Consider this before buying in Spain

Megallan,

Go into any property developer in all of the regions you mention and ask for their sales literature in Dutch, German, Finnish, Swedish, Danish......and so on, you will come home with an empty bag.  Ask the same developers for the sales lit. in English and you will go home in a truck!! 

I agree other nationalities make up the property sales market, but when it comes to UK buyers, they are the GOOGLES of this business and the rest are the ask jeeves!

I also disagree that the market is based on rickity fundamentals, the market is measured in thousands of billions of Euro´s every year, on that basis the UK market must be positivley dead!

I´m please you´re not a Bulgarian agent!

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If anyone thinks they are going to make money short term out of property in Spain I would like to know how. Before you make a penny you are going to have to cover your 7% tax and your x% selling fees this is not going to happen short term. Buying a property in Spain is for a lifestyle only not to make a quick  buck.

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Mostly true tinto and more so now than pre 2004.  However in November last year I put a regular client on to a property on my books.  My client buys several properties a year off me and has done so since early 2002.

The property was a small quad bungalow in a nice area priced at 136,000 to the vendor I sold it to my client for 139,500.

I told him to replace all floor and wall tiles, all windows and doors and put in a new kitchen and bathroom.  This he did (some of the work himself) at a total cost of 19,400€. Nothing too fancy.

I put it back on the market mid Jan this year and last month sold it for €194,500.  The bank valued it at 201,000 I charged my client 4,500 to sell it.

He made €22,000 Euro´s after purchase/ sales costs and materials and labour.  Not bad for a total of 8 weeks work by him.  But most labour was done by kitchen/bathroom fitters etc.  He only did the tiles.

He is buying again with me....it will be his 9th property and after a quick drink with him after the sale, he showed me how since 2002 if he counts his main house also purchased through me he has made a total of over €600,000 including some clever new build purchases in 2005.

This has been done because he took my advice on all occasions, occasionally he tries to insist on something else and always I prove him wrong.  His wife will say, Rob listen to Gillespie  -and he has to!!

There are always good deals out there tinto, but not so many Rob´s to do them for. 

I reckon I have made about €115,000 commission from him and have never overcharged for my services.  I could live on 10 clients like him very comfortably and he lives like a lord on me!!  A very nice arrangement.

 

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Gillespie,

This is getting interesting.

You say: "Go into any property developer in all of the regions you mention and ask for their sales literature in Dutch, German, Finnish, Swedish, Danish......and so on, you will come home with an empty bag."

ummm, what happened to Spanish? There are 500,000 British expats in Spain. There are more than 40 million Spaniards, who, though it may come as a shock to some, do not live in cardboard boxes.

It is the Spaniards who have driven the property boom nationwide (admittedly with some help from outside) and it will be they - and what happens to their economy - that decides what happens from now on. Many people have grown rich off the boom and there is nothing wrong with that. But many more have been left wallowing under debts they won't be able to rid themselves of for decades. 

Don't kid yourself. What do you think will happen to property prices where Brits - and Spaniards - buy on the coast if the market crumbles in Madrid and Barcelona? Supply everywhere already far outstrips demand.

Regards,
Magellan

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My 2.5 cents worth: so shares in big real estate companies are crashing? So what? If you bought shares in these companies, that have been relentlessly building pointless & un-sellable housing on huge urbanizations in (sometimes illegal) rural areas with little or no existing infrastructure and are therefore deservedly in deep sh*t, then you may also be up the creek without a paddle. If you bought property off-plan in these pointless developments, you may be up the same creek.

But these companies and properties only represent a portion of the overall market. I have said it before: stick to the well established areas where demand has always been high, and you should do OK.

Gillespie - I'm a Rob! Can you make me 600K in the next 5 years please?

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Roberto, your post is what I was trying to say before but you said it SO much better than me

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Justin, I wasn't trying to steal your thunder, mate!  I think there's more than a few of us who are getting a little tired of all this doom & gloom stuff. I've seen some incredible statements in other popular (but not as popular as this one!) forums. Get this:

"I'd say that a sensible price is probably less than half of what most sellers would expect to receive at present. When prices do reach that level I would agree that Spain will be an attractive proposition"

.....and this:

"With the increase in the costs of flights from the low cost airlines its difficult to see that Spain will be quite so attractive for UK purchasers?"

Is this silly season or something? Prices halving? Dream on (or try Bulgaria). And as for the comment about low-cost airfares - easyJet have just celebrated their 10th anniversary. Hmmm. When did the Brits first start coming to Spain & buying property? At least 20-30 years before Stelios dropped by, methinks, and they'll keep coming even if easy-Ryan-baby don't.

Real estate crash? Exploding bubbles? I reckon there's more risk to your property from an earthquake.

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Roberto,

I was in a bar at lunchtime and even The Sun was carrying a doom story.  They quoted Tony Gatehouse from Medsea saying the only places to buy in Spain were CB and Costa Granada....He just happens to have offices there.

It`s a strange thing but I´ve just had my busiest month since last June.  Long live the crash I say!

I´m not sure if it´s the same for all agents here, but I suspect georgia has just bought a banner off Justin on the Spanish Estate Agents thread under Spanish Dream!!  georgias comment came just as the shiney new banner lit my screen.  I could be wrong but it looks to me like a heavy investment.

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Hmmm...not heavy enough Gillespie

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