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| How to pay a deposit on a business in Benidorm and Spain Plus advice regarding guarantees (Aval) |
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| Bars for sale in Benidorm - Albir Bars for sale - La Cala Finestrat bars for sale - Benidorm Restaurants For Sale |
| Spain Business Guide Paying a deposit on a business Business Transfer Agent Benidorm & Costa Blanca Spain FREE advice for everyone |
(This is really important stuff not the usual bla bla bla)
NEVER EVER pay deposits direct to an agent. Anyone can be an agent and
sadly many (not all) have no ethics when it comes to buyers money. At present
there are some right sharks in Benidorm, so do your homework. We recommend
asking several local bar owners who they would recommend, they will soon let
you know who is OK and who is not. The agents who pick you up at the airport
tend to be the ones who will try to sell you a money pit. The agents who will drop
you off at the airport even if you did not buy can usually be trusted!
Sadly people are still arriving with money in the bank and are going along to the
first agent they meet to buy a bar in Spain and handing over deposits with no
legal backing. Every month we meet people being fleeced on deposits after
pulling out of a "dubious" sale agreement. As agents our fees should be paid on
the day of completion by the seller and not in the form of your hard earned cash..
The same rule applies in Spain as it would in your own country, plain and simple,
do not part with any money without taking proper advice from those who are
qualified to do so and have YOUR interests in mind. Agents only have their own
interest and that is to make money from YOU. As agents ourselves we get sick
and tired of hearing from people (every month) who have been conned by local
agents who take deposits and sell businesses that have no goodwill and are not
even open or have a current licence. Please please be careful in today´s climate
as it is tough to make a living as an agent and the sharks are out there looking
for YOU! There are 8 local Benidorm agents at present, we trust just 3 of them.
TOP 10 IMPORTANT RULES WHEN BUYING A BAR IN SPAIN
1. NEVER EVER PAY THE 10% DEPOSIT DIRECT TO AN AGENT
2. Agents have no right to demand or hold deposits. A sale is between you and
the seller and your lawyer and has nothing to do with an agent.
3. Contracts offered in English have no legal validity in Spain
4. Only ever pay a deposit to a Lawyer or Gestoria held in a separate clients
account. You should also not pay a deposit without a proper receipt.
5. If you pull out after signing contracts you will forfeit your deposit
6. If you never signed a legal contract your deposit must be returned
7. A simple receipt for a deposit is not a legal binding contract of sale
8. If you hand over a deposit to an agent without a proper sales contract it will
take you years to get to court and it will cost more than the original deposit in
legal costs. This is common please do not get caught out in this way!
9. Agents will usually tell you anything to make a sale!
9. Never sign a deposit contract provided directly from an agent.
10. It is a buyers market so don´t be pushed into paying a deposit, you will not
loose the bar to another buyer, despite what you may be told. An agent who
tries to force you to buy is usually just after your money. Same goes for those
who offer you free flights and offer to meet you at the airport!
MANY AGENTS WILL TELL YOU THAT YOU DO NOT NEED A SOLICITOR
Always question this advice! Usually means they are hiding something such as
Licence problems or unpaid bills! Would you buy back home without using a
Solicitor or professional?
IF YOU ARE OFFERED AN "English Gestoria" TO DEAL WITH A SALE
MAKE SURE THEY KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING!
Anyone can offer these type of services, but not all are adequately qualified or
experienced. Some people operating as a Gestor are not trained to deal with the
complicated official paperwork in Spain and do not run proper checks to ensure
bills are up to date, leaving buyers open to costly unpaid water bills, rubbish bills
and electric bills left by the previous owners and even the owners before them!
We recommend Express Legal who have an SRA regulated English
Solicitor and a legal team with plenty of local knowledge. Friendly good
value legal services, with a free first consultation. They will check bar rental
contracts for you and offer Complete legal service for buyers including setting
you up in the Tax system and arranging NIE´s plus checking licences and
ensuring your business is free of all debts. Call them today for a free initial
consultation. Average costs for buying a small bar are in the region of 750€.
Quite frankly, if you get caught because you did not want to pay Lawyers
fees, then you will almost certainly end up with unforseen costs that exceed the
legal fees charged by a lawyer. You will probably never see the deposit again or
it will cost you thousands in legal fees to sort out the mess. Remember Agents
have no authority to ask you for any money the purchase is between you and
the seller not the agent. Agents fees are paid by the seller or landlord.
The correct way to pay a deposit in Benidorm (or anywhere for that
matter) is direct to your lawyers or Gestors client account who will hold onto the
payment until the completion of contracts and only then will it paid to the seller or
landlord. If there is a dispute it will be kept until resolved and then either
returned to the purchaser or in the case of the purchaser being in breach of
contract paid to the seller or landlord. NOTE the term breach of contract, if you
hand a deposit to anyone without a contract and pull out they must return the
money paid as there was never any contract in place, and provided you can
prove in writing that a deposit was paid you have a good case to win in a court of
law. This is however expensive and should have been avoided, disputes can
take up to three years to get to court!. Deposits are not refundable if you pull
out only after the contract or sale has been signed. This is why you must use
an independent lawyer and not the agent who is selling the bar to you.
NOTE ON AN "Aval"
PAYING A BOND / GUARANTEE TO A LANDLORD
Many Spanish landlords will request 6 or even 12 months rental bond / deposit
especially when renting or leasing to foreigners. NEVER simply hand this over
to be kept in the landlords bank account OR to an agent as you will have no way
of knowing if the money has been spent or even worse kept by an agent. The
correct way to pay such a bond is in the form of an "Aval". The amount is paid
by you and kept by a nominated bank and held as a guarantee against your
contractual obligations to pay the rent. This cannot be touched by anyone and
is returned at the end of a contract or in the event of a default by the tenant paid
to the landlord in lieu of rents owed.
If you are requested to pay a "bond" direct to a landlord to protect their interest
for unpaid rents, damage to the building etc. You will have no way of knowing if
this will be returned when you leave, or even spent by the landlord.
Next page - Cheap bars for sale in Spain - Be careful
NEVER EVER pay deposits direct to an agent. Anyone can be an agent and
sadly many (not all) have no ethics when it comes to buyers money. At present
there are some right sharks in Benidorm, so do your homework. We recommend
asking several local bar owners who they would recommend, they will soon let
you know who is OK and who is not. The agents who pick you up at the airport
tend to be the ones who will try to sell you a money pit. The agents who will drop
you off at the airport even if you did not buy can usually be trusted!
Sadly people are still arriving with money in the bank and are going along to the
first agent they meet to buy a bar in Spain and handing over deposits with no
legal backing. Every month we meet people being fleeced on deposits after
pulling out of a "dubious" sale agreement. As agents our fees should be paid on
the day of completion by the seller and not in the form of your hard earned cash..
The same rule applies in Spain as it would in your own country, plain and simple,
do not part with any money without taking proper advice from those who are
qualified to do so and have YOUR interests in mind. Agents only have their own
interest and that is to make money from YOU. As agents ourselves we get sick
and tired of hearing from people (every month) who have been conned by local
agents who take deposits and sell businesses that have no goodwill and are not
even open or have a current licence. Please please be careful in today´s climate
as it is tough to make a living as an agent and the sharks are out there looking
for YOU! There are 8 local Benidorm agents at present, we trust just 3 of them.
TOP 10 IMPORTANT RULES WHEN BUYING A BAR IN SPAIN
1. NEVER EVER PAY THE 10% DEPOSIT DIRECT TO AN AGENT
2. Agents have no right to demand or hold deposits. A sale is between you and
the seller and your lawyer and has nothing to do with an agent.
3. Contracts offered in English have no legal validity in Spain
4. Only ever pay a deposit to a Lawyer or Gestoria held in a separate clients
account. You should also not pay a deposit without a proper receipt.
5. If you pull out after signing contracts you will forfeit your deposit
6. If you never signed a legal contract your deposit must be returned
7. A simple receipt for a deposit is not a legal binding contract of sale
8. If you hand over a deposit to an agent without a proper sales contract it will
take you years to get to court and it will cost more than the original deposit in
legal costs. This is common please do not get caught out in this way!
9. Agents will usually tell you anything to make a sale!
9. Never sign a deposit contract provided directly from an agent.
10. It is a buyers market so don´t be pushed into paying a deposit, you will not
loose the bar to another buyer, despite what you may be told. An agent who
tries to force you to buy is usually just after your money. Same goes for those
who offer you free flights and offer to meet you at the airport!
MANY AGENTS WILL TELL YOU THAT YOU DO NOT NEED A SOLICITOR
Always question this advice! Usually means they are hiding something such as
Licence problems or unpaid bills! Would you buy back home without using a
Solicitor or professional?
IF YOU ARE OFFERED AN "English Gestoria" TO DEAL WITH A SALE
MAKE SURE THEY KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING!
Anyone can offer these type of services, but not all are adequately qualified or
experienced. Some people operating as a Gestor are not trained to deal with the
complicated official paperwork in Spain and do not run proper checks to ensure
bills are up to date, leaving buyers open to costly unpaid water bills, rubbish bills
and electric bills left by the previous owners and even the owners before them!
We recommend Express Legal who have an SRA regulated English
Solicitor and a legal team with plenty of local knowledge. Friendly good
value legal services, with a free first consultation. They will check bar rental
contracts for you and offer Complete legal service for buyers including setting
you up in the Tax system and arranging NIE´s plus checking licences and
ensuring your business is free of all debts. Call them today for a free initial
consultation. Average costs for buying a small bar are in the region of 750€.
Quite frankly, if you get caught because you did not want to pay Lawyers
fees, then you will almost certainly end up with unforseen costs that exceed the
legal fees charged by a lawyer. You will probably never see the deposit again or
it will cost you thousands in legal fees to sort out the mess. Remember Agents
have no authority to ask you for any money the purchase is between you and
the seller not the agent. Agents fees are paid by the seller or landlord.
The correct way to pay a deposit in Benidorm (or anywhere for that
matter) is direct to your lawyers or Gestors client account who will hold onto the
payment until the completion of contracts and only then will it paid to the seller or
landlord. If there is a dispute it will be kept until resolved and then either
returned to the purchaser or in the case of the purchaser being in breach of
contract paid to the seller or landlord. NOTE the term breach of contract, if you
hand a deposit to anyone without a contract and pull out they must return the
money paid as there was never any contract in place, and provided you can
prove in writing that a deposit was paid you have a good case to win in a court of
law. This is however expensive and should have been avoided, disputes can
take up to three years to get to court!. Deposits are not refundable if you pull
out only after the contract or sale has been signed. This is why you must use
an independent lawyer and not the agent who is selling the bar to you.
NOTE ON AN "Aval"
PAYING A BOND / GUARANTEE TO A LANDLORD
Many Spanish landlords will request 6 or even 12 months rental bond / deposit
especially when renting or leasing to foreigners. NEVER simply hand this over
to be kept in the landlords bank account OR to an agent as you will have no way
of knowing if the money has been spent or even worse kept by an agent. The
correct way to pay such a bond is in the form of an "Aval". The amount is paid
by you and kept by a nominated bank and held as a guarantee against your
contractual obligations to pay the rent. This cannot be touched by anyone and
is returned at the end of a contract or in the event of a default by the tenant paid
to the landlord in lieu of rents owed.
If you are requested to pay a "bond" direct to a landlord to protect their interest
for unpaid rents, damage to the building etc. You will have no way of knowing if
this will be returned when you leave, or even spent by the landlord.
Next page - Cheap bars for sale in Spain - Be careful
