Posted: Sun Oct 24, 2021 2:29am
It's definitely the vendors who pay the commission. They are the ones who have contracted the agent to sell their property and you as buyers can buy the property off whichever agent you prefer, although it is only good manners to use the agent who originally showed it to you. If this agent is trying to extort money from you, then see if the property is also on the books of another agent. It sounds to me like the vendor has been persuaded to reduce the price of the property in order to get the sale by getting the agent to reduce his commission from the usual 5% to 2% or 3% and the agent is trying to make up his commission by getting you to pay the difference. As you haven't signed a contract with the vendor's agent, you don't have to pay him anything! The usual purchase fees will be charged at the moment of sale at the Notary and the monies for this should be held by your solicitor, as should any holding deposit for the property purchase, that may have been agreed. Never pay the agent anything at all and don't use that agent's recommended solicitor either - he sounds pretty dodgy! As Peter C says above, the buyer pays all the purchase fees but the vendor pays the plus valía, which can't be paid before the sale. Your solicitor or the Notary should retain a certain amount from the monies that you pay for the property, to cover any outstanding bills and the plus valía, which is the difference between the value of the land since the property was last sold and its current value. Good luck!