No Place in the Sun (15 page)

‘I think that an essential part of the selling process will be to persuade buyers that they should deal with the lawyer, save themselves a trip to Spain and all that.’

‘Yes, but not at the expense of dropping a sale, some people will think that we are out to do them anyway, and they’ll be paranoid about dealing with a Spanish lawyer. In fact, De Silva’s are one of the best firms in that area; they won’t do any better if they go out to Spain and look for their own lawyers.’

Harry pushed back his chair; they seemed to have covered most of the issues and everything looked to be well on track for the first exhibition. ‘How about yourself, Tom; any questions, or do you see any problems?’

‘No, I’m happy enough with the way it’s going, just raring to go really.’

‘Just one thing.’ Harry looked straight at Tom. ‘I know you’re a great salesman, and I also know that you are ruthless, that’s why you’re here to some extent. We may differ on how far each of us would be prepared to go to get a sale; I’d ask you to keep this operation clean, don’t sell to anyone who doesn’t know what they are getting into, don’t promise them too much regarding rental income from these properties for instance, keep it the upper side of realistic but no more than that.’

‘You don’t believe in ‘buyer beware’?’ Tom was smiling. ‘I don’t see it as our role to give advice on property, or investment either. Surely we are just there to sell the stuff and it’s up to them to check out the background to what’s on offer.’

‘Look, I know we have a different view on this, and in many ways I have no problem with that, but all I’m saying is that I’d rather lose a few sales than to walk someone into something that they can’t afford.’

‘But surely if they are coming in to us to buy an apartment, then it presupposes that they can afford it?’

Harry pondered Tom’s response for a moment. ‘There can always be the odd exception to the rule, the person who gets carried away with it all. Somebody like that really throws themselves at our mercy; all it takes to ruin their lives is for an unscrupulous salesman to tell them for instance that they can get fifty two weeks rent a year at so much a week, and that maybe they can borrow the money for the property and it will pay for itself. I just don’t want Sunspots to go down that road.’

‘But don’t you accept that it might be a valid sales pitch to suggest that you might get a hundred percent rental? I mean, it does happen sometimes, so why not mention it?’

‘Tom, we could argue the toss about this all day, but I’m just saying, let’s not screw anyone, ok?’

‘You’re the boss, but maybe we should concentrate on the rule rather than the exceptions; I want to sell as many of these apartments as possible, and maybe the other issue won’t arise. Anyway, I take your point.’

The ballroom looked great. The video presentation that the developer had produced was running constantly in a loop, projected on to the big screen on the wall opposite the entrance. The large display posters were stretched on their aluminium frames, showing off the development at its best. Three desks were set along the entrance wall, one each for Tom and Harry; Walter would be joining them on Saturday and Sunday. Miguel, the young Spanish lawyer, had a desk on the side wall, along with a huge display stand manned by the Spanish tourist board. This had been Tom’s idea, although late in the week, but the Spaniards were delighted at the opportunity to show their wares and had even been persuaded to pay for the stand.

The Flamenco guitarist had been Tom’s idea as well, and his lively strumming in the lobby area helped give a festive atmosphere to the place. A long table by the other side wall had rows of coffee and tea cups lined up on it, and the hotel staff had been instructed to keep the tea and coffee pots replenished every half hour.

Harry looked around at the layout; he was pleased, it had been a hard morning’s work setting up all the displays. ‘Now that it’s done, I’m suddenly nervous. If nobody turns up, we’re both fucked.’

‘They’ll turn up all right.’ Tom was more optimistic. ‘If we only go by the media interest all week, we seem to have struck a chord with the public. I think that we are on the cusp of something very big.’

‘That will bring its own problems.’ Harry was in a pessimistic mood. ‘If we start a big ball rolling, every other company will jump on the bandwagon and we might get lost in the rush. We spend the money to create the market, and everybody else benefits.’

Tom was less worried. ‘We have a six month start on them, and we have a great product. It’ll take anyone else several months to get off the start line; we’re ahead and we just need to stay ahead.’

‘True enough, but that reminds me, we need to be aware that some of the customers here over the weekend will be spies from other companies, picking our brains. If we spot that line of questioning, make sure we give nothing away.’

‘Good thinking. Once we’re aware of the possibility, we may be able to spot them. Feed them a line of bullshit maybe; send them off on a wild goose chase.’

Harry laughed. ‘Just be careful that you’re not feeding the bullshit to a genuine customer, someone who just asks a lot of questions. I know what you mean though; we should be able to spot some of them at least.’

Tom looked at his watch. ‘Ten minutes to lift-off, time for a quick cup of coffee before my public arrives.’

Harry nodded towards the door. ‘Too late, here they come.’

A couple of people wandered in through the doorway, looking around hesitantly as though they might run out again at the slightest excuse.

‘Don’t make any loud noises, you might frighten them away.’ Harry spoke quietly as he watched the tentative progress of the first customers towards the display stands.

‘I’ll cut them off at the pass.’ Tom strolled towards the door and came up behind the first customer, a middle aged man in a business suit who was studying the displays intently. ‘Good afternoon, sir, welcome to the show. Can I be of assistance?’

‘No thanks, just having a look.’

Tom wasn’t to be deterred. ‘Let me tell you what’s on offer. We are here today to give investors a chance to buy one of the best developments in Spain at pre-launch prices, a chance to buy a home in a dream location at a better price than you will be able it get it for when it comes on the market in Spain.’

‘So they’re not built yet?’ At least he was starting to bite.

‘No, this is an off-plan opportunity, but the development is covered by a bank guarantee; your funds will never be at risk and we expect strong capital appreciation on this one.’

‘How much do you think it will come up by?’

Tom paused, conscious of Harry’s instruction not to oversell the project. ‘It’s hard to predict exactly, but I’d personally be expecting at least fifteen percent annual growth between now and the completion date. This is the first phase; the later phases will be on offer at higher prices, that’s for sure.’

The man was suddenly interested. ‘So are you buying it yourself?’

Tom swallowed. ‘Of course, I’ve taken two so far; probably take more if I can get hold of the money.’ A little lie never hurt. ‘So, are you interested in a few?’

The man was doing a mental calculation. ‘Yes, ok, can I book them here?’

‘Yes of course, come with me and I’ll pick out the best ones. You’re our first customer, so you get the pick of them.

Tom picked up the sheet that listed each apartment along with its size and price. He turned his back and made ticks opposite two apartments; these would be the two that he was supposed to have bought for himself.

‘These are my own two, that’s one of the best locations, view over the golf course, hard to go wrong with those.’

He was surprised how easy it was; the man was seated at Miguel’s desk in minutes and was writing a cheque for the deposits. Compared to selling timeshare to tourists, this was a pushover. At this rate, he would be hitting the weekend target before tonight.

The woman who had arrived at the same time was hovering around, eavesdropping on his conversation with the first customer; he caught her eye and smiled at her. ‘Do you want to beat the rush, madam; get the pick of the best apartments?’

‘I’m just looking thanks, getting information; it’s a big step you know, buying a place in Spain.’

‘It is and it isn’t, this is a no-brainer in many ways. These are on sale at a pre-launch price, they can only go up. It’s a matter of whether you want to buy at today’s price or wait until they get dearer, that’s all that’s at issue really.’

She looked nervous. ‘But is my money safe? I was left some money by my grandmother, and she loved Spain, so I would really like to own a place there. I’m just afraid of what might happen; you hear so many stories…’

Tom sensed an opening. ‘That’s why you should buy from a reputable Irish company, you know who you are dealing with and your money is safe.’

She was wavering, coming around; he could almost see the cogs meshing in her brain. ‘Did I hear you say that you bought some of them yourself?’

‘Of course, too good to pass up. I’m not going to keep them, just wait until they are completed and flip them.’

‘What do you mean, flip?’

‘I’ll just pay the deposit and wait until they are almost completed, that’s in about two years time, then I’ll sell them on at a profit. All I’ll have invested will be the deposits, and I’ll double what I invested at least.’

‘Can you do that?’

‘Of course, that’s what all the big players do, just roll them over and move on to the next off-plan project and do it all again.’

‘That’s a comfort to know that they are set to go up, but really I just want to have a place there for holidays and maybe for longer times later on.’

‘You could always buy two, one for yourself and one to flip; it would leave the one you keep very cheap.’ Tom was conscious of Harry’s warning, but a sale was a sale.

‘Do you think that would work?’ She was getting greedy now, the ball was on the penalty spot; just a good kick into the top corner should do it.

‘Let’s go over to the desk and pick out the two best ones before the crowds get here.’ It was proving to be easy, like taking candy from babies, and the show hadn’t even started yet.

The weekend passed in what could only be described as a blur. There was no doubt that Sunspots had hit a winning streak; the market was ready for Spanish property and was reacting accordingly. Long the preserve of the rich elite, anyone could now afford a home in the sun and it was just a matter of getting this message out, and the advertising and publicity were paying dividends. The show was attracting the interested as well as the curious; selling to the first was easy but the second only presented a small challenge for the Sunspots team.

Walter called Tom over to his desk. He was trying to sell an apartment to a middle aged couple who were full of suspicion and sure that they were going to be conned out of their money. They had already taken up half an hour of his time and other buyers were hovering around; it was time to push them hard and make them jump either way, time for the double act that worked so well when a washing machine had to be sold to a reluctant customer.

‘Mr and Mrs Elliot, this is my colleague Tom Murphy; he’s an expert on Spain and all things Spanish, and especially on this development. He can advise you on your best options.’

Giggs to Rooney.

Tom gave them his best smile. ‘Which apartments are you looking at? I know every apartment in this development, there isn’t a bad one in it but there are always a few that are extra special.’

Rooney passes to Giggs.

‘They are trying to get the best value for money.’ This was another way of saying that they didn’t want to spend too much.
Giggs back to Rooney.

‘I bought one here myself.’ Tom pointed to one of the cheapest north facing apartments. ‘I always buy north facing, its cooler in the hot sun in Spain, and the Spanish won’t buy anything else. It’s much easier to resell a north-facing apartment on the local market, and of course you’re paying less for it in the first place.’
Rooney boots it up the wing.

Walter caught the pass and ran with it. ‘That’s what I was saying, these four here are underpriced for the local market, you should grab one while you can.
The ball was coming across the middle, time to put it away.

Tom looked at Walter, time to go for it even if it scared them off; there were too many buyers still floating around, no sense in wasting time on these two. ‘There aren’t four left any more, I just sold two of them and I know that the other two will go today. You should grab one of those now while they’re available; you’ll have to pay a lot more after today for something that good. Will I put you name on this one; it’s the better of the two?’ He raised the pen and made to write their names on the sheet.

‘Ok, I suppose so, yes, why not?’

Goal!