Congratulations on your decision to invest your money and energy in a Spanish home. Buying a new property, whether at home or abroad, is fraught with potential difficulties. Your experience should be positive and rewarding, both in terms of financial security and personal piece of mind. Expertise, time and language can be barriers to securing a home that lives up to your expectations. I believe that I can offer a service to limit your anxieties and costs.

There can be little doubt that buying real estate in Spain, particularly on the Balearic Islands, has become expensive since the Euro was introduced in 2002. It is also true that whilst the cost of materials, construction and labour has increased significantly, the cost of property, including plots, houses and fincas has outstripped other increases by some considerable margin. Buyers prepared to meet ever-higher asking prices have driven property prices up. I believe it is important that such purchases represent the very best value for money.

The materials used today are of much higher quality than before, but too often the workmanship and finishing are not up to the same high standard. The real estate dealers and salesmen who sell you your property will be experts in their field but will not necessarily know the detail of what has occurred during the build, or understand the skills involved in working with the range of materials used. It is ensuring that the workmanship and finish meet your justifiably high expectations that is my concern.

I intend to help you avoid the scenario whereby the day after you acquire your expensive new real estate you find yourself in the local Ferreteria (Spanish hardware shop) purchasing materials to repair botched jobs. Working to repair such defects yourself is undesirable and avoidable. Seeking assistance from the property dealer after the money has exchanged hands can also prove problematic. Salesmen can suddenly appear less helpful once they have received their commission. Don’t forget that mañana can mean tomorrow, or never, in Spain and when the plumber doesn’t show up it could be left to you to keep things going in your new home.

It is your basic right to demand the highest quality of workmanship and finish since you are paying high market prices in Spain. Don’t settle for less than you deserve, or less than you would be prepared to accept at home. I can provide a genuine and detailed quality check which should be carried out before you complete the sale. This will leave you able to benefit fully from your investment in a new home in ‘the sunshine state of Europe’.