Terms of Engagement
Last updated: September 10th, 2026
1. Provider
ervices under the Alarife Property Advisory name are provided by:
Owner: Diego Ocaña Aguilar
Spanish Tax Identification Number (NIF): 02312937B
Professional address: Francisco de Rojas 9, 1, 28010 Madrid, Spain
Email: diego@alarifeadvisory.com
Telephone / WhatsApp: +34 610 347 654
2. Purpose of these terms
These Terms establish the general conditions under which Alarife may provide property advisory and coordination services.
They do not, by themselves, constitute an appointment or require either party to proceed.
Each engagement will be confirmed through a separate written proposal or mandate specifying:
· The client.
· The requested services.
· The location and property criteria.
· The duration of the mandate.
· Exclusivity.
· Fees, taxes and payment stages.
· Approved expenses.
· Particular limitations or additional conditions.
If the individual mandate conflicts with these general Terms, the expressly agreed provisions of the mandate will prevail.
3. Beginning an engagement
Submitting a website form, requesting a consultation or receiving preliminary information does not create a professional engagement.
An engagement begins only when:
1. The scope and commercial conditions have been agreed in writing.
2. The required mandate has been accepted.
3. Any initial payment due has been received.
4. The information and identity documentation reasonably requested from the client has been provided.
Alarife may decline an enquiry or proposed engagement before acceptance without being required to provide a detailed reason.
4. Services
Depending on the agreed mandate, services may include:
· Defining the client’s property requirements.
· Researching locations and opportunities.
· Contacting agents, developers, owners and professional networks.
· Preparing property shortlists and comparisons.
· Organising and accompanying viewings.
· Preliminary observations on layout, architecture and condition.
· Supporting commercial negotiations.
· Coordinating independent lawyers, tax advisers, banks, architects, surveyors and other specialists.
· Coordinating the process through completion and handover.
· Organising Property Care, maintenance or post-purchase support.
Only the services expressly included in the written mandate are contracted.
5. Professional limitations
Alarife Property Advisory is not a law firm, tax consultancy, financial institution, regulated valuation practice or technical inspection body.
The service does not constitute:
· Legal or conveyancing advice.
· Tax or immigration advice.
· Financial, mortgage or investment advice.
· A formal property valuation.
· Planning certification.
· A structural or technical survey.
· A guarantee of property condition, legal compliance or future performance.
Where specialist advice is required, the client should appoint an appropriately qualified independent professional.
6. Independence and client representation
Alarife acts as a buyer-side adviser and coordinator within the agreed scope.
Relevant interests or potential conflicts known to Alarife will be disclosed to the client. The client remains responsible for the final selection of the property and the decision to make an offer, reserve or purchase.
7. Exclusivity
Unless otherwise stated in the written mandate, the client appoints Alarife exclusively for the defined property search during the agreed engagement period.
During that period, the client agrees to:
· Inform Alarife of relevant properties, agents, developers or owners contacted directly.
· Refer related opportunities and communications to Alarife for coordination.
· Avoid appointing another property-search adviser for the same mandate without written agreement.
· Notify Alarife before viewing, negotiating or purchasing a property falling within the agreed search.
The mandate will specify how exclusivity applies to properties introduced before termination and to any subsequent purchase of those properties.
8. Client responsibilities
The client agrees to:
· Provide accurate and complete information.
· Identify all persons involved in the purchasing decision.
· State the genuine budget and financing position.
· Provide identity, source-of-funds and compliance documentation when reasonably required.
· Review reports, proposals and property information promptly.
· Inform Alarife of changes to the brief, budget or timeframe.
· Appoint independent legal and other professional advisers where appropriate.
· Verify payment instructions before transferring funds.
· Make final decisions independently.
Alarife may suspend work if essential information, cooperation or payment is not provided.
9. Property information
Property descriptions, measurements, prices, availability, plans, photographs and statements may originate from owners, agents, developers, public records or other third parties.
Alarife will take reasonable care when reviewing and communicating this information but cannot guarantee that all third-party information is complete or accurate.
The client must rely on independent legal and technical due diligence before entering into a binding commitment.
10. Viewings and reports
Viewing schedules depend on property availability and third-party confirmation. Properties may be withdrawn, reserved, sold or repriced without prior notice.
Reports and comparisons are prepared for the named client and the agreed purpose. They must not be treated as formal valuations or technical reports unless expressly issued by an appropriately qualified professional.
11. Offers, reservations and contracts
Alarife may communicate offers or assist with negotiations when authorised by the client. It cannot legally bind the client unless expressly empowered through a valid written authority.
No reservation payment, deposit or purchase commitment should be made before the terms have been reviewed by the client’s independent lawyer.
The client is responsible for approving all commercial and contractual decisions.
12. Fees
Fees will be set out in the written mandate and may include:
· A search-activation fee.
· A success fee, potentially subject to an agreed minimum.
· Fixed or recurring Property Care fees.
· Fees for specifically commissioned reports or coordination.
· Approved travel or exceptional expenses.
Applicable Spanish VAT will be added where legally required.
The mandate will specify when each fee becomes due, how any success fee is calculated and whether it applies to properties introduced or worked on during the engagement.
13. Third-party remuneration
Alarife’s priority is to act transparently in the client’s interest.
If an agent, developer, supplier or other third party offers or pays Alarife a commission, referral payment or other remuneration connected with the engagement:
1. It will be disclosed to the client.
2. Its amount or calculation method will be communicated when known.
3. The amount received will be credited against the fees otherwise payable by the client, unless mandatory law requires another treatment.
No undisclosed third-party remuneration will be retained.
14. Expenses
Ordinary administrative costs are included only where stated in the mandate.
Exceptional travel, accommodation, specialist inspections, translations, legalisations, plans, searches or other third-party expenses require the client’s prior approval unless urgently necessary to protect the property or the client’s interests under an existing Property Care instruction.
Third-party expenses may be payable directly by the client.
15. Independent professionals and suppliers
Alarife may identify, introduce or coordinate independent agents, lawyers, banks, architects, surveyors, contractors, insurers and other suppliers.
Unless expressly agreed otherwise:
· The client appoints them directly.
· They establish their own fees and contractual conditions.
· They remain responsible for their own advice and work.
· Alarife is not responsible for their professional acts, omissions or insolvency.
·
Alarife will nevertheless take reasonable care when making introductions and coordinating agreed work.
16. Duration and termination
The duration, renewal arrangements and termination notice will be established in each written mandate.
Either party may terminate the engagement in accordance with that mandate. Termination does not affect:
· Fees already earned.
· Approved expenses already incurred.
· Rights arising from previous breaches.
· Confidentiality and data-protection obligations.
· Any agreed protection period applying to properties introduced during the mandate.
Alarife may terminate or suspend the engagement immediately where continuing would be unlawful, professionally inappropriate, unsafe or incompatible with compliance obligations.
17. Consumer right of withdrawal
Where the client is legally considered a consumer and concludes the service contract at a distance or away from business premises, the client may have a statutory right to withdraw within 14 calendar days, subject to applicable exceptions.
If the client expressly requests that services begin during the withdrawal period and subsequently withdraws, the client may be required to pay an amount proportionate to the services provided before withdrawal.
Where a service has been fully performed during the withdrawal period following the client’s express request and legally valid acknowledgement, the right of withdrawal may cease where permitted by law.
The applicable withdrawal information and form should be provided with the individual mandate.
18. Cancellation and refunds
If the client cancels before any contracted work has begun, amounts paid for unperformed services will be refunded in full, except for non-recoverable third-party costs expressly authorised by the client.
If work has already begun, Alarife may deduct:
· The proportionate value of work actually performed.
· Approved and documented expenses.
· Non-recoverable third-party charges.
Any balance due to the client will be refunded. This provision is subject to mandatory consumer rights and the specific conditions of the written mandate.
19. No guaranteed result
Alarife does not guarantee:
· That a suitable property will be found.
· That an owner will accept an offer.
· That a transaction will complete.
· That financing, residency or licences will be granted.
· That a property may legally be rented.
· Any rental return, resale value or capital appreciation.
· That third-party timelines will be met.
The service is an obligation to perform the agreed work with reasonable professional care, not to guarantee a particular result.
20. Confidentiality
Alarife will treat the client’s identity, requirements, communications and property information confidentially, subject to disclosures:
· Authorised or requested by the client.
· Necessary to provide the agreed services.
· Required by law or a competent authority.
· Necessary to protect legitimate legal interests.
The client must also respect confidential and off-market information supplied during the engagement.
21. Intellectual property and reports
Unless otherwise agreed, Alarife retains intellectual-property rights in its methodologies, templates, presentation formats and original materials.
The client may use reports and shortlists for the personal purposes of the engagement but may not publish, resell or distribute them commercially without written permission.
Third-party documents remain subject to their owners’ rights and restrictions.
22. Liability
Alarife will perform the agreed services with reasonable professional care.
To the extent permitted by law, Alarife will not be responsible for:
· Inaccurate information supplied by the client or third parties.
· Hidden defects not reasonably observable.
· Matters requiring independent legal, tax or technical verification.
· Decisions made contrary to professional recommendations.
· Changes in markets, taxation, regulation or financing.
· Delays or failures attributable to owners, agents, banks, authorities or other independent parties.
· Indirect losses or speculative loss of profit.
Nothing in these Terms excludes liability that cannot legally be excluded, including liability arising from fraud, wilful misconduct or any mandatory consumer right.
Any specific financial limitation of liability must be expressly stated and legally reviewed in the individual mandate.
23. Force majeure
Neither party will be liable for delay or failure caused by events beyond its reasonable control, including natural events, transport interruption, public-authority action, telecommunications failure, conflict or serious security incidents.
The affected party should notify the other and take reasonable measures to reduce the consequences.
24. Communications
The client authorises operational communications through the channels selected in the mandate, which may include email, telephone, video call and WhatsApp.
Important instructions, approvals and changes to the engagement should be confirmed in writing.
25. Complaints
Questions or complaints should first be sent to:
Diego Ocaña Aguilar
Email: diego@alarifeadvisory.com
Address: Francisco de Rojas 9, 1, 28010 Madrid, Spain.
Alarife will seek to acknowledge and address complaints within a reasonable period.
Nothing in this section restricts any statutory consumer right to use an applicable public complaint, alternative-dispute-resolution or court procedure.
26. Applicable law and jurisdiction
The engagement is governed by Spanish law.
Disputes will be submitted to the courts determined by mandatory procedural and consumer-protection rules. Where a valid choice of jurisdiction is legally permitted, the parties agree to the courts of Madrid, Spain.
27. Amendments
These general Terms may be updated for future engagements. Changes will not retrospectively alter an existing signed mandate unless agreed in writing or required by law.