Buying a House? Why Wait?
 

There are so many reasons not to buy property in Spain - mainly arising from either the cost (prices due to go down still further, the Pound vs the Euro... etc) or the legalities (Ley de Costas, Landgrab, 'illegal homes', fraud and cheats...) that everyone has been put off the idea.
But, there may be a good reason why you should consider buying now - especially if you are thinking about retirement.
The time you have left. Oh, you could wait another five years, but - if you have ten left in this world (possibly more by living in Spain: less stress and a better diet), then cutting your eventual time here by half to save a few thousand pounds may not be that clever after all.
There are lots of safe properties for sale - just remember to take proper care.
We need some new neighbours!

Re: Buying a House? Why Wait?
 

We each have different priorities. Near the top of mine is owning my home. It may be cheaper to rent, but I don't see it as an investment.

Re: Buying a House? Why Wait?
 

What did you do to the old ones ?

I doubt I would buy here as I doubt I could ever truly believe it was legal and would always remain so. It seems they just move the colours of the land around to suit themselves :blink: revoke past plans etc etc

Re: Buying a House? Why Wait?
 

I agree. We did buy (and are now in the process of selling - our house, although legal, has massive discrepancies in the 'papers' which is costing us a fortune and endless time to get put right), but would not do so in Spain again. They do move the goalposts as they see fit.

However, we consider long-term renting a waste of money. So, that's Spain stuffed for us then, other than for extended holidays.

Re: Buying a House? Why Wait?
 

(possibly more by living in Spain: less stress and a better diet)

Never quite followed this line of thinking. :confused: Life can be as stressful or not as you care to make it, I can't see living in a big city in Spain being any less stressful than living in any city anywhere in the world. If you moved from the middle of London to say, the Alpujarras, of course it would be less stressful, but ditto moving from London to the country in UK. As for better diet, it's entirely up to the individual what they eat, no matter where they are. Agree the "Mediterranean Diet" is supposedly healthy, but how many Brits adopt the Spanish way of eating, these forums are full of threads of Brits seeking out Brit food. You decide what you will eat, the country you are in doesn't decide it. And Spanish kids are no different to UK kids, they are obese, they are eating more and more junk food. For the reasons you have given, I'd have thought buying a property in Spain would give you plenty enough stress! ;) And those that have ended up with dodgy, unsellable properties must be megastressed.

Re: Buying a House? Why Wait?
 

I've recently been working (on a contract) at a London council, and the amount of people taking voluntary redundancy has been staggering - many of them taking a tidy sum for 15 or 20 years service. I suspect though that they won't be interested in buying a property abroad - instead they'd probably be into long-term rentals, and keep their UK property as a fall-back. If this level of voluntary redundancy is the same throughout the UK (and news reports seem to indicate this is so) you may start to see renewed interest by older Brits looking to relocate to warmer lands. But, as I mentioned I don't think the appetite for buying is there - in the UK prices are slipping and so the sentiment is to wait a while, and rent in the meantime.

http://www1.landregistry.gov.uk/uplo...11_sb5ar16.pdf

Logically, if prices have already fallen in Spain, then it's a good time to buy, especially if you intend staying in the same place for many years. But sentiment works against this, people like to see prices rising before they jump in.

Re: Buying a House? Why Wait?
 

Yes I would find that off-putting. Never used to be so, we bought and sold quite a few in Spain but never bought anything after 1999 thank god. I know so many who are caught up in the planning mess in different areas.

In the CDS areas I know prices haven't fallen as much as they should so they still look overpriced. Considering that the pound euro rate is at least 25% less than a few years ago then there aren't many bargains. I would say rent as the house you buy now will almost certainly be thousands less in a years time.

Re: Buying a House? Why Wait?
 

Having only another few years left, could be seen as a reason for NOT BUYING, because in a couple of years time the heirs will have the hassle of selling your house in Spain, with all the expense and legal headache that goes with it.

About the "better diet", as it has been said, people decide what they want to eat, and you can eat healthy food in the UK, you dont have to eat crap there.
i dont know anyone who radically changed their eating habits when they came to live in Spain, unless a change of health forced them to.

Re: Buying a House? Why Wait?
 

Good point re: buying versus renting. The only argument I can think for older people buying a house is they prefer to know how much their bills are going to be: ok rents are low now, but they may suddenly start to rise if high inflation comes back. With all the unstable economical news, no one really knows for sure what will happen in 2,3 4 years time.

Funny thing about the healthy diet. I know people who moved to the Med coast and said they ate a lot more salad, gazpacho, olives etc because it was more available. Go inland and especially towards the north and the diet is more heavy and meat based. But as everyone says, you have a choice wherever you live of healthy or non-healthy foods from the supermarket.

Re: Buying a House? Why Wait?
 

I think there may be more than you think. The ready availability of fruit, onions, peppers, tomatoes, olive oil, at much much lower prices but higher quality than in the uk will make more people change their diets. Yes, they may go from 3 meals to 2 meals a day, eat later in the evening, which means they are eating less, but all will result in a better diet.
Even when I have just been visiting Spain for a week or two my diet has changed during that period and I leave feeling better for it. It can't all just be the sun or the lower latitude.

Re: Buying a House? Why Wait?
 

The official Spanish housing market numbers, understated as they are, have shown a steady decline in value for the past four years. The future predictions from reliable Spanish sources show that a further decline is inevitable for at least the next few years, possibly many years.

To put it bluntly, if you buy a property in Spain now, it will be worth considerably less next year and even less in the years to come.

Yet people still come to Spain and buy property. They're the same people who still buy time shares and probably the same people who send their bank details to those nice people from Nigeria.

There are four boarded up bars, almost next to each other, in a nearby shopping centre. An English couple, both pensioners, have just bought the lease for one of them. It has got to be the sun.

Re: Buying a House? Why Wait?
 

:rofl::rofl:You couldn't make it up could you. Makes the UK sound like Zimbabwe. You really should move from where you live in the UK:rofl: No more expensive to eat healthy than gorge on steaks and chops. A lot on this forum seem to be very unhealthy, most have some illness if it's only a bad back!

Re: Buying a House? Why Wait?
 

it has to be something.
on a much larger scale you now hear of major companies who went on a spending spree a few years ago, borrowing heavily against rising share prices and shareholders funds, are now having to sell off at great discounts, hoping the new owner will be prepared to accept the transfer of the loan and pension commitments. Many are just sitting on the sidelines waiting for them to go bust and pick up the pieces for a song.
meanwhile the directors are taking their grossly inflated salaries and golden parachutes.

If someone can start a business without borrowing even from themselves then it may make a break-even but the thought of running a tea shop in Somerset fills me with as much horror as running a bar in Spain

neither a borrower nor a lender be

Re: Buying a House? Why Wait?
 

:rofl::rofl::rofl: Yes, wish we could have things like fruit, onions, peppers, tomatos, olive oil in UK. Things we can only dream off, eh? :rofl::rofl::rofl:

Re: Buying a House? Why Wait?
 

never been to Zimbabwe, it hasnt got a coast.
I am moving shortly.
Its when I compare prices and in the uk they are 2-3 times those of Spain, is it small wonder there are so many eating unhealthily. Tinned this, processed that. Even forced to have a specific size and shape because the supermarkets say that is all that will sell. The "misshapen" produce in Alcampo tastes just the same at 1/3 the price.
alot on this forum are "elderly", with which comes aches and creaks, generally caused by Anno Domini.

Re: Buying a House? Why Wait?
 

On the other hand some people are so desperate to return to the UK, they are selling their houses at silly prices. This stuffs it for anyone wanting to sell their property for a sensible price. We have had loads of properties reduced to under half their original price, just so people can get rid of them!! In the case of one of these it is worth buying as they are well under value to start with. Where else can you get a 3 bed town house in good condition, fully furnished for 40k euro.

Re: Buying a House? Why Wait?
 

I wouldn't buy in Spain, wouldn't touch a property for sale with a barge pole :thumbdown:

Re: Buying a House? Why Wait?
 

I live in the Uk and I don't eat unhealthily .... depends on where you look and the way you want to eat .... never set foot in a McDonalds or similar and never intend to, love vegetables and also know how to cook. Daughters both brought up with healthy eating and both slim, beautiful and good cooks, supermarkets do not dictate our shopping habits or eating habits.

Re: Buying a House? Why Wait?
 

The same is happening in the UK. People are selling up to 30% off the "market" price just to get a sale. Usually its to pay off debts etc as they end up in rentals. The asian buy-to-leters are the only ones with any money to buy houses in parts of the uk.
this doesn't bode well for those who want to sell to move on or up or Spain.

Re: Buying a House? Why Wait?
 

I haven't heard that happening anywhere in the UK, even in depressed areas. Houses have only dropped about 2% on average. The last house to sell in our village was a 4 bed detached needing complete refurbishment, average sized plot. Advertised at £500,000 and went for £595,000. The new owners have now demolished it except for the front shell as it's a conservation area. Most places in the North aren't doing too badly either.

Re: Buying a House? Why Wait?
 

We've been here before with all this unbelievably fresh Spanish produce, the majority is produced under plastic and pumped full of chemicals, and a lot of "Spanish" fruit and veg started it's life elsewhere, it's imported and labelled as Spanish. (I linked to it recently). In the past Spanish fruit and veg has been banned from European supermarkets due to it's high levels of nitrates or whatever. But keep believing, brother, if it makes you feel better, it must be good. ;)

Re: Buying a House? Why Wait?
 

. Lionda is 'back home' I see.
It's about 'life'. You can live here or there. My OP point is that it's silly to live there if you'd rather live here; money not being everything in this life.
We have an elderly neighbour. She has a nice house but, at 93, she is getting on. She has lived a long time out of the UK. So, this summer, her grandchildren persuaded her to move to England to a nice place they had fitted up for her.
She rang us last week. Seems she's back here in Spain. 'Yes, it was good to see the family, but I'm not going back to the UK any more', she says, 'I'm staying here'!
Evidently, it takes all types.

Re: Buying a House? Why Wait?
 

There is a little saying and it goes like this..."don't leave your brain on the plane".

Re: Buying a House? Why Wait?
 

Pm your adress in the UK, and I will put a few grapes,and maybe a tomato in a jiffy bag and send it to you.

I wont even charge you for the postage.

:rofl:

Re: Buying a House? Why Wait?
 

I definitely did change my eating habits when I moved to Spain, but tbh I think that had as much to do with the change of lifestyle in that I'm not working any more, as it did to the availability of vegetables or other products. I ate far too many ready meals and expensive convenience foods (like pre-prepared vegetables from M&S) because I hadn't time or energy to cook from scratch when I left home before 7.00 am each day, didn't get home before 7.00 pm at the earliest and often much later, and worked quite a lot of weekends as well. Now that I have time to do it, and to shop for ingredients every day instead of braving the supermarket on a Saturday morning or a mad dash to M&S in my lunch break, I find I actually enjoy cooking. I think my former colleagues would be astonished to see me making soup!

Re: Buying a House? Why Wait?
 

Oh but you need money to survive ... been there, done it, glad to be back home after being ripped off big time :thumbdown:

Re: Buying a House? Why Wait?
 

nothing as good as home made :thumbup:

Re: Buying a House? Why Wait?
 

That 93 yr old is going to need some help, Many places have lots of steps, out of order lifts, not much public transport. Not to mention shopping etc. I know a widow in her 80's who returned to the UK. She didn't want to but there was no other alternative. She was completely isolated, relying on neighbours to lug the gas bottles. She bought in a retirement community and has really settled she now has (a sort of ) social life.

Re: Buying a House? Why Wait?
 

Thanks JLFS! Could you send some of those grapes that have been fermented and bottled, preferably albariño variety, or even a verdejo if you are skint. That would really be appreciated!:rofl: As for tomatoes, I´m still eating my own, they don´t get any fresher or better than that!;)

Re: Buying a House? Why Wait?
 

Will do.:)

Re: Buying a House? Why Wait?
 

I'd like to see these "reliable sources" that can predict many years ahead. Put it this way, who can really predict what the situation will be like in just 18 months (April 2013). By that time the Euro could have gone (or rocketed), interest rates could still be low or above 10%, and inflation could be over 20% or less than 2%. Please tell me one person who's predicted the pound-euro rate correctly over the last 2 or 3 years?

In fact, thinking about it, I don't think I could trust a 6 month prediction from so-called experts.

Re: Buying a House? Why Wait?
 

Hold it, maybe we should all move back to Agrodiarrhea`s promised land as it`s soooo bad here. :rolleyes::rolleyes:

Re: Buying a House? Why Wait?
 

I would have thought that you would be happy now that you are back in GB.

Graham

Re: Buying a House? Why Wait?
 

Why not? There appears to be plenty who leave their real past there.

Graham

Re: Buying a House? Why Wait?
 

I think the phrase was made for the inspection trip folks, who were "held hostage" for a few days, not allowed to mix with outsiders, as every move was controlled by the reps.

Even eating, was part of the pitch.

They were promised places with bars, shops, transport and a lot of the more recent buyers were left high and dry, living on a building site and no ameneties, far from a bus route, and supermarkets.

Re: Buying a House? Why Wait?
 

another typically crap posting where you take half a sentence completely out of context and try to twist it to what you want

Re: Buying a House? Why Wait?
 

there spouts the gravelly voice of experience

Re: Buying a House? Why Wait?
 

We bought, would not have rented, back in 2003. bought from elderly Spanish couple who we are still in touch with. no problem with the house etc.

Would seem to be new build where these problems happen, and contrary to Brtish news it happens to the Spanish buying new builds as well.

:thumbup:

Re: Buying a House? Why Wait?
 

Yes that's generally true, new builds were the worst. A lot of Spaniards got stung with the AIFOS fiasco. Although I have friends who bought an old finca in coín which they can't sell because of illegality problems. They used a Lawyer too.

I read last week there are more illegal houses in Spain than the whole of Europe put together.

Re: Buying a House? Why Wait?
 

As the thread title says Why wait ?

All I seem to hear is 'Oh dear, prices still dropping don't buy yet' What a half witted attitude. Buy what you want because it's what you want/like and buy the damned thing regardless of the few doom and gloom merchants who frequent this site. Waiting for the ideal time based on rumour and speculation means you will be dead and buried before you own anything.
Yes can be problems with buying in Spain but I have yet to experience them as yet (on my fourth property now) mind you I have a decent spanish lawyer and avoid british ex-pat businessmen like the plague !!!

Andy