800 Inspections

At the moment there are more potential customers walking through the door wanting to buy a house for sale in Spain. Not only that but there are more people looking for rental and also rentals with an option to buy at a later date if and when the banks start getting their act together and lending again after they extract themselves from the mess they have created.

This week in Valencia one of the jobs has been phoning sellers to ask if they would consider  renting with an option to buy further down the line and the response has been surprising. After hearing what was involved in a purchase option contract more than 50% expressed a great interest in doing it. Thus if yur property could be rented out before selling here are the details as to how to do it.

The idea stems from the fact that someone likes your property but because o the prevailing situation they cannot currently proceed with a purchase whether that is because they need banks to start giving out money again, they need to prove income in Spain for a greater time period or they are waiting for their residency application to go through so as to get a better deal. If these circumstances apply, or maybe just one of them, then renting with an option to buy could be an option.

The contract that is drawn up can have many variables but the base of it is that they pay an agreed rental for an agreed time and within that period of time they have an option to buy the property and the right to equal any offer that comes in on the property. Sometimes there is a guarantee on behalf of the owner to stop marketing the property for a set time so the person renting can settle, in one of our contracts they were guaranteed eight months in the property without any change of ownership. The tenant thus has a stake in the property.

The good point for a potential purchaser is that an agreed price is set now and they can buy at that price at any moment. If prices drop then they can renegotiate the price in the future if they wish. If prices rise then the tenant is in a good position as their price for purchase is already set in stone. If the tenant decides to buy then the houseowner has an obligation to sell at the agreed price. The owner therefore has a guarantee on the rental and that tenant is more likely to be careful with the property as they potentially hold a stake in it.

Drawing up the contract is a bit more complicated as it requires a greater level of negotiation and more detail but luckily we take care of that negotiation for you.