What Not to Do When Looking for a Property in Spain
Most people who dream of buying a home on the Costa Brava start the same way. They open Idealista one evening, save a handful of listings that look perfect, and send enquiries to a few local agencies. Months later, and sometimes years later, many are still searching. They've seen some lovely houses but never quite the right one, they've told their story to more agents than they can remember, and they still aren't sure whether they're looking in the right place.
After 12 years working in real estate, I can tell you this isn't down to bad luck. Searching for property on the Costa Brava from abroad is genuinely overwhelming, and much of that comes from how the property market in Spain is set up. Below are the four mistakes I see buyers make most often, and why each one quietly adds months to the search.
Mistake one: relying on property portals without local knowledge
Idealista is a useful tool, and I use it every day. But it only really works once you know how to read it. If you don't know the area, you're looking at hundreds of listings with no context. It's hard to tell whether an asking price is fair or wildly optimistic for that street, or which villages feel lively all year and which go quiet once summer ends. Photos won't reveal that a house sits beside a busy road, that the extension it advertises may not have the right paperwork, or that the nearest school is a forty-minute drive away.
Without that context, it's difficult to know where to start, let alone what to check before you fall for a property. Buyers tend to either spread their search far too wide or narrow it too early to a town they've only visited on holiday, and both can add months to the process.
Mistake two: chasing multiple agencies and agents
The natural next step is to contact agencies, and this is where many buyers become frustrated. Some agencies never return calls, particularly if you're getting in touch from abroad without a firm timeline. The ones that do respond will each assign you an agent. Before long you're juggling several conversations, often in different languages, explaining your budget, your family situation and your wish list again and again.
Sticking with a single agency doesn't always solve this. Many agencies divide their territory between offices, so even a fairly small area can involve several agents. If you're open to two or three neighbouring towns, you may find yourself passed from one colleague to the next, with details lost along the way and contradictory information about the same area.
Mistake three: expecting an agency to show you the whole market
Buyers who find a responsive agency usually have a much better experience, and there are many excellent agents on the Costa Brava. But it helps to understand what an agency is set up to do. An agency works for the sellers whose homes it lists, so the properties you're shown will almost always come from its own portfolio. That may include the right home for you, or it may not.
Agencies generally don't offer an extensive, market-wide property search, because that isn't their business model. The home that best fits your lifestyle could well be listed with a competitor down the road, and you may never hear about it.
Mistake four: letting one small area make the decision for you
Each agent usually covers a relatively small patch, and naturally they'd like you to buy within it. Their knowledge of that area can be excellent, but it often stops at its edges. If you ask a coastal agent whether you'd be happier inland, or whether a village twenty minutes away might suit you better, you may not get an impartial answer.
For anyone relocating to Spain, this matters enormously. Choosing between a coastal town and a village in the Empordà countryside, or between a busy resort and a quieter bay, will shape your everyday life far more than the number of bedrooms. What you really need is someone who can look at the whole region from a bird's-eye view and give you an honest comparison.
So what's the alternative?
None of these mistakes are a reflection on the buyer. They're simply what happens when you try to navigate an unfamiliar, fragmented market from a distance. The good news is that there's a different way to search, one where someone works on your side, across the whole region, from the very first conversation. I explain exactly how that works in What Is a Property Search Service? How I Find the Right Home on the Costa Brava.
Frequently asked questions
Why is it so hard to find property on the Costa Brava?
Listings are spread across many agencies and portals, each agent tends to cover a small area, and prices and quality vary a great deal from one village to the next. Without local knowledge, it's difficult to judge value or compare areas fairly.
Are the prices on Idealista accurate?
The asking prices on Idealista are set by sellers and agencies, so they don't always reflect what a property is really worth or what similar homes nearby have sold for. Local knowledge is the best way to tell a fair price from an optimistic one.
Should I contact several agencies at once?
You can, but it often means repeating your story to many different agents and still only seeing each agency's own listings. A single point of contact who searches across all agencies usually saves a great deal of time.
Tired of searching on your own? Read how my Property Search service works , or get in touch to tell me what you're looking for.