Everyday life as an estate agent on Mallorca is very exciting. These situations also exist: That one particular property that nobody is interested in for years and is on offer for years. A few viewings take place, but something doesn’t fit. Is it the location, the furnishings, the price? It can’t be the price, it’s very attractive. Sometimes there’s something wrong and it’s hard to explain why there’s so little interest in this property.
Every pot finds its lid
Suddenly the market changes and demand increases and the right prospective buyer is found and says: “Yes, I want to live here! I want to buy! – and suddenly everything has to happen very quickly.
The sellers almost feel “thrown out in front of their heads” and can’t believe that someone wants to buy their property.
“My property is legal!” – Is it really?
The seller personally explained to the prospective buyers: “my property is legal”. We then prepare the purchase option contract and request an up-to-date extract from the land register. Mmmmh, we think, somehow something is not round. Parts of the building are missing from the land register. How can that be?
We research the more than 30-year-old documents of the seller, who no longer understands the world. “I went to the town hall and the land registry office told me that everything is fine with the property!” Yes, the cadastral extract also showed the current parts of the building, but the land register did not.
Discrepancies between land register, cadastre and reality – what do we do now?
The situation of many Mallorcan properties on rural land “suelo rustico” is very exciting. In the past – i.e. 30-40 years ago – building permits, building inspections, etc. were not taken very seriously. Sometimes something was built here and there without a building licence or the authorities turned a blind eye. In our case, this is even shown by a certificate issued by the town hall about the buildings existing at the time of purchase (about 30 years ago). At the time, the notary public had co-certified the certificate and all parties involved were of the opinion: everything is correct.
Times have changed. Verification brought clarity
The real estate verification we initiated is just right for such cases. This verification report of the lawyer for building law explained: The property has been built without any building permits. It is outside the standards according to today’s specifications. Legalisation is not possible, but the building violation is statute-barred. The parts of the building can be registered in the land register via a topographical certificate and by means of an architect’s confirmation. In German we speak of “Bestandsschutz”, but this term does not exist in Spanish.
All’s well that ends well!
The findings of the verification report were discussed with the seller and buyer. An agreement was reached to cover the costs of the measures until the registration of the building parts in the land register. The notary appointment could be carried out to everyone’s satisfaction. The sellers say goodbye to Mallorca and their property of many years with one laughing and one crying eye and are nevertheless happy to have found such nice buyers. Byers are happy and enjoy their property in Mallorca!
Your estate agent – your friend and helper!
Often the real estate agent does not enjoy an esteemed reputation. We at CCC Real Estate want to help you wholeheartedly with the sale of your property and remove the supposed obstacles from your path. Please take our professional advice seriously when starting the sales activities to check the building law situation and have your property and the related documents carefully checked already at this moment. The surprises for the sellers and confusion for the buyers in the case described could thus have been avoided. Times have changed dramatically. We are confronted with these issues on a daily basis and often know the right way to achieve the best possible sale in this day and age.
This was our story from an ordinary estate agent everyday life!