In the introduction to this book, I briefly described how the methods of selling Spanish property have evolved over the last 40 years. I believe it is important to recap how these sales practices have changed to help you understand how and why agents in Spain work the way they do.
Following Franco’s death, when the Spanish property industry started looking internationally for new buyers, the methods of selling property to foreign buyers were relatively simple. A handful of sales agencies would advertise overseas, mainly in newspapers and occasionally via property exhibitions in the target country. From this advertising, buyers were encouraged to come to Spain on inspection trips. They would pay a nominal fee for the trip, which was usually heavily subsidised by the selling agent.
Once on the ground in Spain, buyers were given accommodation and taken out by a representative to view the developments the agency had to offer. At this point, the market was almost entirely based on new build properties. During their stay in Spain, the representative would accompany them constantly, picking them up from their hotel early in the morning and not leaving them until they returned after dinner. While the representative would continuously try to please their clients, they would not be paid if the buyers left Spain without signing a contract.
Back then, setting up an estate agency in Spain required considerable investment and established contacts. Building a portfolio of properties was easy; however, the expense of international advertising, running exhibitions, and subsidising inspection trips was high.
By the time the second boom came around in the late 90s, a significant number of expats were already living in Spain, and many of the new builds sold during the market's infancy were now available for resale. As a result, more small agencies started to emerge, often focusing on local areas with a mixture of new and second-hand properties. Often, they would have partners overseas who would run exhibitions on their behalf and with whom they would share their commissions. Most of these agencies still worked on some sort of inspection trip model, although we started to see an increase in what were known in the industry as "steamers"—buyers who would come to Spain and search for property independently rather than via an organised inspection trip.
At the same time, the booming industry led to bigger agencies taking on thousands of sales reps (who were still almost always self-employed and working only for commission).
The internet then changed everything. Small agencies could reach an international audience for a fraction of the costs faced by their predecessors. Finding properties and developments to sell was no great challenge, and as a result, we saw a flood of self-employed reps breaking away and setting up their own small agencies. Suddenly, there was a new estate agent on every corner.
With so many agents appearing, the big UK property portals like Rightmove—who for a monthly subscription allow estate agents to advertise their portfolios on their platform—saw their opportunity to sell their service to the hundreds of new agencies and set up dedicated overseas portals. From a buyer's perspective, in just a few short years, they transitioned from responding to agents' ads in national newspapers or attending property exhibitions to browsing thousands of Spanish properties from hundreds of agents from the comfort of their sofa.
Technology also eliminated many challenges for anyone looking for property in Spain. Previously, organising trips abroad was the domain of travel agents focused on holidays, leaving viewing trips to property sales agencies. However, low-budget airlines and internet platforms advertising holiday rentals and hotels made it easier and cheaper to plan viewing trips independently from estate agents. Additionally, GPS and mobile phones with free international roaming contracts enabled buyers to navigate and communicate effortlessly once they were on the ground.
As a result of these changes, the way buyers look for property in Spain has evolved. The Spanish property market had been built around the idea that buyers would first find a suitable estate agent, who would then lead them to a property, and that foundational concept has been turned on its head.
When researching this book, I asked several expat property owners in Spain to complete a questionnaire. In response to the question, "How did you choose the agent you bought your property through?" the overwhelming answer was, "Because they were advertising the property we wanted to buy." Nowadays, buyers are primarily led to agents by the properties they are interested in, not to properties by the agents.
In many ways, this is beneficial as buyers now have more freedom and independence. However, the marketplace, traditionally geared towards agents selling their services, has not fully adapted to these changes. On the surface, searching for property on a portal and arranging a viewing may seem similar to the process in the UK, and a "buyer’s agent" might appear to offer the same service as in the USA. However, practices developed under the "agent-first" model in Spain are still largely in place and can be incompatible with buyers' expectations. This mismatch can lead to confusing situations when viewing properties and, in some cases, leave buyers vulnerable to abuse.
Over the next few pages, I will explain some of these practices. Understanding them will help clear some of the confusion you are bound to encounter when searching for property, and it will also help you navigate the market in a way that is most advantageous to you, not the estate agents