| Legal Information When selling or purchasing a property, wherever it may be in the world it is vital to seek legal advice and use the services of a reputable lawyer either in your home country or overseas. Most lawyers deal with the sale and purchase of property in many countries and some lawyers will have several offices located around the world in popular holiday home destinations such as Spain, Portugal, France, Dubai, Bulgaria, Cape Verde etc. Property Direct From The Owner would never recommend trying to sell or buy a property without first seeking legal advice and following the correct purchase procedure as recommended by your lawyer.
A recent survey by the National Land and Property Information Service showed that 19% of the public think that the estate agent actually carries out the conveyancing (the legal work required to complete the property sale) and 8% think that the vendors do it themselves. This is not correct! ALL of the legal work that is necessary to complete the property sale is done by solicitors. A solicitor will do all the necessary land registry searches, check that the title deeds are in order, prepare all relevant contracts and agreements and all other processes to ensure that the sale is legal and your interests are looked after. The solicitor will deal with any questions that the other party may have including if any furniture or fixtures or fittings are included in the sale. Different countries may have different property sale procedures and so this is another reason why it is so important to use a solicitor to guide you through the process; for example, in Spain it is usual for buyers to place a €6,000 reservation fee with a solicitor to secure the property and then approximately 28 days later sign what is called a ‘private contract’ and pay 10% of the purchase price. Completion usually takes place a few weeks later on a date convenient to each party. A solicitor will guide you through the process in the country where you are buying or selling and ensure you understand the sales procedure from start to finish. They will also co-ordinate the receipt and payment of funds and the handover of keys. An estate agent is not necessary in the property sale process – they take no part in the legal or financial arrangements except to make sure they are there to pick up their commission! A good estate agent acts as a middleman between the seller and buyer to keep the lines of communication open and the sale on track. Since you will be dealing direct with the other party involved in the sale you can easily do this yourself and contact the buyer or seller directly by telephone or email. Alternatively, your solicitor would be happy to deal with the other party on your behalf as part of their legal service. We are happy to recommend the solicitors advertised on the Property Direct From The Owner website. If you decide to use one of these solicitors then Property Direct From The Owner receives no commission or fee. Solicitors and legal firms may apply to advertise on our website for a small fee, however we will only accept advertising from legal firms who are officially registered and meet our stringent criteria. We do recommend that you look carefully into a legal firm before instructing a solicitor as although we do our own checks we cannot be held legally responsible for the solicitors advertising on this site.
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