Information = Power in Spain

After my gripe last week about all the bad news in the world of Spanish property, Jill (a Property Pulse reader) was kind enough to lift my spirits a little . During the week, other readers also told me about their Spanish property success stories - such a nice change from all the doom & gloom.

Yesterday we launched the Portuguese and Italian versions of Kyero.com. There are a handful of translations to complete but we're pretty much there, making Kyero.com available in 9 languages in total.

During the week, out of curiosity, I requested a copy of A financial guide to buying overseas from Moneycorp & Blevins Franks. In all honesty, I expected it to be rather light on information and slightly heavier on sales pitch - happily, I was wrong on both counts.

The first thing that surprised me was that it's a real, physical, put-in-the-post, type of book - so much easier to read than a pdf on a computer screen. Secondly, only five of it's 66 pages are dedicated to telling you about Moneycorp and Blevins Franks. The other 60 pages very clearly explain the ins-and-outs of mortgages, taxes and currency exchange - everything you need to know about buying property in Spain - and in several other popular countries.

You can get your own copy of it by completing this form - I received mine in the post within a few days.

Remember I mentioned Mark Wilkins book about completing on an off-plan property ? At the weekend, I spoke to a buyer who took action on some of the advice contained in that guide. He engaged a lawyer to communicate to the builder that they were in breach of the law by not providing a bank guarantee.

Surprisingly, the builder responded promptly and courteously saying that the problem would be resolved in the next few weeks. It's early days yet, but the first stage of recovering his (substantial) deposit appears to be going well - I'll let you know how he fares.

As with most legal and bureaucratic matters - especially in Spain - it pays to have good advice and know how to play the game.

Martin Dell, Kyero.com

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