Apartment buying tips from a man who has visited 15,000 apartments

BarcelonaRationalize the biggest purchase of a person's life. This is the maxim of a personal shopper real estate, a fairly unknown professional profile that has a single objective: to defend the interests of the buyer. One of them, Jordi Clotet, co-founder of Nexitum and author of The 7 doors to buying your home and getting it right, written after having visited more than 15,000 apartments throughout his career and having participated in 6,000 sales. Here's some of the advice he gives.

Real estate agencies don't work for you.

After decades in the real estate sector, seven years ago Clotet decided to change sides: he closed his real estate business to become a buyer's advisor. "Apartment buyers are treated terribly in this sector; all professionals help the owner sell the apartment for the maximum amount of money and in the shortest amount of time," explains Clotet. He warns that one of the main mistakes buyers make is believing the real estate agency is providing a service, when they are working for the seller.

At Nexitum, they operate with a fixed fee, of which the buyer advances a portion upfront. This begins a purchasing process that on average lasts nine weeks: from the moment a client arrives until they sign the deposit. "There was one case where a person had been looking for two years, and we bought the apartment they wanted in 24 hours," Clotet emphasizes.

A wish list before you start

Start by going to see apartments. This is the most common mistake when starting the buying process, as it's a very emotional purchase, and there's a tendency to go to see homes without having defined criteria or goals. This is when you waste energy and time, which "young people have who don't have it," they say, "but" imagining that the apartment will last a lifetime is a very common mistake; it can be sold after 10 years. complaint mode, according to Clotet. "We must move on to smart mode", which means being aware of the apartment one can afford and that it largely depends on what one does and not on the circumstances of the environment. Therefore, he recommends starting by making a wish list: some people give more importance to the kitchen and others to the bathrooms.

First the mortgage, then the apartment

"To start, you have to prepare your financial records and go to each bank to find the best mortgage they'll give you. It makes sense, but most people go online to look at apartments and waste time visiting them, and when it's time to go looking for a mortgage, the bank doesn't give them the money," he warns. Another consequence of this poor approach is family problems: people have money they don't have because they reach verbal agreements with blood relatives. "My father says something with good intentions, but sometimes it just doesn't work out," he explains, recalling the case of someone who signed the deposit counting on a family guarantee that never arrived. They went years without speaking.

Beyond real estate portals

The most common first step when searching for apartments is to visit real estate portals, such as Fotocasa, Idealista, or Habitaclia, where everything is usually very nice. After you've defined the apartment you need and your budget, the next step is the objective: "A mistake that a very high percentage of people make is that they don't know what they're going to buy and adapt to what they've seen." Here it's important to ask yourself good questions: Do I want that apartment because it's close to work? Because of the children's school? Is it very likely I'll change jobs? Do the children have many years of school left? "Some people come desperately because they've been looking for years in a very expensive place and they do it for personal reasons that will surely change over time," she assures.

To avoid this, she recommends searching by preferred areas and going beyond the usual portals. On Nexitum, in fact, they go to real estate portals, real estate agencies, and also property managers. "We get offered a lot of apartments that will be on Idealista within 5 days," he adds, adding that they also use the cold calling technique: visiting a property and asking if apartments are for sale.

A lawyer and an architect

Once you know what mortgage you'll be given and have identified the apartment, the next step is to understand the technical and legal issues related to the apartment. "In the end, you're buying a piece of a building, so you have to know its condition. It's like buying a car: just because it's passed the MOT doesn't mean it's in good condition," he says. Therefore, he recommends going beyond the Technical Building Inspection (ITE): "We've stopped buying in many buildings that had the ITE, but weren't in good condition," he points out. The architect can tell you the condition of a building's beams even if it's been renovated. Another thing to keep in mind is whether the apartment is affected by a development plan: there may be cases where the block is planned to be laid down in 15 years, or the property simply falls outside the regulations. All of this can also affect the mortgage. A lawyer should be present because decisions often have to be made quickly on a Sunday afternoon.

The Neighbor Factor

"18% of the apartments we've found that meet all the technical, legal, and price requirements are not purchased because of the residents' report," warns Clotet. There are cases of buyers who have backed out when they found out they had a dentist, a pianist, tourist apartments, or neighbors who threw parties next door. One of the things you should always do is ask for the community's minutes, although it's not mandatory to provide them. "We don't buy if we don't have them," assures Clotet.

As an example, Clotet recounts that when purchasing a third apartment on Valencia Street in Barcelona, for a family expecting a baby, everything was wonderful until they were able to obtain the community's minutes, which had delayed the purchase process and they risked losing it. "They told us there were unmistakable noises of prostitution being practiced 24 hours a day, 7 days a week," she explains.

Clotet also recommends visiting the apartment at different times of the day, not trusting the photos (whether very good or bad), and broadening your horizons when negotiating: there are cases of swaps (exchanging homes) or apartments that have been agreed to move in after a year.