perfect. Too late to get an interpreter, we thanked our lucky stars for all of our research into the legal system and in particular the complexities of owning rural land in Spain. We looked at each other for re-assurance, decided to take a flyer and duly signed the contracts.

I have to say that if Señor Abogado has not been absolutely diligent in looking after our interests and this all goes horribly pear shaped, he will need the full force of the Guardia Civil to protect those parts of his body that he holds most dear..

As the lawyer felt that we could complete the next week, a brief discussion took place explaining that we could not possibly transfer the rest of the money over in time before we were due to return to the U. K. and it was agreed that the notarising and registration of both contracts would take place when we returned in October.

Property seeking matters now concluded, we decided to turn our attention to the vexing problem of Spanish banking. We had already set up an account with one of the large country banks who also offered internet access and a range of other services. We had transferred enough money from our bank to cover the potential deposit payments but when we checked it's arrival, noticed that a fee of 0.02% had been deducted by the bank. As we had already paid for the transfer through our U. K. bank, we felt aggrieved by this raid on our account.

A visit to the bank manager with our interpreter gave us a short lesson in banking in Spain and it was explained that the bank only charged for deposits but not for any kind of withdrawal. Whilst this seemed reasonable in principle, the thought of a bank charge of 2 euros for every 1,000 euros deposited seemed rather high and we negotiated a reduction. This has yet to be confirmed and I think that we will have to go through the whole negotiation again after we have transferred the major part of our purchase money across.

I can now understand why most rural Spanish people carry a wad of notes to buy things as it certainly saves on bank charges.

Still no holiday this year as despite three visits, we have been so busy that we just couldn't relax. We returned to U. K. with our heads spinning and set about completely re-planning, re-designing and re-thinking every aspect of our future. However, we had in our hands the Contrato Privado de Compra-Venta (simple contract) for each property which made us feel very happy if a little daunted by all the work that lay ahead.

October 2003
Finally tied down the lawyer to a target date for completion on both properties and arranged flights, car hire and accommodation at short (and very expensive) notice.

On arrival we discovered that not only was the lawyer not ready but that there was a problem with the escritura of the country property. The building was showing as covering 56 square metres whereas we knew that it was nearer 180 The lawyer also knew this, as when we signed the original contract we pointed it out to him, he said "no problem", altered the figure on the contact and left the room to get them re-typed. On his return we signed what we thought was the amended contract and left his office.

We were now being told that to register the correct square area would cost 800 to 900 euros for a survey and the necessary building licence which had probably never been obtained by the vendor. This did not make us happy as we were on a tight timetable because the notaria only held "sittings" on Tuesday and Thursday and we only had a week before we flew back to the U. K.. We vented our fury on the agent who agreed to pay for any costs involved and settled back to await developments.

Developments came thick and fast.....

The vendor’s brother, who held a power of attorney to complete the sale, said that he may be unable to complete on Tuesday because his wife was unwell and possibly needed to go into hospital. If this happened, he would not be able to attend on Thursday either.

However, the problem with the escritura and floor area was solved because when the vendor obtained his segregation licence for the land, he had to have it surveyed and the correct area registered. That problem having been solved, we arrived at our abogado fully armed with our translator to solve the other as although we are not hard hearted, we did feel slightly aggrieved that the delay in dealing with our purchases by our lawyer, could now cause the whole thing to fail on this visit.

The meeting started pleasantly with our legal friend chattering and laughing with the translator whilst the paymasters sat stony faced and excluded. I interrupted them and ask her to exactly translate the following...

"Can you please tell Senor Abogado that we do not consider this to be a laughing matter; we are not a couple of wealthy retirees trying to buy a holiday cottage; we are committing the rest of our lives to this house and all of our life savings. If the contract cannot be completed this visit, then the cost of the next one will come from Senor Abogado's fee"

The lawyer suddenly sat up straight in his chair and listened very hard to everything that was said from then on and as if by magic, confirmed to us within an hour that the completion was to take place at a special sitting of the notaria on Wednesday.

Wednesday saw us at the bank having given them notice the day before of our requirement for cash and cheques. To buy the farm, we needed a large bankers draft for the actual price to be shown on the escritura (and upon which transfer tax is payable….) plus a huge amount of cash for the part of the price which was “no oficial” and various fees, taxes and the like. Spanish country banks are like banks in England in the 1950’s; no screens, grills or security guards, it is rather like visiting an insurance broker’s office so we faced the unusual (for us) situation of having thousands of euros counted out to us in front of various locals to whom this amount of money would probably be several years income.

It was a large amount to us also and after we had also re-counted the cash, we stuffed it into a haversack and after checking for bandits loitering outside the bank, we went across the road to have a steadying cup of coffee.

We then drove the 10 minutes to Ruté to meet with the vendors at our lawyer’s office but first we had to split up the cash between the various parties to the deal. We parked up in a quiet, leafy square and set about our task which was punctuated by episodes of panic when people walked too closely. A coach load of schoolchildren milling about, did nothing to help our paranoia. We ended up feeling like seedy drug dealers counting our ill gotten gains.

Paying over the cash to the vendor was straightforward except for his inability to count any amount which consisted mainly of €500 notes. Perhaps he couldn't grasp the concept of a single note with such a high value, something with which I had every sympathy…..

Money exchanged and counted, we all trooped off to the notaria. When we were duly summoned into her office we replaced our excitement and elation from the previous cash transaction with solemn and innocent faces for her benefit. This was our introduction to the Spanish way of “oficial” and “no oficial” dealings. The entire proceedings were carried out with the full knowledge and co-operation of banks, lawyers, notaries and government officials who just seem to accept that some money changes hands outside of the tax system and no attempt appears to be made to stop or even hinder it.

I think that we are going to enjoy living here….

The following day saw us doing the same all over again for the house in Ruté but this time we were blasé about the amounts involved although it was amusing to see the notaria’s face when we turned up again. She must have thought that we were starting to buy up the whole area.

The remaining few days of our visit were spent re-checking the houses that we had purchased and generally making sure that we had all the details necessary to plan our eventual emigration.