Federation Of British Estate Agents In Spain – Beware!!!

August 28th, 2008 - Chris Marshall

First posted on the 15th August, but reposted as it has received some interesting comments and exchange of views!

With all the ‘bad press’ that the overselling of property by (primarily) UK Estate Agents has received recently I was (initially) pleased to come across something called the Federation of British Estate Agents in Spain as my initial impression was that this must be good news.

After all it is avery official looking logo, and implies credibility, trustworthiness etc etc. Indeed it makes a rather impressive statement to support this view:

The only professional body dedicated solely to British Estate Agents in Spain, the professional body intent on raising the standard of service in real estate practice offered to the General Public.

It would appear though that the ‘Federation’ is nothing more than a self appointed membership scheme. As I understand it, in Spain you must register as a Federation and display your registration details on the web site, which as you will see from the link above they aren’t doing!

The site does have a rather intriguing BRIRES S.L in the footer which would tend to indicate that it is nothing more than a company …… in fact it is a Spanish Real Estate Company!!!

I am calling this one!!! A Spanish Real Estate Company passing itself off as a Federation Of British Estate Agents ……….. avoid at all costs!!!!!!

Article posted after reading several sites including David Jackson’s

About Almerimar

Almerimar is located in the region of Andalucia, Spain. The nearest airport is 30km away in Almeria. Other airports that are within 3 hours include Malaga, Murcia, Granada, and Alicanti. Other holiday resorts in the region include Mojacar , Aguadulce and Roquetas de Mar

Almerimar is a great place to live as an expat amongst the expats, or to work amongst the Spanish. There are all kinds of properties including villas, apartments and town houses for rent or sale. It is a very traditional part of Spain, with traditional Spanish foods so if you plan to travel to Spain either to look for jobs, for your company to trade with companies in Spain, or to learn Spanish and enjoy the Spanish weather then come and take a look.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, August 28th, 2008 at 7:37 and is filed under Property in Spain. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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Calling All Laguna Beach Owners | AlmerimarLife Says:
September 2nd, 2008 at 16:49
[...] below if you really want to create some awareness of the problem. If you take a look at this recent post we placed on the site regarding the Federation of British Estate Agents you will see that we can [...]
FBEAS - Federation of British Estate Agents in Spain - Spanish Real Estate forum - Spanish property - Estate agents Says:
October 11th, 2008 at 18:17
[...] [...]
FBEAS - Federation of British Estate Agents in Spain | costapropertyservice.com Says:
October 13th, 2008 at 14:29
[...] Read more about this really interesting article and some of the comments that followed!!!! [...]
FBEAS - Federation of British Estate Agents in Spain - Page 12 - Spanish Real Estate forum - Spanish property - Estate agents Says:
February 22nd, 2009 at 3:36
[...] Spain | DavidJackson.info Federation of British Estate Agents in Spain (2) | DavidJackson.info Federation Of British Estate Agents In Spain – Beware!!! | AlmerimarLife FBEAS is set up as a limited company to make money and be able to dispose of it freely and not to [...]

15 Responses to “Federation Of British Estate Agents In Spain – Beware!!!”

Bill Peterkin Says:
August 21st, 2008 at 17:23 Quote
Dear Sirs,

With reference to your article on your website please see below my comments in reply (defence).

Yes we are a commercial Company, and make no secret of it. This decision was taken at the outset to ensure continuity for the Federation during it´s infancy. We are entirely self regulating.

At the outset it took more than 12 months to set the Federation in motion, with a considerable amount of input from British Estate Agents and members of the public who had purchased properties here. Thr Directors of the Federation have more than 25 years experience in the Real Estate sector here in Spain

We have around 80 Members at present, located throughout Spain, who have all signed and agreed to work to a code of practice which can be seen on our website at http://www.fbeas.com/Code_of_Practice.asp Of course it is up to the Members concerned to ensure that they comply but we do have a disciplinary process if needed , although we are not a punitive organisation. We have already intervened in a number of disputes between our Members and clients. I am sure you would agree that an organisation such as ours can only be a benefit to the image of Estate Agents in Spain and of course to the general public from a comfort point of view, knowing that they will be treated correctly by their chosen agent.

More recently we have been working closely with our Members in Andalucia to ensure that they comply with Decreto 218, the law passed by the Junta de Andalucia relating to consumer protection in the real estate sector. This is a complicated piece of legislation and needs to be understood completely by any estate agent operating in Andalucia. It might be a good idea for you to post some information on your website as I am sure that many British Estate agents and certainly members of the public are completely unaware of it´s existence. There have been a number of inspections and fines can be excessive for serious infractions (upto 40,000 Euros). I would be happy to provide information for you if it is of interest.

According to your article you say we are a Spanish Real Estate company. This is completely untrue. We do not sell or market properties at all. We do allow our Members to post properties for sale on the Federation website, but under their own auspices. This may have caused you some confusion.

I am at loss to understand why members of the public or estate agents should beware of us and avoid at all cost. I would have appreciated an opportunity to comment and have some input before the article was published. We are completely transparent and it would have been very straight forward for you to contact us through our our website and allowed us to comment on your article prior to it´s publication. I hope you have the decency to give me the opportunity to reply in full and trust that reply will be posted on your site. I would be more than happy to discuss the matter personally. The office number is 902 024 999 and we are open 9.00am – 3.00pm, Monday to Friday.

I am copying this mail to all our Members for their information.

Regards – Bill Peterkin
Director FBEAS
Chris Marshall Says:
August 25th, 2008 at 17:56 Quote
Today I got a email saying:

“May I have the courtesy of a reply”

Now as the email I received said ” I hope you have the decency to give me the opportunity to reply in full and trust that reply will be posted on your site” and I posted the email in full as soon as I got it I reckon that warrants a reply!!!!
Chris Marshall Says:
August 26th, 2008 at 9:54 Quote
Appears that Bill requires a personal response from me as I got another email this morning …… he who protest the loudest and all that

Well here you are Bill …….

My NewsReader picked up the story about the Federation. I researched it and found that a number of other sites had similar views to my own. They boil down simply to the fact that at a time when the property market in Spain is in meltdown, in no small part because of the unscrupulous antics of UK agents (although not solely I stress as Spain has contributed significantly to its own downfall especially here in Almerimar), I thought (and still do) that the site was misleading and over played the impartiality and role of the federation, and the fact that it was in fact an estate agent itself wasn’t exactly clear. It just feels wrong.

I asked around amongst he British Estate agents here and no one had heard of you, and none said they would join.

As the blog is all about personal opinion I just expressed my personal opinion.

Thanks for taking the time to comment. I notice that when you google the Federation this comes up at second at the moment so the opportunity that it has given you to contribute to the debate is welcome.
Chris Marshall Says:
August 26th, 2008 at 10:00 Quote
And this just in …..

“Dear Chris,

This is a screen shot from your website at 9.00am this morning. I don´t see any post relating to FBEAS posted after the one that you made on August the 15th. In any event if you make a search for the Federation, your article comes up number 4 in Google, so it´s not doing our publicity any good and still contains inaccuracies.

Also there were a number of questions posed in my email which I would like answered. I am still at a loss as to why you did not contact us before you posted the article. Was there some reason for that?

With regard to checking your website for a post in reply, you could easily have mailed me the link, after all your contact page boasts “Please feel free to email us with a question, observation or suggestion via the form below. We tend to be pretty good about replying promptly so don‚Äôt be shy! We are always happy to hear from you… “

I look forward to hearing from you promptly

Bill Peterkin
Director FBEAS”

Bill …… this is a blog!!! The comments are left under the post that is made. You asked for the reply to be posted on the site (you could have done it directly as that is the whole point of a blog) which I did virtually straight away (I was traveling at the time).

You emailed yesterday for a personal reply, which I have done this morning, so to say that I am not responding is just plain inaccurate. To say that you don’t know about a blog and how to use it on the other hand seems pretty accurate.

As for not replying to emails, I wont for one simple reason. You asked that your initial reply be made public, and in so doing set the agenda for any future correspondence. That is what I will continue to do.
Chris Marshall Says:
August 26th, 2008 at 11:45 Quote
The dialogue continues ….

Hello Chris,

The original post was not a blog. We are far too professional to enter into a public slanging match. May I have your telephone number. I would like to speak to you personally.

Here you will find a list of our members in Almeria. http://www.fbeas.com/FindMembers/agency-listings.asp?Province=52 and I would still like answers to the questios I have posed previously.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Regards – Bill Peterkin
Director FBEAS

I am not sure how to respond to this “The original post was not a blog.” Errr – the whole site is a blog! That is what it is, not a web site, but a Blog. An article put on the site is a Post i.e. I posted an article, so the original article was a post on the blog. That is just a fact.

As far as unanswered questions go, these are the only ones that I can see in the initial response:

1. I am sure you would agree that an organisation such as ours can only be a benefit to the image of Estate Agents in Spain and of course to the general public from a comfort point of view, knowing that they will be treated correctly by their chosen agent.

No. I am not sure that I agree. That said I am not an Estate Agent, not do I know any personally that are members. What I am sure about is that reading something that I perceived to be an independent body, only to find right at the very bottom that it was actually and Estate Agent is misleading and doesn’t provide me (as a consumer) with any real comfort ……. but that is the whole reason for the post in the first place.

2. It might be a good idea for you to post some information on your website as I am sure that many British Estate agents and certainly members of the public are completely unaware of it´s existence. There have been a number of inspections and fines can be excessive for serious infractions (upto 40,000 Euros). I would be happy to provide information for you if it is of interest.

Happy to post information on this. Either send an email, leave a comment, or point out the web site. Thanks.

3. If you say you aren’t a Estate Agency fine. Confusion? Yes, the web site clearly states BRIRES S.L in the footer, and as far as I am aware they are an Estate Agent? It still seems that the Federation is owned by an Estate Agent, which does not portray impartiality. I still can’t find any sign of the Federation registration number as I think it required?

As for contacting you ……. the article was an opinion based on the way the information came over from your site. That is the point that maybe you are missing? Perception is reality as they say, and having read your site I came to the conclusion that it was lacking a Federation number to give it credibility, and the fact it appears to be owned by an Estate Agent doesn’t sit well with me.

As for a phone call, what is the point? As you yourself have said this thread is now very high in Google so I would have thought you are best to clarify the above in writing so others can see your answers? If I am wrong and you do have a Federation number on the site to give confidence, and the ownership of the Federation isn’t by an Estate Agent then you can clarify that here and everyone will be aware.

That is the beauty of the internet
Mac Sokulski Says:
August 26th, 2008 at 18:04 Quote
After going through this conversation, I think Chris brought up a couple of valid points, that were not answered as of yet. Namely the part that the “Federation” is seemed to be owned by an Estate Agent, and that there is no valid number displayed. Besides those points, in reality this is a blog, and as far as I know, the comments are where the discussion on the post, happens. At some point another post might be in order if the original was done in error, or the questions posed in the initial post were answered. Just to do fair justice to the critique. So far it seems that none of the objections in the original post were corrected by the “Federation”. Thus making this a valid post.
Mediterraspain Says:
August 27th, 2008 at 13:18 Quote
As an established estate agent in Almerimar I would agree with the original view in this post.

We have a number of clients who have come to us with problems created by British estate agents who have done a bad job, and left the problem behind them when they left. Specifically they have sold properties for higher prices to gain larger commissions so is now complicated to sell these properties.

They have also led clients to believe that there is a buoyant rental market, and sold furniture packages on the back of this expectation. Now the estate agents are no longer here, the clients are looking to us to help them out.

To be fair this is not exclusive to British estate agents! It is important to verify the credibility and reputation of the estate agent.

Looking at the above post and the implication of ‘reputation’ inferred by membership of the ‘federation’ I agree with the sentiment of the original article.
Chris Marshall Says:
August 28th, 2008 at 8:25 Quote
Wow!!! I did some asking around about some of the companies that Bill provided in comment 5 above, and it seems that a number of them are associated with quite a lot of overselling off plan in the Mojacar region.

Now I am NOT going to give names as all I have at the moment is ‘off the record’ comment, but I did speak to one person who dealt with a company on the list.

There experience was not good. They were shown a property that was already sold in a development, not as a show home, but as a property that was available, and when they eventually bought in a different development through a different agent the original company tried to make them pay, and at the same time tried to get a % of the commission of their estate agent.

Mediterraspain are 100% correct, as we say on our Property Page, get to know the estate agents first. As a rule of thumb we have always gone by the process of asking around, speaking to locals, finding out who have been around the longest, and trying to deal with local businesses.

A federation could well be a good idea ……. but only if it is an actual federation, run by a independent body, will reputable agents involved.

Personally I would still prefer to do my own research, trust the recommendations that I found, and deal direct.
David Jackson Says:
August 31st, 2008 at 22:28 Quote
Thought you might be interested in this recent post on my own blog !

The bloke running it is , a hairy fellow called “Bill” (William Thomas) Peterkin (a photo here ).

He is “administrador unico” of Brires s.l. and gouldourn-mata s.l. Claims to have been running for over 10 years, but latter company was constituted 27/09/2002, and is currently under “cierre de hoja registral” which I gather is when the registrar of companies suspends activities for any of a dozen reasons. Probably for not filing annual accounts as I was unable to bring any up.

Brires s.l. was founded in 1995, but, and I don’t know why, seems to have been inactive until 2006 when old Bill named himself administrator and activated it.

I found the following comment by him on a message board (and similar on others): “I completely agree with Paul´s comments. You should always use an agent, and if they are British make sure they are Members of the Federation of British Estate Agents in Spain http://www.FBEAS.com It has enhanced our image tremendously since we joined, with clients knowing that we have to abide by a strict code of Practice. I would recommend it to any British Estate Agents working in Spain and the fees are for nothing. Bill Peterkin, Manageing Partner
Goulbourn Associates Real Estate “
http://www.eyeonspain.com/spain-magazine/dont-blame-spain.aspx

Why yes, I was bored this morning. Gotta love that net. So he’s pretending to be a satisfied member of the Federation without disclosing the fact that he’s also the owner?.
Now, if you´re going to setup an association called the “Federation of British Estate Agents in Spain”, set it up as a Federation and not as an SL. The word “Federation” implies a government registered not for profit association – a Sociedad Limitada is a for profit limited company.
And don’t sell properties via your own MLS system on the back of that. It’s unethical. How can the customer be assured that you are going to carry out your high faluting promises of your “Code of Practice” if it’s being run as a “for profit” company? If you want to, setup the Federation and then use the list of members to invite them to join a seperate MLS to share their properties, that way the end consumer can be assured that there is no conflict of interest (as you could belong to the MLS but be thrown out of the Federation, or Federacion as it should be known).
Also, how can it be ” the professional body that caters solely for British Estate Agents operating on the Spanish mainland and Islands”? How do you define what is a “British Estate Agent”? The obvious answer is that it regulates UK based estate agents that operate also in Spain – or are there estate agents in Spain that cater only to the British, and if an Irish person walked in would be sent away?
Mark Adkinson Says:
April 18th, 2009 at 21:00 Quote
I was contacted some time ago by the “federation” and told that they represented god knows how many agents: none in my area Galicia Northwest Spain, I phoned a large number of the “members” almost all said that they got no advantage out of it and most said that they would be leaving when their next bill came in except one lady who extolled their virtues (founder member and I think associate). Seems I was lucky to do a bit of investigation. TAKE CARE!!
Chris Marshall Says:
April 20th, 2009 at 9:40 Quote
Thanks for the ‘heads up´!