We can help you to find a buyer for your home in Spain before the dream becomes a nightmare.
Do you need to talk to our network of builders, lawyers, architects and of course conveyancing experts?
Amongst our various divisions, we run a law office called Spanish Solutions in La Zenia.
We work with many people who for one reason or another are having difficulty selling their home in Spain.
- Divorce cases
- Death and Probate
- Legal issues
- Cash flow problems
- Contested will
- Equity Release
None of these issues should stop you from selling your house on the Costa Blanca.
Like with everything else there is (almost!) always a solution.
Here is an example of a client we helped recently.
Emma inherited a Cabo Roig apartment that had been rented for the past ten years. There was no Spanish will but a will existed in the UK.
The condition of the apartment was not good, as you would expect from a rented property, meaning achieving a good sales price was unlikely. We figured a bill of 10,000 euros was not unreasonable to get the property into selling condition.
While we investigated this situation, Pedro Molina, our lawyer, started looking at the inheritance tax, mortgage, outstanding bills and the total amount Emma would need to have before the property could be put in her name. It was a surprise to find that the total legal and tax bill for Emma was running at around 40,000. This was not good and potentially prevented Emma from ever receiving her inheritance.
Worse news followed and she needed to pay the money in advance before getting the property into her name. She could sell it for a heavily discounted price, but even that would be difficult considering the condition of the apartment.
Emma and her husband were relying on a good sales price but found themselves in quite the “catch-22”.
How to fix a property seller’s problem.
We knew the apartment was an excellent opportunity for an investor. This is due to the proximity to La Zenia Boulevard, Cabo Roig beach and marina, Paddy’s Point and similar bars and even the church in Cabo Roig.
The first thing we did was get a price for refurbishment. We said already that we estimated 10,000 would do it, but on inspection, we found a few small unexpected issues: A broken door was very expensive to replace, a crack in the bath, broken tiles that we could not find a replacement for etc. Emma needed to get the work done, but wow would she ever find a builder she could trust? Any good builder around La Zenia is so busy they can barely afford the time to get quotations. We introduced her to a Spanish building firm so she didn’t have to find her own. We engaged with a top builder and architect from Pilar de La Horadada. They ensured that the property was brought to a very high standard, not just aesthetically, but also from a safety point of view.
From experience, we knew we could make the property better than when the key was first handed over 20 years ago by San Jose Builders.
We paid for all the refurbishments on the condition that we could get our money back once it was sold.
We then began to market the apartment.
There is a shortage of really good, value-for-money property in Cabo Roig. As we always do, we advised Emma on the price to market it at that was fair to everyone.
We settled on a figure of 125,000 plus costs to the new buyer. This gave her a nice return. We paid for the builders, cleared all expenses and probate issues and still left room for property appreciation for the new owner.
The big winner was the new buyer. They now have a better-than-new-build property. They got it at a resale apartment price, with the smell of fresh paint still wafting through the entire apartment.
The Cabo Roig area right now is red hot for property resales. There is very little stock available, especially in such a great win/win arrangement.
The buyer got lucky and got a wonderful property.
Emma is delighted with the situation. Needless to say, she is very happy that she met our wonderful team.
If you are struggling to sell a property for any reason, why not speak to a member of the team here and see what this group of professionals can do for you?
The above before and after pictures show how little work can be needed to attract a buyer. Property buyers in Spain don’t want to have to start painting, cleaning, replacing and dumping junk. That is our job.
Why not get in touch and see what we can do for you!
