Promises or Guarantees?
Picture this. You’re about to spend thousands of Euros buying a property in a foreign country, maybe even your life savings. You don’t speak the language and you are completely reliant on other people’s advice. Over the years you have read horror stories where people have lost their properties through missing legal documentation, fraud, demolition orders or have not even managed to purchase a property because their deposit has gone missing or the agent has gone bust.
You don’t think that will ever happen to you, but you want to be sure. You have a choice between two estate agents. Which will you choose?
You trust agent A. You may even have known him for a few years. He is a nice guy and has helped you with all sorts of advice, from choosing the best bar to drink at to recommending schools for your children. He has been a local estate agent for years and you are totally convinced that he is highly experienced. He promises you that nothing will go wrong with your purchase and that he has sold hundreds of properties without a hitch. And even if some little administrative error pops up in the future, he’ll sort it out for you.
Agent B has been trading for decades. You don’t know him personally, but the company is well known. His company offers you a free title deed insurance policy, which is an insurance policy that covers you for every conceivable thing that might go wrong with your property ownership. The company also carries Professional Indemnity insurance which covers anything that might go wrong in the sales process, such as misrepresentation or even underwriting your deposit if the agent goes bust.
Which do you choose?
If you chose Agent A, then you are taking an extraordinary risk based purely on your own gut feeling. Thousands of estate agents have gone under in the last year, and who knows how many deposits have sunk with them. All those promises you were freely given have no real substance, and if anything really does go wrong, you’ll find yourself on your own.
If you chose Agent B, then you are covered by third party insurers regardless of what might happen. Your deposit will be safe, regardless of what happens to the estate agent. You will be purchasing exactly what you think you are buying, thanks to the professional indemnity insurance. And regardless of what paperwork irregularities might come up years later, you are fully insured for the value of the property.
Although it may seem obvious to you from this example which one you would choose, in the real world there are so many trusting buyers who are happy to risk their life savings with Agent A. As the recession continued, many of these did lose their money. It is highly likely that many more will. We can’t help them, but we can help you to make the right choice. And we can guarantee your security in your property purchase in Tenerife.
