Researching your options before buying property in Spain

A guide to buying property in Spain:

Researching your options

One option is simply to turn up in Spain and start looking around.

However you will make your search much more effective, and increase your understanding of the options that face you, if you do some prior research before coming to Spain.

The internet is undoubtedly the best place to start your research. As a medium it is perfectly suited to searching for property and agents, as it is both information-rich and interactive. Never before has it been so easy to get so much useful information with so little effort, wherever you are in the world. In fact there is almost an over abundance of information given the hundreds of websites dedicated to selling property in Spain.

Bear in mind that if a company has an amateur website and poor standards online, it may be fair to assume that they also have poor standards offline.

Focus on quality

International property shows are another easy way to do prior research into the options that face you. These shows get bigger every year, with an increasing number of exhibitors from Spain. In every country there are certain newspapers and magazines that have established a reputation as good source of information on international property.

© Mark Stucklin of Spanish Property Insight – Everything you need to know about Spanish property

Also worth thinking about during your search for your ideal Spanish property:

• International property shows are another easy way to do prior research into the options that face you. These shows get bigger every year, with an increasing number of exhibitors from Spain. You will also find many of Spain's largest developers at these offering all kind of discounts and offers to entice you to buy.

• Currently, in the region of Malaga, there are some 25,000 unsold properties many of which are reverting back to banks because developers can't keep up with the finance anymore.

On the Costa del Sol, there are a number of good quality publications that advertise property. Among these are The Sur in English, The Olive Press, Euro Weekly Friday Ad and The News.

The Sur in English and the Olive Press are definitely worth reading as they often publish insightful articles and information about whats going on in the Spanish property market.