Down payment before passing on the offer to buy a property in Mallorca.

Buying a property in Mallorca. Real estate agencies or Intermediaries in Mallorca only transmit the offer from the buyer to the seller if the buyer, previously, does a down payment of 1% of purchase price. So, you are obligated to pay 1% of the price for the agent to pass the offer on to the seller. If you do not accept vendor will never know you are interested.

Sumary

We will explain the problems that may arise from suggesting this practice, which, as will be seen, goes against article 31 of the Housing Law that came into force in 2023.

Problems of doing a down payment before passing the offer.

No deadline.
Most real estate agencies that force the buyer to pay 1% in advance, make them sign a contract in which seller has no deadline to reply. Once the seller accepts the offer, there is a deadline to sign a reservation or earnest money contract.
However, if the seller takes (for example) two weeks or a month to reply, the buyer has that amount blocked (the 1%) and cannot make offers on other properties. If he does so and the first seller accepts his offer, he will lose the 1% if he does not buy.

Auction
Some real estate agencies use the signed document and the down payment of 1% before passing on the offer to negotiate with other buyers and get a better purchase price.
You make an offer and pay the 1% and that offer is shown to other buyers to increase their offer. They play with your bid behind your back.

Legal point of view for obligating buyer to pay 1% of the price for the agent to pass the offer on to the seller.

There are no regulations governing whether the buyer must pay 1% of the price for the agent to pass the offer on to the seller. The regulations do not regulate these aspects
However, these practices, which oblige the buyer to commit himself quickly before doing due diligence, may clash with existing regulations.

Article 31 of the law 12/2023 of May 24 for the Right to Housing, states that the person interested in the purchase of a property may require, before the formalization of the transaction and the delivery of any amount on account, the information listed below.
This information is never included in the document that the buyer signs so that his offer reaches the seller.

a) Identification of the seller or lessor and, if applicable, of the natural or legal person who intervenes, within the framework of a professional or business activity, for the intermediation in the operation.
b) Economic conditions of the operation: total price and concepts included therein, as well as the financing or payment conditions that, if applicable, may be established.
c) Essential characteristics of the dwelling and of the building, among them:
1.º Certificate or certificate of habitability.
2.º Accreditation of the useful and constructed surface of the housing, differentiating in case of horizontal division the privative surface of the common ones, and without being able in no case to be computed to these effects the surfaces of the housing with height inferior to the one demanded in the regulatory norm.
3.º Age of the building and, if applicable, of the main reforms or actions carried out on the same.

4.º Services and facilities available in the dwelling, both individual and common.
5.º Certificate of energy efficiency of the dwelling.
6.º Conditions of accessibility of the dwelling and the building.
7.º State of occupation or availability of the dwelling.
d) Legal information of the property: the registry identification of the property, with the reference of the loads, encumbrances and affections of any nature, and the quota of participation fixed in the title of property.
e) In the case of protected housing, express indication of such circumstance and of the subjection to the legal regime of protection that is applicable to it.
f) In the case of buildings that officially have architectural protection because they are part of a declared environment or because of their particular architectural or historical value, information will be provided on the degree of protection and the conditions and limitations for renovation or rehabilitation interventions.
g) Any other information that may be relevant for the person interested in the purchase or lease of the dwelling, including aspects of a territorial, urban, physical-technical, heritage protection, or administrative nature related to the same.