aProperties: Luxury Apartments in Barcelona

aProperties was set up in 2019 as an agency for the sale of high-end luxury properties. They have 6 offices, 2 of them in Barcelona (2 in Madrid, one each in Valencia and Mallorca). They also have rentals, but their primary focus is on the sales of exclusive properties in prime areas.

I       aProperties

The Brand: The eFinance group (2004) has 6 companies, all related to facilitating the high-end sales market: aProperties, aTemporal, aRetail, aYachts, aCapital, and aFinance. They promote The 360º Method as offering a complete range of sales services, especially to international customers.

II      At a Glance

aProperties is a high-volume agency, with over 400 listings just in Barcelona, a solid list of over 80 rentals, as well as some high-end offices spaces available for sale. They advertise leading clients through each step of the process across all areas of their business as highly experienced professional.

It has high positive scores on Google Maps reflecting these aims. However, we found a serious lack in the other and independent forums which raises questions about the reality of business with aProperties. Spain’s real estate market is less regulated than many that foreigners are used to. They have a very large list on their books, but there are significant concerns about the service and in particular communication issues and lack of transparency.

In spite of their huge and up-market quality of properties listed, our concerns lead us to give a rating of 5.8/10.

III     aProperties Brand and Operations

aProperties aims for an all-inclusive deal for customers specializing in modern, high-quality properties which gear to high-end buyers and renters from overseas, including in the Barcelona area. It is predominantly sales oriented – both housing and office space, but also has a significant number of rentals on their books.

They are AICAT registered, and have a strong presence on social media, especially on LinkedIn and Facebook, promoting themselves in the “luxury lifestyle” market.

The 360º Model

They have coined the marketing claim that they aim for 360º. By this they mean that they don’t just cover the property demand for their clients, but they facilitate the process by having all services that are a related to the purchasing and renting of a property under their hat as a complete deal.

The six organs under The aFinance Group, set up in 2004, are:

• aProperties
• aTemporal
• aRetail
• aYachts
• aCapital
• aFinance

aProperties (2019) deals with the high-end sales and rental of residential properties.

aTemporal focuses on the short-term market in Barcelona, with modern fully-furnished, ready-to-go, top-end accommodation, with flats which are fully equipped.

aRetail includes sales and rentals of high-end business properties – retailers, asset managers, investors, investment funds, international and domestic family offices, plus search and acquisition and property management

aYachts services the sale of yachts from classy leisure crafts up to the fully contained yachts, both motorized and with sales.

aCapital offers brokerage of real estate, hotels and residential, land and developments, industrial and commercial, to maximise the yield on each capital investment, create sustained growth and a revenue stream for clients.

aFinance caters for al the mortgage needs, and negotiate to the clients’ best interests.

Sales Orientation

In terms of the rental market, aProperties has a significant rental presence. In the Fotocasa portals they have an extremely strong marketing presence, with over 500 properties listed, over 400 of them are for sale, with close to 100 for rent, 35 development projects and 5 land sales listed. In addition, they have over 300 for sale and just over 100 rentals listed in prime real estate areas.

Presence on Idealista & Fotocasa

aProperties maintain a high presence in high-competition areas of Barcelona such as Eixample and Sant Antoni. They achieve this by having sales listed predominantly in those high-competition suburbs. Their listings highlight the unique features of their properties, which they further endorse by their 360º Model philosophy, offering to cater to the clients every need in order to make the process seamless, suggesting a tailored, concierge-level service.

In addition to this, they have multimedia presentations including a video which is flashy and impressive, showcasing the best features of each property, revisiting the areas of highlight on the property for added footage (although glossing over details that don’t make spotlight material – many, for example, completely ignore bedrooms unless they show a view).

They are regularly listed by Idealista as #2 for luxury real estate.

IV    The “Rental Hunger Games”

Is there validity in this damning label from a disgruntled Reddit customer?

Spain is a very dynamic and competitive real estate market, Barcelona perhaps even more so than some other localities. The Spanish real estate market is less regulated and has a very different profile to many of its neighbours. There are many fees and details that are outside the sale price, and details to take into account regarding previous ownership.

All this, together with a hungry market of foreigners looking for properties in Spain, is an open invitation for less ethical agencies wanting to target foreigners with the so-called “expat taxes” – additional or bigger fees taking advantage of their unfamiliarity with the Spanish market.

Reddit – Often a source for more reliable information describes the aProperties pressure to buy (and rent) as “vulture-like” in gaining sales before clients have time to properly consider their purchase.

On the surface, aProperties seems to shine, and definitely appears glossier than your average Barcelona agency, but what story does the feedback tell?

Google Maps gives a very nice 4.2/5 over 800 reviews. The positives focus on an extremely smooth process. The 5-star reviews often identify a particular agent. What is concerning is that there is a spike in 1-star reviews, but almost nothing in between – this is not a natural pattern of feedback, warranting a closer look at the reviews themselves, especially what the issues expressed in the negative ones Google Maps is unverified feedback, and should not be the only feedback considered. In particular, the reviews are typically written at the beginning of experience and rarely reflect ongoing and exit details.

The negatives cite “toxic” experiences”, a lack of transparency, and difficulty in claiming refunds. There are complaints about errors in paperwork, regularly missed deadlines, bad organization and difficulty in making contact. Of note, one negative response from Sant Cugat/Mira-Sol reported that after 2 weeks of fetching documents to an extensive degree for a purchase they were they did not fit the profile.

aProperties feedback to negative reviews are typically generic or responsibility shifting – none address the issues raised.

Trustpilot: This is where the red flags start. For an agency with this volume of sales and rentals, the fact that the independent and main source of feedback has only 3 reviews in total over the past 12 months is completely out of place. All of them were negative, and cited several issues.

They included a development with faulty work and substandard finishings, missed deadlines, impossible to contact, rude and unreliable. One advised that they advertised apartments that didn’t exist, then proceeded to push more expensive ones. These 3 responses do not corelate with the 800+ on Google Maps. This is both disturbing and means there is no reliable feedback available on aProperties. Their Trustpilot score is 2.8/10.

V     Real Estate Market in Spain

aProperties draws in expats through their high visibility and appealing profile. They have a dominating presence on Fotocasa and Idealista with showy apartments available. In particular, they have flashy looking videos to showcase them, competitive prices, and an excellent feedback score on Google Maps with a healthy-looking number of reviews. This attracts prospective clients from overseas to pay attention.

Fake Listings. However, when it comes to the nuts and bolts, it is essential to look beneath the façade. The reality of aProperties is that properties listed aren’t necessarily available, but an excuse to push customers onto more expensive options. The videos repeat views of the premiere parts of the property without showing many of the background details – bedrooms and bathrooms and laundries are typically ignored.

Transparency. They are not transparent and don’t explain many of the extra costs, and details which are unique to the Spanish real estate market. There are many reports of new properties not being finished to an adequate standard for the luxury section of the market.

Service. These and other issues are not addressed since aProperties seems to become unavailable for contact after the contract and monies are exchanged. This is in complete contradiction of The 360º Model that is the cornerstone of their brand, duping international buyers into believing that they will make this complicated investment smooth and easy for them, and consequently being more trusting than might be advisable. There are many extra fees in property sales in Spain which are not normal elsewhere. There are also additional legalities with checks which buyers might not realise are essential relating to previous ownership and property debts – they are carried with property, and don’t stay with the previous consumer.

Pressure. Clients have also reported major pressure to sign quickly, including through untrue factors, forcing a sale before the client has had time to process all the information and variables. In such cases, it is essential to seek an independent legal consultation in such circumstances, and also to follow up all the legalities which are not forthcoming from aProperties.

Feedback. Supporting this very disturbing profile is feedback that is incongruous. While Google Maps has a score of 4.2/5 from around 800 reviews, Trustpilot has 3 reviews over the past 12 months, all of them 1-star negative and report serious issues. Part of this may be that Google Maps reflects satisfaction with initial contact and setup, but usually has no responses that reflect later parts of the process. Trustpilot reviews are also validated for authenticity, while Google Maps has no checks on the source of information, allowing room for manipulation and distortion. It is totally possible that company employees and others can post fake reviews to deflect the negatives.

Customer beware. There is also a very damning report from Reddit which labels aProperties as “vulture-like” with their aggressive sales pressure, in a market that they call a “Rental Hunger Games”. While advisable for all who wish to invest in the Spanish real estate market, Prospective customers of aProperties should be especially wary and thoroughly research, and seek legal advice if feeling pressurized, and to be clear on all facets of making a purchase in Spain.

Rating. Within this context, although they have an extensive visibility with Fotocasa and Idealista and a good rating on Google Maps and the attractive angle of The 360º Model, considering the other issues which seem to dominate even within the fierce property market of Barcelona, we give aProperties a rating of 5.8/5.