dorishaslop

Hi all.... There's a little apartment in our village with just a phone number in the window, (in fact there's many in the same block, same number) Residents there have told us that they were reposessed by the bank a few years ago when the builder went bankrupt. and that it's the bank that's selling them.

Can any of you suggest how I should go about enquiring... yes I know I need to ring the number ha ha but I have no idea of the price guide, is it safe to buy from the banks... will I need a lawyer or just notary.... we have the cash waiting so no mortgage but don't want to make a huge mistake and lose our money.

Also, when the houses were originally up for sale they were fully furnished, but that's all since been ripped out.. should I ask for it to be refurnished??

Thanks xx

EMR

If our experience of bank repos are anything to go buy. you purchase as is.
We have even seen that have had windows and doors removed.
New properties have no builders guarentee, the banks just want to get rid of them as quickly and with as little fuss and cost as they can.

agoreira

Even in today's tough times, properties are selling if the price is right, the fact there are several in the block unsold might mean they aren't the bargain you are looking for. Call me a cynic, but I tend to think that the bank personnel might get first shout at the best bargains, the other properties they are not so keen on get offered to Joe Public. Plus many think that Spanish property prices are set to drop for several more years yet.

Domino

Doris, I have been sniffing around some of these "bargains" and must admit that you will usually find such properties are "legal" so no worries there. One property we looked at was originally on the market as having Kitchen and swimming pool as part of the deal - but since the developer went bust and the BS called in the mortgages even that has gone out the window.

Quite simply, you buy what you see - think WYSIWYG - a couple of houses up from the one we were looking at had never had the promised AC even fitted, so must have been finished at the same time as the plug was pulled.

So far as you are concerned, you may not get any warranty on any goods/fittings in the house, but if you ask nicely you may get the remainder of the 10 year's builders warranty if you get a good solicitor to press hard for you.
If you still feel up for it, the price and location are right, bearing in mind you may be responsible for the fitout of the property, it is in a reasonable area and property is moving, albeit slowly - then go for it
but be prepared to pull out at every swing ball they throw at you. Be Tough, take no prisoners - they probably need the sale more than you need the purchase, especially with a cash sale.
kind regards

stuboy

Dom, glad to hear that these properties seem to be legal. I know you have had your share of nightmares in this area.

Do you know if the banks have to prove they are legal to sell. Would the bank do the necessary due diligence?

I can imagine (or it may have happened already) the scenario if you bought from a bank and then it turned out to be illegal.

What I'm getting at is, Is it any safer in your opinion to buy from a bank than through other channels?

Lynn R

As mentioned in other threads fairly recently, if the price of these repossessed properties is less than the official "valor tasacion" then the OP needs to be prepared to get a bill from Hacienda for the difference in tax paid between the actual price paid and the official property value. This needs to be taken into account in deciding whether the property is still "cheap" or not.

andyrich666

Am I wrong to assume as how it was spelled out to me by Solvia that if it is a repo, and it had a mortgage then it had to be legal as you cant get a mortgage on a illegal property ?

Is the country so far backwards that it can not make a simple online tool to see if an address is legal or not ?

missile

Andy,

It is not the country at fault. In my experience it is the people who come to Spain and leave their brain at home. I know several Brits who purchased knowing that their property did not have planning believing the man in the pub "after four years it will be ok" etc. I know others buying with brown envelopes believing the man in the pub "that is the way it is done in Spain".

Don't rely on anyone else. Get a good solicitor, he / she will be able to advise you.

dorishaslop

Thanks for all the replies... as to the last post.. I have heard both of those "sayings" glad to know they are as worthless as I thought.

I do know a lot of people living in illegal properties and sometimes wonder if the Spanish system will eventually catch them or whether they will always live in their houses knowing they are in fact trapped.. what a nightmare that must be. one of the reasons I ask on this site before doing anything... you are all such a great help....

Many thanks to you all xxxxx

agoreira

The Priors and others thought they had one.

agoreira

Debatable. I was listening to this podcast yesterday in the car, and basically it's about transparencia, and part of it is Jordi Evole talking to a Spaniard living in UK. He explains how within a few minutes in UK on the internet you can check how your school, hospital, doctor etc is rated, how much your MP is paid for speeches etc, how much he spends on stationary, it seemed to be a complete eye opener for the Spanish based guy, an alien concept for him.
http://www.ivoox.com/sin-transparenc...2056102_1.html

Domino

IMO they are more advanced than UK, go to http://www.goolzoom.com/
this will give you a Google like Map overview of Spain
put in the address if known and search on that
if address not known then zoom down to street level

once you have found the property concerned look at the map, on top right hand side you will see a box marked Catastro, tick this and also tick PNOA which will retain the satellite picture with a set of boxes over - these are the property boundaries
click on the property you are looking for and a blobby arrow will come up, click on this and you will get another box showing the catastral reference number, address and other details.
the important detail is whether it is Agrario or Urbano.

Urbano means that full planning permissions have been registered and approved to the highest level (Junta level IIRC)
Agrario means it is agricultural land and even if the grandest mansion is sitting on it then it may not be legal.
there is also whether the property has mains water, mains drainage but that may not apply in certain circumstances
The problems I found in Almeria were that the local town halls were signing slips as if they were confetti. But even though the Junta planning office looked them over never raised a complaint or tried to stop the building.
There is a national law that agricultural land can only have a property on it if it is over 10 hecatares and that may be size limited unless the land is larger.

I do feel sorry for those stuck in this situation, as state previously - the Almanzora Valley (Albox) has 12,500 illegal properties, many have invested all their savings, sale of UK house etc and they are stuck. They may be served with a demolition order in the post without warning.
One house I very nearly bought is in a small hamlet/group of houses, about 10 or so - none are on Urbano land. They have mains water, electricity but no drainage.
My solicitor said the crunch came when getting an approval cert from town hall and similar from Junta. We have paid for them, only 50euros each, but the guy in the town hall said they will never be issued.
And we stopped packing our belongings.

I have found that Urbanisations are OK, not always the dream you want, but they are exactly that - Urbano.

many people, like the Prior's, have been duped by estate agents, developers, builders, abogados, town planning depts in town hall all working on the brown envelope principal.
The Prior's had their house demolished because it was on Agrario land, but were able to move into their garage as it was not covered by the demolition order. They have been their for over 5 years I believe with no resolution.

one last thing - if you buy a house that is illegal without realising it, it is still illegal and you will probably have no come back on the seller - as you will be assumed to have carried out due diligence.
This is why I said in another post - the venerable society of Abogado's have to the best of my knowledge not taken any action or barred any of their members who have overseen such a monumental catastrophe, where they should have told the buyer what the true situation is.

hth

missile

The Priors and others new they did wrong. Would you build extension in the UK without planning approval?

stuboy

So you really believe the Spanish system is better than the UK?

Well good for you, you bang on about the 'harpies' and here you are starting yet another pissing contest. The OP was not about the different systems.

Tell me dom, how many illegally built houses are there in the UK?

Any idea?

HBG

As far as repossessed homes go in Spain it has turned into a waiting game because nobody knows what's gong to happen next. We've got Sareb, the bad bank, which is hardly moving, and the other banks only make very half-hearted efforts to sell just a few of their massive repossession portfolios.

Perhaps they're waiting to see what happens to house prices. They're still falling, but the demand from abroad is getting stronger.

I think you would have to be extremely brave, or foolish to buy one of the few repossessions currently on offer. The strange thing is that the banks don't want cash, but they'll grant you a 100% mortgage on a pile of rubbish to land you in negative equity from day one.

Water, electric and telephone will by cut off and reconnections are difficult and costly, and all the debts accrued on the cheap property will be yours when you sign at the Notary's.