Lawyer, agent, valuer: understanding who does what in a purchase

Buying a home in your own country can feel familiar: you know roughly who the estate agent is, what a lawyer or notary does and when a bank sends someone to look at the property. In another country, that map no longer holds. Titles sound similar but mean different things, some roles are combined, others are split between several people, and the person you meet first is often the one who is selling.

This article describes the general roles that tend to appear in a property purchase abroad, whose interests each one represents and what questions help you check independence and scope. It also explains where a coordinator such as Wobridge fits — and, just as importantly, what it does not do.

Why several professionals are involved

A property purchase combines several separate questions. Is the seller entitled to sell? What exactly is being sold, and in what condition? Is the asking price reasonable for this particular property? How will the purchase be paid for, and what follows for tax in both countries? Who will look after the property once it is yours?

No single profession is trained to answer all of these. Legal questions belong to lawyers, value to valuers, physical condition to surveyors or inspectors, financing to lenders and tax to tax advisers. When a buyer is far away, does not speak the local language fluently and is unfamiliar with local practice, the temptation is to let one person "handle everything". That is usually the moment when important questions go unasked.

Whose interests each party represents

The most useful idea in this article is simple: before relying on anyone, ask who they act for.

• The seller's agent or a developer's sales team acts for the seller. They may be helpful, knowledgeable and courteous, but their role is to achieve a sale on terms acceptable to their client.
• A buyer's agent or search agent, where that role exists, is instructed by the buyer.
• The buyer's own lawyer acts for the buyer and owes duties to the buyer, not to the agent who may have suggested them.
• A lender's valuer reports to the lender. Their opinion helps the lender decide; it is not a personal recommendation to you.
• Independent advisers you engage directly — a surveyor, a tax adviser — work to the scope you agree with them.

A friendly sales contact who recommends "their" lawyer, or a package where legal, financing and management services are all arranged by the seller, deserves careful questions. It may be perfectly proper, but you should understand the relationships before relying on the advice.

The property lawyer

In most purchases, the buyer's lawyer (or the equivalent legal professional in that market) is the person who provides independent legal advice on the transaction. In general terms, their work may include:

• reviewing the purchase contract and explaining what it obliges each side to do;
• checking, in concept, that the seller owns what they are selling and that the property is described accurately;
• looking for rights, charges or restrictions recorded against the property;
• explaining what happens if either side does not complete;
• advising on how ownership will be recorded and what documents you will receive.

The legal steps themselves differ from one country to another, and in some markets a public official also plays a part. Ask your lawyer to explain the local sequence in writing, and to say clearly which checks they will carry out and which fall to someone else. If you are considering ownership through a company or jointly with others, the questions in ownership structures for property abroad are worth raising at this stage.

The agent or broker

Agents and brokers introduce properties, arrange viewings, pass offers between the parties and often help move the transaction forward. Their knowledge of the local market can be valuable. What matters is understanding two things:

• Who instructed them. In many markets the agent is engaged by the seller, which shapes whose interests they serve.
• How they are paid. Ask openly how the agent is paid, by whom and when. Payment that depends on a sale completing is common, and it is reasonable to understand how that affects the incentives in the conversation.

An agent is not a substitute for legal advice, a valuation or a technical inspection. Treat descriptions, floor plans and marketing materials as a starting point for your own checks rather than a conclusion — the approach in reading overseas property marketing critically applies here too.

The valuer

An asking price is what the seller hopes to achieve. A valuation is an independent professional opinion of what a property is worth at a given moment, based on recognised methods and comparable evidence. The two may be close or quite far apart, and a few distinctions help:

• A valuer you instruct yourself reports to you; a valuer instructed by a lender reports to the lender, and you may not see the full report.
• A lender's valuation exists to support a lending decision. It is not a survey of condition and should not be read as advice to buy.
• For new developments or unusual properties, comparable evidence may be limited, and a valuer may say so.

Ask any valuer what they were asked to value, which information they relied on and what assumptions they made.

The surveyor or technical inspector

A valuation looks at value; a survey or technical inspection looks at the physical property. Depending on the market and the building, this may cover structure, roof, damp, services, alterations and the condition of shared parts of a building.

For a completed property, the inspector can describe visible defects and flag areas that need further specialist investigation. For a new build, buyers often arrange a separate inspection near handover to list unfinished or faulty items — sometimes called a snagging list — so that they can be raised with the developer.

An inspection report describes what was observed within its scope. It is not a promise that nothing else is wrong. Read the limitations section carefully, and ask a qualified professional to explain anything you do not understand rather than drawing your own engineering conclusions.

The lender or mortgage adviser

If you are considering financing, the lender — or a mortgage adviser who works with several lenders — becomes part of the picture. Lenders in another country may ask for:

• evidence of identity and of where your money comes from;
• information about your income and existing commitments in your home country;
• their own valuation of the property;
• confirmation from your lawyer on title and documents.

Whether financing is available to you, and on what terms, is a matter for the lender and qualified advisers in that market. Ask any mortgage adviser who they are authorised by, which lenders they work with and how they are paid. The broader cost picture is covered in categories of cost when buying abroad.

Tax advisers and accountants in both countries

Owning property abroad can raise tax questions in the country where the property is and in your home country — on purchase, during ownership, if it is let and when it is sold. Those questions depend on your personal circumstances, your tax connections to each country and the structure of ownership.

That usually means talking to a qualified adviser in each country, and making sure they talk to each other or at least see each other's assumptions. An accountant may also be needed to keep records or prepare local filings if the property produces income. The specific questions worth bringing to these advisers are set out in tax questions for property abroad.

The property manager

If you will not live in the property, someone may need to look after it — handling keys, repairs, utility accounts and, if it is let, tenants. A property manager may be appointed before or after completion. Ask who they act for, what exactly they will do, how they report and how they handle money held on your behalf. Some agents also offer management, which is convenient but worth separating in your mind: the role that helped sell the property is not automatically the right one to manage it.

Immigration advice is a separate question

Some buyers also have a question about living in the country. Buying property does not by itself give any right to live there. Any link between property and a residence permission exists only where a specific programme provides for it, under that programme's own rules, and must be verified with qualified immigration advisers and the official authorities.

If that question is relevant to you, it should be treated as a separate workstream with its own adviser, not as a side note to the purchase. An agent or developer is not the right source for confirmation on this point.

Roles and titles differ between markets

The same title can mean different things in different countries. In some places a public official is central to the transfer; in others, private lawyers handle most of it. In some markets agents are regulated closely; in others, much less. Some roles you expect may not exist, and some may exist that you have never heard of.

Rather than assuming, ask locally:

• Who normally carries out each step in this market?
• Which of these roles is regulated, and by whom?
• Which checks are standard, and which are optional extras that buyers often skip?
• Is any role in this transaction acting for both sides?

Checking independence and qualifications

Before engaging any professional, a short set of questions goes a long way:

• Who else do you act for in this transaction? Any link to the seller, developer or agent should be disclosed.
• How are you paid, and by whom? Ask for the basis of charging in writing.
• What is in scope and what is not? A clear list of exclusions is as useful as the list of inclusions.
• Are you qualified and registered for this work in this country? Ask how you can check.
• Will we have a written engagement? A letter of engagement or contract sets out duties, scope and how complaints are handled.
• Who will actually do the work, and who do I contact with questions?

Keep the answers with your purchase records.

Where a coordinator such as Wobridge fits

Wobridge is not an agent, broker, valuer, lender, tax adviser or investment adviser. Legal questions are handled by Wobridge's lawyers within their areas of expertise (international real estate and international commercial law), working with partner lawyers in the country where the property is located when local advice is needed. It does not search for properties, negotiate prices, give opinions on value or tell anyone whether to buy.

What a coordinator can do is help you keep the picture coherent. Wobridge helps clarify what you are trying to achieve, organise information and documents, structure the questions for each specialist, identify gaps between their scopes and keep the qualified professionals you choose working from the same set of facts. Decisions, and the advice behind them, stay with you and with those professionals.

In short

A purchase abroad involves several professionals, each with a defined role and a defined client. Find out who each person acts for, how they are paid and what their scope covers. Confirm locally which roles exist in that market, keep any residence question separate and verified on its own terms, and make sure your own independent advisers — not only the seller's — are in place.

If you would like help mapping who does what in a purchase you are considering, you can talk to Wobridge.