Dealing with Spanish businesses
January 11th, 2010 | 
Author: I’ve written on here before about the fear of the English to deal with
Spanish businesses because of the language barrier after having had a great
experience after plucking up the courage to chance my arm and walk into a
Spanish garage when I needed some work done on my car (Rosalen Zentrum Article). The mechanic I mentioned has become a great friend, and we have since helped each other out with much more than cars!
Well, we had a not dissimilar conversation this week with another Spanish
business whom we were talking to due to a project we are working on. A
conversation that supported the thesis that sometimes it pays to take a
(perceived?) risk and step out of your comfort zone.
The norm here, or so people are so often told is the case, that when looking
for a rental property you can expect to pay one months rent, a months
deposit – and – the equivalent of another months rent to the agent as a
finders fee. Talking to Manuel (who does speak excellent English) and
lanzarote.org it seems that, although it may also have once been the case with
many Spanish estate agents in Lanzarote – times, unbeknown to much of the
English speaking community have changed…. Manuel told us that since
the start of the recession that most of the Spanish agents have completely
dropped the extra month’s rent taken as a deposit.
Don’t take everything at face value – so often in Lanzarote with things such
as property rentals, car sales and a number of other services there is a price
differential that some suppliers feel they can get away with due to the fear
of the ex-pats to step out of their comfort zone.
Go ahead, give it a try, you might be pleasantly surprised. We have been
every time we’ve tried it. Why not give google.es a try for a change…
Alan
Posted in speaking spanish
It’s a good point Alan – many ex pats here (not just Brits) can be wary of doing business with local Canarian owned companies. My advice is to bite the bullett – you’ll be surprised how anyone can overcome language difficulties when there’s business to be done.
I remember when we first arrived on the island, we were directed to a car sales place in Arrecife, having been told the owner spoke perfect English. Alas, he didn’t – not a word! But that didn’t stop us from buying three cars and two motorbikes from him over the years, and he became a good friend.
On the subject of rentals, I’m wondering if there’s some confusion? You finish up by saying “most Spanish agents have completely dropped the extra month’s rental taken as a deposit” and that’s true. In the past most Spanish agents and owners insisted on 2 months deposit, plus the first month’s rent, plus the finder’s fee. With the recession, people were struggling to come up with that amount of money, so many agents convinced their owners to reduce the deposit element to one month.
As far as the finder’s fee is concerned, most still charge it, although some have dabbled with getting property owners to pay it instead, as obviously they need to earn their money somewhere. Inevitably, that results in a higher rent, so the charge is still passed on to the tenant, albeit indirectly.
“most Spanish agents have completely dropped the extra month’s rental taken as a deposit”
Mike, no confusion – the above is simply a quote from one agent I was talking to, who is operating on this basis. Some or most may well be as you suggest charging a finders fee. I am simply relaying what was said to me.
People moving to Lanzarote should – in my opinion: ask, shop around, and not be afraid to deal with Spanish companies if they offer a better deal. And, especially in the current climate negotiate, many businesses both Spanish and English will cut you a deal as they are desperate for the business be it property or anything else… What’s the worst that can happen!
It is a great point Alan. You do see more and more Spanish businesses trying to work with English speaking staff and do appreciate the importance of the British/Irish market on the island whether renting property or buying meat & fish from suppliers.
Also on the return there are more and more British/Irish businesses bringing in fluent Spanish staff to offer their services to the massive Canarian trade as well. In our business we deal often with Spanish speaking property & business owners and it is important for us to communicate with them especially in this tough market.
In answer to your discussion above both our residential partners Lanzarote Investments and Interval Marketing don’t at the moment charge finders fees for long-term rentals but rather charge the property owner for finding them a tenant and I believe that this model is also being adopted by other agents. It all seems to depend on what the agency is offering the tenant with regards their services as to whether they charge the tenant a fee.
And on a final note as I have a German wife I suggest people don’t forget all of the other nationalities that visit this island or who own businesses here. It is amazing often the differences in price when you can do the comparison – time rather than money well spent!
A bit remiss of me I know Phil – I should clarify – when I say English I do of course mean ‘English speaking’…
(To readers of this site I should point out that Phil and his lovely German wife are personal friends
)
We weren’t aware that other estate agents outside the Spanish (speaking) community had also dropped the finders fee for property rentals, so thanks for the information…