Working with the Andorra Real Estate Agent, What to Watch Out for?
- elizabethhelenpier
- Dec 16, 2024
- 6 min read
Updated: Mar 8
The property market in Andorra can be quite the minefield of confusion and bureaucracy even for the savviest in Andorra real estate. Over the years we have watched people be somewhat swindled by the real estate market in Andorra. In some cases, this had to do with a lack of knowledge within the real estate agency teams themselves. In other cases, it was a disinterest in client responsibility tied with a relaxed southern European attitude. Mostly, however, it had to do with the complete lack of legal or professional transparency in the real estate market and from the Andorra real estate agent.
Between one Andorra real estate agent and another, the expat community, especially the recently arrived, are now viewed as the perfect client; an unsuspecting, overpaying and unknowledgeable buyer who can be pressured into buying just about anything for any imagined price. Below we explain how to keep your wits about you when dealing with any Andorra realtor by knowing where the deception often lies...
Exaggerating the square meterage
Most adverts state the square meterage of the entire build including the square meters of all the walls, parking spaces, balconies and storage lockers. The reality is that each of these pieces of the property have their own value, much lower than the actual liveable area per square meter. The price should be based on liveable area alone with price increases for large terraces/gardens; larger, boxed or extra parking spaces; etc. The price per square meter should not be including all the extra pieces of the build within the calculation. This can be fact checked against the deeds of the property and also by means of a private valuation.
Using the wrong sources for price comparison
There is an adverse tendency in Andorra to use the data from Idealista type surveys that study advertisement prices to prove to you the value per square meter, instead of the government official statistics of sold property. This of course helps the agent persuade the unknowledgeable buyer into paying over value, as advertised prices are much higher than true sales prices in Andorra.
Misunderstanding about who can survey and value a property
An Andorra real estate agent does not value and survey property like they would in many other countries. For lack of official RICS or ECO (Spain specific) surveyors or agencies in Andorra, it is in fact architects who do the valuations for legal purposes. The values suggested by real estate agents will therefore always be speculative and working in their favor for the most amount of commission. To give you an example of how this can influence the market we have come up with a little story in order for you to better understand:
A property owner, owning a 200m2 house, in an average condition, contacts an agency to sell their property and demands that the price is to be advertised at 35% above market value. Instead of 850.000€ as per market value, they want 1.150.000€ as they have seen properties for sale similar to theirs at this price on Idealista (the advertising portal).
The listing agent accepts this request and will happily advertise the house despite the obvious problem of incorrect advertised sales price.
The real estate agent will state the overall square meterage of the property including all garages, balconies, gardens, storage lockers and walls to increase the apparent size. The real 200m2 house is now being advertised at 300m2.
The unsuspecting buyer who, in most cases, is a foreigner, compares the price per square meter (300m2 not the true 200m2) to a source like Idealista which has an average of 30% overpricing in its adverts. According to Idealista, 3800€ per square meter appears to be a fantastic deal in a market where most property is advertised at 5000€.
Given the great deal they think they are getting, the unsuspecting foreign buyer makes an offer just a smidge below advertising at 1.100.000€. Offer is accepted and the property is officially sold for 30% above market value, consequently helping to push up property prices in Andorra.
Holding back information
Unfortunately, the level of professional ethic between Andorra real estate agents is not comparable to other bigger western nations such as the USA or the UK. This means blatant dishonesty is ubiquitous in the Andorran real estate market. Here are a few examples of information that was hidden from people purchasing in Andorra that we have seen most recently:
The neighbourhood is not worth the price paid despite it looking beautiful, quiet, and clean. There will likely be problems to resell in the future.
Although the property may get plenty of sunlight in summer, by October it will be cut off from any rays due to the angle of the mountain to the East and the low sun angle for a 5-6 month period.
The building is of terrible quality which is a well-known fact in Andorra, but the buyer is told the contrary.
The buyer is told that exterior changes or building an extension is completely feasible. It is very much not.
The property is near a public school, the road is therefore almost completely blocked 3hrs a day, and there are high noise levels during certain periods.
The apartment is located in a zone 2 avalanche area. The building has been built accordingly (reinforced structurally from the foundations up) and is designed to withstand any structural damage, but at no point was this mentioned.
A property that currently looks out onto nature and tranquility. No mention that the Government had approved the construction of a bypass right in front which means construction work directly facing you for some 4 years and a final view onto 4 lanes, a massive roundabout and an inevitable exponential increase in fumes and noise.
Property that never got final approval from the Government for residential purposes (due to bad construction and not fulfilling building guidelines) which was given instead aparthotel status, and then sold as apartments anyway, despite the illegality of the sales.
Out-of-date property adverts
This is not exactly under the category of swindling, but worth a mention that possibly 10-15% of all property advertisement in Andorra is out-of-date ergo already sold or off the market for other reasons. Some Andorra real estate agencies will keep these links alive due to forgetfulness but some also do it in order to pull you into their agency, pretending of course they have much more property on the books than they have.
Lack of pictures or quality images of the property
An issue we see countrywide. Real estate agencies would rather waste your and their time showing you a property in person that is completely unsuitable than taking some photos from which you could have vetoed it yourself. Having good photos does not necessarily mean they are the best agencies either so having a buying agent on your side can help you navigate these choppy waters.
Fake adverts
To no fault of the real estate agencies there are occasional fake property adverts that come up in Andorra. Nonetheless, these adverts only generally affect rental properties. They will target foreigners and will demand payment up front before viewing and always to a foreign bank account. If you are not in the country and want to secure a rental, the agencies will do a video call with you or you can employ a buying agency like ourselves to visit on your behalf. You will only ever be expected to pay into an Andorran account (IBAN starting with AD) and you will be able to check the agencies against the collegiate list in the AGIA (The Andorran Professional Real Estate Association) webpage.
Lack of professional morals or work ethic
An Andorra real estate agent does not need to be any good. The Andorran Professional Real Estate Association (AGIA) assures at least one of the shareholders has some knowledge having passed their exam, but there is no ethical standards board to the extent there would be in the USA or UK for example. As long as they are receiving and returning money in the correct way and paying their quarterly fee, they are in the most part left completely alone. As with any real estate service, the market runs on commission. Nonetheless, the issue lies with the Andorran take on what client service and responsibility means, at both a professional and personal level. To speak quite frankly the level of customer care is incomparably low compared to other western countries here.
This ease of professional access to the real estate market in Andorra has meant that many folks have joined the ranks of realtors thinking it is easy money with no work involved. Sadly, many of them seldom reply to calls or emails, or they speak to clients in a condescending manner, and will not hesitate to fib to coerce a sale.
