What do you charge the buyer?

Nothing. No fee, no retainer, no charge for the search, the viewings or the time. We are paid from the seller’s side, out of a commission that exists whether you use us or not, so the price of the property is the same to you either way. If you decide not to buy, nothing is owed.

How are you different from an ordinary estate agency?

An ordinary agency represents the seller and shows you its own listings. We represent you, show you the whole market, new builds and resales from every agency and developer on the coast, check each property before you pay a deposit, and tell you when the answer is not to buy.

Do you have an office I can visit?

We come to you: the meetings that matter happen at the properties, at the lawyer's office and at the notary. That is where a purchase actually happens.

How does the entire purchase process work and how long does it take?

For a completed property, you should typically expect several weeks to several months from reservation to receiving the keys. With a new build, it depends on the stage of the project. You may be buying a completed apartment, but also a project that will be completed over the next two years. We describe the entire process, from selection through legal checks to the notary, above.

Can I buy a property even if I do not live in Spain?

Yes. Buying a property and Spanish residency are two different things. You can own a property as a non-resident, and much of the process can be handled through a power of attorney.

Do I need an NIE and a Spanish bank account to buy a property?

You need an NIE. A Spanish bank account is very useful in practice. An NIE is a foreigner's identification number, which you will need for the purchase, taxes and other property-related matters. We arrange it with a lawyer in good time, because waiting for it when you are about to sign is an unnecessary way to complicate the purchase.

Do I need my own lawyer?

Yes. An independent lawyer who represents you, not the developer or seller. The lawyer checks ownership, debts, liens, permits, contracts and the legal status of the property before you commit to the purchase. We do not employ lawyers and do not receive commissions from them for recommendations. We will give you several options and you can choose for yourself.

Is the reservation fee refundable if the lawyer finds a problem?

It depends on the wording of the reservation agreement and varies by developer and seller. The reservation fee is the only payment outside the guarantee system, so it should be small and the agreement must clearly state the conditions for its refund. That is why the lawyer reads it before the money is sent, not afterwards.

How much will the purchase cost me in total beyond the property price?

For a new build, allow approximately 13 % on top of the purchase price, and around 9 % for a resale property. The biggest difference is in the taxes: for a new build, you pay 10 % VAT and also AJD in Andalusia, while for a resale property, the transfer tax is 7 %. You also need to add the lawyer, notary, land registry and several smaller items. You can calculate the full purchase above on the page based on the property price.

Sunlight rippling through clear Mediterranean water

What we do

Buyer-side property services on the Costa del Sol

We represent you, never the seller. We find what is actually for sale, check what the listing leaves out, negotiate on your side of the table, and handle the legal, money and paperwork through to the keys. The seller pays our fee, so none of it is billed to you.

Explore our services

Stage one

Property search and advice before you buy

Everything here happens before you have committed a euro. The job of this stage is to remove properties, not to find you one.

Search and selection

You cannot see the whole market from a portal. We search the databases, the developers direct, partner agencies and the public listings, and remove what does not fit before you ever see it.

Search and selection

Listing review

Send us any listing, ours or not. We confirm it still exists, what it actually costs today, and what the advert leaves out, before you spend a flight on it.

Listing review

Video viewings

A live walk-through on your phone: the terrace, the view, the noise, the walk to the beach. Most properties can be ruled out this way without you leaving home.

Video viewings

Viewing trips

One to three days, five to eight properties a day, organised end to end. You are not held to what you said before you arrived; people change their mind on day one and that is normal.

Viewing trips

Negotiation

You do not sit alone opposite someone whose job is to sell. We handle the terms, the dates, the fittings and the reservation, and we tell you when there is no room to move.

Negotiation

Talk through what you need

Stage two

Support through your property purchase in Spain

From reservation to keys. Most of this is specialist work done by people who are not us, and our job is to make sure it happens in the right order and that nothing waits on you.

Legal due diligence coordination

An independent lawyer represents you, not us, and we take no commission for the referral. Our job is that the checks happen before you are committed, not after.

Legal due diligence coordination

Mortgage arrangements

Whether you can borrow, and how much, settled before you commit to anything. As a non-resident earning outside the euro, the honest figure is nearer half the bank's valuation than the 70 percent usually quoted.

Mortgage arrangements

Technical inspection

A specialist stands in the property and writes down what is wrong with it. On a resale property this is the only warranty you are going to get.

Technical inspection

New-build handover

A new build is taken over after somebody has checked it, with a written list of defects, not on a handshake at the door.

New-build handover

NIE and paperwork

The Spanish number you cannot complete without, arranged in good time rather than in the week you are due to sign.

NIE and paperwork

Opening a bank account

You need an account for the utilities, the community fees and any mortgage. Opened with the lawyer, largely without you being here.

Opening a bank account

Handover coordination

The notary, the final payment, the keys, and the checks in between, in the right order. You do not have to be in the country if the power of attorney is in place.

Handover coordination

Talk through what you need

Stage three

Property management and support after the purchase

The part most agencies stop at. Some of this is free and some of it is a paid service you can decline, and each card says which.

Property management

An empty property needs someone on the ground. We hold the keys, walk it on a schedule you set, and deal with the community. Paid service.

Property management

Cleaning and maintenance

Our own employed cleaners for the cleaning, and trades we use ourselves for everything else. Paid service.

Cleaning and maintenance

Interiors and furnishings

Furnished and working before you arrive, done from here while you are at home. A designer we have worked with for years, not a name off a list.

Interiors and furnishings

Short-term rentals

Whether the property may be let at all is the first question, and it is settled before you reserve. If it can, we run the rental end to end. Paid service.

Short-term rentals

Insurance arrangements

Cover arranged with a specialist we trust, sized to the property rather than sold to you.

Insurance arrangements

Utilities and internet transfer

Electricity, water and internet transferred into your name, which is the step that quietly delays people for months.

Utilities and internet transfer

After-purchase care

The part that stays free. Which tradesman, which doctor, which school, what a letter from the town hall means. We live here and we answer.

After-purchase care

Talk through what you need

The money, first

Our buyer's agent fees explained

You pay nothing.

No fee, no retainer, no charge for the search, the viewings or the time. If you decide not to buy, nothing is owed.

You pay

The price of the property is identical whether you come to us or walk in alone. What changes is whether that commission buys anyone who is working for you.

Who pays

The developer: 2.5 to 6 %
The seller's agency: 1.5 to 4 %

What you do still pay

Your own lawyer, the purchase taxes, the notary and the land registry. Those are third-party costs, we never take a share of them and we do not mark them up. The buying-costs guide sets out what they come to.

What buying actually costs

How the commission affects our adviceRead more

The seller or the developer sets this percentage, not us, and it is different on every project. Ask us about any property and we will tell you the figure before you go and see it.

Our fee is not the same on every property, so it is fair to ask whether that changes what we tell you. It does not, and the reasons are set out on the About page rather than just claimed here. Ask about any specific property and we will tell you the exact figure in writing.

How we are paid, in full

The short answer

How our property buying service works

We represent buyers only and keep no portfolio of our own. Rarely, a past client asks us to sell their property; if we show you one of those, we say so before the viewing. You pay us nothing - our fee comes from the seller or the developer, out of the commission they were already paying.

That is the whole model. Everything below is what it buys you.

How we are paid, in full

Notebook and glasses in coastal sunlight

On the ground

Three things you cannot do from another country

You can search a portal yourself. These are the parts that do not work at a distance, and they are why buyer-side representation exists at all.

A couple enjoying the coast from a sailboat

See what is actually for sale

No public site shows the whole market. Agencies here list on two separate networks, Resales Online and Inmobalia, and not every property appears on both. Some agencies subscribe to only one. We pay for both. Developers also release units to agencies in batches, and the good ones go before anything is published.

Know what the listing does not say

When the wind turns, a water treatment plant two streets away can be smelled on the terrace. A community may have voted last month to ban short lets. The empty plot in front may already be permitted for three storeys. None of it is in the photographs.

A couple talking together at a table by the sea

Have someone on your side of the table

The developer, the seller and their agent all want the deal done. That is their job. Without your own representation there is nobody in the room whose job is to ask whether you should walk away.

What we check

The six ways a purchase in Spain actually goes wrong

Not vague reassurance. These are the specific failures we check for on every property, before you pay a deposit, because each one has cost a foreign buyer real money on this coast.

A development whose permissions and purchase terms need to be checked

Before you pay a deposit

Rental restrictions

A property that cannot legally be rented out, bought by someone who planned to rent it out. The one people actually get caught by, and it is checked before the reservation, never after.

Reservation terms

A deposit paid with no return conditions written into the reservation contract.

Developer failure

A developer that fails mid-build. The bank guarantee that refunds you with interest either exists or it does not, and we look.

Debts and charges

Debts and charges attached to the property rather than to the seller, which follow the property to you.

Registered floor area

Registered square metres that do not match the ones in the listing, which surfaces when you come to sell.

The full cost

Costs nobody mentioned: 9 to 10 % on top of a resale and 12 to 14 % on a new build, plus the annual ones. We give you the worked table before you choose, not after.

Who actually does it

What we do ourselves, and what we coordinate

Nineteen services invites one obvious question: who actually does all of that. Here is the honest split.

Done by us, with our own people

The search and the shortlist, verifying a listing, video viewings, the viewing trip, negotiating with the selling side, property management, cleaning, short-term rental, and staying your contact afterwards.

Done by a specialist, coordinated by us

Legal due diligence, the mortgage, the technical inspection, snagging, the NIE, the bank account, insurance and the utility transfers. We do not do legal, tax, lending or surveying work and we do not pretend to.

We say which is which because the alternative is a page implying a ten-person firm. The value in the coordinated half is that you deal with one person instead of seven, and that somebody is checking the order things happen in.

Discretion

Who sees your documents, and who does not

Spanish law requires identity and source-of-funds checks in every purchase. What matters is who handles them.

A pen and paper for private correspondence

Your financial documents go to the lawyer and the bank, never to usRead more

Proof of funds and identity checks are a legal part of every Spanish purchase. They are handled by the people who legally need them: your lawyer, the bank and the notary. We do not collect or store your financial documents.

Your search is confidentialRead more

We do not discuss who you are or what you are looking for with sellers, agents or anyone else. When we make enquiries on your behalf, we can do it without naming you until you decide otherwise.

Viewings can be arranged discreetlyRead more

If you prefer, we arrange private viewings at times when nobody else is in the property, and your name is not passed around to get you through the door.

The limits

What we do not do

A page with no stated limit reads as a page with no truth in it. These are ours.

We are not lawyers We give no legal advice. The due diligence is done by an independent firm that represents you, not us.
We are not tax advisers Anything about your tax position goes to an adviser, and your own situation decides the answer.
We never hold your money We do not lend and we do not move funds. Nothing you pay for the property passes through us.
We are not built around stock of our own We own no property and we do not build around our own stock. Almost every property we put in front of you belongs to someone else, and when one is our own listing we say so before you see it. That is what makes it possible to tell you to walk away.
We cannot promise a discount The price is the seller's or the developer's to set. What we can do is make sure you are not the only person at the table with nobody on your side.

The real test

Would you ever tell me not to buy?

Yes, and the four times we did are published with the property, the price and the reason. That page exists because advice that can say no is the only advice worth paying attention to.

The four we advised against

Our job is not to sell you a property. It is to work out whether one is worth buying.

We represent buyers only, we are not built around stock of our own, and we earn nothing at all unless you buy something you actually want. Our fee is not the same on every property, which is exactly why we tell you what it is before you view. That is what makes it possible to tell you to walk away.

Family lunch together overlooking the sea

Where to start

Send us a property, or tell us what you are looking for

Either works. If you already have something in mind we will check it and tell you what we would ask about. If you do not, a twenty minute call is enough for us to start looking properly.

Send us a property