Dear Anthony & Sally               2014

Our first contact with Sally and Anthony was at a
housewarming party thrown by friends from our village in Surrey, who had
decided to move out to Moraira and used the services of Spanish Property Sales
to find their villa. Although we were planning to sell our house and downsize
to a smaller property in a cheaper area of the UK on our retirement, at that
time we were not considering a move abroad. Over the course of the next year,
however, we started to rethink our plans, particularly when we realised the much
better value for money a villa in Spain represented, compared to a small
property in the English countryside.

On the strength of our friends’ recommendation, we E-mailed
Sally, who then called us to discuss our requirements and, most importantly,
our budget. We explained that we weren’t planning to visit until we had a firm
offer on our house (which wasn’t even on the market yet!), but were just
exploring the options at that stage, so Sally sent us through a few suggestions
to clarify the sort of properties we found most interesting and kept us updated
on a regular basis over the following six months, until we finally got under
way in earnest.

I could jump straight to our first visit, but that would be
to overlook the patience Sally showed in the run-up to it, when we bombarded
her every couple of days with another dozen bargain properties we’d found on
Rightmove, only for her to patiently explain that this one was next to a noisy
main road, or that one was next door to an industrial estate, or had an electricity
pylon in the back garden, etc., etc.

All of which meant that by the time we did get over, the
viewings she’d arranged for Anthony to take us on left us with the awful
dilemma of how to shorten the list of potentials, and that’s where Anthony’s
impartiality and local knowledge proved so valuable. Every time we got back in
the car, he’d evaluate the pros and cons and remind us that this was an
important decision and not one to be rushed, and it didn’t matter how many
properties we viewed; until we were 100% sure of our choice, they’d just keep
finding properties that suited our search criteria.

It was only after a second visit, and another dozen or so
properties visited, that we finally had our sights set on a particular one, but
it was to be another six nailbiting weeks before we exchanged in the UK and
could finally make an offer. Again Anthony stepped up to the plate, acting as
intermediary in the purchase negotiation and helping us achieve a very
substantial discount against the asking price, as well as guiding us through
the purchase process itself.

To employ a property finder in the UK will typically cost
you between 1% and 1½% of the purchase price – Spanish Property Sales charge
the buyer nothing, they’re paid by the selling agent, and since they work with
all the agents in the area they can still be impartial but save you all the
legwork. Now that’s what I call value for money – or rather, no money!

Ian & Eileen

iancb99@yahoo.com