Following on from a recent blog we wrote about how different types of property finders in Mallorca operate (link below), I have been asked a couple of times recently whether it is possible for MPP to work for a fee from our client – i.e. the person looking for the property, rather than our standard practice of sharing a commission with our estate agent partners. The premise for this is that MPP will work more objectively and in the buyers favour, possibly driving the property purchase price lower than would otherwise be the case.
The answer to this question is, in principle, yes. We like to be flexibly in the way we operate and there is no reason why we cannot do this if that is your preferences.
We would not recommend it however, for the following reasons:
- MPP is lives on its reputation for doing the best job possible for you. We work for you, regardless of where our income comes from – not the property vendor or estate agent. Much of our business comes from referrals from current or old clients, something we would not achieve if we worked differently.
- A key part of our role is advising you on prices and assisting in negotiations. We have strong working relations with our estate agent partners and invariably get the true picture as to the situation. Our extensive experience as specialists in Mallorca properties is applied to your benefit.
- It is fundamentally not in our interests to try to sustain unrealistic prices or to “drive the up”. Our underlying objective is a simple one – to find you the ideal property at the right price. In this market there are some exceptional deals to be had and we will help you to take advantage of this.
So, in the end, you will get the end result and paying us a fee for our services would just push the overall costs up unnecessarily for you. We can hardly advise you to do this – our job is to keep the costs down!
There are practical points to bare in mind in relation to this too. In reality property finders who charge you a fee also have a set of “preferred” agent partners, albeit unlikely to be as extensive to ours. And what some will not tell you is that they also take a commission fee from the agent on top!
Alternatively some property finders ask you for a commitment fee and ask you to sign a contract saying you will not search through anyone else. If you do you lose the commitment fee. This is understandable to a degree, but no agent or property finder can guarantee access to every property in the market. MPP has probably the best and most comprehensive coverage of Mallorca of any singe company, so it is most likely that we will be able to find the property you are searching for. But if we can’t, we don’t want to stand in your way if you then choose to search through other parties – this would just be awkward for all involved.
At the end of the day Mallorca Property Partners prefers to stand on its reputation and quality of its services. We would not say this if we were not confident that you will not be disappointed.
Some further articles on this subject that might be of interest to you are:
≈ Mallorca Property Partners – much more than just a property finder!
≈ Property finders in Mallorca
≈ Some comments from past and present clients
