Last Monday we had three initial client meetings in the morning. Lots of coffee was consumed and advice given and everyone was surprised at the amount of time we gave them and the information we were able to impart in that time. It's because we are used to it. Ever since we started offering free meetings over Zoom during the pandemic back in 2020 we have been growing and growing and the inital meetings are the most important part of that growth process.
Why?
Because we are able to answer most if not all questions with confidence and quickly and we do not BS anyone. If we don't know the answer to a question we tell people and we also let them know that we will do our best to find out. The initial meeting, whether done over Zoom/Whatsapp (or whatever digital medium) or in person, is an important stepping stone to establishing trust and proving our knowledge of the local market as well as for you to get to know us and vice versa. It's also essential to get people ready for when they do actually visit Valencia and to be able to hit the ground running on arrival whether that is to make sure everything is in place regarding bank accounts, POAs, Currency exchange and everything else or to immeidately start the process of finding a property.
Reasons
One of the things we like to do is to find out people's reasons for moving to Valencia. What are their true motivations? More and more those reasons come down to one thing, political instability. Let's take the examples from last week. We had three meetings but in the third we got chatting to the people at the next table, Americans, who had just bought in Betera and they gave us their reasoning too. Have a look and see whether this chimes with you.
- The Political Situation in the USA - American clients leaving because of the Orange one and the fact that "He is going to win and it's going to get worse!"
- Trump. No mitigating factors or anything, simply put, Trump. American clients with one partner from a UK background wanting somewhere safer for their kids to grow up. The last straw, active shooter drills in the school.
- Brexit! One UK citizen with Irish passport and French other half. Driven out of the UK by the hostile environment around Brexit where the French partner was made to feel not only unwanted but also actively despised by the Home Office after living in the UK since the 1970s. Getting leave to remain through applying for settled status was Kafkaesque in its complexity so they decided to just not bother.
- Americans Having Just Moved. Came to Valencia to better the life chances of their 14 year old. Pretty certain that if Trump doesn't win the Republicans are stirring it up to instigate a Civil War and that Project 2025 will be implemented in full if he does and they want nothing to do with that. Also mentioned that virtually all of their friends are looking for a way out. The cartoon below seems to have it spot on.
And That Was Just One Morning This Week
As i write this it's now Wednesday, I'll be posting this on Monday morning as usual but again yesterday there was an initial meeting over Whatsapp, (Reason given: Trump) and then an intro from one of our past clients to a friend of theirs coming over in September and wanting our help to find their ideal place in Valencia (Not got a reason for this one yet) By next week I know we will have had another handful of these initial meetings and then we stop for the summer, more or less. See the video below.
How To Arrange Your Initial Meeting with Valencia Property
Simply put contact us and ask for a chat. You can contact via mail, via whatsapp, on any of our socials or even through smoke signals if directed in the right way. What we need is the following information:
- Your Full Name
- How you want the call, Whatsapp, Skype, Zoom, in person
- What you would like to discuss
- Best times and days for the chat (Timezone etc...)
Once we have the information we will contact you with details of the meeting and let's chat. It will likely be me, Graham, who contacts initially but depending on the information given then you may be put in contact with David, Paul, Gavin or Jess for the chat itself, especially if you are already in contact with one of them for your eventual property search.
In August I will be on holiday as stated in the video above. However, I will be doing some of these calls, I am already committed to some of them, and if you want to chat with me about your plans for moving to Valencia then August is actually a good time to do it as I am much less committed to other stuff and having these calls keeps my eye in so I'm not overwhelmed with stuff on getting back to work in September. However, if you are on the ground in Valencia in August then an in person meeting is out of the question unless you fancy an 850km detour to come and see me in the rainy north of Spain.
Questions to Discuss
To get the most from the meeting we need to discuss your needs. Think about the following;
- Timelines
- Property Questions
- Market Situation
- Areas
- Financing
- Taxes
- Family Situation
- Legal Issues
- Schooling
- Special Requirements
- Contacts
All of these things and maybe more are relevant to most people (Maybe not the schooling issue for all) We are able to give advice on most of the above though we will refer you to other people who are experts in their fields for stuff such as taxes and legalities. We can answer to a certain extent but expect to hear the sentence "I'm no tax expert so take this with a pinch of salt but to know for sure contact..."
The Follow Up
Once we have had the meeting it's the follow up that is most important. We will send you articles relevant to the questions that have come up on the call, put you in touch with people who you may need to speak to, lawyers, mortgage brokers etc... and get you to fill in a form, as you can see below, with your requirements after having had the call. We will firm up your dates for visit and put you in the calendar and you will start to work with one of our agents to get you the best possible selection of property for your requirements, price range and areas.
You will also want to come back to us with further questions, there are always questions you forget to ask on the call or that come up after the call as a result of issues we discuss. We will start Whatsapping back and forth with you. This will mean that by the time you come there will be no doubt about what needs to be done and we can get straight to work.
Keeping Up To Date
There may well be some time still to go before your visit. We have people making preparations a year or more before their arrival in Valencia at times. In the meantime you should bookmark the Valencia Property site and the blog and keep reading things as we update the blog weekly and upload properties regularly even if not daily.
You should go to our podcast page and work through the podcasts already there to get the lowdown on the Valencia Property market. The latest podcast is here.
You can ask to join our broadcast Whatsapp group where we will put in the latest bargains, latest properties, blog posts, instagram informational posts and news from Valencia so you are reminded of what is happening in the market. (Whatsapp me on 0034 657994311 and say put me in the Broadcast group along with your full name and I'll save you in contacts! Also make sure to put me in your contacts so you receive the updates)
You should follow us on social media and even though you might not want to be everywhere like we are (you may not want to be on the bin fire that is Twitter these days for example) but I would suggest currently it's best to follow on Instagram for short videos, our Facebook page for new and updated listings and our homepage to enjoy our often brilliant property descriptions.
And most importantly if you have a question then ask! You'll have our email, whatsapp and more so you can always ask. However if you are on Facebook and not a "friend" don't send to my personal inbox as FB hides those messages really, really well. Or you may want to send your requirements... and for that see below.
Next Steps
You might be ready to send us your requirements now because you know what you want so take the first step and fill in the form below. One of us will get back to you.
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5005
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Property (and Description of the Week)
Welcome to TransylValencia a place that casts no shadow, where you can lie in your crypt undisturbed by the harsh (For Vampires) Valencia sunlight all day before emerging into the night and searching out the blood of your victims to reenergise yourself and maintain your youthful looks.
How can you buy this perfect home then you lovely creature of the night? Well, to start off with the current owner has to invite you over the threshold I believe, otherwise you cannot enter.
Once inside you will see to your right the circular staircase apparently taken from the Transylvanian Castle and brought to live in the Carmen in Valencia to connect up the various floors of this apartment and take you out into the night on the decently sized roof terrace where you can turn into a bat, joining the other hundreds of more Valencian and less bloodthirsty bats flitting through our skies at night and feasting on any stray mozzies.
The main floor does have a lot of light in the livng room and kitchen so leave your feasts until after dark of course. Where we get this theme of Vampirism though is from the three bedrooms and their lack of direct sunlight. One bedroom has a high window which will require blackout blinds to make sure a shaft of sunlight never pierces your gloom or melts you, one has a roof window but that could also be blacked out if required. The third small room, basically a glorified cupboard, is perfect for visiting family members such as Uncle Vlad the Impaler the sixth on his latest European sojourn as no light will ever penetrate the room.
For those of you really wanting more darkness then there is an underground garage space for your hearse and if you knock the lights out in the lift then you are entombed in total darkness while it travels up to your floor.
Unfortunately there are no turrets, drawbridges or ramparts in the building as it was built in 2007 but on the plus side there's a definite lack of garlic, no wooden stakes to be seen and definitely no crosses on the walls, so swings and roundabouts really.
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