sam54140

Dozens convicted as Costa fraud trial ends with 53 convicted
Juan Antonio Roca jailed and fined after nearly eight years for property scam that resulted in entire council of Marbella being sacked and 30,000 homes built illegally

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...convicted.html
wow.... big.

sam54140

it would seem buying from a bank at least gives better insurance the house
has been legally built, correct ? or false assumption ?

chopera

My parents have a holiday home in France that they used to rent out. They decided to sell up so they stopped renting it out. However they couldn't find a buyer and gradually they realised that the property was a lot more enjoyable now they didn't have the hassle of renting it out. The convenience of being able to pop down there whenever they like and not having to bother about everything being up to rental standards changed everything. They now view it as a second house which they feel perfectly at home in.

Fred James

I really don't have anyreally accurate feel for that. The only ones in our circle of friends who go back to the UK are either in a wooden box or have gone back for health reasons.

In the working age group a lot have gone back through lack of work and there are very few now foolish enough to come here looking for work.

crookesey

A few years ago, when we couldn't have bought without a considerable mortgage, but were very tempted to buy on several occasions. However we bought as we could afford in the UK and rented out, we are now in the process of divesting ourselves of properties that have done very well both in rental income and current values.

Freedom is the name of the game these days, we can't risk being saddled with something that we decide isn't as good an idea as we originally thought it was, nor can we be aware of what may or may not happen in any particular area that could change it to our detriment. Many of the mega rich live in hotels for the simple reason that they get bored with places, I'm not implying that we are mega rich, but we're too long in the tooth to make mistakes that can easily be avoided.

So to answer your question, for us it's a no.

Saxy

I recomend you rent, and put your money into Luxembourg.
It is very easy to fall out of love with Spain!!!!
A word of warning, apartments can be very noisy unless you are on the top floor. Remember, they have tiled floors with no carpets, and "guys & gals" with fashionable shoes can be very loud!!!!!

la mancha

Alilever, I understand what you are saying, but it isn’t really necessary to open a bank account, and get a lawyer and give him power of attorney until you decide on a property to buy. Personally, I would not trust a lawyer to sign any documents for me without my being present. And a lawyer should not need power of attorney for a house sale if you are available to travel to the notary on sale day. And if you do decide to go ahead and buy, when you go along to the notary (or before) take along a third party interpreter to read all documents. Incidentally, do you have internet banking with your Spanish bank? If you do I would advise a daily check on your account.

agoreira

Agree, I could only ever live on the top floor! And you can accuse the Spanish of being many things, but never quiet!

jackytoo

We have done POA only once as we were working in Zaire. We had the wording to state that the POA was solely for the purchase of said house and a time limit. Don't leave it open ended.

Easy to say buy/don't buy. I wouldn't buy now but who knows. We bought 2 bank repos in 1995 during the last recession and within 2 years prices were rocketing. Though I think this recession is deeper. OK buying a second home if you spend a lot of time there. When we had a holiday home we took a long weekend every month (at least) and spent all the summer school holidays there. If you are going to holiday for less than 6 weeks then it's not worth it when prices/sales are sluggish. You could spend those few weeks in a luxury hotel for less than the taxes/upkeep.

jackytoo

I would gouge out my eyes before living in an apartment...anywhere. Spain is bad because of paper thin walls, hotels too. I recently woke in a hotel in Spain to loud snoring and it was as if the person was in the room...dreadful. I pushed the bed across the room

Lynn R

Sounds good, you are obviously very focussed on what you want out of the area you choose so are less likely to regret any purchase you might make in the future. As prices are highly unlikely to be increasing any time soon, you will not lose out by renting first at various times of year to see how you like the place.

We have friends in the UK who were talking to us last year about possibly buying a second home over here for when they retire. They wouldn't want to move here permanently as they don't like the summer hot weather. After us explaining the additional buying costs, annual taxes and running costs, they've decided they will go down the route of taking a 3 or 4 month winter rental instead, they were surprised to see just how reasonable prices can be.

I haven't regretted buying my house, but did so knowing that we did eventually want to live here full time, although we only came over for holidays for the first three and a half years. We didn't rent it out, and as a holiday home it was really rather hard work when you have to set about cleaning, making beds etc. when you arrive, doing maintenance jobs whilst you're there and cleaning thoroughly again before you leave. We bought in 2003 and I don't THINK we would have lost money on the purchase price we paid if we wanted to sell (can never really say until you see what somebody would be prepared to offer). By the time we do come to want to sell it will have been a good, low cost in terms of buying and running costs home for us for at least 10 years, and we will get some if not all of our money back if we sell. If we'd chosen to rent, we would get nothing back at all.

sam54140

well it's ALL about timing. 2003 is much better than 2008.. or even today.

you mention hot summer: what is hot though ? 40°C? average are around 25-32 no ?

house ownership costs: are you refering to annual property tax , "trash" tax. anything else that is special ?

thanks

Lynn R

Summer temperatures vary a lot according to where you choose to buy. Inland areas are both hotter in the summer and colder in the winter (especially colder in mountainous regions) than anywhere on or near to the coast is. Sevilla, Cordoba and Granada and the surrounding areas regularly get summer temperatures of 40C and above for weeks on end. I'm just under 5km inland, normal summer temperatures here rarely go over 35C and if they do it's just for a day or two. Coastal temperatures are a bit lower, around 32C would be average for July and August and there tends to be more of a breeze making it feel cooler.

House ownership costs - IBI, additional basura tax if charged, utilities (standing charges to be paid all year round even for a holiday home), community fees if you buy an apartment or a property on an urbanisation, insurance, annual non-resident taxes and the cost of maintenance. If you're only paying them on one house (the one you live in) in Spain I have found them very reasonable (but we live in a non-urbanisation house so no community fees), but if you are paying the running costs on a UK house at the same time then it can get to feel quite expensive!

sam54140

thanks, appreciated as always.

alilever

Yes, think renting and keeping an eye on prices of the apartments we have earmarked might be the way to go until we decide what lifestyle changes we're going to make in the UK. Desperately trying to cut down on work and have more holidays! Other half needs to have a bit of a career change so we can have more time in Spain....