GCM

I think you are making the right decision i.e. renting long-term - the last person mentioned people prepared to sit on their properties for years if need be in order to get a high offer - not everyone has this luxury - many people HAVE to sell due to divorce, death or financial reasons so sit tight and pick off something reasonably priced I say.

Mark

liznewman

Well I have just been looking at long lets. The prices are very reasonable. I think if you are buying to move there permenantly its not so bad, however, as a holiday place of say 3 months a year I don't think the prices are worth it. Then with the insurance and property management etc, I really think the long let is the way to go.

£200,000 is better in the bank I think.

keithwalters

What happens to the value of properties varies according to where you buy. For example, the costa del sol, costa blanca, etc are more risky options. Go for an area that is still developing and your money will be much safer. Where were you thinking of buying?

As a non-resident you can be liable for 35% capital gains tax on the PROFIT, not the amount you sell the property for. However, speak with a good solicitor - the amount you pay is very fiddlable!

Don't use this forum as your only source of information for buying a property in Spain. It is a well known fact that people are much more inclined to spout off about negative experiences than positive ones and therefore forums such as these tend to lean further towards the negative than the positive.

liznewman

Yes I do understand what you are saying. I must admit I do like the Costa Del Sol, not keen on Costa Blanca but I do like Murcia. I really wanted to be within some distance of the coast and as I do have a walking problem then services within distance, although we will have transport.

The thing that confuses me is keep being told that property sells quickly, but looking on the different sites on a regular basis, the properties seem to still be for sale. Our intentions were to have a holiday home for the next few years to see how we liked it and then if we decide to move permenantly then but something which we would want to stay in.

I think now, if we have a few long rentals in different places we are looking at, it may way out better than buying something for a few years and then selling. Also it will help us know if this is really want we want.

Do you live in Spain? If so, how long have you been there? and what area? Did you find the move ok and did you do it yourself or by one of those property companies.

Sorry for all the questions but I must admit I am a little confused at the moment.

Regards
Liz

keithwalters

We have been living in Spain for four years - 2 years in rented and 2 years in a property we own. We are on the costa de la luz, and I have an uncle on the Costa del Sol who has been there 14 years.

Property is still moving very quickly in our area, but then it is a developing area. However, my uncle just bought a resale property in Fuengirola - the asking price was 650,000 euros. He got it for 450,000 euros!

This is what I mean by it depends where you buy. Where I am, the demand outstrips the supply. Where my uncle lives, vice versa.

If you like the Costa del Sol, I wouldn't consider buying off plan at the moment as there are some really good resale bargains to be had, if you can drive a hard bargain that is. In my area, off-plan is better as people are seeing a return of well over 20% per year on their capital investment.

I regret the 2 years we spent in rented. It gave us an opportunity to look around and see if we liked the area before committing ourselves, but then one day I sat down and did the maths.........

24 months rent at 510 euros per month = 12,240 euros out of my bank account.

If I had bought (even just a temporary little apt with the intention of upgrading later) 2 years at 22% capital appreciation on my investment - who knows how much money INTO my bank account instead of OUT of it.

My foot is on the property ladder now so I am not so bitter, in fact I have two feet on the property ladder as we have just completed on a second property that we bought as an investment. We bought at 126,000 euros two years ago, now worth 180,000 euros.

poollounger

Surely a lot depends on whether you have a mortgage or not on the Spanish property ?? If you had not liked Spain and had regretted the move, then renting would have been the wise decision retrospectively. Liz it took us a year to find the right property and to focus on where we wanted to be. Websites are very helpful as an initial research tool, but there is simply no substitute for driving around and seeing for yourself.
We started in Chiclana, went as far NE as Estepa, as far west as Ayamonte, and many places on the way south, nearly bought way inland but bought in Chiclana and do not regret it. Make up a tick list. Will you have a car ?? If not then you may need to be in a small town where you can walk to shops etc. It is really just the same as buying in Britain in that sense. Would you buy in the middle of the Scottish Highlands with a bus twice a day ? If not then think again.
As to prices...we found that if it's cheap or unsold then there is usually a snag. Some properties we viewed a year ago remain unsold. These often looked absolutely idyllic in web pics, but were a sorry dissapointment when we went to view. Romantic descriptions were the work of Barbara Cartland. Or they were by a motorway, or had dodgy deeds etc etc.
Even when we finally narrowed our choice of place and then thought it would be plain sailing, there were so many choices and snags. Those property shows make it all seem so easy, but it is work to get the right place. I am not negative.....just realistic..and yes there are still snags and probs, but it has all been worth it......so far.

liznewman

I found you line about living in Scotland amusing, as we live in Wales and yes we only get one bus a day. The properties I was referring to that are still for sale are actually properties we viewed on our visit.

I know what I am looking for and when I see it I shall now, we do intend now to view ourselves, and forget these property companies. However, I think we are going down the road of, renting for a couple of months to look around various places and then taking it from there. Maybe buy an apartment first to see if we actually want to live there full time our just go 2 or 3 times a year.

I think many people including myself like the sunshine, however, if the sun shone in Wales like it does in Spain I would never leave, everywhere is nice when the sun is shinning. We have a nice way of life where we are now, a smallholding with 6 acres of land, so I feel to move from this to something that is not to the same lifestyle would be wrong. So we are taking it slowly, who knows maybe we will lose out in the long run, but I have to be sure that we are doing the right thing before deciding to live in Spain full time.

Thank you for your input, it is much apprecaited.

Liz

liznewman

I found your line about living in Scotland amusing, as we live in Wales and yes we only get one bus a day. The properties I was referring to that are still for sale are actually properties we viewed on our visit.

I know what I am looking for and when I see it I shall now, we do intend now to view ourselves, and forget these property companies. However, I think we are going down the road of, renting for a couple of months to look around various places and then taking it from there. Maybe buy an apartment first to see if we actually want to live there full time our just go 2 or 3 times a year.

I think many people including myself like the sunshine, however, if the sun shone in Wales like it does in Spain I would never leave, everywhere is nice when the sun is shinning. We have a nice way of life where we are now, a smallholding with 6 acres of land, so I feel to move from this to something that is not to the same lifestyle would be wrong. So we are taking it slowly, who knows maybe we will lose out in the long run, but I have to be sure that we are doing the right thing before deciding to live in Spain full time.

Thank you for your input, it is much apprecaited.

poollounger

[QUOTE=liznewman]I found you line about living in Scotland amusing, as we live in Wales and yes we only get one bus a day. The properties I was referring to that are still for sale are actually properties we viewed on our visit.

I know what I am looking for and when I see it I shall now, we do intend now to view ourselves, and forget these property companies. However, I think we are going down the road of, renting for a couple of months to look around various places and then taking it from there. Maybe buy an apartment first to see if we actually want to live there full time our just go 2 or 3 times a year.

I think many people including myself like the sunshine, however, if the sun shone in Wales like it does in Spain I would never leave, everywhere is nice when the sun is shinning. We have a nice way of life where we are now, a smallholding with 6 acres of land, so I feel to move from this to something that is not to the same lifestyle would be wrong. So we are taking it slowly, who knows maybe we will lose out in the long run, but I have to be sure that we are doing the right thing before deciding to live in Spain full time.

Thank you for your input, it is much apprecaited.

Liz[/QUOTE
I agree. I think Britain is a great country overall, if only the sun shone more often. The weather is so unpredictable, and this permeates every facet of life. I used to get angry with an Australian friend of mine living here who always used to moan about the grey skies. Then I spent 7 weeks in the Carribbean and came back to grey skies and moaned myself.
On a different note, walking into estate agents offices inland one sees very different prices than the ones on the web targeting expats. We found a wonderful cortijo near Moron, with 30,000 sq meters of land, idyliic setting in a cleft in a valley, but only 3Km from the town, in immaculate condition, but no plumbing..there was water.. and no elex but a pylon not far away. We arranged to see a builder there before moving, but the local pharmacist snaffled it. And it was only EU130,000 !!

Unexpat

Personally, I don't believe the climate alone is responsible for the differences between the UK and Spain. Sure, constant good weather and sun are great, but other factors such as the geographical dispersion of a culture, the resulting tight-knit communities, the closer family ties and associated respect for others and the means of earning a living, count towards making Spain what it is.

Where these factors are changing, one can see Spain changing and the Spanish way of life disappearing, irrespective of how much sunshine there is.

I'm sorry. Britain was a great country, but for me those days are slipping away quickly with each year that passes. Fortunately I can still see a lot of what I valued in Britain as a kid still here in many parts of Spain, for my foreseeable lifetime and hopefully for my children's. Unfortunately, there are places in Spain where this is no longer the case and it's not all completely due to an influx of immigrants.

Mitzyboy

[QUOTE=Unexpat]

Where these factors are changing, one can see Spain changing and the Spanish way of life disappearing, irrespective of how much sunshine there is.

QUOTE]

A very good point and one I have made on several occasions. Its my opinion that in 20 years time I may be sitting on my patio in Spain moaning about exactly the same things I moan about in the UK now. With progress comes change, and change is not always for the better. I'm worried that Spain will become more and more like the UK in time.

montgomail

[QUOTE=Mitzyboy] Yes I think Spain has all the same problems as the UK. It's just that Spain is a young democracy and has a little catching up to do.

poollounger

Things change..it may be a cliche but it is a natural progression of life. We change too then blame it on the world around us...how often I have heard someone say 'Ah London isn't what it was in my youth ' well it may not be, but neither are they the same. I have heard it said that people who choose to live in Gibraltar want to live in Britain as it was in the 50s. I cannot comment as I have never been there. There are certain basics of Spanish life that I think will endure. Living outdoors, toleration of children, liberal attitudes in a Catholic country. Is it perhaps to do with , certainly in my experience of Andalucia, a closeness to the land ?? I find bullfighting distressing, but can understand why it is so popular...Denying the weather plays a large part in a peoples disposition is going against some very primal instinct...attitudes, morals, pattern of behavioiur may change, unless we evolve into a different species of some kind, our response to the environment we live in will stay the same.....perhaps......

liznewman

Well I live in Wales, as for the way of life, it is very much the same here as in Spain, apart from the weather. Yesterday the sun was shinning I was sitting outside on the patio watching the Ducks on the lake, the view, weather etc was priceless. Today it is raining. I suppose other parts of the UK are different with traffic etc. Here it would be brilliant if we had the same weather as Spain.

My Daughter gets married the 29th of this month, I am just hoping the weather is nice. 50/50 chance I guess.

Unexpat

Yes, I think you hit on more of the essence of what makes Spain Spanish there.