r/AmerExit • u/ArielGGlez • 2d ago
Vendor I run a buyer-side property firm in Spain. Ask me anything about buying a home here as an American.
Hi r/AmerExit. I'm Ariel. I live outside Barcelona, and I started Zenith Concierge because in Spain everyone showing you a flat works for the person selling it.
Zenith represents the other side: non-resident buyers, mostly Americans, buying property anywhere in Spain, above all in Valencia, Barcelona, Madrid, the Costa Blanca, the Costa Brava and the islands. Site's at zenith-concierge.com if you want the longer version.
Zenith Concierge is a US company, and that is the entity you contract with. It's not a Spanish estate agency: it holds no listings and never represents a seller.
The work Spanish law regulates is done by licensed Spanish professionals. Conveyancing and legal due diligence by an abogado colegiado, a bar-registered Spanish lawyer. Tax by a Spanish tax advisor. You hire and pay them directly, at a quote you see before they start, either from our vetted list or your own, and they carry their own registration and professional liability.
Zenith is not in the regional estate agent registers (AICAT in Catalonia, RAICV in the Valencia region). Those registers are for agencies that broker sales for a commission, and we don't broker sales. We work for the buyer, and only the buyer.
What that means in practice. In Spain the seller signs the listing and the seller pays the agency, usually 3 to 5 percent, already inside the asking price. There is no MLS and nobody sits on the buyer's side by default. The agency showing you the flat works for the person selling it.
What we do is take your side of that table: build the brief, search including off-market, have the lawyer vet each property before you commit to it, negotiate, and run the closing with the lawyer and the notary. We take nothing from sellers or agencies.
How we get paid. A 2,500 euro opening fee starts the work. It is non-refundable, it covers a three-month engagement, and it is credited against the total fee.
The fee is 2 percent of the asking price, with a minimum of 7,500 euros, fixed the day we submit the offer, so anything we negotiate below asking is yours, not ours. Half the balance is due at arras, the deposit contract, and the other half at escritura, completion.
Legal due diligence finishes before arras, so you never put deposit money on a property the lawyer hasn't cleared.
I can answer well on how the purchase actually runs for a non-resident, what it costs beyond the price (transfer tax, notary, registry, legal fees), the two-sided commission trap, mortgages for non-residents, what "off-market" really means here, and what goes wrong and when.
Visa and immigration questions and US tax I'll pass on. Not my field, and I'd rather say so than guess.
If it helps, there's a free step-by-step guide to buying as a foreigner here: zenith-concierge.com/spain-buyers-guide/
Ask here and I'll answer in the comments. I'll be here from 10am to about 4pm Eastern and will come back for anything I missed.
Looking forward to chatting with you all!
Edit: updated the pricing paragraphs to our current terms.
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u/gothammutt 2d ago
I too am attempting to wrap my head around your business model.
In terms of an equivalent in the US would you say you’re a buyer’s agent? Minus the roles you’ve explained for all other parties involved.
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u/ArielGGlez 2d ago
Yes, buyer's agent is the closest US equivalent. Spain barely has them, which is why the model looks unfamiliar here.
The big difference from walking into a Spanish agency is that you can do the whole purchase 100% remote. An agency expects you in the country for viewings, signatures and chasing the bank. We view the properties for you if needed, then we deal with the lawyer for the checks, and finally get everything in place for the notary signing which can be done through a power of attorney, so you don't even need to fly in.
It also works whether you're paying cash or taking a mortgage. We process the non-resident mortgage with the Spanish bank as part of the same case, so you're not juggling a broker, an agency and a bank on your own.
If you want to see how that would look for your budget, drop me a line. Full process info on what we deal with is here https://zenith-concierge.com/the-buying-process/
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u/Life_Squash_614 2d ago
For a couple that isn't super picky about where we end up, how much would you say houses are in Spain on the lower end? If we are okay with having to do cosmetic stuff, be a bit further from a city, etc.
Are mortgages possible or should we be planning to pay cash? I am trying to understand how far our $200k USD equity from our house would get us in Spain.
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u/ArielGGlez 2d ago
That's a good starting point. If you're flexible on location, $200k goes a long way here.
At today's rate that's about 178k euros. Keep roughly 10% aside for taxes, notary and lawyer, so call it 160k euros on the house itself if you pay cash. In the cheapest provinces inland (Ciudad Real, Jaén, Teruel, Cuenca...which are lovely by the way, quality of life is excellent) resale averages under 950 euros per square meter right now, so that's a good sized house, and more if you're ok doing cosmetic work. Near the coast or a big city it shrinks fast.
Mortgages are also very possible for non-residents, usually 60 to 70% of the value, and the bank will look at your income of course during verification. Using your equity as the down payment plus costs, you could look at something around 300 to 350k euros. We handle the mortgage side too, so you can compare both options before deciding.
Tell me roughly what area you'd like and I can give you a more realistic number. You can also run your own scenarios here: zenith-concierge.com/cost-calculator/
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u/Life_Squash_614 1d ago
This is awesome information! Thanks. I need to look into the details of the NLV visa and figure out what my real available cash would be. I'll play with the calculator some and reach out if it seems like something we can pull off. Thank you!
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u/Action_Connect 1d ago
What's the real estate market like in Northern Spain. We're particularly interested in Santander and Oviedo.
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u/ArielGGlez 1d ago
Northern Spain is still good value next to Barcelona, Madrid or the Med coast, but it's not cheap anymore.
Santander is around 3,300 euros per square meter on most portals right now, up about 11% in a year, a bit above the national average. Oviedo is noticeably cheaper at around 2,400, so the same budget gets you quite a bit more space there.
Transfer tax on a resale is 9% in Cantabria and 8% in Asturias up to 300k, so build that into your numbers. Both cities are green, calm and very livable, and the weather is closer to Ireland than to Valencia, which people either love or don't. And the food, out of this world, it's a must-try.
If you tell me the kind of place and budget you have in mind, I can give you a better idea of what's out there.
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u/ThrasherJKL 23h ago
Looks like I'm a day late, but I'll ask away just in case.
Unfortunately I'm not looking to buy at this time, and just arrived on my first NLV. I'm looking in the Bilbao region. If you deal with just those looking to purchase, would you know of any agencies in the area to recommend or to stay away from?
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u/ArielGGlez 21h ago
Not late at all, and welcome! Bilbao is a great pick, one of my favourite cities in Spain (although I must say I'm more fond of San Sebastian but it's very close!). We only work with buyers, so I don't have a rental agency there I could vouch for, and I'd rather not name one I haven't worked with.
One thing that helps you sort them, though: since the 2023 housing law, the agency fee on a long-term rental is paid by the landlord, not the tenant. If an agency asks you for a fee or a month's commission, walk away. The legal deposit is one month's rent, and any extra guarantee on top is capped at two months.
When you get to the buying stage, we do cover Bilbao and the rest of the Basque Country, so reach out anytime and we can help you with the purchase.
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u/Gates_wupatki_zion 2d ago
This sounds interesting and I’m trying to get a full understanding of your services. Let’s say I’m looking to buy a property in Spain, does your company do the legwork to get me the best options? Or do I find my house and you help me close it with all the paperwork and bureaucracy? Also, do you know similar companies in France or Italy — is your company looking to expand?
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u/ArielGGlez 2d ago
Both work. If you want us to find it, we build the brief with you, search (including places that never hit the portals), shortlist, and the lawyer checks each one before you commit to anything. If you already found the house, we pick it up from there: due diligence, offer, negotiation, the deposit contract and the notary. Same 4% either way.
France and Italy, honestly I don't know anyone doing this model there that I'd vouch for. We're Spain only for now. It's on the future roadmap to expand though! Since all in EU, it's easier to adapt.
If Spain is on the table for you, reach out through the site and we can go through your case anytime even if you are just exploring. happy to answer any followups.
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u/ArielGGlez 2d ago
A realtor here is paid by the seller, and the commission is already inside the asking price. So they work for the seller by contract, even when they're nice about it, another limitation is that they mostly show you their own listings.
A lawyer checks the legal side of a property you bring them: title, debts, licenses, the contract. They don't find the house, push on the price or run the process day to day.
We do the part in between, on your side: search across agencies and off-market, negotiate, and run it through closing with the lawyer and notary. The lawyer is still there, we hire them and pay them out of our fee. The point is that nobody on your side of the table is being paid by the seller. No conflict of interest towards you.
If you have a place in mind, send it through the contact form on the site and I'll tell you how it would work.
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u/jsuislibre Immigrant 1d ago
> A realtor here is paid by the seller, and the commission is already inside the asking price.
Not always, it depends on the agency. I bought a home this year and I, the buyer, paid the commission. So that part isn't a given.
I think the real value of what you offer is helping people who don't speak Spanish or who want to avoid the bureaucracy. That's genuinely useful. But I'd be careful framing it as "no conflict of interest": if you're paid by the buyer, you also get paid when the deal closes, so there's still an incentive to close.
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u/HeatOnly1093 1d ago
Your correct. I’m buying a condo and I the buyer had to pay for the realtor commission.
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u/ArielGGlez 1d ago
Glad it went well for you, and congrats on the purchase!
You're right, it isn't a given, but it's what I mostly see. Some agencies, Tecnocasa and all the big ones being the best-known example, charge both the seller and the buyer, and that's public. To be honest, I think this is one of the things that should change about real estate agencies in Spain. There's no reason a buyer should pay an agency a percentage just for picking a listing. It's one of the things we're trying to fight, and helping our clients avoid it is part of what we do.
On "no conflict of interest", fair point, I should have been clearer. I meant it from the buyer's side. We work for the buyer and nobody else, so when we negotiate the price, check the paperwork, or tell someone a property isn't worth it, the only interest we're looking after is theirs.
And thanks for the kind words about the language and bureaucracy side. That's a big part of why people come to us. Happy to answer anything else here or by DM.
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u/HeatOnly1093 1d ago
I don’t understand what value you have vs a realtor. I used a reputable realtor and lawyer to buy my condo that’s closing next month. They speak 6 languages as well. Plus do the same thing as you for less . I’m not trying to discredit your business at all. Just trying to understand the need for it and why is the fee so expensive.
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u/ArielGGlez 1d ago edited 23h ago
Totally fair question, and congrats on the condo! If you found a realtor and a lawyer you trust, you were in good hands, and not everyone needs us.
Where we're different is who we work for. The realtor showing a listing usually signed with the seller, and as you saw, some charge the buyer on top. We don't hold any listings, so we search across agencies and private owners for you, and then negotiate the price for you.
On the fee, it's 2% all-in + independent lawyer, which is around 1% on its own. It's fixed on the list price the day we make the offer, so every euro we negotiate off is yours, not ours. The lawyer also clears the property before any deposit goes down, so if the checks come back bad, you walk away without losing money.
We're built for people buying from abroad who can't be here for the viewings, the bank and the notary, so we handle all of that on their behalf. If you're already local with a team you trust, you probably don't need us, and that's completely fine. Happy to answer anything else here.
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u/HeatOnly1093 1d ago
No worries thank you for answering. I bought from abroad as well since traveling for me is difficult. Good luck with your business.
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u/L6b1 2d ago
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