This topic contains 12 replies, has 7 voices, and was last updated by 
-
Posts
-
I’ve been browsing the internet property sites. I understand that sellers are asking far more than propertys are worth, what would be considered a reasonable opening offer for a property advertised at €250,000 and what would I expect to eventually pay?
-
A completely impossible question to answer!!
It would not surprise me to see a variation of 100k between desperate and deluded sellers, for identical properties in that range. (Well in fact I see it all the time!)
Whatever offer they accept, in 12 months time you will be able to buy 10+% cheaper.
-
it would depend on where in the north it is calpe has dropped in price more than say morriara baladra bennisa also would depend on the sort of property.i saw a property in calpe reduced by 40% on a banks clearing agents site so i would sit tight for a while,after the budget in june depending on how it is recieved by the markets you could see the pound rise against the euro making it cheaper still.
-
Thank you jp1 and Dartboy, useful advice, do you live in Spain permanently? We can’t seriously start looking until we retire in mid summer 2012. Our intention is to get a winter let for 6 months from Oct 12 and look for somewhere to buy during this period. From your posts it doesn’t look as if we will have missed the boat by not being in a position to buy now. Top of our list of places is Moraira followed by Calpe and then Javea. Our ideal is a 3 bed 2 bath with A/C, CH, off road parking, pool would be good but not essential, within walking distance of some essentials – shops/bar/restaurant/ATM or failing that on a bus route to these facilities for when we are too old and decrepit to drive. We’re not keen on apartments unless top floor as we’ve had bad experiences on holiday with furniture being moved at 3am. We’ve seen villas and bungalows meeting our spec with differences of 100k in price.
-
I would say Dartboy and Jp1 are spot on, a veriation in price of 100,000 euro in that price range is very probble, you realy need to make lots of visits to look at properties so you can guage what is a good price and what’s not, looking on web site and seeing reductions of 80,000 euros or so is ok but you don’t know if the base price is good or not,
When you are on the ground looking you will soon start to get a feel for what’s good value and what’s not and when you find a genuine bargain you will need to move fast as they do go and by there nature the moneys are needed fast for various reasons
What seam to have happened around here (Costa Blanca North) is areas that have a higher concentration of apartments have seen there prices in general drop more than areas were there is not, so Calpe, Denia and parts of Javea were there have been blocks of apartments built seam to have taken a bigger nock, inland also has seen big drops, places like Pego, Monte Pego, Benitachell, Pedreguer etc
My guess is also that if the June budget in the UK is well received by the markets then you should be the pound rise against a weak Euro
-
Why buy at all in Spain during these uncertain times that are bound to continue for much longer? Why not rent, the rental market in Spain is much safer for the tenant than in England and there are thousands of properties available in the areas you are looking in.
Your 250K is much safer in a UK property or a UK bank.
-
We are not intending selling our house in the UK but will let it and use the rent as additional income. We have considered renting in Spain but don’t want to end up as gypsies in our old age should the landlord wish to dispose of the property or hike up the rental. It seems that lots of properties are only rented for 11 months at a time so the rents can be increased. Even if we got a good landlord who was happy to have tenants who looked after his property and didn’t cause him any problems there are no guarantees.
-
@stevesainty wrote:
From your posts it doesn’t look as if we will have missed the boat by not being in a position to buy now.
😆
Far from it.
I seriously believe we have a lot further to go with this correction. The world accepts that the PIGS have to devalue by as much as 30%. How they do that is the problem, but that’s another subject. Already there is a 5% reduction to Civil Servants pay in June.
Given the increasing unemployment, masssive, MASSIVE, sorry I meant MASSIVE oversupply and indebtedness of Western Europe, house prices in Spain are only going one way.
You have at least 2 or 3 years to catch that boat, and even if you miss it after it has left port (in 2 or 3 years), a gentle breast stroke off the quay side would catch it up in no time.
-
@stevesainty wrote:
Thank you jp1 and Dartboy, useful advice, do you live in Spain permanently? We can’t seriously start looking until we retire in mid summer 2012. Our intention is to get a winter let for 6 months from Oct 12 and look for somewhere to buy during this period. From your posts it doesn’t look as if we will have missed the boat by not being in a position to buy now. Top of our list of places is Moraira followed by Calpe and then Javea. Our ideal is a 3 bed 2 bath with A/C, CH, off road parking, pool would be good but not essential, within walking distance of some essentials – shops/bar/restaurant/ATM or failing that on a bus route to these facilities for when we are too old and decrepit to drive. We’re not keen on apartments unless top floor as we’ve had bad experiences on holiday with furniture being moved at 3am. We’ve seen villas and bungalows meeting our spec with differences of 100k in price.
No one knows if the market will turn by late 2012 only time will tell, Moraira and around as you will know is very hilly so some form of transport in realy needed unless you are right in the centre, if you are in the centre you will probably be in an apartment which it sounds like you don’t want, however you can get Villas just outside or on the coast road form Moraira to Calpe were there are supermarkets etc.
The coast road, golf club etc is all a part of Benissa but most people think of it as Moraira, Teulada/Moraira district is left very soon after you exit the town, as long as you are not far from the coast road you should be ok as there is a local bus service that runs along the coast road from Teulada to Calpe, there are bus stops but you can hale the bus and it will stop and will also drop you off when you want as long as its on there route and not on a sharp bend, there’s a winter and summer service, here’s the link http://www.autobusesifach.es/horarios_ing.htm
-
@stevesainty wrote:
We are not intending selling our house in the UK but will let it and use the rent as additional income. We have considered renting in Spain but don’t want to end up as gypsies in our old age should the landlord wish to dispose of the property or hike up the rental. It seems that lots of properties are only rented for 11 months at a time so the rents can be increased. Even if we got a good landlord who was happy to have tenants who looked after his property and didn’t cause him any problems there are no guarantees.
I agree that there are uncertainties when renting, even if you sign a normal rental contract which is for five years, but there are far more uncertainties when buying a property in Spain, especially now.
You are buying into a falling market with no end in sight. Despite all the checks available to you, you could end up with an ‘illegal’ property (even if it’s legal now, the regional government can change the rules to make it illegal). If your income is from the UK, it’s dependant on the exchange rate and nobody knows where that is going.
There are literally thousands of expats forced to stay in Spain because they can’t sell their houses, at any price. For older expats there are often health problems which are difficult to resolve in Spain, even with private medical insurance, even when part of the excellent Spanish system, you will need an excellent knowledge of Spanish or an interpreter, and after-care is different to the UK.
If you’re renting, all you need to do is hop back on to a plane bound for the UK.
-
Lots of good advice here. Especially to rent, the market here is quite diverse and takes quite a long time to get to know what is available, and where the better places are. Even if you limit your search to CB north, and work at it really hard, I would expect to spend at least six months looking around, just to find the right place for your needs.
One of the fundamental mistakes that expat buyers make, is a quick purchase. This will be fueled by dishonest agents repeatedly telling you that the market is rising, and that you cannot afford to drag your heels. Other spin includes, “it’s been reduced by x%, and is a real bargain. It wont be available for long at that price”, or many other silly lies. Buyer beware!
-
hi steve no i don’t live out there,i had a close escape in 2007.i am 43 and had done well on a couple of property deals in the uk clearing my mortgage and then buying a flat for cash.We decided that we would try spain as a ceramic tiler work wouldn’t have been a problem (i thought) but my father passed away and we put our plans on hold so i could sort out his will and make sure my mum was ok.Then the global situation surfaced and we decided to sit tight.We have holidayed in the area for years my mother in law had an appartment in appollo 5 in calpe at the top of la cala nina.In recent years we have been hiring villas in the area and now stay in the baladra urb near the Rondon restuarant.We find this is the area we prefer now it has the pepe la sal supermarket nearby and just a short drive there are more restuarants shops and bars on the way into morrira or towards calpe there is another supermarket.We still intend to buy in this area in a few years but for now i have put my capital into some growth bonds and i hope the pound gets stronger and prices continue to the point where i can buy a 3 bed villa with pool for around the sort of money you are looking to spend.some thing like this http://www.orangevillas.com/index.php?action=listingview&listingID=14
-
Steve wherever you buy just make sure its not on a north facing hilside, whilst your property may be cool in summer Spanish properties especially older ones can be very cold in winter, many properties especially on the hillsides around calpe and Denia that are North facing may only see the sun for a few hours a day before it dissapears behind the hill during November till March. In terms of location perhaps consider a little in land around some of the pretty villages in the Jalon Valley area
The forum ‘Property Questions & Answers’ is closed to new topics and replies.