The list
The Ranesta 40
Forty checks before you sign for a house that was never advertised, in the order they come up. Tick them, keep the list on this device, come back to it before completion.
Have evidence of funds ready before you register
A bank letter or a statement, dated within a month. Blind listings do not open without it, and asking for a week to produce one tells the seller everything. The private market
Run the acquisition cost for the jurisdiction
Twelve per cent in the Balearics, eighteen for a non-resident in London, under one in Zürich. The budget is the price plus the door. The numbers
Run the holding cost for ten years
Property tax, wealth tax, insurance, staff, the reserve. If the ten-year number surprises you, better now. The numbers
Model the exit before the entry
The capital gains rule of the place in the year you are likely to sell. Germany after ten years and Austria at thirty per cent are different assets. The numbers
Confirm you are allowed to buy
Switzerland, Tyrol, Vienna for non-EU buyers, co-operative boards in New York. Some markets have a fence, and it is checked first. The places
Instruct a lawyer in the jurisdiction before the first viewing
Not your own lawyer at home. The one who reads the planning file in that language and knows which notary to avoid. The method
Decide the buying entity with advice
Private, company, SCI, family holding. Changing the buyer after the deposit restarts the tax clock and sometimes the deal. The private market
Decide the currency position
A house in francs, pounds or dollars is a currency trade whether you like it or not. Decide whether to hedge before you are in love. The numbers
Write the mandate in three lines
Where, what, how much, when. If it does not fit three lines you are not ready, and the agents will know. The private market
Register with one desk, not six agents
Six agents with a rough idea produce six copies of the same portal. One desk with a precise mandate produces the whisper. The private market
Measure something
One room, with a tape. Advertised areas in prime markets are wrong by a tenth as a matter of course. The numbers
Stand where the view is at four in the afternoon
The west sun, the neighbour's terrace, the road you did not hear at eleven in the morning. Visit twice, at different hours. The places
Photograph the plant room, the roof and the boundary
The three places nobody photographs. The survey will need them and the memory will not serve. The method
Ask what was built without consent
Every villa on a coast has something. The answer matters less than whether the seller knows it. The method
Ask who works in the house and what they are paid
The gardener, the pool, the housekeeper, the manager. The seller's staff bill is your first honest holding cost. The numbers
Ask for two years of bills
Energy, water, service charges, insurance. Sellers who refuse are telling you something; sellers who produce them within a day are too. The numbers
Check the water: the well, the cistern, the mooring, the seawall
On an island the well is the house. On the water the seawall is the house. On a lake the dock is licensed separately. The places
Drive to the airport at the hour you would actually drive it
Thirty minutes in the brochure is fifty in August. The drive decides how often you come. The numbers
Walk the street at nine in the evening
Who is there in the season and out of it. Empty is fine if you wanted empty. The places
Ask why they are selling, and then ask again
The first answer is about the family. The second is about the roof, the neighbour or the tax. Both are useful. The private market
Price it against three closed sales, not three listings
Listings are wishes. In transparent markets the closed prices are public; in the others the desk knows them. The numbers
Read the planning file before the number
What may be rebuilt, extended, let, moored. The value is often in a right rather than a room. The method
Check the title, the charges and the easements
Who may walk across the garden, who owns the track, whether the bank still has a charge. The lawyer does this; you read the result. The method
Get the insurance quote
On a hurricane coast or a wildfire hill this is the diligence item that changes the decision. Get it before the offer, not after. The numbers
Confirm the tourist or letting licence in the seller's name
Ibiza, Mallorca, the Algarve, Kitzbühel's residence rule. A licence that is not verified is a story. The numbers
Have the structure ready to sign
The company incorporated, the SCI drafted, the permit applied for. A structure that is not ready loses the house to the buyer whose is. The private market
Fix the currency, or decide not to
Between offer and completion the price can move five per cent in a currency you do not earn. Decide, then stop looking. The numbers
Write the offer with the conditions, not after them
Survey, finance, planning, licence. Conditions after acceptance are renegotiation; conditions in the offer are terms. The private market
Ask what the seller needs besides the price
A completion date, a delayed move, the furniture, the staff kept on. Off-market sales are won on terms as often as on money. The private market
Decide the walk-away number before the call
Written down, with somebody else. The price at which you stop is the only protection against a house you have already furnished in your head. The private market
Read the contract in the language it will be enforced in
With the lawyer, line by line. The translation is a courtesy, not a document. The method
Commission the survey you would want if you were selling
Structure, damp, roof, services, the pool shell, the seawall. Prime houses hide expensive things behind beautiful finishes. The method
Reconcile the completion statement to the acquisition instrument
Every tax, fee and retention on the day, against what you modelled. The difference is a question for the lawyer, not a surprise for the bank. The numbers
Put the insurance and the utilities in your name for the day of the keys
An uninsured day on the water is an uninsured day. Utilities that lapse in August in Spain take weeks to restore. The numbers
Meet the staff before completion
They know the house better than the seller. Decide who stays, on what terms, and say so before the keys. The numbers
Get the plans, the manuals and the consents in one box
The as-built drawings, the licence file, the pool and plant manuals, the warranties. The next buyer will ask for it and so will the insurer. The method
Record the acquisition cost for the exit
Every euro of tax, fee and works, filed. In most jurisdictions it reduces the gain in the year you sell, and in twelve years nobody will remember. The numbers
Register what the jurisdiction requires
The tax number, the residence declaration, the wealth tax return, the imputed income. The first year's filings are the ones people miss. The places
Write the succession into the structure now
Who inherits, in which jurisdiction, under which law. A house that was bought quietly should not be fought over loudly. The private market
Tell the desk what you would sell for
Not because you will. Because in eight years a buyer with a mandate will ask, and the sale you did not have to advertise is the one this list was for. The private market
The Private Letter
One letter a month.
One letter a month: what moved in the hotspots, one anonymised sale explained, one number worth knowing. No advertising, no tracking, one click to leave.