Gecko Towers
I have discussed before the key choice that needs to be made in selecting your trusted Spanish Abogado. I cannot overstate my perception of the value of the relationship with your lawyer for the property purchaser in Marbella. See a previous post – Your Abogado – A Vital Relationship
The role of your trusted Abogado in a Costa el Sol property purchase is simply not a rubber stamp making sure that the relevant paperwork is in order. It is complex study of the legal basis upon which the property has been built, recorded in the Land Registry, maintained and renovated. Ensuring that any debts, mortgages, community fees, amenities or otherwise, that have been lodged on the property over the years have been cleared in total pre-purchase. Analyzing the underlying legality of the zoning of the plot, the urbanisation and development. This is not a quick or cursory review but a deep dive to ensure that what you think you are buying is indeed what you are expecting it to be. It is rarely always straightforward and often highly arcane and complex. The seriousness of such review and the value of your purchase requires a special, highly-experienced and above all, unimpeachably honest, professional advisor.
It is now more usual than ever for a prospective purchaser to engage their preferred Abogado ahead of the conclusive phase of their property purchase. Their research into areas of interest, urbanizations of choice and other key elements of their chosen location can be complemented by their Abogado’s granular knowledge of the various regions of the coast, gleaned from years of experience in representing clients.
Ask anyone who’s done it. They will tell you whether their Abogado was – delete as applicable – amazing/couldn’t have done it without them/more than they expected/ what they expected/disappointing/awful – and as many other expressions in between. As a result it is, in all honesty, difficult to simply accept the recommendation of others as to the Abogado they used for their purchase may just not be right for yours. Will you relate to the suggested lawyer – and give versa? Please see a previous piece – Word of Mouth Referrals
Aside from the poor choice of Abogado that may have been made – and this may be for a number of reasons – from the experience of many clients who have purchased in the Marbella region of the Costa del Sol, it appears that there is an evolving list of attributes that your Spanish Abogado should exhibit to ensure their role in your purchase is entirely satisfactory.
Some positive qualities include:
Responsiveness – While clients sometimes seem to overlook that their very able Abogado may have others that demand their professional time, nothing will infuriate a client more than a lack of response to an e-mail or phone message. Naturally, it depends on the urgency of the situation, but it is usually possible for your advisor to revert in no longer than 24 hours from the client’s contact. Indeed many law firms around the world have a 24 hour response policy dyed into their firms DNA. The response time may even be quicker but only in very exceptional circumstances should it be slower.
Honesty – Many issues that confront the property purchaser in Marbella, stem from a lack of familiarity with the system. As a result it is vitally important that their Abogado’s advice is received and processed in a dispassionate way. It must be free from any spin or agenda, it must be honest and straightforward. If there is a hint of any contrary position – as unlikely as that sounds – it is regretted but the professional relationship will suffer – often irrevocably.
Insight – Your Spanish Abogado should be someone of great experience who has seen many previous property transactions and is equipped from that experience to work with you and to confront the relevant situation as they arise in order to achieve a satisfactory resolution.
The key to having great Insight is experience – kilometers on the clock. While I have a deal of respect for those learning the Legal craft, there is simply no substitute for years of granular detail. This makes your Abogado of great value to you as there will be issues that need to be confronted that only those with the requisite experience will be able to handle conclusively.
The other face of such Insight is anticipating those things that a non-Spanish client will need to understand in order for the Abogado to discharge their best practice advice in an holistic manner. Looking at a client in the round and assessing their circumstances is entirely empirical and can only be achieved with a depth of previous dealings that delivers solutions.
Knowledge – A stablemate of Insight is Knowledge. It may be entirely feasible for a lay person to seek to devine the answer to the town planning denomination of a particular plot’s location in the Marbella region. However, in my experience of raising subjects with my local Abogado colleagues, they will know instantly, usually from a street address or “barrio”, whether there is any need to be unduly concerned about a location. It may be, for example, the location has no Licence of First Occupation. Why? because properties in that area were built before such License were issued or other similar gems. The depth of your Abogado’s knowledge is, believe me, worth its weight in gold.
Thoroughness – Your Abogado, and this applies equally to male and female lawyers, needs to earn their fee, be seen to earn their fee and not wait for you to point out those things on which they should be advising you.
Stemming from their depth of experience, they will have usual checks – such as the properties various licenses. Additionally, they will also be keen to ensure that all debts relevant to the property – as they tend to be in Spain – are clearly disclosed and handled either by the seller or retained from the price paid at completion.
You will also appreciate your Abogados’ involvement in obtaining the all important NIE at the start of your purchase transaction, opening bank accounts and the taking a lead in connecting your new property to the various utilities – ensuring the transfer of all pertinent accounts into your name.
There may be issues, upon which you may need specific advice and which, of course, you should raise. However, you should need to feel that you are driving these processes.
Patience – Undeniably, when confronted with the alien what we usually need is time and information to get our heads around what we are doing. This may involve having something explained a couple of times before the true impact of the information being received is fully understood. Consequently, your Abogado, needs to exhibit the patience required to enable you to fully grasp the concept being discussed. Feeling rushed or flustered is counter-productive.
Equally, the “don’t you worry yourself about this, we’ll look after everything” approach can be irritating. You may not be steering the car but you are the driver. You should be reasonably in control of your buying process. Any sense of a lack of compassion for the confusion that may prevail in making a foreign property acquisition should be minimized.
Communication and Feedback – Of course your Abogado’s primary responsibility is to keep you really well informed and up to date with all the relevant development in your transactions process. There are also others who it is good management to be kept up to date. The estate agent who was instrumental in listening to your precise requirements and worked hard to deliver on your expectations will want some detail from your Lawyer as to the progress of your purchase. Being informed is all part of them delivering a level of client care that can prepare others to assist you, such as mortgage brokers or directly with mortgage lending banks.
It’s also really important that I highlight what I believe you do not need from your professional advisors and could frankly do without. In this way, knowing what may crop up both prepares you to head it off or to avoid it altogether.
No Cross-selling – There is a trend in Spanish banks to want to handle your day to day banking whilst offering a wide range of additional services not traditionally offered by a bank. Insurance, Health Cover, Burglar Alarms and electrical goods are favourite. If it’s not what we are used to it can prompt a negative reaction. The same is true of your Legal Advisor.
I buy into the notion that your chosen Abogado has one job to do impressively. If at the same time they are offering multiple cross-selling opportunities I think this detracts from their role. Currency broking, various insurances and property management services seem the most likely. These services will not be promoted to you on a free basis and your advisor will usually receive a commission for your referral. In my view it’s unnecessary as it confuses his/her role with you.
If you have a specific query about those in the market offering currency booking service, for instance, by all means ask the question. Proactively presenting a service provider connection, as though a recommendation, is unattractive. It may even influence your confidence in their discharge of the professional legal services for which you’ve hired their law firm.
In a regular purchase, the legal fees payable to your Abogado are, according to the Colegio of Abogados in Malaga, an advisory 1% plus local VAT (called “IVA”) calculated on the agreed purchase price. In higher value transactions negotiations will revolve around the precise percentage to be charged and there should be some flexibility. As the client – who is are paying a decent fee naturally you’ll expect – and frankly deserve – an appropriate level of professional service.
What some orphaned clients have complained of, with their previous Lawyers, are levels of Paternalism – “please don’t worry yourself about XYZ I will handle everything, you may, after all, find it confusing in any event” – and Complacency – and I précis – “I have done so many of these transactions, your circumstances are like all other clients. I neither need or welcome your comments, please just let me get on with my job.” Inevitably such approaches, when confronted with reasonable and engaged clients, are bound to fail. Similarly the Dismissive “I am simply too busy to speak to you” which others have complained of is just dire client care and in addition to being irritating causes all manner of collateral questions as to capability and trust.
When my wife an I arrived in Marbella to purchase a property nearly twenty years ago the market was similar to the frenetic nature that it is now experiencing. We were recommended to an Abogado by a family friend who had previous dealings with the same lawyer. He sent us, via his PA, a copy of the proposed Private Purchase Contract that we were expected to sign. We asked for it to be translated and we received a pre-Google Translate version of the document that was utterly meaningless. Our attempts to address concerns with the lawyer were greeted with a “don’t worry yourselves about it I will deal with everything” response, that concerned us even more. We withdrew from the purchase certain in the knowledge that the lawyer had lost our confidence.
There is an obvious benefit from dealing with an Abogado who has “seen all done all” before. But there are also dangers when such a course is set. You learn very early on in dealing with clients as a young lawyer although on the face of it two clients may have apparently identical matters that need to be dealt with, their underlying circumstances may be vastly different. One size will never fit all!
As a barometer of your Lawyer’s engagement with you I would suggest you look at matters post a purchase transaction. For many who have a long-term relationship with the Costa del Sol they may chose to return to their trusted advisor for years into the future dealing with all manner of issues from Inheritance, Taxes and Wills, for example. However, the Lawyer needs also be so engaged for the long term.
Here is a post where the transitory nature of some law firms – focusing solely on the “cash cow” of a property purchase – means that balls get dropped. Once a client….always a client?
I hope you find that above useful. It’s intended as a guide to equip yourself to be proactively involved in your property purchase transaction, as my feeling is that you will want to be. We look forward to welcoming you to this process. We have recently used an Abogado from the firm I consult to for our own purchase and I would be more than happy to share our very positive experience with you, if that was of interest. My contact details are below.
Should you be interested in discussing the legal process involved in buying a property in the Marbella region, we would be delighted to assist you. Our multi-disciplinary team of bi-lingual, highly experienced and wholly independent Abogados and Asesores Fiscales are ready to help you.
Please call me, Mark FR Wilkins, during usual business hours on +34 600 343 917 or, if you prefer, or e-mail me at mark@roslegal.es
Please note that our posts are for general interest. There is no substitute for proper legal advice tailored to your specific circumstances as provided by a qualified Abogado who is experienced in the application of the Spanish Law.
Nothing contained in this article should be seen or taken as the writer or the publisher providing legal or financial advice.
© Mark FR Wilkins 2023. All rights reserved.