Because, they make basic errors.

If you want to make big gains by buying cheap property for sale then avoid these common errors and you can make some big profits.

1. Buying The Cheapest

Many investors simply buy the cheapest property they can find and assume it MUST increase in value.

Keep in kind its cheap for a reason!

Basically no one wants it.

Unless there are solid reasons why the property should increase (not just your opinion) then avoid these properties.

You should not buy the cheapest but simply buy competitively priced property that offers good risk to reward.

2. Look for solid reasons

This means looking at the facts and seeing if the cheap property for sale you have targeted is set to increase in value.

A good way of doing this is to look for cheap property for sale near to areas that are increasing in value.

People will then look to overspill into adjacent areas pulling prices up.

Or

Buy in areas where infrastructure and amenities are starting to be built, that will increase the properties value in the near future as people move in to take advantage of the new facilities.

3. Wait for prices to start to rise

This may mean you miss the bottom, but you have the trend on your side.

Once cheap property for sale starts to increase its like a vacuum cleaner, more people want to get on board and push prices up further.

If there are solid reasons to buy the property, then keep in mind property trends can last for many years and there is going to be good upside for a considerable period of time.

4. Decide what you want and get out

You need to decide a realistic target figure and then take your profit and look for the next opportunity.

Say you target a 100% and prices hit your target don’t hang round you have what you want get out and look for the next one.

5. Getting more bang for your buck

If you want to make the really big gains with minimal outlay, buy cheap property for sale overseas in emerging economies.

Why?

Quite simply because it’s cheaper in many destinations and upside returns and risk are lower.

The established economies don’t normally offer the dynamic growth you get from emerging ones.

What is a good destination?

Try looking at Costa Rica.

Its just a 3 hour flight form the USA, its stable encourages foreign investment and cheap property for sale here offers a fantastic opportunity:

Beach front property here is up to 70% less than in the USA.

This has led to a huge influx of baby boomers looking for ocean view property and a great lifestyle.

Therefore, buying near existing resorts and expanding infrastructure, can give tremendous gains.

Consider this:

A property costing just $30,000 15 years ago near the popular resort of Jaco, is worth as much as 800,000 today!

Is this boom slowing?

No, as baby boomer’s seek to maintain their standard of living they will continue to flock to Costa Rica and prices will continue in their upward trend.

So if you want to get more bang for your buck look 3 hours south of the US To Costa Rica and you may be glad you did.

The Bulgarian real estate market is a blooming business which has been growing in value a lot in the past few years. Lots of investors are starting to notice this fact and are taking advantage in buying a property for sale in Bulgaria that they think will be rentable. Ski resort, Black Sea beach resorts, Bulgaria’s got them all inside a fantastic array of mountains.

If you wish to buy a property for sale in Bulgaria, you can buy from a foreign country directly or through a local company, but only residents can buy land, people from foreign countries can only buy buildings. If you desire to buy a residential flat in Bulgaria, then you can expect the best quality and absolutely everything you paid for will be ready when we promised. Maybe you’re thinking that turn key apartments like these are some kind of dream, but I can firmly guarantee that you definitely will receive what you paid for.

When you see a property for sale in Bulgaria, just take a moment to think about it and you will surely realize that Bulgaria is a country worthy of investing in, especially in places with tourist attractions. This kind of land is guaranteed to bring you some profit, but it all depends after all of what you have in mind to do with it. In Bulgaria there is a large demand for new houses and apartments, so if you somewhere find a Bulgarian property for sale, you should think twice about how much profit it can bring you as the time passes.

Bulgaria is a very civilized country that is a member of the European Union, and also a member of NATO. Due to the integration in the European Union, Bulgaria has seen a huge economy growth in the past couple of years and all figures seem to indicate that this is the best time for a property investment. Properties for sale in Bulgaria have a high rate of appreciation and they get more and more expensive each year with about 15%, so everyone should take a risk and invest in a Bulgarian property for sale and the results will soon appear.

I consider Bulgaria a family-friendly environment because of all the surrounding nature and the simply stunning landscape that are dominating. Like in any other country, the Bulgarian property for sale that has the most impressive landscape is also the most expensive, but as I said before, the properties appreciate really fast, so the more you invest, the more you can win out of your investment.

Most people won’t agree to move somewhere far from home, but I can assure them Bulgaria is all worth it and it will make your kids really happy because there are lots of places where they can have unlimited amounts of fun. Almost all of these advantages are noticeable just by looking at a property for sale in Bulgaria. Just try to imagine yourself inside a wonderful old-style house surrounded by forest and mountains. This is the moment to buy a property in Bulgaria and I hope as many people as possible will agree with me and will take a look at this alternative.

Not all real estate agents are familiar with the short sale process. Some professionals view the process as a last ditch effort by banks or other lending institutions to sell off debt accumulated through bad loans and therefore avoid such proceedings. However, this could not be farther from the truth. Many agents have discovered that a short sale is a great way to acquire property at greatly reduced prices and have begun to specialize in such dealings. These are agents you want to seek out, both for their experience and their connections. They will be able to guide you through the process step by step.

Another important tip is to fully research the short sale specifics. The best way to find out information on a particular property is to check the public records. In this manner you can discover who is on the title for the property. You can also find out how much money is owed to the bank through the property. This will help you determine a proper asking price to approach the mortgage holder with. The proper price should approximate the amount owed to the lending institution. You should also be able to discover if the property has been foreclosed upon. If these proceedings have been initiated, then a short sale is not possible. Bank short sales can only be completed during pre-foreclosure proceedings. You can also find out if the property in question has multiple loans against it. Avoid properties with multiple mortgages against it.

A short sale is a quick process that must be completed before the property moves into foreclosure. This means that time is usually of the essence. Paperwork must be filed out in a timely manner and documents must be completed according to strict deadlines. Make sure that you attain all the associated paperwork during your initial visit to the bank or loaning office. Not attaining all of the paperwork in the initial visit can lead to time consuming delays that may derail the short sale. Also make sure to ask the loan officer for a list of all required documentation needed for a successful short sale. Missing only one piece of paper or one simple omission of information can make a short sale unsuccessful.

Finally, once all of the paperwork has been completed, the proper documents filed, and the research has been done, it is a good idea to have the property in question inspected by a licensed home inspector. Many properties fall into disrepair when they fall back into the ownership of the bank. Therefore, it is wise to identify all the current issues associated with the assumption of ownership. After all, a house isn’t worth much if it needs a completely new foundation. Still, it is certain anyone looking for investment properties; a bank short sale is usually always profitable. 

Real estate auctions are not a new type of real estate sale. They have been around for many years.Auctions and the real estate agent

Real estate agents may sometimes recommend a property be placed for auction rather then listing it in a local Multiple Listing Service, typically referred to as the MLS

Many agents are not aware that when recommending a property be sold at auction, they can continue to maintain a working relationship with the seller.

A real estate agent can continue to assist a seller by:

Discover why lenders will take less than what is owed and forgive the balance of the mortgage. Multiple loans and the more upside-down the property the easier it is to do a short sale, and the bigger the discounts.  A positive and guaranteed foreclosure resolution for all parties, and I will explain why.

Learn how a beginner can get a complete package sent in the same day and an offer accepted within 30 days wiping out all outstanding obligations. I know this may sound silly, but stay with me and I can explain how.

Realize insane profits for real estate investors and unheard of super buys for families looking to realize a lifetime dream to buy a new primary or secondary home and or for retirement investments. A total enlightening of short sales.

An honest and treasured collection of trusted and protected secrets that some underground ex-bank mitigators have shared with me under secrecy.

Gain valuable knowledge and appreciate why our competitors think I use methods that some may believe are “illegal”. Rather it’s merely using an unfair disadvantage gained by a very diligent pursuit to uncover the underlying mystery.

Proven methods demonstrate sheer simplicity and straightforward truth. This guy really knows what he is talking about. No dilly-dallying or sugar coating.

Gain access to many loss mitigators with their private fax and phone lines along with personal e-mails. Get immediate access.

Discover how to covert these highly prized discounted properties into gold mines.

Understand how to get the bank to call you back and share other profitable deals with you. Tips the bank will openly share that will help increase your profits every time. The bank wants you to successfully complete the short sale and come back for more. Know why they want to work with you.

Anyway that you slice it, a sure fired winner for all involved parties. A true win-win and everyone gets what they want. A real eye opener.

All the rage today is mainly about a sluggish real estate market and also about foreclosures, but very little about short sales. Apprentice by a renowned master.

You are thinking…yea, I heard about them, but really didn’t want to act dumb and ask. Well, you are not alone. Even many real estate agents don’t know either, until…the short sale deal completes and they get their commission check, and they are “all ears”. How did that happen so quickly?

My name is Clint Cohen and I am an active real estate investor, author and educator. I have been active in creative real estate investing for over ten years and have spent thousands of hard earned dollars learning and mastering a system of securing foreclosures. I then create unheard of profits out of “thin air” by reselling these hugely discounted properties to a never-ending list of buyers.

Up until then I was savvy about being creative, but when I heard the term foreclosure or bankruptcy, I said, “I’ll pass”. I knew just enough to be ignorant and sense enough to “pass on it”. I admit that I knew very little at that time.

As one of my first rent to own deals started “going south,” I thought that it was best to call the sellers bank and see “what the heck is going on”?

That was my first brush with a foreclosure. The lady at the bank (a “gruff” lady) proceeded in setting me straight. After she calmed me down and explained just exactly what she wanted and what I needed to do if I wanted a “good deal”.

She explained that the bank was not interested in being in the real estate business. It was in the bank’s best interest to get me a good payoff discount on what was owed by the property seller (I only had an option to buy the property).

I heeded her advice and was able to do my first short sale option transfer (i.e. “flip”) and not only salvaged the $15,000 of profit that I thought that I was about to lose to a foreclosure, but actually was able to raise the profit to $25,000.

Not bad for stumbling unguided through a dark and cloudy maze of unknown.

At the time there were very few books and tapes, and I never heard of a “boot camp” other than in my military days. I kind of “hob knobbed” and slowly made sense of it. I was a slow learner, but very persistent and determined.

Since that time of wonder, I have attended many seminars, bought a few courses and read everything I could get my hands on. In the interim I have successfully completed hundreds of short sales and saved many homeowners from the brink of foreclosure and realized thousands of dollars of profits for my efforts.

I actually completed four short sale deals in one day. I should say, a very busy but very profitable one, I profited over $150,000 in one day. Smiling brightly.

The one thing that I found to be very enlightening was the fact that as I learned a piece here and there, I truly believe that most of the gurus and book writers have never actually completed a short sale transaction? All textbook theory that reads well but really doesn’t work. Believe me, I read them all.

Describe how to swim, but you can’t tell me what the water feels like.

I asked a well-known guru several questions at an event and he admitted that he didn’t have the answers and has really never completed many sales and his income is from speaking. He laughed and said that he would call me when he actually ready to do a short sale deals. “I like your way better”.

Enough story telling. Getting back to the short sale business.

Let me explain what a short sale is. First I will start with a typical sale.

When a property owner decides to sell a property, the closing attorney calls the bank and requests a payoff amount to satisfy the mortgage. That amount is included as line item on the settlement sheet, HUD-1.

That payoff number is subtracted from the selling price less any other normal and reasonable expenses and the seller typically leaves with a check for the difference. A happy day for the seller with money in hand and the property sold.

This is the scenario that most of us are familiar with and typically happens.

Now this is where the “rubber meets the road,” and where my invaluable experience separate the go-getters from the wannabes, plain and simple.

However when the property owner wants to sell the property and now for a combination of reasons owes more than the property is worth, what options does the seller have now? Under typical circumstances, many if they act quickly.

In most cases like this, the seller believes that there is no hope and generally walks away from the property, and by default the bank takes it back by a foreclosure action.

 It becomes a REO property (real estate owned by the bank) and resold at a fraction of the original loan value. If only the seller had been diligent?

Stands to reason that if you cannot payoff the exact amount of the mortgage, what other options may be available for the seller? Let’s see???

One relatively unknown option is to negotiate a SHORT SALE.

A short sale is a term used by the bank whereby they will grant to the borrower a lesser payoff amount than what is actually owed. That’s correct, for less than what’s owed including closing costs and real estate commissions.

Example… if they owe $100,000, the bank would accept $85,000? That’s exactly right…a mere $15,000 of savings, enough to get it sold now.

If that were the case, then a property owner that owes more than the property is worth would then be able to complete the sale of the property with a short sale. The revised sale price would now be at or below market value.

Why in the world would a bank want to even consider this discount?

·     Eliminates future carrying costs till the property would sell.

·     The longer a property is unsold, it continues to decline in value.

·     The bank realizes there is a buyer ready to close now.

·     The bank is not and doesn’t want to be in the real estate business.

·     The bank is not earning any money on non-performing loans.

·     The bank only earns money when borrowers are repaying loans.

·      It’s the best of a worst-case scenario. No other choices.

·     Looks better on the report to the stockholders.

·     Stop chasing good money after bad. Stop the bleeding.

Now coupling this with the current economic situation, the numbers of foreclosures have absolutely multiplied. Some counties are averaging over 100+ foreclosures daily combined with a decrease in property values by 25%, a 3+year backlog of property inventory and minimal monthly sales.

All these situations are creating tremendous opportunities for real estate investors and buyers. A 3-4 year supply to pick from and prices at a huge reduced savings lead to a true “buyers market.

A buyer can find a super super value on a new home of up to a 50% discount of market value. A real estate investor can flip, option or fix up and rent it, then resell it at a hefty profit later when the market rebounds.

As you can see, a short sale can open up a “log jam” for many sellers that would otherwise lose their homes to foreclosure. Additionally it becomes a golden opportunity for buyers, real estate agents, and related service industries and for people like you and me.

Meeeee… You are saying, what do I know about short sales?

This national expert is spilling his guts and is revealing many secrets. I am willing to show you how to negotiate these highly profitable short sale deals that will be a win-win-win for all parties.

Learn how to complete these highly profitable deals quickly so you can start helping these sellers and buyers while earning thousands of dollars for applying your new found efforts.

I had an associate a few years ago that asked if I could teach his friend so she could learn to do short sale deals? I agreed to coach her on a 50-50 split. On her first deal the total profit was $79,750. Beginners luck!

I have compiled all my many years of successful short sale deals including all the necessary forms, scripts and all that you need to get started and have a highly profitable business in a short period of time.

You can start out part time working a few hours a week and increase to full time. One hour a week can easily earn you $10,000 a month.

Learn how to find the sellers and buyers and what to say and do. Copies of many ads and compelling scripts. Paint by the numbers.

Everything is written that even a seventh grader can understand it. Detailed instructions show how to do and say everything correctly. Every sheet of paperwork has been time tested and legally checked.

No boot camps, tapes, videos or graduate manuals written in “Greek” by an anal PHD that had formally edited insurance policies.

Free, Easy and Understandable SHORT SALE Techniques that “jump off the page” immediately into action and quickly followed by your 1st profit check. Better warn your bank to get ready for your frequency of deposits.

There has never been a better to time in history to get involved in this unlimited opportunity. There is no greater joy in life than helping others.

These sellers are begging for help in getting out of these foreclosure situations. The banks are anxious to get these defaulted mortgages resolved quickly and the buyers are truly looking for a super savings in the purchase of their new home. And you…are looking for…? Thought so.

My wife thinks that I’m crazy for telling everyone my hard earned secrets and that I should just let well enough alone. You know how well men listen? 

I’ve done so many things in life and the best things that continue to overflow into my memory bank are those services that one does to help others. And that my friend delivers to my heart its greatest joy.

Well, for now all this super stuff is available. But…if I were a smart man and listened to my wife… You better get it before I start to listen.

To learn more about this exciting and profitable business and to get your Free copy of Successful Short Sale Secrets, please visit our website

FRESH OFF THE PLANE.

I have written this section of the article with the assistance of  personal experience in the industry, having personally undertaken an inspection tour, family and friends who hae toured and most importantly experienced sales reps who still work in the industry, so they have no axe to grind but perhaps their conscience got the better of them. The only remuneration they received was a couple of cafe con leche’s each. The surprising thing was that I had arranged to meet two reps but when word spread half a dozen arrived with offer from many others.

Your tour should proceed along these lines. Show homes are close on Saturday afternoons and all day Sunday and flights are more expensive over the weekend so most tours tend to be during the midweek. Tour duration is normally 5 days 4 nights. For the purpose of this article I have formatted a Monday to Friday tour.

MONDAY:

A couple of years ago a trip to the arrival lounge at Alicante or Murcia airport would have seen you rubbing shoulders with dozens of agents sales reps /  salespeople / property consultants / tours guides ( I will call them reps from now on) all standing there with their clipboards with their clients names printed on them, often looking nervously as passengers came through the sliding doors. Similarly a trip down the coast road from the airport you would literally pass dozens of agents cars all brightly liveried and each company with its own colour cars. The credit crunch has killed off the numbers but made the agents need to extract every last euro from clients almost an art.

Your rep will great you with a big smile and engage you in small talk as they walk you back to the car. The reps should also take the luggage off you or at least the wife. During the journey back to the hotel it is taboo for the rep to talk about property for fear of the client feeling under pressure. What the rep is doing here is selling themselves, after all who would buy off somebody that they either did not like or did not trust? Your rep is sticking strictly to step one of the seven steps. The holy gospel of the rep which is drilled into them from day one. The steps are as follows and I will refer to the as we progress. I will shortly be writing an article solely covering the seven steps in much greater detail.

1. SELL YOURSELF – Make yourself likeable to your clients

2. SELL THE COMPANY – We are established, trustworthy, large, family run, UK based….

3. SELL THE AREA – Sell the lifestyle, pace of life, cost of living, health, beaches ……..

4. SELL THE PROPERTY – Once sold on the lifestyle find the property within budget.

5. FINANCE – Sort out loans, mortgages, affordability etc.

6. CONTRACT – Complete a property purchase contract and get €3000 deposit.

7. CONSOLIDATION – Introduce to solicitors, open bank accounts and look after them.

When you rep gets you to the hotel, they will jump out of the car and open the door for you, they will get your bags and check you into a very swish 4 or 5 star hotel on the beach with stunning views (see # 3). Once they have checked you in they will take you up to the room, open the door and take you in. You will often find that the curtains will be closed in the room. This is an arrangement that the agent will have with the hotel. This enables the rep to do the great reveal. They will walk to the window and pull the curtains back with gusto revealing a beautiful view of the beautiful blue Mediterranean Sea. Having just left a grey, miserable, cold, wet and windy UK, this reveal makes the client feel that they have found heaven.

Most clients arrive late afternoon, so the rep will leave you for a couple of hours to rest and come and collect you for dinner (the tour will include all meals). The rep will still not be speaking about property, they will, still be selling themselves and the business. They will tell you about how they came to live in Spain, how great it is, how their kids love it…… this is undoubtedly true as I am willing to testify but it is all part of the sales process. The rep will also start telling you how great the company is and how good they are to work for and how well they treat their staff. The truth is that they are all non contract, commission only sales people who are in fear of their jobs from tour to tour because if they do not sell and hit targets they are out! The rep will also outline the itinerary whilst you are with them:

Monday: Arrive, settle in and go for dinner.

Tuesday: Pre tour meeting and area tour, go for dinner.

Wednesday: Look for properties in areas you have expressed an interest in.

Thursday: Continue search, or if purchasing complete contracts, payments etc.

Friday: Continue search or if purchased, consolidate and back to airport.

Following your nice evening meal you will be dropped off at the hotel and arrangements made to meet you in the hotel reception at 9:30am the following morning. As they leave the rep will be on the phone to their manager telling them what they think of you and the likelihood of you purchasing. You will be graded as red, amber or green or on a scale of 1 to 10 as a prospect with red or 1 being no chance. All clients start as amber or a 5 on the scale.

TUESDAY.

A good hour or so before the rep collects you on Tuesday they will have a breakfast meeting with their manager where they will discuss in great detail their impression of you. The manager will produce all the paperwork that they have on you. This will be notes and transcripts of conversations that you have had with the companies telesales staff, or the home visit rep or even with the manager when they called to confirm your attendance a couple of days ago. All the questions that you have been asked no matter how innocent have the intention of garnering as much information as possible. This meeting that the rep ha with their manager will determine the course of action that they will be taking with you over the next few days!

The rep will come and collect you on time. They will be in their uniform, light pants, either white or blue shirt/blouse, brown shoes, sunglasses and immaculately clean company car (the cars are inspected each day and reps fined €50 for dirty cars). Your rep will then take you to a lovely café by the beach, or on a golf course or with fantastic views. This helps sell the lifestyle, but the choice of café is determined following your conversation the previous evening when they gleaned the information out of you to make this choice.

The purpose of the meeting is to determine what you are looking for i.e. holiday home, relocation, investment or business, your budget and your preferred location. The rep already has this information as this information has already been obtained from you when you arranged the trip in the first place. The one thing that the rep will do is promise never to show you properties above your budget, they will site affordability issues however the truth is that people who over extend when in Spain are 4 times more likely to cancel when they get back to the UK.

Meeting over you will jump in the car. One thing to note here is that the rep will always have a cool box or paperwork on the seat behind them. This means that the clients will sit in the passenger seat and the seat behind. This stop them being able to make eye contact with each other, communicate without the rep hearing and the rep will be able to see the client in the rear view mirror.

The day will be spent completing an extensive tour from Alicante in the North to Cartegena in the south and up to 50km inland. You will visit town, villages, beaches, golf courses, mountains, you name it they will cover it. Anything or place you express an interest in will be noted for use later. If you like a particular village or beach, they will stop for a look around or a coffee. Although you do not know it you will be following a pre determined route aimed at showing the area in its best possible light.

Whenever you do stop the rep will be glued to your side at all times. They do not want you talking to the natives because they may tell you something that you do not want to hear (i.e.  how much commission the agents charge/make). The rep will always seat you away from other people, never at a café with free papers (other agents advertise in them) and never near an estate agent window because invariably they could have the same properties for sale for considerably less money! (most properties for sale are on with many agents).

Following completion of your area tour you are returned back to the hotel at 6pm, some 8 ½ hours after you were picked up and informed that the next couple of hours are your own and that the rep will pick you up at 8pm for dinner. As a parting shot the rep will warn you about “bar stool Johnny’s”. They will tell you to be suspect of anyone who approaches them in the hotel bar or foyer as they could be a con merchant who will know that they are on an inspection trip and will coerce them out of thousands of euros. There may be a modicum of truth in this, however its main reason is to stop clients talking to each other and comparing experiences. One rotten apple can spoil a barrel…..  You will be picked up at 8pm and taken to a nice restaurant for a three course meal and wine and taken back to the hotel at 10:30pm. You have been with you rep for 13 hours.

WEDNESDAY.

Following the extensive and tiring area tour you will be hoping for an easier day today. Your rep will collect you again at 9am fresh from a debrief with their manager where the plan of attack will have been drawn up. Today is all about property, after all, this is the third day you have been in Spain and you have not seen any property yet.

There has been a lot of thought put into the art of showing properties. The rep will have listened to your preferences and listened to your opinions when on the area tour. You general chit chat will have been noted and the answer to innocent sounding questions during dinner will have been noted, analyzed and actioned.

When you arrive at a property you will be brought in on a route that shows the property and area to its best. The show home will be immaculate; it will be on a nice big plot or have great views and will invariably be the most expensive plot on the site. The show home will have been dressed by a designer. Your rep will now take you round room by room, telling you what is included and what is not, what the payment structure for this particular developer is

You will never be shown the best property first. The first property will often be chosen because it does not match many of your requirements. You will be asked for your comments regarding, size, location, views, rooms etc and asked to score the property on a whole out of ten and the area out of ten. If you score the property highly and area poorly we need to look at similar properties in a different area. If you score the area highly and property poorly, we need to look for different properties in the same area.

The rep should note your thoughts, comments and scores and move on to the next property based on your requirements.

Amazingly the reps I spoke to stated that if somebody was genuinely interested in purchasing that they only ever showed 3 or 4 properties before they found the perfect place.

Do not be surprised if at some point during this day that the reps manager accidentally bumps into you either in a show home or at a café somewhere (those furtive phone calls the rep makes or receives when they slope off out of earshot are the management gauging the progress of the tour. If you hear the rep saying amber or green you might know what they are talking about now). The manager is there to check on how well the tour is going, check up on the rep and try and point the clients in a new direction should they need to, or to reveal a deal that can be done or a special offer that has only just become available.

The pressure will be really on the rep towards the end of the day as you should have seen a property that meets all your requirements by now. The pressure exerted on the rep will be passed down to you in a more subtle way in the form of more direct or leading questions.

You will be dropped off again at 6pm and collected at 8pm for dinner. The conversation at dinner will be a lot more focused. You may also find that on this evening all the reps and their clients eat in the same restaurant, often taking it over. The reps are allowed to bring their partners to this meal. This is all part of the sales process as the partner has been thoroughly briefed on what to say.  The reps manager and partner will also be present, so the sales process continues until 10pm. You will be dropped off at the hotel at 10:30pm with another 13 hour day under your belt.

THURSDAY.

By this point in the tour, if you have not purchased the chances of you doing so are minimal. Not only will you be feeling the effects of the long days, but so will the rep as their working day is on average 15 hours a day. Be prepared for a battle of wills.

Yours reps phone will be a lot busier today as they are pressured from above to get a sale. You will almost certainly call into the office to have a look around, with the real intention of putting some pressure on from the manager, finance person, company owner etc. This pressure will never be too excessive as this could be off-putting, but it will be pressure none the less. “We have found you the property within your budget in an area that you loved that meet all your criteria…… its what you asked us to find and we have, so lets do the paperwork!” The rep will pull out the property scoring sheets with you favourable comments and score on the top property. You will be told that if you do not buy now then you never will. Your “bottle” will be questioned and you will be asked why you bothered coming out if you had no intention of purchasing I the first place.

This is the make or break part of the tour. The pressure to purchase will be considerable but not overbearing, more subtle than high pressure.

You will find yourself looking at properties that had previously been rules out because of comments made in other properties. If you comment in one property that the kitchen is too small, the rep will then rule out taking you to dozens of properties that have small kitchen and will only take you to properties that have bigger kitchens.

The rep will keep going because they are paid on a commission only basis and have nothing to lose. As a self employed, commission only sales person, if you do not buy, they will not be getting paid for working some 60 hours and they could be one step closer to getting fired, especially if the sales manager thought you were a good purchasing prospect. In Spain if you are not on a contract you have to pay approximately €250 per month to the tax office to cover social security as well as €50 towards your accountant. Even if they do not work or earn no money one month they still have to pay out €300. Their company will say that this keeps them lean and eager. The reps will say that it leads to unnecessary pressure and often hardship.

With the realisation that there is no prospect of a sale, most reps will give up come the end of the day. You will find that you will be dropped off at the hotel at 4pm, the rep will offer you the chance of going for a meal on your own (at your own expense) and you will be given the opportunity of a later collection on the final day.

The meal on this last evening if taken will be a more casual affair as the rep is resigned to a “no sale” tour. The meal will be taken earlier and finished quickly. The rep out of spite will often take you to a restaurant that you have expressed that you do not like. If you don’t like Chinese food guess were you will be eating come the last evening if you have not purchased.

FRIDAY.

If you have purchased you will have spent Thursday completing paperwork and contracts in the office. On the Friday the rep will have you out of bed at 5am and standing outside the local town hall in a queue to get your NIE number (needed for purchase). You will be taken to a bank to open a bank account and introduced to a solicitor. If you want the solicitor to have power of attorney you will need to go to the notaries office as well.

As a word of caution I would always advise you to seek out your own solicitor rather than one suggested by your agent. Your solicitor should be working exclusively for you and some agents have far to a cosy relationship with their solicitors. Just check out some of the internet forums for details.

If you have not purchased, this will be a more relaxed day. You will have to check out of the hotel by 11am but the hotel or rep will take your cases. You will need to fill in an end of tour report where you can comment on the rep, company and tour. You will have a little time to sunbathe , go shopping, go for a walk. The chances are that you will be dropped off at the airport a good 3 hours before your flight and your reps car will disappear in a cloud of dust ready for the next clients.

IN SUMMARY.

Taking everything into account would I recommend partaking in an inspection tour?

The case for yes:

If you are looking for a new or off plan or key ready property, the prices are set by the builder not the agent, so you will be paying the best price for the property. Despite the sales tactics, the reps in general have a fantastic knowledge of the area, builders and developments and despite what you may think, they are chosen for their personality more than sales skills. The agents can use their size and power in your favour and you do get free flights, accommodation and use of car and tour guide. You will cover more area and see more in one day with a good rep than you would do in a week on your own. If you do purchase you are actually paying for your free tour out of the agents commission. It’s a great way to learn the area and see property at their expense, however please remember that your rep will not earn a penny if you do not buy.

The case for no:

You only get to see the side of Spain that the rep wants to show you. You are never on your own and are always being questioned as to your opinions. If you are considering a resale property then you will have to pay the agents fees not the seller. Agents can charge up to 20% commission. One a villa valued at €200,000 the agent will put it on the market for €240,000 . An agent can make €20,000 on a small apartment. If you have an idea of the area or what you want and the sort of property you are after you can save a fortune doing it your self.

There is an alternative. There are now companies who offer the best of both worlds. They are independent of any builder, promoter or agents. You pay for your flights and accommodation and meals. They pick you up and take you out looking at areas and properties and charge you a day rate. The late afternoons and evenings are yours. People come out for 7 days, spend 3 looking at properties and the rest of the time on the beach. Because they are independent they have no loyalty other than to you and could save you thousands. In these times of hardship it really is the best solution to a problem you never even knew existed…. Until now.