Please note that the information provided in this article is of a general interest nature and intended as a basic outline only. You are well advised to contact a professional for advice specific to your circumstances. Nothing contained in this article should be seen or taken as the writer or the publisher providing legal or financial advice.

Have you or have you ever had "first mover advantage"? Did you invest in the new property hotspot along with the smart money, managing to get out before the masses staked their claim? Were you the "late adopter"? Did you insist that BETAMAX was a far crisper recording format than VHS?

Just what is a "blog"? And why are "e-media publishers" hell-bent on securing the "digital syndication rights" to bring you the daily narrative of a Northumbrian housewife?

Doesn't it bug you when jargon is used which results in the exclusion of all or part of an audience?

The way of the Internet is clearly achieving great things for a new breed of entrepreneurs - it's also alienating an entire generation by its fast expanding jargon. New web moguls are generating astonishing annual incomes from "Adsense" adverts placed on their website's home pages and accessed by their visitors - making them "sticky". They are seeing "per click" revenue, and "web optimisation" is virtually a degree subject.

Some readers may roll their eyes at my attempts to highlight just how far we have all come and how quickly the digital domain has been realised. Don't forget it wasn't so long ago that the fax or the mobile phone was the next big thing. The Internet has simply grown in stature to become a huge phenomenon!

I left the music business, just over five years ago, where I had plied my trade as a lawyer for over two decades, as I was convinced - and history has proved me right - that the core value in recorded music copyrights would be chiselled away by wholesale digital piracy.

One undeniable truth is that, for those who are seeking to purchase a property in Spain, the Internet has opened up an immense resource. It is a library of enormous proportions, where detailed information on your chosen location can be obtained. You can swap notes with fellow purchasers about the condition and progress of a particular development. You can search for the legal team to represent your best interests, the perfect mortgage and "rental friendly" furniture package. Whilst this cavernous facility is at the fingertips of even the most basic two-finger typist, I am concerned that a purchaser may feel a little swamped by all that's "out there".

Since leaving the music business, I have developed my business in the overseas property market - particularly in the South of Spain. In that time I have become fluent in a whole new jargon - which, of course, we all completely understand - but for many purchasers it has them completely mystified. What may be worse for many is that this is not only unfamiliar jargon - it's also in Spanish!

The "we" I refer to are my colleagues who are active in this market, including estate agents, mortgage, currency and insurance brokers, lawyers, accountants and surveyors.

My mantra ("My Mantra") has been whatever you do and however you progress your purchase of a Spanish property, please make sure that you receive independent professional advice, from a party who is not connected with or recommended to you by the selling estate agent. This is not intended to be sinister, merely prudent. Equally, it's not intended to paint all estate agents with the same brush. I know many excellent, completely open and honest sales agents who have operated in Spain for a number of years and who have many satisfied purchasing clients.

However, is this advice altogether practical?

The most likely contact that you'll have is with an estate agency that is planning to show you properties within your specification and price range. For good commercial reasons, many of the larger agents spend fortunes on "web optimisation" to ensure that you - you're called "leads" - come to them as your first port of call.

You may not completely realise this, but you are likely to create a relationship - often one of some trust - with an estate agent. Firstly, it's with the telesales person, often a woman, who seems knowledgeable, experienced and often has a British accent. They talk knowledgeably of this alien and foreign market, giving you every confidence that they are able to make your search and purchase a complete breeze.

When you visit Spain you may well be met by a well-informed sales person, who collects you at the Airport, escorts you to your Hotel and ferries you around a number of developments and potential properties that you have first discussed with telesales woman.

This is all very usual and for many it has proved perfectly satisfactory. However, I refer you to My Mantra.

You have a friendly relationship with "your" estate agent - he or she has been very informative, charming and keen to help you. In fact, they and their office colleagues have been the only people you have met during your visit to Spain. Why wouldn't you accept their recommendation of a Lawyer or a mortgage broker? Their recommended Abogado - see below - has acted on so many transactions at the same development and knows the paperwork like the back of their hand. It all seems so straightforward - how much easier could it be?

Well, it's just not always that easy. A purchase requires careful consideration and you need to rely upon your professional advisors to ensure that the risks of purchasing in any overseas market are minimised.

Many will know that the planning and development process in Spain has been the subject of recent and shocking scandals which have seen many put at risk of losing their homes and the monies they have invested in them. Whilst I am not saying that all such purchasers could have avoided their fate by a more prudent selection of their professional advisors, it would be simply naïve to make such a suggestion, I do believe that we should learn from the mistakes of others.

As part of continuing the education process, please see below a glossary of the usual vocabulary - ok, so some would call it jargon - that we come across in our daily work in Spain.

We see this as a "living" glossary, so if you come across words and phrases that could usefully be added please let me know.

Abogado - Lawyer
Adosado - Semi-detached or town house
Aire acondicionado - Air conditioning
Agua/potable - Water /drinking water
Albanil - Bricklayer
Alfombra - Carpet
Amortizacion - Depreciation, Redemption
Antiguedad(es) / tienda de - Antique/Antique shop
Aparcamiento - Parking
Architecto - Architect
Armario - Cupboard/wardrobe
Assesoria Economica/Contable - Accountant
Aval Bancario - Bank Guarantee

Balcon - Balcony
Banco/cuenta de/targeta de - Bank/bank account/bank card
Bano - Bath/WC
Barbacoa - Barbecue
Basura - Rubbish bins and rubbish taxes
Bombilla - Light bulb
Buzon - Mailbox

Caja de Ahorros - Savings bank
Calefaccion central - Central heating
Cargas - Land charges registered against the property
Casa unifamiliar - Detached house
Casita - Cottage
Cemento - Cement
Certificado registral - Certificate showing debts attaching to a property
Chalet - Villa
Cocina - Kitchen
Comedor - Dining room
Comunidad de propietarios - Committee of property owners/Residents association
Contrato de Builder - Constructor Compraventa Private - Property sales contract
Constructor - Builder
Construido - Built area, of property
Construir - Build
Costa del Sol - Sun Coast
Costa del la Luz - Coast of Light
Costa Blanca - White Coast
Corriente or la luz - Electricity
Cortijo - A country property inland with farming roots.
Cuarto de Bano - Bathroom

Documento Informativo Abreviado - Property Information Pack
Documento privado - Private document
Documento publico - Public document
Dormitorio - Bedroom
Ducha - Shower
Duplex - Apartment over two floors

Ebanista/carpintero - Joiner
Edificio - Building
Electrician - Electricista
El campo - The countryside
Escayolista/Yesero - Plasterer
Escritura - Deeds of ownership
Escritura publica de compraventa - Title Deeds
Estatutos - By-Laws of the Resident's Association
Euribor - Variable interest rate set by European banks

Fontanero - Plumber
Finca - Farm house or small estate
Fin de Obra - Formal Completion of Works on a new property
Fuente - Fountain

Garaje - Garage
Gas Butano - Butane gas often used for cooking and water heating
Gestoría - Specialists used to obtain official authorisations, permits and licences

Habitacion - A Room
Hipoteca - Mortgage
Hormigon - Concrete

Impuesto extraordinario sobre el patrimonio - Wealth Tax - extraordinary tax on assets
IBI: Impuesto sobre Bienes Inmuebles - Property tax levied yearly
Impuesto sobre el Incremento del Valor de los Terrenos - Tax on the increase of land value
Impuesto sobre el patrimonio - Capital gains tax
Incremento de patrimonio - A Capital gain
ITP - Impuesto sobre Transmisiones Patrionales - Property Transfer Tax of 7% levied on all re-sale property.
Impuesto sobre Actos Juridicos Documentados - AJD - Stamp Duty
Inmobiliaria/agente - Estate agent
Inversion en terreno - Land investment in Spain
"IVA" - Impuesto sobre el Valor Añadido - "VAT" - Value Added tax

Jardin - Garden

Ladrillo - Brick
Libre de Cargas - Debt free
Libro del Edificio - Documents from the promoter when building is finished
Licencia de prima ocupacion - Licence to occupy a completed property
Licencia de obra - Building permission
Limpiadora - A Cleaner

Madera - Wood
Mármol - Marble
Martillo - Hammer
Metros cuadrados - Square metres - units floor area is measured in
Mortero - Mortar

N.I.E. - Numero de Identificacion de Extranjero- Identity Number for Foreigners - required for a property purchase
N.I.F. - Numero de Identificacion Fiscal - A Spanish citizen's Fiscal Identification Number.
Notario - Notary - records the legal details of property and land sales
Nota Simple - Certificate from Property Registry

Obra Nueva - Document certifying a new building
Oferta vinculante - Bank document specifying mortgage conditions
Ordenador - Computer

Pago en efectivo - Cash payment
Parcela - Lot or plot
Pestillo - Door lock
Pintor - Painter
Piscina - Swimming pool
Piso - Apartment
Playa - Beach
Planta Baja - Ground or first floor
Plusvalía - Municipal Capital gains tax on the sale of property
Poder - Power of Attorney
Pozo - Well
Prestamo/ con techo - Loan/with variable interests with fixed minimum and maximum
Prestamo hipotecario - Mortgage loan
Pueblo - Town or village
Puerta - Door

Registro de la Propiedad - Register of Property Ownership
Representante fiscal - Foreigner's official tax representative
Resale Property - A second hand property, already registered at the property register in Spain.
Residencia - Residency permit
Residente - Resident
Reforma - To renovate a property

Sala/salon - Lounge
Se vende or en venta - For sale
Se alquila - For Rent
Sevillana - Electricity company
Seguro de amortizacion de prestamos - Loan repayment insurance
Seguro Multirriesgo Hogar - House insurance
Señal - Deposit or down payment
Solar - Lot for building
Sotano - Basement
Subasta - Auction
Suelo - Floor or surface

Tasacion - Independent valuation of property
Tasa de cambio - Exchange rate
Tasadores - Official Bank Valuers
Techo - Roof
Teja - Roof tile
Terraza - Terrace
Terreno - Land
Terreno en venta - Land for sale
Terreno - Plot of land
Terreno para construir - Building land on the Costa del Sol
Tipo de interes - Rate of interest
Título de propiedad - Deeds stating the ownership of property, date of sale etc.
Trastero - Storeroom

Valor Catastral - Assessed value of property for tax purposes
Ventana - Window
Vidriero - Glazier

Yeso - Plaster

© Compilation Mark FR Wilkins/The Rights Group SL 2007 (Marbella)