A good Las Palmas estate agent saves you money
In my experience, a good Las Palmas estate agent will earn you more than their commission rate just by making sure you get the best price for your property.
This might sound counter-intuitive, as you’ll have to pay their commission, typically around 5% of the sale price. However, a skilled agent will be able to price your property accurately, taking into account factors such as location, size, and condition. They also market the property widely, and have the confidence and negotiating skill to stick to the market price rather than accept a lower offer.
All this means that your property is more likely to sell quickly at the best possible market price, rather than attract low offers, or sit on the market and not sell at all.
Example: A property owner recently approached me about selling a three-bedroom apartment on the beachfront. It had been listed by his friend at €550,000 euros with poor quality photographs but hadn’t received any quality offers. The disappointed owner was considering two options: Either sell the property at 530,000 euros to a neighbour, or invest 50K in modernising the property and relist it. After a visit, I told him that the property would sell at 570,000 euros without any need for modernisation provided it was well marketed. This is exactly what happened once I took over the listing. It sold a few weeks later, making the owner a tidy profit and without having to invest his capital in a refurbishment.
A good Las Palmas estate agent saves you time
Marketing a property is a time-consuming task, and it requires a lot of effort to do it well. A good estate agent will invest in high-quality photography and video editing to make your property look its best. They’ll also advertise your property on a wide range of property portals and social media channels to guarantee maximum exposure. This is something that’s almost impossible for a private owner to do, especially if you’re not familiar with the local property market.
Additionally, a good estate agent will qualify potential buyers in advance to prevent unnecessary visits, saving you time and hassle. They’ll also handle all the paperwork and administrative tasks, such as arranging viewings and updating legal documents, in a timely and efficient way.
If you list your Las Palmas property without an estate agent, your time will be taken up with visits organised by other estate agents, or from people who are curious to see the property but not serious buyers. Once you find a buyer, the paperwork required to prepare the sale take a lot of time, especially if you are not familiar with the process.
Example: I save every property seller that I work with a lot of time simply by handling all potential buyer leads, gathering together paperwork, and liaising with gestorias, notaries, buyers, buyer’s lawyers and the property registry.
A good Las Palmas estate agent saves you stress
Selling a property is a stressful experience, especially if you do it on your own. Once an offer has been accepted, there’s still a lot of work to be done to finalise the sale. This includes updating paperwork and sending it to the notary, negotiating with the buyer’s lawyer, and informing banks of the sale. This is fiddly and time-consuming and can go wrong and derail the entire sale leaving you to start again,
A good estate agent will take care of all the bureaucracy for you. They anticipate problems before they arise, and work hard to ensure that the sale goes through smoothly and without any unnecessary stress or hassle.
Example: A buyer of mine recently had an offer accepted on an atico in Guanarteme barrio in Las Palmas. He applied for a mortgage with his bank but didn’t make a backup application to a second bank. Having read through the paperwork I was able to tell him that his bank would not offer him a mortgage because of an old clause in the paperwork (some banks don’t like derecho de vuelo clauses). He made a second mortgage application to another bank which was ready when his bank said no at the last minute. Disaster averted!
In conclusion, while it might seem tempting to save money by selling your Las Palmas property without an estate agent, my experience of dozens of transactions is that a good agent can save you money, time, and stress in the long run.
Contact Laura
Homepage contact form