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WhatsApp (NL)If you have purchased a new property in Spain, here’s what you definitely need to know!
If you buy a Spanish (new build) house, it may be pre-installed with an alarm system. The builder will tell you that this is included in the purchase for free as a “gift”, but the real reason for this pre-installation is really different. We will talk more about this later on this page, which is the real reason these alarm systems are pre-installed.
If there is no alarm system already installed, or an alarm system of a different brand than the one many sales representatives drive around with in cars, then it becomes a funny situation. And here’s why:
There are only some things certain in life, and this is one of them. After buying a Spanish property, you will receive representatives at your door from various security companies that you really don’t want after reading this article. Read and shudder.
Securing your home is not something you think about every day. But it is important to have your home secured soon after purchase by a reliable company with good reviews. A security company that thinks with you and puts your interests first.
Having a reliable alarm system installed as soon as possible is extremely important. Preferably right on the day you receive the key to your new home from the notary.
Why all the rush? The risk of burglary is highest in the first weeks after handing over the keys.
Higher probability of burglary in the first weeks after purchase.
Why is it most likely in those weeks? Because there are companies that want you to pay them every month to secure your home.
Did you know that addresses of new homeowners are sold to anyone and everyone who is interested. Ideal for companies, but also for burglars.
New homes often do not yet have an alarm system, but they are equipped with new stuff, which is ideal for burglars. Burglars also obtain these address lists, obviously not directly, but via via.
But the greatest interest comes from companies in the security industry, to offer the sale of their alarm system to the right person at the right time.
We write sale, but actually we should write rental, because these alarm system representatives always rent you a system. As soon as you would stop paying, the system becomes unusable, or lacks all functionalities.
You don’t really want an alarm that keeps costing money for life!
Therefore, don’t let anything be forced on you when a representative is at your door!
We strongly recommend reading reviews before doing business with any company, especially a security company.
Forge the iron while it’s hot.
Alarm system sellers are most likely to have someone interested in their product just after they move into a new home. Interest will increase further if a burglary is experienced at close quarters.
How do representatives know you have a new home?
When you go to the notary in Spain, the notary forwards the addresses of new homeowners to companies that sell, or rather rent, alarm systems. This allows these alarm sellers to make a better selection of where to go to the door to sell an alarm system.
Banks also pass on your address to representatives, and even offer so-called extra discount on the mortgage if you subscribe to an alarm system. Why do they do this? Because they receive a lot of money from these companies on bringing in customers who remain customers for 30 years. (During the term of the mortgage, you are obliged to remain a customer).
Representatives have only 1 goal, contract signing.
These often pushy representatives are only too happy to let themselves in to make their sales pitch. In the meantime, most are also not too shy to look around to see if there is anything to pick up, and if there is not already an alarm system in place.
If you choose not to take up the offer of these representatives, it becomes beware. The chance of burglary, or theft from your garden suddenly increases after this rejection, according to stories we hear weekly.
Within weeks, the same or another representative from the same company will be at your door asking if you want an alarm system, or asking if you are sure you do not need an alarm system.
Alarm system representatives will benefit if your house or street has been broken into recently and there is a sense of insecurity. Remember, the moment a representative arrives at your door is not based on chance…!
We probably don’t need to explain to you how representatives know when to be at your door, or how they can be aware of recently committed burglaries.
If something has happened to yourself or those around you that could have been prevented with an alarm system, you might be more inclined to buy an alarm system anyway when that representative is at the door again.
Don’t fall for that, because the alarm systems from these representatives are of low quality, cost money every month, and get more expensive every year. You should not want to do business at all with representatives who make their living this way.
Never opt for an alarm system with monthly charges.
Besides the fact that the alarm system costs money monthly, they are also not easy to cancel. After all, you sign at least a 3 or even 5-year contract, and we even hear that people get a discount on their mortgage interest when taking an alarm system. If you fall for that, you are even stuck with a system for 30 years that costs money every month and gets more expensive every year.
With this deception, it looks like you will benefit through a lower mortgage interest rate, but in reality you will pay 40,000 euros or more over those 30 years, and that for an alarm system worth less than 300 euros.
Yes you read correctly, do not expect a classified alarm system. All that matters is the scribble under the contract. Not the quality of the system you are after. Alarm systems worth several hundred euros are better than the ones you get from sales representatives at your door!
Never opt for mortgage interest rate discounts, but negotiate the interest rate with no strings attached, that way you are not stuck with the same security company for 30 years.
Never choose a mortgage interest rate discount in exchange for a subscription to an alarm system of which you do not know how much this subscription will cost you every month after 3 years. If you do opt for a mortgage interest rate discount, you are obliged to remain a customer because you do not want your mortgage interest rate to skyrocket, so the alarm system provider can ask what they want from you.
Mortgage providers who give discounts on the mortgage if you also buy other products should be ignored. In the end, you will be much more expensive than with a lender without this additional condition.
Representatives do not aim to sell you a good alarm system.
Representatives who come to your door just for the dough (commission) to get you to sign an expensive and lengthy contract should say goodbye immediately.
In fact, if strange people are at your door, you should be extra wary of your belongings, even if they claim to be representatives of a security company.
Any home without an alarm system is a potential target for burglars, and burglars can also pose as representatives. Remember this well when letting strangers onto your property, no matter who they are or how they pretend to be.
Representatives always pushy.
Have you also noticed how pushy salespeople are at your door? How much fear they sow, and how they pull out all the stops to immediately persuade you to take out a subscription for years, without really informing you about the real costs.
Of course, you also don’t have to expect these representatives to inform you correctly about the options, or to inform you correctly about all the pros or cons of their system. Anything is permissible to tell, as long as the goal is achieved, signing the contract.
Once they are at your door too, you will immediately recognise the storyline!
Be prepared and don’t fall for it. Send them away immediately, and tell them you are not interested. Under no circumstances let them enter your premises, including your garden.
Because it is almost impossible to get out of the contract, the alarm system will quickly cost 10,000 euros in the first 10 years, not to mention the costs afterwards.
That is absolutely not worth the alarm on offer, so never sign a contract you are not 100% behind, or have not yet done enough research on. Many people tell us they have signed contracts under duress in the past. Don’t become a victim of this practice. And if you do think you have received a good offer from a company, always read the small print of the contract. Never sign until you have read and understood every letter.
Our tip: Always choose a security company that offers its service even without a contract, preferably offering alarm systems that you buy for a one-off payment. This will save tens of thousands of euros in costs in your lifetime. This also offers the advantage that you can choose the brand of the alarm system yourself, as there is a huge difference in quality between systems.
Alarm system pre-installed in your new home?
It may seem like a nice gesture from the builder of your home, an alarm system already installed, but nothing could be further from the truth.
The builder has these cheap and therefore low-quality alarm systems installed free of charge by certain security companies, in the hope that you sign a contract with these security companies. By signing these contracts, you are allowed to start using the alarm system, provided you pay a monthly fee ranging between 40 and 150 euros. These monthly fees increase every year, and you always sign a contract for a minimum of 3 or 5 years. If you stop paying after that, the alarm is no longer usable.
The builder has an agreement with these security companies because every month you pay the security company, the builder receives a large part of it! So the builder benefits if you enter into a contract with the security company. The alarm system which is given to you as a so-called “gift” when you buy your new house ensures that the builder will receive money from you for decades after the sale of the house.
Smart of the builder, but not so smart for yourself. Because the quality of these systems is low, and you will find it very difficult to get out of the contract if signed.
The reason why expensive and therefore good quality systems are not installed is easy to explain. As long as the security company is not sure that you will pay for it monthly, there is a chance that the “gift” has been given away for nothing. And who wants to give away something expensive for free? Not the builder, but certainly not the security company.
If you decide not to take up the offer from the security company in question, they won’t bother to come and pick up the mess either. The value is so low that removal and collection does not even pay off. You may then take it off the wall yourself and throw it in the dustbin, as it is not usable without paying monthly.
A “gift” that costs money every month for life suddenly seems less like a real gift from the builder with this knowledge, right?
Remember: Everything in Spain happens for a reason. Are you getting something for free? To use it is to pay for it. Do you get advice from someone to choose a particular company? Then the person who gave you this advice will receive a commission from the company he advised. In Spain, many companies play customers to each other, but always with an underlying idea, receiving commission for referring a customer. Own financial gain, in other words.
You have hereby been warned.
We ourselves work exclusively with the Hikvision and Optex brands. These brands are the biggest in the world and you will notice that quality in everything.
Moreover, with us you always pay once for the best alarm system and you never have to enter into a contract. With us, you buy an alarm for the rest of your life.