How we are paid
It works simply. The seller has a commission agreed with their own agency. If you come without representation, that whole amount usually stays with the seller’s agency. If we represent you, the seller’s agency pays our share out of it. The price of the property does not change for you and you never pay us anything on top.
Where the money actually comes from
A commission exists on almost every sale on this coast whether you are represented or not. The seller agreed it with their own agency before you appeared, and it is paid by the seller or the developer out of the sale, not added to the price you pay.The only thing that changes when you are represented is how that existing commission is divided. Nothing is added on top, and there is no separate buyer fee anywhere in the transaction.
| Situation | Who gets the commission | What you pay |
|---|---|---|
| You arrive unrepresented | The whole of the seller’s commission usually stays with the seller’s agency. | The price of the property, and nothing to us because we are not involved. |
| We represent you | The seller’s agency pays our share out of that same commission. | The price of the property. Exactly the same price, with nothing added. |
| You do not end up buying | No commission arises at all, so nothing reaches anyone. | Nothing. Not for the search, not for the viewings, not for the time. |
Is the property more expensive if I buy through you?No. The commission is the seller’s, it was agreed before you appeared, and it exists whether or not you are represented. Our share comes out of it rather than on top of it.
Why the size of the fee does not decide our advice
Our fee is not the same on every property. It depends on the specific offer and on the terms of the arrangement with the developer or the seller’s agency.So it is entirely fair to ask whether the size of that fee can influence which property we recommend to you. It does not, and rather than reassure you about it, here are the five reasons why. They are structural, which is the only kind of reason worth anything here.
- We are still with you after the purchaseThe relationship does not end at the purchase. We help with management, renting and whatever you need years later. A long relationship with a client is worth more to us than the difference in fee on one deal.
- Our reputation runs on referralsA large share of new clients come to us on the recommendation of people we have already helped. Recommending a worse property because it paid more might win us one bigger fee. It would cost us something considerably more valuable: your trust and our name.
- We will also give you the reasons not to buyIf we think a property is overpriced, has a serious drawback, or is not worth what is being asked, we say so. We will also tell you where we see room to negotiate and when we think an offer is not worth making at all.
- The better property beats the higher feeIf a property with a lower fee for us makes more sense for you, that is the one we recommend. Typically this applies to resale properties, where our fee tends to be lower than on some developer projects.
- We have no sales targets on specific projectsWe take no volume bonuses and no rewards for selling a certain number of units in a given project. So we have no reason to push you towards a project because it needs to hit a sales plan.
And there are concrete instances behind this. We have already advised clients to withdraw from a purchase when the legal or technical check found a serious problem. We have also recommended a different property even though it meant a lower fee for us, because we considered it the better choice for the client.
One thing to watch, and one question you should ask
Some agencies on the Costa del Sol charge a commission to the buyer as well as taking a share of the seller’s. You will not meet that with us, but it is worth knowing that it exists before you sign anything with anybody.The second half is simpler. Our fee varies by property, and if you ask us what it is on a specific one, we will tell you.
What happens on the marketHow we do it
- A commission charged to the buyer on top of the seller’s
- We never charge the buyer. Our share comes out of the commission the seller has already agreed, and there is no second fee anywhere.
- A referral fee taken from the lawyer, the broker or the inspector
- We take no commission and no other reward for recommending the law firm. The same applies to the other specialists we introduce you to.
- Volume bonuses for shifting units in a project
- We have none. No sales targets on specific projects, and no reward for hitting a unit count.
- A fee you find out about at the end
- Ask us what we earn on a specific property and we will tell you. It is not the same on every one, and pretending otherwise would be the easier answer rather than the true one.
Do you take anything from the lawyer you recommend?No. We recommend Malaga Solicitors as our standard choice and receive no commission or other reward from the firm for it. You are free to bring your own lawyer at any point.
The clearest version of this is a deal we lost
A client liked a new build in Estepona at 720.000 € and the unit met most of the brief. There was pressure to decide quickly because few similar units were left. We compared the price, the orientation, the layout, the view and the project terms against the other options available in a similar budget. The apartment itself was not the problem. At 720.000 € we could see alternatives where the client got more of what actually mattered to them. We advised against reserving it out of fear that it would disappear, and the client bought elsewhere.We earned nothing from that unit. That is the mechanism working, not the mechanism failing.
Who pays whom
- You, the buyer0 €Never anything, at any point. Not for the search, the viewings, the negotiation or the coordination.
- Seller or developer
- New build
- 2,5 to 6 %
- Resale properties
- 1,5 to 4 %
- ArevontOur share of that commission, paid to us by the seller’s agency. No purchase means no commission and therefore no fee.
Who pays our fee does not decide whom we represent. The seller’s agency represents the seller. We represent you. We are not built around our own stock that need selling, so if we conclude that a specific property is not a good purchase for you, we say so, even though it means no fee from that deal.If you decide not to buy at all, nothing is owed anywhere. The one possible exception is a reservation fee already paid to the seller or the developer, and whether and on what terms that is refundable is something you will know before you pay anything.
A reservation deposit is the single payment that sits outside the guarantee system, which is exactly why it should be small and why its return conditions belong in the contract before it is paid.
The parts of this that are genuinely awkward
We are paid more on some properties than on others. That is a real asymmetry and no set of principles removes it. What removes its effect is the structure above: no volume bonuses, no stock of our own, a relationship that continues after the purchase, and a business that depends on referrals. If you want to test it, ask us what we earn on the specific property in front of you.We also earn nothing at all if you do not buy, which is an incentive to keep you moving. The four cases where we advised a client to stop are the only honest answer to that, and they are published in full rather than summarised.And we are not a discount. Nobody can promise you a lower price, because the seller or the developer sets it. What representation changes is what you know before you decide, not what the property costs.
Frequently asked questions
- What exactly do I pay you?
- Nothing. Not a retainer, not a search fee, not a percentage on completion. The commission comes from the seller side and exists whether or not you are represented.
- Will you tell me what you earn on a specific property?
- Yes, if you ask. It is not the same on every property, so there is no single number we can publish, but there is nothing secret about the one on the property you are looking at.
- Does the seller not just raise the price to cover it?
- The commission is agreed between the seller and their own agency before you appear, and on a new build the price list is the developer’s and is identical whichever agent you come through. On a resale property the same property is usually visible at several agencies at the same price, which is easy enough to check for yourself.
- Do you take a fee from the lawyer, the mortgage broker or the inspector?
- No. We take no referral fee from the law firm and no reward for the other specialists we introduce you to. You are also free to use your own lawyer, your own mortgage broker and your own inspector.
- What if I walk away halfway through?
- Then no fee arises for us at all. The only money that may be at stake is a reservation deposit already paid to the seller or developer, and its return conditions are agreed in writing before it is paid.
