property-surveyors-Spain

Property Surveyors Costa Blanca Spain

HOUSE SURVEYORS AND PROPERTY SURVEYORS - COSTA BLANCA SPAIN

Normally anyone buying a house would use the services of a surveyor to inspect and survey the house they are going to purchase for defects.

But when it comes to buying property on the Costa Blanca coast of Spain, the vast majority of people do not use a surveyor to perform a house survey on their future home or investment.

So why don't people use a surveyor to inspect their potential property purchase?

The most obvious reason for not having a house survey in Spain is the fact that people feel out of their depth because they are in a foreign country and therefore rely much more heavily on those guiding them rather than trusting their own gut instincts.

Typically people will be shown a property by an estate agent and will be told that the common practise in Spain is not to have a house survey done at all!

Reasons given will most likely be that the building is still standing after all this time and if there were any problems they would be obvious and that the cost of the house survey is a 'waste of money'.

Of course most people will take this information as gospel and not question it. Do realise that the estate agent is pushing for a sale and they won't want to jeopardise their commission by you having a house survey carried out and finding out there are problems with your 'dream home'.

If you were told the same information in any other country you wouldn't hesitate to dismiss it and get your own house survey done!

Using a property surveyor in Spain can save you a fortune!

You would realise that using a property surveyor may cost a fair bit but if you are buying a house with problems you may be stuck with repair bills in the thousands!

It is even more crazy when you consider the fact that for a long time the building standards in Spain have been considerably lower than for Northern Europe and many of the houses have been badly built with problems that may only be about to manifest.

What problems can a surveyor in Spain spot?

Many of the potential problems of property in Spain are of course similar to elsewhere i.e. minor defects, damp, wood rot, water damage etc that wouldn't necessarily be too costly but in Spain there have been many examples of horrific problems. These often involve problems such as walls not being strong enough and people's swimming pools and gardens disappearing down the mountainside - or cracks appearing in walls where the foundations have not been built strongly enough for the structure and houses literally collapsing.

These are serious problems that involve huge expense and could easily have been avoiding by using a Spanish house surveyor. These problems could just as easily apply to newly built houses - it often takes a bit of time for these problems to appear. In many cases people have found the builders have disappeared or refuse to deal with the problem. When you are in a foreign country a serious problem like this suddenly becomes even greater unless you are fluent in the language and have knowledge of legal possibilities.

How much will a survey cost?

House surveyors on the Costa Blanca or elsewhere in Spain typically charge from €400 depending on what you want done. A basic service from a surveyor on the Costa Blanca would be an inspection to see if there are any obvious problems and the possible costs in fixing these. A more advanced property survey would be providing a report on the structure and services.

If there are problems arising from a property survey then you can use this information to potentially negotiate a discount with the seller or you could just accept the defects knowing the potential cost in dealing with them. If a seller is unwilling to be flexible or the problems are just too big then you at least can walk away from them having avoiding a potential nightmare.

Don't put down a deposit until you have had a house survey because in Spain once you have put down the deposit you are committed and if you pull out you will lose your deposit which is typically 10%.

If you are experiencing some of the problems above then you may be wise to contact a Spanish property surveyor for a professional assessment of the situation, likely remedies and costs.

Hopefully this information informs you on an important part of buying property in Spain whether or not you use a property surveyor in Spain, but if you don't, be aware that we might be seeing you soon on one of those TV shows where it all goes horribly wrong!

Advantage Building Surveys

Mark Paddon BSc Hons Building Surveying. MCIOB.