Talk Quesada forum

I was all set to go with Silvia, in Benijofar, who I know comes highly recommended. One problem - just found out the vendor is already using her.

The estate agent had already recommended another solicitor, and I am sure they are fine - but. Every single forum/website says DO NOT use the one the agent recommends.

Can I still use Silvia, or is that too risky ? If not, can anyone else recommend a good solicitor for my end of a (resale) property purchase ?

Hi, I bought my house in 2015 and I would recommend
Jose M Mena, from the firm 'M&S Interealty'. He was fantastic and set everything up for us including Spanish wills. He is based in Torrevieja and all his staff speak English. I think you should always use your own independent lawyer and this is a great guy you can trust.

mcctinker wrote:I was all set to go with Silvia, in Benijofar, who I know comes highly recommended. One problem - just found out the vendor is already using her.

The estate agent had already recommended another solicitor, and I am sure they are fine - but. Every single forum/website says DO NOT use the one the agent recommends.

Can I still use Silvia, or is that too risky ? If not, can anyone else recommend a good solicitor for my end of a (resale) property purchase ?

We used and still use Abacoadvisers http://www.abacoadvisers.com/
You could email them to ask for a quote.

Jan

I think it can sometimes work in your favour, things can get tied up quicker and easier as there is no going back and forth waiting for one of the lawyers to send paperwork. Just a thought!

SGM in Benijofar are so good, you have nothing to worry about as even though she's acting for both parties she's still sort of independent and doesn't have any biased! The previous comment is true about being quicker though. I can't see any harm in it. Good luck with the purchase and welcome to the Costas.

It has never been advisable to use a solicitor who is doing the other person's property sale, no matter how good they are (in UK or Spain) Its a well known fact!

Whoever you use... it really is very important to go to one that is not connected to the other party.

We used a solicitor recommended by the agent when we bought our first property here. Biggest mistake we ever made when we found the agents had been selling properties with no habitation certificates, no deeds and other things the solicitor should have warned us about but didn't. Learned our lesson and had no problem with our next two properties which were handled by Abaco (except Abaco didn't have a copy of our deeds and didn't know where they were. The bank had them).
Re the conflict of interest. If just one solicitor then yes. If it's a partnership and one partner does the selling and the other partner does the buying then no problem. We had that in UK but one partner would send an email or letter to the other partner even though they were in adjacent offices.
Yes, some sales will go without a hitch providing everything is all proper, legal and tied up. If there's a hitch somewhere along the line, you have to wonder who the solicitor would be acting for, a one off buyer or seller (you) or someone who gives them lots of business (the agent).

Jan wrote:It has never been advisable to use a solicitor who is doing the other person's property sale, no matter how good they are (in UK or Spain) Its a well known fact!

Whoever you use... it really is very important to go to one that is not connected to the other party.

Disagree, they would have to remain impartial and obviously be above board. As Marcliff suggested, if there is more than one at the firm then where is the problem??

i have bought and sold property both in malta and spain , where it quite common to use a single solicitor in a mutually agreed sale, if the vendor does not have a problem with it, i personally have never had a problem with this

A single lawyer can under Spanish Law act for both Buyer and Seller BUT they have to remain impartial and give each party the same advice/documents. If an issue arises then there is a conflict and a separate lawyer will have to be instructed. This in my mind rather defeats the object and the possible saving would be outweighed by risk. In the UK there are certain circumstances in which the same Lawyer can act for both parties otherwise separate representation must be sought.