Re: Why do Brits buy instead of rent?
 

Surely in many cases it was what they thought was best if they bought before 2008, certainly that was our case. Had it all planned out to buy a little place in Spain to retire to, eventually sell in UK to buy an emergency bolt hole if needed etc. All changes within 12 months of buying, so no doubt like many others you just get on with it and do the best you can.
I can see that now renting seems the best option as there is still a lot of uncertainty in both Spain and Uk. Although of course if you have spare cash there are some good bargains to be bought in Spain of course may go down may go up who knows. Yes a lot of people now are speaking with hindsight and saying you shouldn't have done this that and the other but hindsight is great not many saw this coming. Although there was a lengthy post on here from about 4 years ago where some guy did predict the problems looming, I and no doubt others didn't heed it so as I say get on with it.:rolleyes:

Re: Why do Brits buy instead of rent?
 

There may not have been many posters here warning that house prices would have to revert to their natural level, but there were plenty on the housepricecrash forum (and in Spain the Burbuja inmobiliaria forum) who were. If anything, the worst is yet to come as governments in all countries have to make hundreds of thousands of people redundant in order to balance the books. Remember the UK government kept the housing market buoyant by spending 100s of billions in QE etc. That is no longer an option. Things look pretty grim all around. :thumbdown: Unless you're an Apple store selling Ipads!

Re: Why do Brits buy instead of rent?
 

I have no doubt you are right about the other forums etc however I am still of the opinion that a lot of this is hindsight and what the future holds who knows. From your post maybe everyone who has bought in Spain should find the nearest cliff and jump off! If you have bought that is something you can't now change unless you can sell and take the loss or as I say get on with it and make the most of what you've got. If you have rented then lucky you. Like i say hindsight is great and I am still looking for my crystal ball

Re: Why do Brits buy instead of rent?
 

Are there really any apartments in Benalmádena pueblo worth 400,000? If so which are they.

Re: Why do Brits buy instead of rent?
 

Quite a few of that price, in the right area.
As you know, nothing in Spain is actually worth what the seller is asking, but they are the going prices.
When we first moved here years ago, near us places were up for sale, they are still up for sale but about ten times the price.
Prices have hardly dropped, but people would sooner wait years than drop the price :confused:

Re: Why do Brits buy instead of rent?
 

So true. 15 years ago we viewed a villa and told the agent we were seriously interested. (This was in a recession). The agent called us the next day and told us the spanish owners had decided to up the price by 5 million pesetas (about £20,000 then). We had thought of going in with a lower offer than the original price.

Re: Why do Brits buy instead of rent?
 

I have seen the same places in agents with a difference of 35'000€`s in the price. ;);)

Re: Why do Brits buy instead of rent?
 

I'm not going to tell you exactly where I live :) But it is an atico with a couple of hundred square meters. Its up for sale at 400k but imo worth half of that.

There are several villas dotted around for over a million around here and even the new small detached houses (you know the ones that look all the same) for half a million. Still ridiculous prices.

The cheapest area seems to be the Riviera, Calahonda area where there are large flats up for 130-150k. Still its not an area I would want to live in, seems to one of those "ghettos" people talk about.

Re: Why do Brits buy instead of rent?
 

Before we moved over here, we had our UK house on the market and we had a house in Spain that we were desperate to own. The UK house didnt sell as it was more or less at the start of the recession, plus my grown up daughters had a plan - they'd rent our UK house from us! (it works well surprisingly!!) Anyway, we then rented in Spain! Well, not only is the house we were desperate for still on the market and 100,000€ less than when we were looking just under three years ago. But having lived in Spain now, that house was totally impractical and all the things I'd wanted from my Spanish home, are not the things I want now and the things that didnt matter do!!! So what I'm saying is that until you live here (well me anyway) you dont know what matters to you and what you'll want. I'm glad we're renting, ok, its not mine, but I have my own furniture, possessions, the kids, dogs etc and I've got my house in the UK, which has gone up in value significantly

Jo xxx

Re: Why do Brits buy instead of rent?
 

This whole attitude of "its not mine" seems so stupidly childish to me. Who cares who the bricks and mortor (or concrete!) actually legally belong to! Sounds like a group of 4 year olds fighting over their toys :)

If you have a proper rental contract i.e. a Spanish 5 year one then it is your property for those 5 years. The landlord really doesnt have any rights, I think they can come in and take a look if they make an appointment with you, but that is it.

Plus you are allowed to paint and redecorate if you want, nothing to stop you doing that. Redecorating every 5 years is normal anyway even when you do own the place.

Re: Why do Brits buy instead of rent?
 

Well if I was faced with buying a dump like Calahonda I would consider renting;):rofl:

I do think the ones who kept their uk property are the winners:thumbsup:

Re: Why do Brits buy instead of rent?
 

There I agree with you twice, in one post!

Re: Why do Brits buy instead of rent?
 

They have been, but I'm afraid the next year is going to see a lot of bad news re the UK economy ( I don't suppose it'll be good anywhere really). Take a look at this bbc illustration - the UK is actually worse than Spain:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/10150007.stm

There are going to be horrendous cuts, and it will result in major price falls. I'm not looking forward to the major rise in unemployment either - I've experienced enough of that already in the UK

Re: Why do Brits buy instead of rent?
 

The thought of still paying rent when I am 70 haunts me, that's why I am glad I bought when I did at a low, distressed price and paying less for my mortgage than I was paying in rent before! It is mine all mine, at least till I finish paying the bank, which everyone always mentions, but that argument is a "no-brainer" as I either have to pay rent or mortgage every month whatever...

People have mentioned here that when you rent you don't have to pay to repair the property but unfortunately for renters in Spain you do have to pay. When we were renting we were told that if the water heater/boiler broke down we would have to pay to repair it, I checked with officialdom and they confirmed this to be true, as it is considered wear and tear. Lethal if you ask me, as a landlord is not obliged to look after gas installations and if the tenant can't be bothered, booooommm!!!

Re: Why do Brits buy instead of rent?
 

I would think that one main reason most Brits buy their own home is so they don't have to pay rent when they retire on a limited income. Although more expensive in the early days, home-owners benefit more in the long term. Long term, rent money is dead money.

I started paying a mortgage in my mid 20s (working 2 jobs) and now in my late 40s I am mortgage-free. I became mortgage-free when I moved to Canada 3 years ago but had I stayed in the UK I would now be mortgage-free anyway. After 20 years it feels great not to pay a mortgage or rent every month. :)

PS my first mortgage interest rate was 12.75% back in 1988 eeeeeekkkkk