Mike Bell

We have had different views about house prices and how much to offer against posted prices.Some say the real price is 40% less than the asking price.Others say , make an offer but within a single digit discount rate.What is the position.....

amideislas

We hear (and tend to believe based on what we've seen) that the asking price, especially when listed by agents, is double the actual value of the property, and they'll negotiate downwards from there.

Have someone find the seller and investigate how desperate they are, and try to negotiate directly. Many sellers only sell because they are nearly bankrupt. Estate agents have no interest in negotiating a price which the owner would gladly accept, even if it takes years to sell a property listed at 2x or 3x it's value. Many owners despise agents for this reason.

A good start is to look on segundamano.es or fotocasa.es for properties listed directly by owners and start a negotiation process. It can save you 100k's.

zenkarma

It's almost impossible to say as it depends on so many variable factors. Some houses are priced realistically, many aren't.

I often feel a rent ratio to capital value is a good yardstick to use when valuing property. How much is the property likely to to produce in annual rental yield? Let's say an identical house a few doors down is producing €1,000 a month on a long term annual let. That's €12,000 a year, using a nominal 5% rental yield (which is fairly common) that values the house at no more than €240,000. If the house you're looking at is priced at €300,000 you know it's likely to be overpriced in the current market. That's a very rough rule of thumb, it won't apply to every and all properties.

I was reading an article the other day that ran an online experiment on Spanish houses and asked interested people to put in offers based on the asking prices. The survey returned a result of offers of between 25-35% lower than the asking prices.

One of the current problems within the Spanish property market at the moment is that a lot of people are trapped in negative equity, having bought at the height of the market and simply can't afford to take a low price. Others are of a mind that the market will recover and are prepared to sit it out until it does. These are some of the reasons why many properties are still over-priced for the current market. The prices being asked bear no relation to what those properties might be worth in the current market when compared to other similar properties.

You have to decide what a property is worth to you and not be afraid of putting in offers based on that price. Be prepared to walk away if the offer isn't accepted and keep looking. Research, patience and perseverance are key.

Rosemary

As Concierge for the Spanish section of BE I would like to say hello and welcome.

BE is a very large expat website, so if you have problems finding your way around we have concierges who will try to direct you. The moderators for the Spanish forums are Mitzyboy and Fred James, moderators are there to ensure that the site runs smoothly within the rules of BE. Problems and complaints should always be addressed to a moderador who will look into the matter and deal with it efficiently and fairly. Our members who post in the Spain Forums are friendly and helpful with a wealth of knowledge of the issues of living in Spain. At the top of the page you will find a quirkily named thread called Free Beer which is full of important and useful information. Hope you enjoy your time participating in the forums.

Please let me know if you need any further help.

Rosemary

Mike Bell

Great feedback.Thanks