To increase your chances of success…
Spanish Solutions are the country’s most forward thinking legal and tax team, based on the Costa Blanca,
(and now in Alicante City and surrounds).
“Average is a failing formula”. – Grant Cardone. I refer to the Spanish legal sector.
1.We Go To You
The Spanish legal system works averagely well!!
Every single law firm you meet in Spain should tell you why they are better or different. I find it hard to believe that so many of them are stuck in the old way of thinking. That old way says that they are a lawyer or Barrister. As the person with the degree and the certificate on the wall they should not have to advertise, market or sell themselves. You should be able to find them if you need them.
Maybe they do not show up on time – remember they are the lawyer.
They open at times that suit them, not you the client.
Legal fees are often excessive in many cases in Spain, especially in the larger cities. I remember a lawyer told me a short story (albeit a funny one) as to why he could charge so much to his clients.
“A factory owner had a problem and called a qualified engineer to fix a rattle in a large machine. The engineer showed up, listened to the machine for ten seconds and hit it hard with a hammer. The rattle stopped and the owner was thrilled until he got the bill for 500 euro. He immediately asked the Engineer to itemise the bill to justify the high cost.
The itemised bill came back:
Hitting The Machine with a hammer 1 euro.
Knowing where to hit, 499 euro!”
It’s something similar in the legal profession here in Spain. They know what to do, so they charge accordingly.
Spanish Solutions lawyers fees are reasonable compared to the market. There is a range of set fees that can be charged for each service according to the barrister’s fee book in Spain. Considering the level of service and care we offer our clients, we are giving real value for money to our clients, as our lawyers err towards the bottom end of the scale, rather than the top end.
One way that we are different is our slogan, especially in the new Alicante city region, “We will go to you”.
What does that mean? Let’s say you are on an inspection trip in Alicante looking at property to buy and you have questions about the contract, process etc. Why would we not visit you in your hotel lobby rather than force you to find us? This is something we do for our clients – we visit you. Don’t waste time ordering a taxi, getting lost and flustered. Of course you need to arrange it in advance, give us a couple of days´ notice please and we´ll be delighted to make it possible for you. Thats the new way to operate.
Naturally it depends on the case too.
Often, a client will come to us looking to take a case against an individual in Spain. We might meet them in their home or place of work and talk then through the process. If a client has no real grounds to launch a case, well, we can save them the expense of hiring a Spanish lawyer with only a small appointment fee and explain why we can’t take the case.
Another huge benefit of having Spanish Solutions at your side while you are doing a property purchase in Spain is that we can visit the estate agent with you.
We´ll discuss more in the next paragraph, but this is a brilliant win/win/win for you, for the agent and for the seller.
2. We will visit the estate agent or builder together
No other lawyer’s office we know of in Alicante city (or indeed on the whole Costa Blanca ) will spend as much time with you at this crucial stage, pre contract.
We can’t sell you a property – that’s someone else’s job but we can assist you from very early on.
Imagine, you see the the property of your dreams while you´re on your inspection trip in Spain. The agent gives you the usual line “there is someone else interested and you need to sign right now, or the price will increase”.
Your reply, “My legal representatives will be here in 5 minutes”.
Do you think that softens the negotiations at all?
Let’s assume the Spanish estate agent is totally 100% trustworthy. That’s great, you did well to find one as good as that.
Still, there are things we need to check in advance of your paying the deposit that will help the seller, the agent and you of course.
If, for some reason, the agent is not totally to be trusted, well you landed on your feet with Spanish Solutions. Once we are involved at the start, we can ensure that the owners of the house actually own it, (Imagine the house is caught up in an inheritance battle), that there is no debt or mortgage, the extension is legal, the pool has a licence etc etc.
The earlier you engage with Spanish Solutions (or another trusted legal firm on the costa Blanca, yes we are not the only ones); the better.
We like to think the best of people so again, back to the notion that the agent is totally sound. If there is a problem with a tax, legal or planning issue, they should find out now too. It’s not in their interest to find out that there has been an ongoing problem the day we are supposed to sign in the notary. We are helping the agent by discovering any issues right now. If they find out the mortgage is 200,000 on a 150,000 property (perhaps the owner of the property thought they could pull the wool over all our eyes), they still have time to save the day.
Once we see it was a genuine mistake and something the agent could not have known we tell everyone immediately. You then have time to sign a property purchase contract for your second favourite Spanish home and the deal continues. Remember if the deal does not go ahead, nobody gets what they want.
Spanish Solutions get more deals completed.
This leads us to the next point:
3. Let us talk to your ESTATE AGENCY in advance
So, You´ve decided to come to Spain and all things being equal, you want to go home with a signed purchase contract for a new build property in Alicante or Gran Alacant.
So far so good.
You know you´ll need to hire a lawyer once the deal is getting close (please hire us before you sign that purchase contract). Why wait though?
It costs absolutely nothing to engage us now.
Tell us your favorite new Spanish property developments and we´ll get in touch with the builder in advance of your coming over. He can send us the provisional purchase contract so that we have already reviewed it even before you come to Spain. The developer can forward us the licences giving him permission to build there. We can make sure he is solvent and you are not transfering money to a bankrupt builder to finance his previous deals in an elaborate Ponzi scheme. Yes, it happened to an estimated 10,000 buyers of Spanish property back during the boom times of 2003-2009.
Again, think win/win. From the builders point of view, he has a client coming to Spain (you!) interested in buying his new build property here. What can go wrong from his point of view? Well, maybe you don’t like the house for whatever reason- this can’t be helped. The other thing is that you get cold feet regarding how legal the development really is. If he knows that your legal firm is happy with the paperwork he has provided, it immediately takes one objection right off the table. The builder will want us to be involved.
As a bonus, sure we can help with translations etc but maybe we can try to sweeten the deal too? It might only be an American fridge or a flat screen TV that we get him to throw in for free- but, we do like to ask for little extras and if the builder can see how much we’re helping he just might agree. We can only try!
4. Close the Deal Back Home
Now, we´re moving forward. You found the right house, at the right price. Spanish Solutions have checked the paperwork. We have secured you a Spanish mortgage with excellent terms and conditions. The property is registered, the certificate of habitation is in place, the bills are paid and you are ready to close for the Spanish property purchase of your dreams. All you need to do now is to take a week off work, stop what you are doing, book your flights at short notice, and come to Spain at a time that does not suit you. Aaah!
Why not attend the Spanish embassy in your country instead and allow Spanish Solutions to do the deal there. We can coordinate everything for you and your deeds will be issued the embassy in London, Oslo, Dublin or wherever you prefer. Instead of you coming to Spain and hanging around the notary waiting for the bank to show up, Spanish Solutions will do it for you.
While you are in Spain on your inspection trip, we´ll apply for your power of attorney so we can talk to the bank on your behalf. We´ll get your NIE number (Spanish taxation number) while you are here and we will help you with a bank account open ready for the completion to take place.
Your only job now is to find flights for a time and day that suit you. Bring your toothbrush and get ready to enjoy your new home in Spain! (Stress Free!!)
5. Negotiate and Get Free Add Ons
Legal firms in Spain will not negotiate or give you any extras. That’s just the way it is, unless you talk to Spanish Solutions that is.
Not only will the Spanish developers who actually appreciate what we are doing for them give you that free furniture pack that we negotiated for you, very often they will pay part of our fees. We look after the Non Resident tax requirements for thousands of expats in Spain. Test your negotiation skills (and ours) and see if you can somehow get that done for free!!
Do you intend to rent your new property in Spain? Spanish Solutions currently (May 2019) have hundreds of property rental licences in the pipeline. You need this before you can rent your property- Talk to us early in the process and see will the builder pay our fees to get this in place for you.
Why talk to us early? Because, after the deal is done, the deposit is paid and the contract is signed, there is zero chance the builder will agree to any givçaways he knows he does not have to do! Make it easy for us to help you!!
Sales, right?
6. Get it Done!
We’re big believers in getting things done.
You should check out this website BTW!
Anyway, it is an issue in Spain especially with more traditional sectors like banking, accounting, notarizing and law. So many people are more concerned with the doing of the thing rather than the getting it done. Example; You employ a legal firm to process your deal. You´re booked for tomorrow to get the deeds into your name and you´re excited. You call the lawyer to confirm what time you are meeting. Unfortunately, you are greeted by a lovely receptionist who informs you:
“I´m sorry Ian, you can’t complete tomorrow. I called the bank and they didn’t call me back so we can NOT sign for your mortgage.” .
There is no point in going ballistic on the girl who took your message- she did her job, she called the bank. When we started working here in Spain it was even worse. The attitude of “that’s the way we have always done it”, or “its not my job” really was prevalent.
At Spanish Solutions we get things done!
Eva, one of the most experience conveyancing professionals in the area. Luckily for us, Eva is also a Spanish Solutions leader and she told me last week that she often knows in advance how long a deal will take to complete. It’s all depending on who is on the other side of the table. If it’s a more traditional lawyer they will be slow. They will email the parties involved rather than just picking up the phone. The real problem is when estate agents try to do the legal work themselves. Eva again told me one really successful estate agent on the Costa Blanca has a completion rate of 70% after deposit stage. They allow so much time to pass that something goes wrong in 3 out of every 10 deals!! The biggest agent in La Zenia, where Eva is based, has a 100% or near enough completion rate. One of the reasons is because they, like you hopefully, use Spanish Solutions and they get stuff done!
Others ways we can help you, not just to see we really are different but to make a difference to your experience in Spain are:
- Brexit proofing your time in Spain.
- Wills, NIE, Power of attorney, non resident tax; packages for all services available.
- Get recommendations for tradespeople and professional services. (Not just our friends but people who actually do a cracking job!)
- No Win No fee legal cases– sue the bank and use our money to do it.
- Successful legal cases against banks and developers are just as important to us as simple activities like spanish driver’s licence application- you are all our clients!
- Stay up to date with your tax in Spain and so much more!
It’s probably time you tried out Spanish Solutions La Zenia and now in Alicante city! Contact us for more details,