Search for a Business
Enquiry with Costa Bars Spain
The whole process starts by you making an enquiry with Costa Bars Spain. You either entered an enquiry from our website www.costabarsspain.com or you reacted on any of our adverts on a portal, in a newspaper etc.
Determine your Requirements
The first thing Costa Bars Spain will do is try to call you. A telephone conversation or a meeting is the best way to discuss your requirements and narrow your search down to a desirable location, type of Business and budget. These parameters can remain as flexible and for as long as you want. If you are not sure you want to narrow down the search, we will be looking through a wider range of Businesses.
We will send you a selection of Businesses with the necessary pictures and details and you can then give us feedback. This is repeated as often as you like until you have seen some Businesses which really interest you.
We will discuss a lot by phone and email but the best thing is of course for you to come down to the Costa del Sol on an Inspection Visit and view the Businesses you are interested in.
Inspection Visit
Costa Bars Spain will help you organize your Inspection Visit: suggesting airlines and flights, help you find the accommodation you want, help you organize car rental if required, airport collection, Hotel transfer etc. Once you are settled in your Hotel, we will make an appointment to meet with you to discuss your requirements in more detail.
During the meeting we will show you what we have on our database by showing you the Businesses which most closely match your requirements. We do that by showing you a Business description, pictures, location, sizes and price in more detail than we have before and narrow it down to the specific Businesses you would like to visit. We might also tour the areas you are most interested in to give you a taste for what is on offer there. We will then book Viewing Appointments for the Businesses you want to view.
Viewing a Business or Businesses
We will accompany you to the Business to be viewed. The owner might be there but most importantly you will get a good look at the complete Business.
You will sign a Viewing Record stating you have been introduced by Costa Bars Spain to the Business.
Afterwards we will talk more about the Business, go over any questions you may have, and get answers from the owner if we do not already know the answer ourselves.
If you are really interested and you want to view the Business again, we will organize a second viewing.
Inspect the Accounts
One of the questions we get very frequently asked even in the first enquiry a client makes is "what is the turnover" or "what is the profit" or "can I see the books". Of course this is a very relevant question.
Any information on a Business which is of financial nature or which describes the operations and trading of the Business is confidential information and as such can only be released with the consent of the Owner. Owners will normally be prepared to show you financial or trading information but this normally is provided once you visit the Business and the Owner can see you are genuinely interested to buy the Business.
Although this information is of course extremely important for you to make a decision on whether this is the right Business for you and what you are prepared to pay for it, please remember that once you take over the Business, it will be up to you to set the mark for the performance of your new Business. With determination, hard work some common sense and focus you should be able to improve performance of any Business.
Here is where we can help you out again: the Costa Bars Spain Team will advise you all the way and will give you their honest assessment of the current performance of any Business. And we will also tell you where we believe improvements can be made. We are ideally suited to do this based on our team’s extensive experience on living in Spain and running a Business here.
Make an Offer
Now that you have found the Business you would like to buy, the negotiation process starts. The first thing to do is determine how much you want to offer for the Business. This does not necessarily only include a suggested purchase price but also any other conditions you might have in order to come to a purchase agreement e.g., included training, lease terms you might want to see (e.g., a maximum rent of 1000 Euros rent) etc.
The initial offer might well mean the difference between success and failure or at least a difference in price which might be quite significant. It is here you really need a professional Commercial Agent to advise you on what offers might be feasible as a starting point for negotiations or which offers might offend the Seller and will never get accepted.
The Costa Bars Spain Team will be advising you on all aspects of an Offer (making sure you do not overlook any important issue). Anything which might need further investigation or clarification before the offer is made need to be explored and we will be there pointing these items out to you.
Once you have determined exactly what your initial Offer should be, the Costa Bars Spain Team will put it forward to the Seller, defending your position and pointing out why certain issues and conditions have been raised in the Offer. It is much better to have a professional Commercial Agent do this negotiation and interfacing with the Vendor than when you would directly negotiate with the Vendor yourself because these types of interactions tend to become sometimes too personal and objectivity might be lost.
Now we just need an Agreement on the Price!
Agree on a Price
Sometimes an Agreement is reached very quickly, sometimes it takes a few
days, weeks and even months (very rare but possible - it all depends on the
urgency for Buyer and Vendor) before a complete Offer was accepted.
Normally it happens rather quickly though.
There normally are several revised offers (changes in Purchase Price and Conditions of Sale) before a final agreement is reached. Once we have an Agreement, the Agreement has to be followed up legally by drawing up a Reservation Contract (stating your final Offer and all Conditions of the Purchase like Completion Date, Deposit, Training/Handover, Inventory etc) and a Reservation Contract (so that the Vendor agrees he will take the Business of the Market and can not sell the Business to anybody else - like a higher bidder).
Deposit Contract
Once you have found the Business you want and a price is agreed, it is time to secure the sale and have the Business taken off the Market. You would not want anybody else coming along and convince the Seller to sell it to them (maybe for more money). Spanish Law states that as long as no Deposit has been paid, a Business remains for Sale.
The Deposit is normally 10% of the Purchase Price (with a minimum of 6000 Euros). This will reserve the Business until you complete the Sale. You can pay the Deposit by Bank Transfer.
This Deposit will remain in the Costa Bars Spain client's Bank Account until all legal and debt checks have been performed. No money will be transferred to the Seller so that if there are any problems your Deposit can be refunded. Of course, if you just change your mind, you will lose your Deposit.
As soon as we receive your Deposit, or we have proof of transfer of the Deposit, we will ask you to sign the Deposit Contract. This Contract states that Costa Bars Spain has received a Deposit of a certain amount from you for the purchase of a specific Business, it will name you, the Buyer, and it will also state all the conditions of the Sale, including Purchase Price and the Completion Date.
The Completion date is normally 28 days after the time the Deposit has been received. If agreed between Buyer and Seller, the Completion can be later.
Once you have signed this Deposit Contract, the Seller will sign a Reservation Contract.
At this point, you will appoint an independent Gestor (a Gestor is like a "legal Accountant" - they specialize in Business transfers).
Reservation Contract
The Reservation Contract is a contract between Costa Bars Spain and the Seller which states that Costa Bars Spain has received a Deposit of a certain amount to reserve the Business and take it off the Market. It also states that if the Seller pulls out of the deal and does not complete, the Buyer will get their Deposit back and the Seller will have to pay a certain penalty to the Buyer and to Costa Bars Spain. This should be enough deterrent for the Seller not to pull out of the deal!
The Seller also agrees to the Completion Date and terms of the Sale.
Assign a Gestoria
Costa Bars Spain will only sell a Business if the Buyer uses the services of a legally qualified person to check out everything required before the sale is completed. We recommend you use the services of a Gestor (a sort of legal accountant here in Spain). The name of the company of the Gestor is a Gestoria. Gestors are the experts on Leasehold transactions. Some people already use the services of a Gestor for other businesses and will use this Gestor to do the legal checking on this new Business. Others still need to find a good Gestoria. We can recommend Gestors our clients have successfully used in the past if you wish.
Some Buyers want to use a Lawyer to do the legal checks required but we have experienced in the past that Lawyers are more familiar with Residential Transactions (house purchases) and do not know all the ins and outs of a Leasehold Purchase or all the License issues and how each Town hall deals with them (yes, this is different from Town hall to Town hall). Gestors deal with this every day.
But Costa Bars Spain will work with any legal advisors you decide to use and we have done so successfully many times in the past.
Legal Checks
Your Gestor will receive all the necessary paperwork with reference to the sale and also the contact info for the Landlord or a Gestor appointed by the Landlord. This will allow your Gestor to negotiate a Lease contract acceptable to both parties. Your Gestor will check the License on the Business is valid and up to date and make sure there are no debts or outstanding bills.
Your Gestor will organize your appointments to get an NIE number and make sure you know exactly what you need to bring to the meeting.
Meanwhile we will help you with finding accommodation, suppliers, equipment you might need for your business and be there for you if you have any questions about your new life in Spain.
Preparation for Completion
Before you can complete your purchase you will need to make sure that the funds required are available in Spain. If your funds are abroad, you will need to transfer the necessary funds to your Spanish Bank Account.
There are several International Money Transfer companies who specialize in this and can offer you a quick and personalized service and they can offer you a better Exchange Rate! It is really worthwhile looking into this. Although there are a lot of professional and reputable companies offering this service, it is a good idea to check into their rates and other procedural aspects before committing to one company.
Finally: Completion!!
Finally the Big Day you have been waiting for arrives: Completion Time! You (and your Gestor) will meet with the Seller (and his Gestor), the Landlord and Costa Bars Spain on this day.
First the Seller will sign a Cancellation Agreement with the Landlord so that the Lease is now available again to be sold. The Seller will have to pay the Landlord whatever his Leasehold Contract specifies (can be up to 20% of the Purchase Price) and needs to settle any outstanding bills or rent.
Then you sign with the Landlord a new Leasehold Contract which you (and your Gestor) and the Landlord (and his Gestor) have previously agreed to. Your Gestor will do final checks on the Leasehold Contract and will translate it to you so everything is clear to you.
Money is exchanged, keys are handed over to you and you are now…
