If you have ever bought a home in Sweden, you may know how a bidding process usually goes. The one who gives the highest bid can buy the home and there are often many bidders and the price can go up very much from the starting price. However, this is not usually the case in Spain.
Here it is instead private screenings, so there is usually only one speculator per screen. When someone is then interested in placing a bid, there is therefore normally no "open bidding", but the bid is negotiated back and forth with that particular bidder and seller through us brokers. The speculator / bidder then states a bid, which in contrast to Sweden is usually a lower price than the starting price. In Spain, this means that you can often haggle over the starting price.
Since the process usually looks like this, the buyer expects the preliminary housing price to be reduced. Of course, we brokers always try to do what we can to help the client negotiate the best price. What we have noticed recently, however, is that there has been less and less room for negotiation of the price and that in many cases there is no bargaining chip at all. What has changed this? This is probably based on the fact that there has been such an incredibly high demand for housing throughout the country in the last six months. Prices continue to rise, the market becomes hotter and homes are sold at a higher rate - even online. This contributes to the possibility of bargaining power being reduced and it becomes more common that you have to pay the price that the seller wants, ie the starting price. But of course you should always try!
Have you also had thoughts of trying something new and moving abroad? Contact us at HomenetSpain and we will be happy to help you to a safe deal from start to finish!
