Our House Is In Order

David Laver

Alhaurín el Grande is surrounded by charming countryside, yet is only half an hour drive to Málaga or the coast. This enviable location is making the town more and more popular with clients from northern Europe, alongside a growing Spanish market.

The best news is that over the last year, property prices have dropped significantly bringing in some exceptional bargains. In particular, with the weakness of the Pound to the Euro, we have seen many UK owners who are returning home able to reduce the price of their property without actually affecting their Sterling bottom line.

The majority of our clients looking to buy, want the rural dream of a peaceful location with a plot of land populated with olive, orange, fig and avocado trees. They want the pretty home with terraces from which they can enjoy the stunning views of the surrounding mountains after taking a refreshing dip in the swimming pool. As it is now impossible to build a house or a swimming pool in the countryside, these existing country homes are in short supply and in high demand. That said, we do still have a good selection that we can offer you.

Ideal Country Property has been based in Alhaurín El Grande since the company formed in 2007. With the property market slowing down considerably since then, the number of Estate Agents in the town has decreased from 30 to just 5, leaving Ideal Country Property as the predominant inland specialist.

Part of the reason for many of the agencies closing down is the Junta de Andalucía inspecting Real Estate Agents for compliance to the ‘218 Decree’ (“Decreto 218″), which regulates the information given to customers purchasing or renting homes in Andalucía. Many agents did not comply, failing to supply all the information required on each property and ended up with large fines. We have been inspected twice and have passed with flying colours, getting commended both times on how much information we actually give to our clients.

In this day and age it is essential to be able to assure the clients of the legality of their new property and we are pleased to be able to do that. Buying in Spain has become more complicated and it seems like every week a new property-related law is passed or changed that affects what can and can’t be done in the Andalucían countryside. To keep abreast of these changes we have regular meetings with local solicitors and architects so that the information we pass on to our clients is relevant, correct and up-to-date. Coupled with years of local real estate experience, this equates to being able to offer in-depth local knowledge and advice to our clients looking to buy or rent, and owners hoping to sell.

We are  expecting this to help us have a busy and successful 2010.

You can find us at our new addess on the main street (Calle Gerald Brenan, 83) next to Casa Paco.

We Have Moved Offices!

New ICP Office

If you have ever visited our old office on the Cártama road in Alhaurín El Grande, you will know that we were already long overdue for a move. The office seemed to get smaller and damper by the month! Now we have a lovely, shiny, bright & spacious new office that is not only better for us but also for our clients. We even have two new sofas, in ICP trademark Orange, for you to sit down and relax whilst you wait.

The move went well after weeks of intensive preparation. The new office needed four coats of white paint to cover all the old green, blue, red and black paint that was used by the previous tenants! We have a new alarm installed and are now Authorised Agents for “Securitas Direct” alarms, which means we can give you a great discount on a similar installation in your own home or office.

Where exactly are we located? Just two minutes walk from our old office. We are on Calle Gerald Brennan, number 83 in what was the old “Videoclub Milenium”, next to the “Casa Paco” Fish Restaurant and directly facing “Cafetería Fahala”. If you get to the BP Petrol Station then you’ve gone too far!

New ICP Forum

Our Forums are now open for use. Anyone can register to use them (which is obligatory if you want to post a question or comment on a post) and they cover a wide range of topics from legal aspects to everyday life here in Spain. The Forums are in English only and are aimed at helping people in their move to Spain and finding out more about the country. Topics range from schooling to work, culture to private jumble sales.
We ask that these forums be used in a friendly manner, respecting all users, even if opinions differ. Also we ask that you read the rules and guidelines before posting your first comment.
Hopefully the ICP Forum will be a good, fun, social spot to make new friends and find out more about the lifestyle here in inland Costa del Sol, Andalucía. Real Estate professionals can also use these forums for an in-depth discussion of the Decree 218 (Decreto 218). Enjoy!

The forum link: ICP FORUMS

The Inspector Cometh!

“Just when you thought it was safe to go in the water…” or in our case, open up shop, along comes another Inspector (from the Junta de Andalucía). That’s the bad news. The good news is that we passed with flying colours… again! Our last visit was in September 2008 so we were a little surprised that another one showed up this morning, only 6 months later. His explanation was that we could expect a visit every year, especially as on his list he only had 3 Estate Agents listed here in the village. Does this mean then that we are the only 3 agencies legally registered? Hmmm, a point to ponder! Apparently the Junta has a campaign every year which lasts about three months so we can breathe easy until next year. The truth is that we really didn’t have anything to worry about as we always work hard to make sure that our paperwork etc is up-to-date for the benefit of our clients and also our own.
The main area the Inspector wanted to know about was the sale of NEW PROPERTIES and those under construction, as they present a real nightmare with all the required paperwork. However, because we only do re-sales (second hand homes), we had nothing to comply with and had no “DIA” forms to show. He also commended us on our good use of the “Public Advisory Notices”, both in the display window and next to the “Claims & Complaints” notices inside the office. By the way, both of these signs are available for free download on our Blog (As always, please leave a comment if you do so!).
He reiterated the point that the price shown on the advertising display for each property should be the price that the CLIENT (prospective BUYER) pays and not the current owner of the home. As such, our commissions don’t have to be broken down and listed separately on the Window Card as these are paid by the current home owner. As the fees for each property vary as regard to the Notary and Registry, at the side of the price we put (in Spanish of course) “plus expenses and taxes” (“+ Gastos y Tributos”) and then list these on a separate document, clearly visible in the Window Display.
It is worth mentioning that the Window Cards need to be in SPANISH by law. This is what the Decree 218 states as being information clearly understandable and accessible. Given that the official language of the country is Spanish then that information MUST be supplied in Spanish. You can have it detailed in other languages as well but the Spanish descriptions must be clearly visible and prominent.
If the number of bedrooms is shown on the Window Card then the “Metros Útiles” (“Useful Metres”) of the property MUST be shown as well. That is not to be confused with the “Metros Construidos” (“Constructed Metres”) of the property.
Finally, there also needs to be a validity date (“Periodo de Validez”) on the Window Card, stating the date the prices of the property are valid to.
That’s our interesting news for the day and here’s hoping that your inspections go equally as well.

Linking to Blogs

Over the past year or so we have posted to various websites and blogs our views, answers and experiences with the Decree 218 issues. Now we have our own blog we will be referring to these various posts and using the information we posted on them. Hopefully I have tracked back to them correctly so as not to take all the credit!

Need Insurance In Spain?

Caser & ICP Insurance

We are now working closely with CASER, Spain’s number one insurance company for the savings banks. This means that we can provide you with real savings on many types of insurance, whether it be for your car, home or life insurance. One of the great benefits of our being Caser’s contact point is that we can provide you with a copy of your policy IN ENGLISH so you know exactly what you have contracted.

We are already well known for our friendliness and reliability so we are very excited at being able to extend this into the insurance field. As always, please feel free to pop by the office and ask us for a quotation, without any pressure or obligation.

Welcome!

Welcome to Ideal Country Property and our first ever blog. We will be posting a variety of content, based around property sales and rentals, legal themes, the famous “Decreto 218″, advice on living here in Andalucía, plus our general activities as a company and individuals. We hope that you will enjoy the content presented here and that it will also prove invaluable to you, whether you are searching for a home to buy or rent, wanting to know more about the area we cover, or are simply curious as to what we are doing!

Feel free to post your own comments and queries but if you require specific information about buying a home, then please use our Contact & Feedback form here: http://www.ideal-country-property.com/en/contact