The spreadsheet problem: A pilot study of Costa del Sol property websites

As of 23 July 2026, Fantasive’s pilot review of eight public Costa del Sol property experiences found that none offered visible side-by-side comparison, none showed when price or availability had last been confirmed, and none carried a buyer’s shortlist, notes and unresolved questions into the sales handoff. This exploratory study does not rank the companies or represent the whole market. It tests a narrower question: once a property website has created interest, how well does it help a buyer make the next informed decision?

Research status — 23 July 2026

• Pilot v1 reviews eight public buyer journeys across Marbella, Benahavís, Estepona and Sotogrande.

• The study publishes observed capabilities, not company scores or rankings.

• A future benchmark will require multiple properties, devices, evaluators and repeat audits.

Luxury property websites on the Costa del Sol are not short of presentation.

Buyers can find architectural visualisations, photography, video, project narratives, area guides, brochures and, in some cases, floor plans, exact locations, energy information or live video viewings.

But presentation is only the beginning of a property decision.

A serious buyer still needs to establish:

• what can actually be bought;

• when price and availability were last confirmed;

• whether areas are measured consistently;

• which plan belongs to the available home;

• how alternatives compare;

• which claims are verified facts;

• what remains uncertain;

• whether their research will survive the transition to an agent.

When the digital experience does not preserve those answers, the buyer creates another system.

Serious property buyers build their own CRM because the market has not built a decision space for them.

The spreadsheet is that private CRM. It reconciles inconsistent areas, tracks changing prices, records missing documents, compares locations and stores questions for the next call.

The biggest competitor to a property website may therefore not be another website. It may be the spreadsheet the buyer opens after visiting it.

This study introduces the Fantasive Decision Readiness Framework — Pilot v1, a provisional, real-estate-specific method for studying that gap.

Fantasive does not claim to have invented a new category of UX. Evidence, comparison, transparency and handoff quality are established concerns in digital experience design. The proposed contribution is more specific: organise them around residential buyer uncertainty, make them observable and test whether they can support a repeatable property-sector benchmark.

How did Fantasive review Costa del Sol property websites?

On 23 July 2026, Fantasive reviewed one primary public search, project or property-detail journey from each of eight residential property experiences:

• Panorama;

• MPDunne / Hamptons International;

• Luxury from Owners;

• Sotogrande S.A.;

• Village Verde;

• The Seven Estepona;

• Ayana Estepona;

• Solenne Benahavís.

The sample covered agency, developer and portfolio models across Marbella, Benahavís, Estepona and Sotogrande.

Idealista was examined through publicly indexed results but excluded from the counts because its interactive journey could not be audited consistently.

The Fantasive pilot recorded whether specific forms of buyer-facing decision support were visible in each audited flow. It did not test every page, property, device or interaction offered by each company.

The pilot did not measure:

• the quality of the companies or their advisers;

• service after an enquiry;

• legal compliance;

• buyer satisfaction;

• lead quality or sales conversion;

• the wider Costa del Sol market.

The results are a dated observation of eight public journeys, not a market-wide benchmark.

What did the Costa del Sol property website pilot find?

The Fantasive pilot found many strong individual practices, but limited continuity between them. None of the eight audited journeys offered visible side-by-side property comparison. None displayed a last-confirmed date for price or availability. None carried a shortlist, buyer notes and unresolved questions into the sales handoff.

These counts do not mean that the remaining companies never provide the information. They mean the capability was not visible in the specific public journey audited under the pilot definitions.

Availability may be current in an internal system. A sales adviser may provide an excellent personalised comparison after contact. The digital buyer cannot rely on information they cannot yet see.

Within this sample, buyers could often discover and inspect property. They were much less able to preserve a structured decision.

What do Costa del Sol property websites already do well?

Costa del Sol property websites already contain strong elements of digital buyer support. The problem is not a universal lack of digital sophistication.

Panorama’s audited experience combined detailed measurements, extensive imagery, energy information, buyer-cost disclosures, professional credentials and a save function. MPDunne provided area content and decision-relevant filters such as construction stage, gated community and branded residence. Luxury from Owners connected a specific home with floor plans, exact location and measurable proximity to airports, beaches and golf.

Idealista’s indexed results standardised price, price per square metre, area, bedrooms and seller identity across a large inventory. Developer experiences including Village Verde and The Seven provided substantial narratives, galleries, brochures and specification material.

Each element can reduce buyer uncertainty. The problem is that the elements frequently live in different places:

• the portal is used to scan inventory;

• the agency explains the area;

• the development site presents the concept;

• the brochure contains the plan;

• WhatsApp provides the latest availability;

• the buyer’s spreadsheet preserves the comparison.

No individual missing feature creates the spreadsheet problem. Fragmented decision memory does.

Why do international property buyers need more decision support?

International property buyers need stronger digital decision support because distance moves more evaluation online. A buyer abroad must eliminate unsuitable homes, understand unfamiliar locations and decide where professional attention is justified before travelling.

Foreign buyers accounted for 32.8% of registered home purchases in Málaga province in 2025, compared with 13.82% nationally, according to the Colegio de Registradores’ Estadística Registral Inmobiliaria — Anuario 2025 (see pp. 70–79).

The provincial result is not a proxy for Marbella’s luxury segment. It does establish that cross-border buyers are a core part of the regional market.

“International buyer” is not one persona. The same market may serve a relocating family, a second-home buyer, an investor, a retiree or an entrepreneur dividing time between countries.

Translation makes information readable. It does not make it decision-ready.

A useful cross-border experience must also explain local concepts, identify changing information, clarify what can be completed remotely and show where independent legal, technical or financial verification becomes necessary.

What is the difference between a property listing and a decision journey?

A property listing presents the home. A decision journey helps the buyer understand fit, compare alternatives, identify uncertainty, preserve their reasoning and prepare the next interaction.

A conventional listing is organised around:

• title;

• description;

• price;

• location;

• measurements;

• features;

• images;

• contact form.

A decision journey is organised around the buyer’s progress.

The next informed decision does not have to be a purchase. It may be to reject a property, save it, request evidence, arrange a viewing, consult an adviser or begin independent due diligence.

What is the Fantasive Decision Readiness Framework?

The Fantasive Decision Readiness Framework — Pilot v1 is a provisional method for assessing how effectively a residential property experience prepares a buyer to make the next informed decision.

The framework asks:

After using this property experience, how ready is the buyer to make the next informed decision?

Pilot v1 organises observable buyer support into six dimensions.

Each dimension contains five published criteria. Each criterion can be assessed from 0, meaning not observed, to 4, meaning complete and clearly connected support. The weighted result is an experimental Decision Readiness Score, or DRS, out of 100.

The dimensions, criteria and weights are hypotheses. They are not an established industry standard.

Fantasive has not published company scores or a league table from this pilot. A defensible comparative score requires more than one evaluator examining one flow per website. Publishing precise rankings now would imply a reliability the study has not established.

Before the Decision Readiness Score is used as a benchmark, it should be tested through:

• a larger and more varied sample;

• several properties or units per website;

• desktop and mobile task testing;

• repeat audits;

• at least two independent evaluators;

• documented scoring disagreements;

• buyer and industry feedback;

• evidence that higher scores relate to meaningful buyer or business outcomes.

The complete Pilot v1 rubric and its version history should remain public. Later methodology changes should be documented rather than silently rewritten.

How does the Decision Readiness Framework evaluate a property website?

Can the buyer understand what is actually available?

Inventory Truth measures whether a buyer can identify a current commercial opportunity.

Status labels such as “available”, “reserved”, “under contract”, “key ready” and “under construction” are helpful. But a status without a date can look like timeless truth.

A stronger inventory model shows:

• the current status;

• when it was confirmed;

• the source of the confirmation;

• what still requires checking.

Inventory Truth does not promise perfect live inventory. It asks the experience to describe changing information honestly.

Can the buyer verify whether a property is suitable?

Property Evidence measures whether the buyer can test suitability rather than only imagine the home.

Useful evidence can include defined internal, built and terrace areas; a plan connected to the exact unit; floor and orientation; parking and storage; construction status; specifications; and clear labelling when imagery is illustrative.

The Fantasive pilot found strong individual examples, but not a consistent property-evidence model across the eight audited journeys.

Can the buyer understand location, process, cost and trade-offs?

Decision Context measures whether the property can be evaluated within the life, location and obligations surrounding it.

Buyers compare journey times, walkability, schools, healthcare, privacy, seasonality and the practical differences between neighbouring locations. They also need a clear route from commercial information to independent verification.

The Spanish government advises buyers to verify a property’s characteristics, registered owner and charges through the Property Registry. Its guidance also lists additional checks for off-plan property, including the developer, land ownership and construction authorisation. See Buying real estate: Notarial offices and property registers.

The Junta de Andalucía’s buyer-information guidance explains that transaction-specific information can include construction and developer data, delivery dates, plans, areas, licences, price, payment terms and taxes. The underlying requirements are set out in Decreto 218/2005 and Spain’s Real Decreto 515/1989.

A property website should not replace the Property Registry, lawyer, surveyor or notary. It can make the route to them clearer.

Can the buyer compare properties and preserve their reasoning?

Comparison measures whether buyers can evaluate alternatives consistently and remember why a property was saved or rejected.

A heart icon creates a collection. It does not create a decision.

Buyers need to remember how properties differ, which evidence has arrived and what remains unresolved. Without that memory, the shortlist migrates into tabs, messages, notes and spreadsheets.

Comparison includes more than a feature table. It includes the buyer’s own criteria, notes, rejected options, documents and reasoning.

Can the buyer distinguish facts, claims and uncertainty?

Transparency measures whether the buyer can identify:

• verified property facts;

• developer, owner or agent statements;

• sourced market evidence;

• interpretation or estimates;

• information awaiting confirmation.

During the review, one development page used a genuine Málaga foreign-buyer statistic without its full period and comparative context. The quoted 34.75% referred to the first quarter of 2025. The full-year figure was 32.8%, and Málaga was not the leading province in that quarter. The original quarterly publication is the Colegio de Registradores’ Estadística Registral Inmobiliaria — 1er trimestre de 2025.

A number can be authentic and still create the wrong impression.

Can the buyer carry their research into the sales conversation?

Sales Continuity measures how much of the buyer’s accumulated intent survives the transition from website to adviser.

A buyer may spend hours comparing homes and identifying concerns. A conventional enquiry form reduces that history to a name, telephone number and:

“Please send more information.”

That is a loss of context for both buyer and adviser.

A decision-ready handoff can carry intended use, timing, priorities, shortlist, evidence requests, viewing preference and unresolved questions into the conversation.

The adviser remains essential. They begin where the buyer’s research ended.

What should property developers and agencies test next?

The pilot does not justify a universal prescription. It suggests three focused product principles that developers and agencies can test.

1. Replace presentation-only journeys with decision memory

Do not treat favourites as the end of the buyer workspace. Let buyers compare, annotate, reject, request evidence and resume their reasoning across sessions or with a partner.

The strategic test is:

How much of the buyer’s spreadsheet can the property experience make unnecessary?

2. Treat inventory freshness as visible evidence

Changing information should include a status, date, source and qualification. Where real-time accuracy is operationally impossible, the interface should communicate that limitation rather than disguise it.

Inventory freshness must reflect the operational reality of developer, owner, agent and shared inventory. It is not merely a timestamp added to a listing template.

3. Preserve buyer context through the sales handoff

The enquiry should carry the buyer’s accumulated intent into the CRM or adviser workflow.

This creates a testable business hypothesis: better-preserved context may improve the relevance of the first response, lead qualification and continuity of service. The pilot does not prove that effect. A future implementation study should.

What does the pilot support, and what remains unproven?

The Fantasive pilot supports one limited conclusion:

Across the eight public Costa del Sol property journeys reviewed, sophisticated presentation and useful individual features were visible, while comparison, freshness signals and context-rich sales handoff were uncommon.

The study does not establish that these patterns represent the whole Costa del Sol market or cause changes in lead quality, conversion or sales.

The following ideas remain strategic hypotheses:

• fragmented digital experiences cause serious buyers to build private decision systems;

• decision memory can reduce repeated buyer work;

• visible inventory freshness can increase confidence;

• context-rich handoff can improve buyer and commercial outcomes;

• the six proposed dimensions and their weights capture the most important forms of decision readiness.

Testing these hypotheses requires buyer interviews, examples of real comparison spreadsheets, behavioural research, repeat scoring and outcome data.

That is the research programme that follows from Pilot v1.

Frequently asked questions about digital buyer experience in real estate

What is digital buyer experience in residential real estate?

Digital buyer experience describes how online property tools help a buyer discover, evaluate, compare and verify options before the next informed decision. It includes property presentation, but also evidence, decision context, comparison, transparency and continuity with the sales adviser.

What is the Fantasive Decision Readiness Framework?

The Fantasive Decision Readiness Framework — Pilot v1 is a provisional method for evaluating how well a residential property experience reduces relevant uncertainty before the buyer’s next decision. It assesses Inventory Truth, Property Evidence, Decision Context, Comparison, Transparency and Sales Continuity.

How is the Decision Readiness Score calculated?

Pilot v1 assesses five criteria within each of six weighted dimensions. Each criterion is rated from 0 to 4 and converted into an experimental score out of 100. The weights and criteria remain provisional and should not yet be treated as an established standard.

What did Fantasive find in the Costa del Sol pilot?

Fantasive reviewed eight public property experiences on 23 July 2026. None of the audited journeys offered visible side-by-side comparison, displayed a last-confirmed date for price or availability, or carried a shortlist, notes and unresolved questions into the sales handoff.

Why do property buyers create spreadsheets?

Property buyers use spreadsheets to reconcile inconsistent facts, compare locations and prices, track changing availability, record documents and preserve questions. The spreadsheet becomes a private decision system when property websites provide listings but do not preserve decision memory.

Does the study rank Costa del Sol agencies or developers?

No. The pilot publishes observed capabilities across eight specific public journeys. It does not score the companies, judge their complete service or represent the whole Costa del Sol market.

What is required for a market-wide Decision Readiness benchmark?

A defensible benchmark requires a larger sample, multiple properties per website, mobile and desktop testing, repeat audits and independent evaluators. Fantasive would also need to test scoring reliability and determine whether higher scores relate to meaningful buyer or business outcomes.

A first attempt to measure what property websites leave invisible

The value of the Fantasive Decision Readiness Framework will not be established by its name or its 100-point scale.

The framework will become credible only if different evaluators can apply it consistently, buyers recognise the uncertainty it describes and stronger performance relates to better decisions or business outcomes.

Pilot v1 is a public starting point, not a finished standard.

Luxury buyers do not need a website to make the entire decision for them. They need a property experience that helps them remember what they know, recognise what they do not and carry both into the next conversation.

The next question for property websites is not whether they can look more premium.

It is how much uncertainty they can help a buyer resolve, and how much decision context they can prevent from being lost.

Research authorship

Fantasive Research studies digital buyer experiences in residential real estate. This pilot was developed as part of the Fantasive Decision Readiness research programme.

Research date: 23 July 2026

Methodology: Fantasive Decision Readiness Framework — Pilot v1

Geographic scope: Marbella, Benahavís, Estepona and Sotogrande

Primary sources

1. Colegio de Registradores, Estadística Registral Inmobiliaria — Anuario 2025.

2. Colegio de Registradores, Estadística Registral Inmobiliaria — 1er trimestre de 2025.

3. Spanish Government, Buying real estate: Notarial offices and property registers.

4. Junta de Andalucía, Buscar una casa.

5. Decreto 218/2005, Reglamento de información al consumidor en la compraventa y arrendamiento de viviendas en Andalucía.

6. Real Decreto 515/1989, consumer information in the sale and rental of housing.