Apartment Advice Required....

[erik_tonny]

While I wholeheartedly agree with your comments on Room to Breath who are a complete waste of space and bandits to boot, I cannot agree with your other comments about Goldacre and particularly Nic Tan, who I found to be a Gentleman so much so it worried me at first basing my fears on having used 10/12 Estate Agents over the years in the UK, but I soon realised he said it as it was, and even took the time to take us to parts of the Island just to show us what was where and what was available, we used their in house solicitor also. who though appeared slow, when a deadline arrived she was there, handled everything from property purchase to getting us NIE,s, Residencia and Social Security cards with out us having to do anything.
I am aware that everyone has different takes on people, but I spent years doing a lot of negotiating with many different people, and was generally considered to have been born a cynic, but I stand by my reccomendation.

R.T.B and Goldacre same company i think R.T.B has closed down.

RTB moved to Mercadona area.

[Johnrgby2]

While I wholeheartedly agree with your comments on Room to Breath who are a complete waste of space and bandits to boot, I cannot agree with your other comments about Goldacre and particularly Nic Tan, who I found to be a Gentleman so much so it worried me at first basing my fears on having used 10/12 Estate Agents over the years in the UK, but I soon realised he said it as it was, and even took the time to take us to parts of the Island just to show us what was where and what was available, we used their in house solicitor also. who though appeared slow, when a deadline arrived she was there, handled everything from property purchase to getting us NIE,s, Residencia and Social Security cards with out us having to do anything.
I am aware that everyone has different takes on people, but I spent years doing a lot of negotiating with many different people, and was generally considered to have been born a cynic, but I stand by my reccomendation.

R.T.B and Goldacre same company i think R.T.B has closed down.

RTB moved to Mercadona area.

I could be wrong, but my understanding was Gold Acres admin dept moved up near Mercadona, funnily enough I was there about three weeks ago, and other than the solicitor they use it did appear to be an admin office, besides RTB were advertising for a Project Manager last month, so must still be operational, althogh lord nows why.

[chrisandco]

I am glad that you had a good experience, John.
I don't want to get into any discussion about any particular agent - it is the principle that I am concerned about. Whether you call it "commission", "salary" or "desk rent", money is changing hands between the lawyer and the agent which, in my view, is a conflict of interest if the lawyer is representing the buyer.
The "admin" bits (NIE, Residencia, Social Security) don't need a lawyer to sort out. The important part is the property and land searches. This is when you need to know that the lawyer is representing you and nobody else.

[Johnrgby2]

Chris

All I can say is we did not get involved with any of it other than signing the required documents even s/security cards which every one told me you had to apply for yourself arrived in the post, and I am and always have been a great believer in what an old and very respected boss use to call The KISS system "Keep It Simple Stupid" I can understand your concerns, but she was acting for us and no one else, and from what I am hearing from other people, we probably saved circa â,¬500 which was not the original idea, but it was totally stress free.

[justthe6ofus]

Interesting this convo has moved on about Goldacre and the lawyer they 'recommend'.

I bought through them and had an appointment to actually meet the lawyer in person for the first time a couple of weeks ago. I google mapped the address she gave me for her office and I noticed it appeared to be on the same street as RTB but when I got there and drove up and down (looking for an office with 'Platinum Associates' sign outside it) I couldn't find it. In the end I went in to RTB and said I'm looking for Maria's office but can't find it - can you direct me? I almost fell through the floor when they pointed to the back of the room and told me she works out of their office!! 

I must admit I'm putting two and two together. I could be wrong, but 'Gold' acre and 'Platinum' associates? Hmmmmm. Pound to a penny Mr Goldacre actually employs her directly, and Platinum is yet another 'branch' of his group!

I find RTB a complete puzzle - they always act so terribly busy. Whenever I've popped in there they've asked if I've booked an appointment as they're 'so busy'. I find this bizarre as they don't actually appear to be doing any business at all.

Still, I have to say, like Johnrgby, I didn't have any REAL complaints about the service. Or rather, I did, but it all turned out ok in the end.

[MandK]

I say again, always use an independent solicitor.

Trust estate agents like an 80 year old trusts his farts.