Real Estate

Working out what you are actually looking for

Most searches run from abroad start too wide. A city and a general idea produce a stream of possibilities that all look plausible on a screen, and none of them can be judged until it is clear what the property is actually for.

We start from the use rather than from what happens to be available: somewhere to live, somewhere to stay when you visit, or something the family will hold for a long time. That decides which questions matter, and it is far easier to answer before a search begins than after an offer has been made.

• Establishing what the property is for, before anything is viewed
• Turning that into a brief professionals can actually work from
• Setting out what you will need to be present for, and when
• Saying early where something looks unlikely to work

Understanding how it works here, before you commit to anything

The sequence of a property purchase is not the same in every country, and what surprises people is rarely what they worried about. What gets signed and when; who holds what in the meantime; which steps need a licensed professional and which need only a decision from you — these are the questions worth answering early.

We explain the shape of the process and where the paperwork usually slows down. We are equally clear about our limit: where a question is legal, tax or financing, we say so rather than answer it. Those belong to licensed professionals, and we help you arrive at that conversation with the right questions already written down.

• How the process runs in practice, stage by stage
• Where the paperwork usually slows, and what prevents it
• Identifying which questions require a licensed professional
• Preparing those questions before the meeting rather than during it

Getting the right people around it, and keeping them talking

A property matter involves several professionals, each of whom sees one part of it. Left to coordinate themselves across a language gap and a time difference, they wait on each other — and the person waiting on all of them is you.

We make the introductions the matter requires and then stay in the middle of it: one point of contact, one person who knows what each side is waiting for. We do not do the regulated work and we do not stand in for it. We make sure it is being done by someone entitled to do it, and that nothing is sitting unanswered because two parties each assumed the other had it.

This site names no agency, law firm, bank or developer. Publishing a name requires that organisation's written permission, and we would rather show nothing than imply a relationship we cannot evidence.

• Introductions to the licensed professionals a matter requires
• One point of contact instead of several parallel conversations
• Keeping each side informed of what the others are waiting for
• Confirming in writing what was discussed and what happens next

Looking after a property you are not living in — and selling it when the time comes

Owning something in a country you visit occasionally is a standing obligation. Things come up on their own schedule rather than yours, and the alternative to having someone available is usually a small problem waiting until it is a large one.

We can be the point of contact for a property here, coordinate what needs doing, and attend the appointments an owner would otherwise have to fly in for. When an owner decides to sell, the same coordination runs in the other direction — the sale itself in the hands of licensed professionals, the practical work of organising it with us.

• A point of contact in the country for a property held from abroad
• Coordinating the practical care a property needs, as it needs it
• Attending appointments you cannot attend, and reporting back
• Coordinating a sale from the owner's side, the regulated work with licensed professionals