If a deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is too good to be true. That's common sense even for the inexperienced property investor. Yet when purchasing a property abroad many people are in 'holiday-mode', they simply leave their common sense behind. Buyers can get carried away and will do anything to realise their dream, sometimes even ignoring advice given to them by their solicitors. Channel 4's Trapped in the Sun is a brilliant example of how foreign property investors end up in nightmare situations rather than realising their dreams. It is difficult to sympathise with some of the victims as they clearly only have themselves to blame for their situation. The programme has rightfully demonstrated pitfalls in buying property abroad and highlighted eventualities such as illegal or faulty property or indeed situations where the developer has gone bankrupt without completing the property.

Safeguards

In Spain the government has put measures into place to protect the consumer. All payments made on a property under construction must be secured with a bank guarantee offering you 6% annual interest if the property is not completed by a specific date. Additionally, the property developer is required to offer you a 10-year construction guarantee in the form of an insurance policy (in case he goes out of business). Nevertheless, it is not uncommon for foreign purchasers to enter into a property transaction without taking proper legal advice or only using the services of the solicitors representing the developer (the seller) or relying on advice from a fast-talking real estate agent.

Solicitors

The property laws and the procedures of buying and selling a property in Spain are very different to those of other European countries and we strongly recommend using an independent solicitor with every transaction. We only recommend reputable solicitors, with proven track records, to assist our clients with the legalities of their purchase. Unfortunately, some property developers in Spain specifically target foreign clientele who are usually unaware of their legal rights. We do everything we can to verify developers' claims, but sometimes the solicitors we recommend to our clients will advise them to pull out of the purchase transaction if a deal indeed turns out too good to be true or slightly risky.

These are the solicitors you should be using and these are the solicitors we recommend to our clients. A professional and reputable solicitor coupled with common sense is the best safeguard against making a costly mistake when purchasing your place in the sun. We believe in protecting our clients' interests and in doing so, have benefited from customer loyalty and recommendations year after year. What goes around comes around!