I was just searching the website rightmove for some cheap three bedroomed houses in Spain and I came across these three houses which might be interesting:
Don’t be put off by the price tag of £45,708 for these properties, which are still over priced as far as I am concerned. By the time Spain enters the crash and burn phase of its long demise when it finally drops out of the Euro these properties will be on sale for just £20,000.
that looks like the same property advertised as 3 different ones and in that area i’d check the paperwork with the highest possible authority as there are a lot of illegal ones down there.
Don’t be put off by the price tag of £45,708 for these properties, which are still over priced as far as I am concerned. By the time Spain enters the crash and burn phase of its long demise when it finally drops out of the Euro these properties will be on sale for just £20,000.
Don’t you think that your £20,000 target might be becoming a bit of an obsession?
I mean what happens if you see a property you really like and the seller won’t accept less than £25,000?
you appear to be obsessed with price …… there is more to buying and owning property than price alone …. things are generally cheap for a good reason ie no demand , poor facalaties , no infastructure …. if you buy on price alone ie the cheapest you can find im sure you will be very happy and end up in a stunning location with excellent facalaties and great neighbours (not) .
We lived in the Almeria region but further down nearer the coast in Cuevas del Almanzora. Those areas such as Albox, Oria etc. are real Brit enclaves. There are some lovely properties and lots of very happy people. Then there are those with illegal houses and personally I wouldn’t like to live up there. It’s a bit ‘out of the way’ and a bit ‘kiss me quick’ ish…… sorry for being a snob. Those who want to live in a modern style house close to other Brits would probably love it. It’s not my area though.
Don’t be put off by the price tag of £45,708 for these properties, which are still over priced as far as I am concerned. By the time Spain enters the crash and burn phase of its long demise when it finally drops out of the Euro these properties will be on sale for just £20,000.
Don’t you think that your £20,000 target might be becoming a bit of an obsession?
I mean what happens if you see a property you really like and the seller won’t accept less than £25,000?
I am only prepared to pay £20,000 for a property in Spain, that is a three bedroom house on the Spanish mainland or a two bedroom apartment in the Canary islands. When buying property it is best to set yourself a target price that you think is reasonable for the type of property that you are interested in and stick to that target price regardless of any sentimental attachment to a particular property that may be just beyond that target price. Given the state of Spain’s economic woes I think a target price of £5,000 for a property is more appropriate.
It won’t happen, people wouldn’t bother to sell at that price. For the ones with mortgages it isn’t worth doing. The ones that don’t have mortgages just won’t sell until the time is right. I know quite a few people keen to sell on the CDS but they won’t unless they can get the price they want. But as I said….dream on 😆 😆
When we looked for bargains in 1995 our first priority was location and it would be in any country.
for someone who thought spain was to expensive 20 years ago and who has been denied a home in the uk …… you sure know a lot about about property markets in the uk and spain .. or is it sour grapes as you were unable to generate enough income to buy a property in either location ? your knowledge of how to select and buy property is imho boardering on rank stupidity ….. location … location … location .
It won’t happen, people wouldn’t bother to sell at that price. For the ones with mortgages it isn’t worth doing. The ones that don’t have mortgages just won’t sell until the time is right. I know quite a few people keen to sell on the CDS but they won’t unless they can get the price they want. But as I said….dream on 😆 😆
When we looked for bargains in 1995 our first priority was location and it would be in any country.
Homeowners may not be prepared to sell at a stupid price but the bank that repossessed the property will be prepared to sell at a stupid price just because by keeping the property on its books it is costing the bank money all the time and they will literally do anything to get rid of it! Alternatively, apart from buying a repossession from a bank you can try buying a property at an auction for a knockdown price.
Don’t be put off by the price tag of £45,708 for these properties, which are still over priced as far as I am concerned. By the time Spain enters the crash and burn phase of its long demise when it finally drops out of the Euro these properties will be on sale for just £20,000.
Don’t you think that your £20,000 target might be becoming a bit of an obsession?
I mean what happens if you see a property you really like and the seller won’t accept less than £25,000?
I am only prepared to pay £20,000 for a property in Spain, that is a three bedroom house on the Spanish mainland or a two bedroom apartment in the Canary islands. When buying property it is best to set yourself a target price that you think is reasonable for the type of property that you are interested in and stick to that target price regardless of any sentimental attachment to a particular property that may be just beyond that target price. Given the state of Spain’s economic woes I think a target price of £5,000 for a property is more appropriate.
Nothing wrong setting a target price – but remember the value of money goes down over time. £20,000 20 years ago ain’t the same as £20,000 today. Also you need to be more specific about your location, as peterk points out. After all, if your only criteria is that it is a 3 bedroom house in mainland Spain then, as I’ve said before, you can buy one now.
I wonder how much banks are paying in community fees? When we had our community building meeting there was a list of who had or had not paid with the four Spanish owners having paid, the no show non paying Moroccans from two of the remaining ‘boom time’ buys and then a list of paid up banks. In our building Banesto, Santander, Banco Popular and Banco Mare Nostrum are paying each month.
I wonder how much the banks are paying throughout the whole country? Will any EU bailout mean that the banks will HAVE to sell for any price as they just can’t afford to keep holding on to them? Will the banks be made to take back the keys to all those who can’t pay their mortgage and just have a massive free for all sale of property in Spain and then try to start again? I hope so.
They will when real preassure is put on them from creditos. As the system works now they are hiding the fact that their portfolios has gone down in values and using many faulty values on their books. When creditors starts demanding them to use fair values things will happen quickly. As it is now the spanish/Eurozone taxpayers are paying for it.
Surely its not just pressure from creditors? If the banks re-value the properties at a true market value, or sell them at that same value, then they will be wiping millions of the value of their (overvalued) assets. I would guess given the state some of the banks are in, this may be enough to make them fold. They will probably need support/bailout from the government in order to be able to adjust the property values to a more realistic level they could be sold at.
Surely its not just pressure from creditors? If the banks re-value the properties at a true market value, or sell them at that same value, then they will be wiping millions of the value of their (overvalued) assets. I would guess given the state some of the banks are in, this may be enough to make them fold. They will probably need support/bailout from the government in order to be able to adjust the property values to a more realistic level they could be sold at.
That’s the thing they have nothing to gain from selling at market value. Instead they try to sell them at really high prices and refuse to finance non repossesed properties. This is bogging down the recovery time. Had they not done this we would probably be out of the worst of this mess in a few years.
Agreed. Our horrid bank manager was trying to be nice by saying that if we found someone to buy our flat she’d let them take over the mortgage. I pointed out to her that I was sure that if I brought her someone who wished to take over our mortgage she would swipe the buyers from under our feet and give them a ‘fantastic’ mortgage on the banks repo next door flat! She had to agree.
The banks only want to sell their properties to solvent people with mortgages at higher interest rates than the current euribor. They are still in the market of greed. Until they are forced to give out credit for other properties the whole market is at a standstill. Jakey boy here wants to buy at 20k which is only possible if private sellers just give up the ghost and hand in the towel just to leave Spain or he buys a bank repo.
Why doesn’t the EU force Spanish banks to do the right thing?
Hi. I just joined this forum. I made an entry in the Living in Spain/Why relocate to Spain section if you want to know more about me.
I am learning a lot reading the entries from all of you! Reading this topic I have question (maybe a stupid one).
Are the banks only interested in the mortgages they can sell on/with reposessed properties. I.e. would they sell to someone who does not buy a mortgage, just to get rid of the property? Or wouldn’t they sell to someone like that because he/she would not buy a mortgage from that bank?
Hi. I just joined this forum. I made an entry in the Living in Spain/Why relocate to Spain section if you want to know more about me.
I am learning a lot reading the entries from all of you! Reading this topic I have question (maybe a stupid one).
Are the banks only interested in the mortgages they can sell on/with reposessed properties. I.e. would they sell to someone who does not buy a mortgage, just to get rid of the property? Or wouldn’t they sell to someone like that because he/she would not buy a mortgage from that bank?
Are you asking whether a bank would be prepared to sell one of their properties for cash rather than lend out a mortgage with it? If so then the answer is most definitely yes. They’d be laughing.
Thanks Chopera, that was indeed what I was asking.
Banks generally have much higher asking prices than private sellers because they are offering very generous mortgage terms on their properties. They think some people would be prepared to pay more if they get a cheap mortgage, and that suits the bank because it means the properties on their books appear more valuable than they really are. So if you are a cash buyer there is little point in paying what the bank is asking since you are not going to benefit from the cheap mortgage, you’ll just end up paying too much for the property. So you need to negotiate with the bank, which can be extremely difficult, otherwise you’ll probably be better off buying from a private seller who is desperate to sell. As ever the best thing to do is start off renting while you get a good idea of the market in your target area.
Thanks again. I am indeed planning to rent first in that area and then start looking around for a property and pay cash, without mortgage. But I see your point about prices being higher from the bank.
Adrian, be careful when buying property from Spanish banks who offer 90-100% guaranteed mortgages for zillions of years, because they have overvalued the property price in the 1st instance by 40% or so over it’s true market value in order to offer their marvellous mortgage.
There’s a link on here somewhere, not sure where for now but it might be under the topic ’10 reasons not to buy in Spain’ 🙄
Thanks for the warning Angie. However I am not planning to “take” a mortgage anyway. The capital gains from my apartment in NL should be enough to buy a small apartment on Gran Canaria without having to go to the banks for a loan (fingers crossed). I probably wouldn’t get one anyway as I don’t have a job yet after I have moved (I would only have savings in the bank in NL). I need to create my own job once there, which I think is still possible if you think outside of the box and find a niche market.
I just wanted to know if banks would also sell to buyers who do not “take” a mortgage with them when you buy one of their reposessed properties (or whatever the exact expression is in English. Sorry for that, I am better at “American business English ;-)). That was confirmed, with the warning that the asking prices are very likely way too high compared to their actual value. So I can still look is on offer, and only when I like one very very much (and can afford it) have someone negotiate a reduced price.
I’ll ask more specific questions in the Canarias section of this forum, although I see it is not very active.
I wouldn’t buy a property in Spain until Spain drops out of the Euro and adopts the Peseta and until house prices have fallen from peak to trough by 99.999999% and until the Government abolishes the 10% property sales tax altogether and until the provinces drop altogether the annual property tax.
i am seeing some villas in the area i’m intrested in coming down to a price i can afford so i have rented a villa for 3 weeks next august and will be going out to look by then i think the are they in or out of the euro will have been decided and prices will have dropped a bit more.My sisters father in law who already lives there is sending me regular reports and is always talking to agents in the area.Today he told me of a 3 bed villa with 2baths private pool in need of refurb for e139,000 i hope its still for sale next year.This villa if refurbed at the peak would of been 400k so already a nice discount.I hope the pound gets stronger and it becomes even more of a bargin, (if there is such a thing) but with it being a lifestyle purchase to which i will retire its already cheap enough to interest me, but i am not going to rush in with my heart ruling my head.I will wait to see if local taxes are raised and how things develope
Exactly and there is only a finite time in which to act. In 2005 when people were buying off-plan to flip the market was already cooling. The Agents knew it, people on the ground knew it but not the punters and they are the ones who got stung.
Any one wanted to flip in Spain had to have their commercial head checked with the buying cost of 10%& the selling cost. An example
Cost €100 taxes etc €10. Total cost €110. To sell at say €100. Agents fee 6% incliding VAT, 3 % retention. €6+€3 net sale proceed 91
The cost at purchase €10 & at dosposal €9= €19. This means that betwen the time of purchase & or sale the property prices had to increase by at least 19% for a buyer to just beak even.
I am of course assuming that one could find a buyer. This was not possible in the best of times due to similar properties being availiable in the block or a stone throw away distance. In the above example all the buyer would do is provide around 15% of the above to the tax man in one form or another.