True Story of a Man who bought Property Abroad Unseen

Summary: Sad but true story of a man who bought property abroad off the internet in a country he’d never visited

This is the sad but true story of a man who bought a property abroad not only unseen but in a country he’d never been to before and without even using a solicitor for the purchase transaction!  Sounds too mad to be true?  Well unfortunately it’s not…this is a man who has obviously never read ShelterOffshore and therefore never heeded a single word of warning and advice that we give about buying property abroad carefully and therefore successfully.

If you want to laugh and despair at the same time whilst learning a valuable lesson from this guy’s mistake, read on to learn all about the man who bought a house in a country he’d never been to from a man he’d never met before and who of course lived to seriously regret the decision.

Once upon a time in a land not so far, far away there was a slightly less than scrupulous man living in a beautiful five bedroom villa property overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. 

When the man built this fine home he had unobstructed views of the sea, plenty of undeveloped space around the generous boundaries of his home and he was happy to sit in seclusion beside his pool and survey his neatly manicured gardens.

Then one day the less than scrupulous man awoke to the sound of construction activity outside and watched with a sinking heart as the land directly adjoining his property was developed. 

An expansive and impressive but if we’re entirely honest, an ugly and sprawling home was built exactly three meters to the very centimetre away from less than scrupulous man’s boundaries totally obstructing his sea views and rendering his once private garden veritably overlooked.

‘Oh well’ thought less than scrupulous man, ‘I’ll just sell up, cash in and ship myself off someplace else…’

And that is exactly what he did. 

Luckily for him some people really do believe they can buy a property over the internet along with their groceries from Tesco, their books from Amazon and their flight tickets from British Airways…the vendor privately advertised his villa on the internet, supplied all the stunning photographs of the previously unobstructed views and the previously pristine pool and gardens (which had now fallen into a state of neglect because the vendor had lost interest in them) and placed a tasty quarter of a million pound price tag on the property and sat back and waited.

Sure enough along came someone in the next shower of rain who fell in love with the pictures, found the price tag reasonable and who believed that you don’t just research your options on the internet, you commit hook line and sinker to a full on property purchase.

So, via email, fax and snail mail communication and correspondence the buyer transferred a holding deposit to the vendor’s UK bank account, signed a basic purchase agreement without showing it to a solicitor first, signed a power of attorney form for the vendor’s solicitor to act in the buyer’s interests (!) and then waited 30 days before transferring the full asking price and meeting up with the vendor for the very first (and last) time back in the UK to collect the keys.  The buyer and vendor had a quick pint and a chat before the buyer jumped on a plane off to inspect his new purchase and the vendor jumped on a plane - presumably to somewhere very far away. 

When the buyer arrived in the Mediterranean facing country in question, the first thing that struck him was how unlike Paphos in Cyprus it was…as that was the only other Mediterranean destination he’d been to before.  He was very disappointed by the basic nature of the country he’d arrived in and how old fashioned and quiet it was – it wasn’t a happening holiday destination after all but a retirement home in the sun.  But never mind, he practically owns a mansion on the Med so it can’t be all bad – or so he thinks.  But when he arrives and sees his home with no views, dirty pool and overgrown gardens he can’t quite believe his (bad) luck and realises he has paid way over the odds for something he doesn’t actually now want to own.

This story was relayed to us by a man our featured buyer then met down the nearby pub drowning his sorrows – he was passing round before and after pictures of what the property looked like asking ‘how long has that been there’ whilst pointing to the well established neighbouring house and asking ‘what happened to the pool’, ‘where did the garden go’ and ‘what have I done’…

So there you have it - and the moral of the story is - well there is no moral really – just don’t be naïve when it comes to buying property abroad!

While you can do all of your initial research on the internet, book a viewing appointment, pay for your flight tickets and even arrange a hire car and hotel, you shouldn’t actually buy a home off the internet in a country you’ve never been to before, from a man you’ve never met before, without the aid of a solicitor.

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