lee.walker1

We are looking to buy a property in spain, i have heard you can buy repo's properties, does anyone know of any good contacts where i can look into this.

lynnxa

the only one I knew is now doing 15 years!!

rowlandsbb

I do not know anyone who specializes in this type and suspect that in Spain most of them are in relation to the Spanish who have over stressed themselves with big mortgages similar to what happens in UK
These properties will be offered for sale in the same way as any other re sale as the banks will want to maximise their sale value
There will be some homes owned by non Spanish but perhaps less than you may think because expats do not as a rule take out large mortgages so there are fewer forced sales by expats

There are always expats who want to sell quickly so perhaps you should look for a re sale in the location you like and then make an offer and you may be lucky
Also some investors have bought off plan hoping to 'flip' and are now finding it more difficult to sell before completion but frequently this only applies to the poor developments


Also bear in mind that there are Spanish property dealers [ as there are English ones in UK] looking to pick up bargains and they are probably better connected to pick up the Spanish forced sales

lee.walker1

if you buy off plan but fail to make the final payments after putting down your 30% deposit (which surely there must be plenty of people who do this) what happens to these properties? they must be re-sold but by whom?
does the person who put the 30% deposit down try and sell it fast before they lose their deposit as they cannot afford the final payment?

keithwalters

If they fail to make the final payment then the property goes back to the developer to sell again - at a new, higher price!

MnM

Hi rowlandsbb,

I beg to differ!

The majority of these properties in the Costa Blanca North are properties owned by expats and not Spanish. If you get acquainted with a bank manager, you will probably be privvy to such properties and the bank does not try to maximise sale value, only to get reimbursed what it is owed as quickly and quietly as possible, even trying to avoid putting a property up for auction.

rowlandsbb

Certainly there are some who do get into trouble in this way but most who buy as a holiday home, part or full time living do not proceed unless they are confident that they will be able to complete
This is the majority as they are not property investors or dealers

The experienced dealers may try to sell before completion [ flip] but also have the finance available to complete and sell when it is best for them [ this may be cash or mortgage arrangements]


The inexperienced or perhaps first time investor/dealer can get carried away by builder projections etc and either have to sell very quickly or loose the deposit
These are the people you see on the TV!!
Often the development is not top quality in location and build

Advice is: do not buy off plan if when the time comes to complete you will have a problem

MnM

Yes, I see your point regarding off-plan properties.

What I am talking about are the ex-pats who come here and buy, obtaining a mortgage on their UK (or German or Finnish or Norwegian) finances and then give up their jobs back home with a view to working here and realise there is practically no job market and eventually default on their mortgage payments.

There are quite a few of these.....unfortunately....and very very sad indeed.

rowlandsbb

Hi MnM
Perhaps I should have qualified the statement ' so that the bank will recoup the loan outstanding'

As I understand EU [and probably Spanish] law on re possessions, the Banks should act reasonably and obtain circa 'market value'

In England if you know the right people it is easier to buy repossessions and I am not surprised this applies in Spain

Most of the financial press releases dealing with re possessions in Spain relate to the Spanish but as you say, and I agree , there are naturally some re Expats who have overextended themselves

tallbob

I have been told that any Spanish bank has a list
of re-possessed properties, all you have to do is go in and
ask for the list

Darren

I have gone to banks and asked if they have any repos.

The answer is always no.

It is a closed shop.

Occasionally we get bargains, we have one below bank value.

Bank valuation is 900k, we have it for 700k. So that is 20% or more below bank valuation but is not a repo, it is a private sale.

Bank repos, pretty closed shop.