Hi All,
I know I do not know anyone personally on here, probably met some of you without knowing it! I feel I know some of you over the years simply by your posts.

I thought I would fill you in on some my plans regarding movingto Spain, which I have been planning since my first visit in 1997!

I am in the process of selling my principle UK residence, and a second Uk property, to fund buying a villa or town house and another investment property. The villa to live in and the investment so my wife has an income from it and our current Spanish property (she is only 38 and is too young to retire) .

It now looks like both properties are going to sell, and I have to start looking in earnest for the aforementioned properties. I have tentatively been looking all year for a decent bargain property or properties in the Fuengirola area, but even though I have seen some real price falls, the property still seems vastly over priced in the current market conditions, therefore can anybody with their feet on the ground as it where, tell me is anything selling?

Are prices still inflated?
Is the crisis biting in this area? it all seems life as normal when I visit.

Do you think the market will fall any further?
Any anecdotal evidence is appreciated

I am quite cautious about entering the market, as I think we may even be using a different currency in a while, ( I know this has been debated a lot on here).

best regards to you all

Al

You are mad to buy two properties on CDS. Don´t put all your eggs in one basket. Keep one property in the UK. Why the Costa del Sol anyway?

I would have thought that you would get a better rental income from the UK then you would from the CDS.

One thing not yet said is please consider renting first. If you do sell in the UK, you will be in the perfect position to, for example, rent wherever (CdS, Fuengirola/Mijas/a n otherplace, to check out what you really feel once you're here on a 'permanent' footing. And of course potentially to buy a second property in the UK - maybe one of the now sought-after rental properties everyone's needing! Time to think about Spain and where to put your 000s while at least remaining on the property ladder in the UK and geting income at the same time. Two birds, one stone............

Hi Guys
Thanks for your replies, just to give you a little more info, I already own several other properties in the UK, and gain my income from then.

I chose the CDS and Fuengirola in particular because I already own an apartment there, and we have a great set of amigos in the area, we are at home there as much as we are in the uk.

As regards renting, as a landlord personally, i would never pay rent to anyone. I intend to buy a Bargain property.

I also believe when everybody goes south, you go north, ie when the market collapses and property is for nothing because ownership seems silly, thats when you buy-the only thing is when IS the market at its bottom.

Could the CDS drop further in price?

As regards rental income in uk v spain you are probably correct, but my wife cannot laze around as easily as I can and therefore needs something to occupy her and I think if we buy the investment property at the correct price then we can hopefully rent to holiday makers at the right price, and give her a basis for a little business.

Maybe someone can tell me if holiday rentals are disastrous at the mo? for obvious reasons.

As regards mad to buy at the present, i would only buy a spectacular bargain ( been doing it in uk for years). I take the comment on board but ask the same questions as my original post-

Is the market at the bottom? in your opinion

Is anything selling?

I was offered a lovely 3 bed villa in campo de mijas in its own grounds, loads of room for a pool, a real corker of a house, that needed work (no problemo as I am a tradesman) for around 200k E the only reason I did not buy is because, there are no bars, not even a bus and was too far to get to town even by bike. Now if that property rocks your boat it was a real bargain (in my opinion)

anyone know the real state of the micro market in this area?

regards to all

Al

I suppose you have done research into the rental market in Spain and found out there are loads of empty rental properties as there are no punters? Of course you can buy a "bargain"...and watch it become an even better bargain next year! You will be able to watch the price go down and at the same time pay IBI and notional rental tax on said property.

If your wife cannot find herself anything to occupy her than sorting out a holiday apartment for holidaymakers maybe you are choosing the wrong place!

thank you Jacktoo,
My wife needs to earn a few quid per month and being a landlord, property is something i can help her to do such as maintenance, and general asistance.

Regarding rentals in spain i am not so clued up, i need some advice on this topic, maybe from people who rent their own places out.

I know that from renting out my own place (not commercially) some of the pitfalls. What I do know is Fuengirola and Los boliches are areas that draw many serial renters year after year even in this crisis. I know numbers have gone down but like anything, if you buy at the right price you can charge the right price (internal deflation) therefore capturing your share of the potential tenants.

What I would like is some input from people who are knowledgable on both the current situation in this area and the reality of trying to make a 1000E from two rental properties that are paid for.

regards
al

It makes no sense to buy in Spain at the moment, defies logic almost to be honest. Your 'buy of the century' could be that, well not a hundred years but a couple of decades before you could get your money back. I'm also a landlord in the UK and there is no way I'd sell here to buy in Spain; you don't know the law, the language or the people; your a walking bag of cash so keep it and rent for a year or two.

Hi, I was in a similar situation to yourselves (I suspect). When we came to Spain, we were (are) too young to retire and so wanted some regular income.

We decided to buy our own home plus others that we could then rent out. Basically, we went on a spending spree and now have 5 flats, one bakery which needs reforming plus are main villa which has two self-contained holiday apartments.

In hind sight, I would NOT recommend buying property for renting out in Spain! We have had nothing but grief from the tenants and have made little money. As we speak, out of the 5 flats, only one is rented!

As I say, If I had my time again, then I would have purchased a property in UK and rented that out via a management agency.

I know there are potential issues with IHT/succession tax etc. but I think this would be my advice.

[QUOTE=Lospacoshombre;9768457]Hi Guys
Thanks for your replies, just to give you a little more info, I already own several other properties in the UK, and gain my income from then.

I chose the CDS and Fuengirola in particular because I already own an apartment there, and we have a great set of amigos in the area, we are at home there as much as we are in the uk.

As regards renting, as a landlord personally, i would never pay rent to anyone. I intend to buy a Bargain property.

I also believe when everybody goes south, you go north, ie when the market collapses and property is for nothing because ownership seems silly, thats when you buy-the only thing is when IS the market at its bottom.

Could the CDS drop further in price?

As regards rental income in uk v spain you are probably correct, but my wife cannot laze around as easily as I can and therefore needs something to occupy her and I think if we buy the investment property at the correct price then we can hopefully rent to holiday makers at the right price, and give her a basis for a little business.

Maybe someone can tell me if holiday rentals are disastrous at the mo? for obvious reasons.

As regards mad to buy at the present, i would only buy a spectacular bargain ( been doing it in uk for years). I take the comment on board but ask the same questions as my original post-

Is the market at the bottom? in your opinion

Is anything selling?

I was offered a lovely 3 bed villa in campo de mijas in its own grounds, loads of room for a pool, a real corker of a house, that needed work (no problemo as I am a tradesman) for around 200k E the only reason I did not buy is because, there are no bars, not even a bus and was too far to get to town even by bike. Now if that property rocks your boat it was a real bargain (in my opinion)

anyone know the real state of the micro market in this area?

regards to all

Al[/QUO

Doesn´t sound that cheap to me. I rent a property out for a friend and it is full from June to mid September with the odd booking in May/April. My brother in law and family live in Estopona but I cannot see the draw of the CDS. Far too over built and far too many English.

There are so many distressed sales in the CDS (not to mention half built, empty unsold properties), that yesterdays bargain will become tomorrows millstone. Property prices are probably going to stagnate until the eurozone has sorted itself out and then who knows???????! As in the UK you need to pay tax on any rental you receive. You'd be better off investing your money in gold for the foreseeable future IMO!

Jo xx