Iñaki Barredo, a Real Estate Buyer’s Agent in Mallorca, explains why you have to be careful with the square metres of a property.
50 isn’t the same as 45, and 60 isn’t the same as 50, right? Yet sometimes, (it did happen to me 3 times), people think it’s all the same when it comes to selling a property.
This situation takes place so often as the size the interested party declares, tends to be greater than the true size and that plays in favour of the seller. It is funny that the opposite barely happens.
Having a professional advisor, someone who will look out for your interests as the buyer, is vital in aspects like this as they won’t take any of the information offered by the seller at face value a priori and they will check each and every one.
What I’m getting at here is that the real surface area of a property (not the one the seller provides) is just as important as the location, height and light.
The buyer has to pay for every square metre of the constructed area at a given price and in the Balearic Islands this price is one of the highest in Spain. Therefore, it’s important to always check the details of the size and the price per m2. When the price for the area ranges between 2,500?/m2 and 4,000?/m2, a difference in size of between 5 and 10m2 can mean you save between 12,500? and 40,000?.
We know that to calculate the surface area of a property, the constructed surface area is taken into account along with 50% of the surface area of the terraces plus the property’s corresponding percentage of the communal areas.
Having a professional advisor means you will only pay for the true number of square metres of the property itself and you won’t end up paying more than you should because you didn’t check the measurements when you viewed the property and the price was negotiated, or paying the same price for communal areas which aren’t worth the same amount as the surface of the property itself. Measuring a property isn’t easy or comfortable, so often it isn’t actually done at all.
Once everything has been agreed and you actually set eyes on the deeds, which generally include a size that differs to that the vendor mentioned, it will be hard to pull out after all the work you’ve put into getting that far. Hours of house hunting, hours of viewing and more viewing, talking with one or more banks about mortgages. In short, you’re hardly going to pull out now over a difference of a few square metres, are you?
Remember that buying a property means you’re putting an important amount of money into play and as a buyer, having an advisor to look out for you 100% will be far more cost-effective than facing private or professional vendors alone.
At Property Buyers we’ll be very happy to help you with the entire purchase process and save you time, money and stress.
How to stay up-to-date with real estate investment news
As is always the case, there’s no magic formula, but the best way of doing things is to keep informed and there’s no better way of keeping up with real estate investment news than by signing up for our newsletter.
Like good coffee, it’s quick and easy. All you have to do is type your email address on the form below and we’ll send you all the information you need to keep up with everything relating to real estate investment.
{{cta(‘f9e60be8-641b-40a4-a197-5da3e35e40b2’)}}
