Possible Bank crash - how does it affect my existing spanish mortgage?

Bri - I am inclined to agree with Bob - if you are buying a distressed sale (for whatever reason that might be and there are many) and you are getting it at 50%(ish) of 2007 prices and you feel comfortable with what you are paying for it then theres nothing to stop you. If values continue to depreciate in Spain then IF you should want to sell it you may lose money but equally you may not......... the choice as they say is yours. The one thing that is a 100% definite is that there is no upward momentum on prices and my belief is that will remain the case for some time. Who is to say whether the price in 07 shouldnt have been at current levels now. There had been years and years of 20% plus increases on "values" since 1997 - largely fuelled by the off plan boom! At the end of the day a house/home is worth what someone is willing to pay so ONLY you can decide that.

I have no wish to influence you either way but to illustrate there was a development not far from me in the Estepona area that 5 years ago was being sold at 350,000 plus. As recently as 12 months ago they were being marketed as distressed stock at 155,000 Euros ish. About six weeks ago a cash purchaser took the remaining 50 units at 55,000 Euros each - a take it or leave it offer to the bank which the bank elected to accept. Does that make the market 55,000 Euros for the units - of course not - the bank wanted to shift the bad debt and all of the remaining units - they had someone with liquidity sitting in front of them who would take a the entire stock - the buyer knew he was in a strong position and that was where it worked for him - happy buyer but I suspect not so happy bank.

As to banks offering 100% (or even 100% plus in some cases) on properties to non residents, I can assure you that it is the case. Not every bank is doing it and it can be development specific - nevertheless it is happening. Whenever someone asks me about one of these developments (when they ask me if they can get 100% on a property/development of their choosing) I suggest they investigate very thoroughly what they are buying. Many of them are developments where tumbleweed is going to be the plant of choice for a long long time ...... if a development remains largely unsold then there is a real possibility that community fees will remain unpaid and the urbanisation may fall into disrepair.

In every way this is a buyer beware situation.

Thanks Smiley. What a hornet's nest we've opened up!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The bottom line becomes the factual statement "those that make the rules have no real incentive to enforce them - they have too much to lose ".

Perhaps the only way, given self correction will never work, is to name and shame Political leaders who are unwilling to enforce the rules, and have some form of educative campaign to explain to all EU citizens exactly why it is essential to vote for only those politicians who are able and willing to place enforcement of rules to the top of their agenda...... tall order or what??????

I was brought up a Tory - but I have been a fully paid up member of the Cynical Party since 1993, although I started to disbelieve earlier than that. Modern day politicians (of whatever leaning) are not in it for what they can do for A country but whatever bigger and better things it can lead them to.

FFS they dont even seem to be able to abide by an open and honest expenses policy......and invariably they share the belief of "do as I say not as I do" that became so popular under Blair and the cronies.

If youre going to name and shame then I guess the 650 sitting in Westminster would be a good starting point but the list is too long to mention all by name - Brussels comes next although you can probably omit Farage as he seems the only one willing to air his beliefs as to the mess Europe is now in ----- no doubt there will be some bloody sleaze on him to shatter the illusion.

Thread has gone way off track so perhaps we had better leave it there.

Dear All,

off thread or not it is great stuff, how many times have I told Goodstich he is much better off a victim than the real victims those, that completed on off-plan in Spain.

Not much to dream about even with a little water and electricity.

Regards

Norman

 Come on you lot , all you seem to be doing is pontificating. There must be someone who can pick up the mantle and run with it. LOL

ads, the hot potatoes do include the physical real estate but the derivatives mountain built off it is a bigger nightmare.

If it was only the bricks and mortar, this would be a recession at worst and would follow a similar path to previous cycles. Even though Spanish banks weren't allowed to play in the derivatives mountain directly, other exposure (e.g. South America and their Banks) means that they inadvertently did anyway. One of the intangible problems is that no one actually knows what toxic assets their counter-parties hold. It's all hidden (with government approval). So, even though they thought they were hedged against these toxic assets by not buying any (by choice or government decree), everyone has now realised that it's all been one massive circle-jerk and they're not hedged at all.       

 You also wrote: The bottom line becomes the factual statement "those that make the rules have no real incentive to enforce them - they have too much to lose ".

Now you're getting it.

I think we were all brought up to believe that our politicians have our best interests at heart. You know the thinking: They might bend the rules a tad to enjoy some perks - and there are always a few bad apples but, on the whole, they're an honest bunch who at least try to do what's best for the citizens that they were elected to represent. They are aware of their civic duty and they know that their positions as Public Servants carry a responsibility to be trustworthy and operate with integrity etc. etc.  

That may have had some truth at one time - but I believe it is dangerous and naive to believe that we still live in that environment. However, they are more than happy for us to continue living under that illusion. 

As this article's heading suggests: It's Simple, Think Like A Criminal. 

http://truthingold.blogspot.com.es/2012/05/when-you-see-that-money-is-flowing-to.html

I know that once I did, their actions seemed to make sense where once they used to be very confusing to me.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/05/06/why-can-t-obama-bring-wall-street-to-justice.html

When the 'supposedly' most powerful man on the planet proves to be a compulsive liar in an empty suit with a teleprompter, (and sadly, no better than his predecessor), it's very disappointing to discover that no one is minding the shop but, instead, they're all stealing from it.  

This message was last edited by JD01 on 21/06/2012.

<< Come on you lot , all you seem to be doing is pontificating. There must be someone who can pick up the mantle and run with it. LOL>>
 

Love it! :-)

Everyone wants/expects someone else to run with it. Isn't that just another form of pontificating?

 Yes we're paralysed with activity. I'm taking my ball home , I don't want to play anymore!