Selling? read on!
 

Okay it is well documented my total distrust and dislike for local estate agents! My feelings are based on personal experience over a number of years in various capacities. It is important for me to state this before going ahead with this post.

We have decided to put our villa on the market for sale. I contacted a well known local agent to arrange for a valuation with the intention to place on their books. This agent took 2 weeks to visit the property which was at the beginning of October. We had a really good rental season and have excellent back up available. All good selling points. I am still waiting the actual evaluation of the property from the agent although I have sent 4 emails all of which have been ignored. The agent suggested verbally that the villa should be marketed at a certain figure - We thought less.
Needless to say we have heard nothing and to respond to my emails must be classed as an extra. This agent actually charges for 'special' photos to be taken for marketing purposes.
Now - six weeks later I have heard from their admin department. They request - sorry demand - a list of very personal information from us and include their contract to be signed prior to marketing. Now anyone who is thinking of selling be very very careful This contract states that 5% plus iva be paid in commission. 50% of which needs to be paid upfront on signing a pre-sale contract! The remainder paid at the notary. What is a worry is that they state that the seller (us) can not instruct another agent or person to sell the property at less than their commsission rate or sell at a lower figure without informing them and paying them the difference! What a flipping rip off! No wonder they valued higher than we thought!

It goes without saying that no way would we sign such a contract and have told this agent that we are not interested. The purpose of this post is to warn people thinking of selling to read the small print carefully.

We are unsure if we will actually sell but we are very sure that should we decide to then we will be very careful who we deal with.

We would like to upgrade our apartment eventually to the "next step up" but I've always dreaded the thought of the selling process. I've no idea who this estate agent is, there are UK named ones in PP as well, but they seem to have you over a barrel and it's not easy to just pop over to check up on them.

I'd also hate the thought of leaving my keys with these people. Can you trust anyone these days?!

I'm presuming you need an agent to show people around the property as you're not able to do so yourself. If you were able to arrange viewings, there are a handful of websites similar to rightmove in the UK which could help to sell your property for a fraction of the cost.

We're currently struggling with an agent in the UK trying to sell our house (so we can move out to Mallorca), but have to say the restrictions and cost seem like nothing in comparison. Still, they're just sitting waiting for viewers to turn up through rightmove, and there are a lot of cheaper ways of getting my property online so I'll be looking elsewhere soon.

If we do sell I'll be in touch to find out more about your property ;)

This agent is a very well known one. We actually bought via them so much of the info you would assume they would have on record anyway. Plus I actually wrote the write up and supplied various photographs myself.

There are a number of websites around now specialising in selling overseas property. Charging around £100 to advertise. I found one which looked quite good at the weekend which is certainly an alternative. I think Rightmove and Prime Location is only available to advertise through an agent.

One other thing I forgot to mention was that this agents terms also state that should someone purchase the villa and be known to one of their clients then that purchaser would be deemed to be this agents client!! It also includes, friends, relatives and work colleagues. Therefore anyone breathing could be considered a client of theirs without even being aware and a fee charged. What a flipping rip off!

I am not saying all agents have the same terms but reading the small print is important whether buying or indeed selling! We haven't actually decided if we will sell and if we did it would be to purchase another property of which we are aware. Buying may be a minefield but selling can be just as stressful! :(

You're right, rightmove only let agents on, my issue in the UK is that there are a lot cheaper agents who can just put your property on major websites than the one I'm currently using. I was hoping they could bring more to the table, but it appears not.

As for spain, there's fotocasa.es, idealista.com, pisos.com and probably others all very similar to rightmove in the UK, and I think with most of them you can advertise without using an agent.

There's also the classifieds section in sites like this one that do such a good job of connecting with people and getting out to a wide audience.

I think a lot has changed in estate agency over the last 10 years with the internet, which is probably why they're trying to tie you in to such onerous conditions. They tend to do very little for their money, other than make sure they get more than their fair share.

Good luck if you do decide to sell, as you say buying and selling property is a nightmare, and not to be undertaken lightly!

Thanks Codex. I will take a look at the websites you mention. It is important to find one which has a steady stream of visitors engaging for the purpose of the site. This is where Rightmove is so good as they list all property and people know that is where to look. As you say the day of the agent might be numbered as a different approach is now available. Thanks for you good wishes and I hope you have luck too in so that yu can go forward with your move to Mallorca. :)

We went through the initial stages of selling our apartment a couple of times (& then changed our minds!) but 5% + VAT was the norm but I don't remember such a restrictive contract from our agents but I do remember that they had sole advertising rights for a set period which I queried & got reduced.

If you are interested we take Private/Individual Property For Sale Adverts here Apartments, Villas for sale in Pollensa, Mallorca Majorca although there are not many at the moment. If you advertise your rental with us, you can link to that as well.

We are currently trying to sell our property in Pollenca town, we have experience of 3 agents in the town and have found all of them to be entirely honest,friendly and professional with no iffy conditions attached,hope all goes well for you!