Search and Survey - Property finding Services

Why use a professional property finding service? With so many Spanish estate agents and thousands of web pages advertising properties you may wonder why you need help finding a property. Well of course the answer is you can do it all yourself if you have the time and some knowledge of how the market in Spain works. However using a specialist expert to assist you finding a property has many, many advantages - apart from removing all the risks high on the list of these advantages are the huge savings achieved.
Remember, an estate agent has only one interest in mind and that is to sell you a property and earn his commission. To do this he has to somehow find purchasers - this is where Search and Survey comes in to the picture.

This is how our unique concept works:

Agents and vendors advertise their properties on our websites, on a pay on results basis.
Buyers looking for properties in Spain see the website and engage us to help find a suitable property.
Once all the research and selection process is completed, we arrange for our clients to view the short list of properties that together we have agreed are the most interesting. (Usually this involves a number of different agents.) Please remember Search and Survey does not sell property, nor do we try and influence a sale one way or the other. We will however, point out advantages and disadvantages acting as a kind of devils advocate - always with the buyers interests in mind and despite the enthusiasm of the estate agent.

If a sale is reached then we are able to levy an introduction fee to the vendor or his selling agent.

A -For advertising the property.
B -For introducing a buyer.

The processes involved in buying a property in Spain from the very beginning, i.e. looking for a property to receiving the keys when all is signed sealed and delivered are detailed below.

It is important to understand that if we are involved in assisting you find the property at the start then we are able to charge the vendor an introduction fee. This allows us to subsidise your conveyancing and legal costs by about 2,000€. Should you find the property without our involvement then you will be at least 2,000€ poorer having to pay for the conveyancing services at the standard rate shown on the Fee's table.
Over 800 agents list their properties and collaborate with the Search and Survey.

Finding the Property.
The property finders will scan all the properties on the market to match the requirements specified. The client then receives these via email and has the opportunity to select from a shortlist of properties they like and consider appropriate.
The initial considerations will include:

• The Budget
• Size of property required
• Location
• Individual circumstances
• Personal preferences and priorities
• The aims of the investment.
• Use of the property, e.g. holiday home/permanent home/rental

Once we have established how many properties are available that fit the given criteria, we forward the property details for review. The client can then exclude properties of lesser interest and start building a selection of properties that can be organised into a future viewing itinerary. The client feedback helps us better understand their requirements and we can widen or adjust the search as necessary.

Client Viewing Itinerary Once the client is happy there are enough properties to view to warrant a visit, we arrange an itinerary with back-to-back viewings making the best time of the client’s time. As part of an itinerary we will prepare background information as to the pros and cons of each property so as to be fully prepared prior to the viewing. During the visit, we can also assist with securing their NIE or fiscal numbers and opening a Spanish bank account – both necessary for the purchase of a property. We accompany the client during the property viewings with the agents. Our role is to keep a perspective and assist the client assess the relative merits of each property. It could be useful to test to see if there is any flexibility in the price of some of the properties. Even so, once a property becomes of interest to the client, we would add our leverage to negotiate the best price, and in some cases our client’s keep at a comfortable arm’s length while we drive the best deal we can. At the end of each day we review the properties seen and discuss how we can get the most from the next day of viewings.
By the end of their visit, the client will have seen a large variety of property that matches their criteria. If they wish to look into a particular property in more detail we assist with our legal services, otherwise we review the search criteria and decide how we need to proceed.