Holiday place in Spain ? do you think it will be a good investment.. longer term ?

For EOS posters who purchased in Spain last 2 years for holiday income do you feel confident about the future income potencial ? Has Spain had its day as the Costa del Holidays ?

I have a continuous stream of enquiries for rental of my property in Spain.  I just wish I had two houses!  You have to offer the holidaymaker something more than just sun and sea.  If you give info on things to do in the area, info about car hire etc. then it helps.  People do still go to Spain, but for many reasons - not just sea, sun and sangria.

 Remember to factor in income tax.  One consequence of the economic situation is that people will be chased for tax due.  There is a lot of talk iin the Spanish press about using electricity bills etc to trace houses which are supposed to be empty but which are in fact be let, or lived in permanently by non residents.

And as long as you don't expect to make a killing in the short, or even medium term.   Spain is still a great place to be.

Spain is not a good property investment now or in the next ten years.

Spain will soon need a bailout and the ECB will provide these funds subject to the Trokia running the Spainish economy.

Spain property prices need to drop another 30/50% at least become buyers might appear on the scene.

Dont buy anything in Spain, renting is the way forward, at least for the next ten years.

Prices only go up when demand exceeds supply.  Go look at how many properties are on the market. One Million plus ???

10 years !! & the rest .lol.

....I was trying to be a bit optimistic...as its the weekend !!

I have a 2 bed apartment I bought in 2001 it cost €70,000 and is now worth €55,000, would you believe it costs €2000 a Year to run it, the amazing thing is that where I live near Villamartin they are building a lot of new appartment  and they are all sold to Russians, I think it there is great value there at the moment but people are afraid to buy, there are a lot of distressed sales, so my advice to you is if you have cash you are in a great position, whatever the price is go in about 10 grand under and you could get a real bargain.......

lets be honest though

as soon as the russians move into an area its time to get out

Spain is still an excellent long term investment. I work for lots of rental and sales companies and the rerntal side of things has not suffered. The sales are also still there but they have to be at the right price. Banks have so many repossed properties on their books that you really can pick up a bargain. If you have the money and know who to talk to grab a bargain. I know of a house at the moment, in fact it came from the bank Friday, the owners paid 187,000 for it when the prices were high. The bank has now repossed it and it is going to be sold for 45,000. The banks at the moment do not want any more properties so because various systems that have been set up to help banks and fincial insitiutions cope the banks can offload some of their properties for really cheap prices. Properties are still selling as well on the golf resorts. Not my choice of a place to live, but they do still sell. It's certainly not all doom and gloom. The market is still there but the prices are much more realistic. If you have a house and you want to sell it, there is no doubt about it, it is going to be difficualt if you expect the sort of prices we all saw a few years back, but if the property is competatively priced it will sell. If you are looking to buy and you know who to talk to, you can't go wrong.

 Just remember that you pay non resident tax, utilities, security etc on properties that may only be occupied a few months of the year. We have lots of friends and neighbours who really want to sell and if the market was buoyant would be gone elsewhere. Only those who are desperate sell at such a low price. 

There is also a new declaration for tax residents in Spain to declare by the deadline of 30th April all assets, goods and rights situated abroad. Our neighbour has a holiday villa here, his wife died and he had to pay a final sum of 8000 euros split between fees and tax. How fair is that?  Wealth tax is going to be reintroduced.

We live here and love the lifestyle and have no intentions of moving back to the UK but are surrounded by people who are in real dilemas regarding family back home, lack of Spanish language, advancing years and being left when their partner or spouse dies.

Think carefully!

Lifeline said

I think most of the above applies to people wherever they live and "The language problem.. lack of Spanish" ( Probably always a problem), Advancing years ?.. well, that applies to all and being left on your own by your partner can happen everyone.  We met a few people that have closer friends in Spain than in the UK and a lot more of them decided to stay on a single person as they still had a better life out in the sun. The  children & Grandchildren might appreciate still being able to visit sunny Spain and keeping "an eye on the inheritance"..

If you shop around and bargain hard there are some good properties out there, the prices have fallen a lot. If you intend to use it yourself some of the time and rent it out the rest you may well cover your costs. If the place is well located, close to golf, beaches, restaurants etc and on a  good urbanization or with a strong community administration then you will get a lot of bookings and in the peak season you can still rake it in.

There are loads of cheap properties lying empty, but they are starting to sell, slowly but surely, there are new people moving into our complex every day, especially since Xmas. Whilst there are also people leaving, the number of new people coming in is a lot greater.

If you are in it for the long term and can afford to pay the mortgage even when it is not rented out for a few weeks at a time then I think it's a good investment. 

Renting is not cheap. You are paying somebody elses mortgage. For our place we'd pay around 900 a month renting it, thats 108k over 10 years and nothing to show for it. We didn't pay a lot more to buy it and will own it outright a few years later, paying the same per month including taxes etc. Obviously when you own it you can rent it out short term when you are not there and earn good money.

You've obviously got to pay for repairs and maintenance when you own the place, but you can also customize it to how you like it. At least when something goes wrong it gets fixed, even if it's you paying. In Spain most landlords are not the most reactive when it comes to fixing things or replacing faulty items.

If you are just looking to stay here for a few weeks a year then you can try short term holiday lets but these can be very expensive during peak season.

rockinrodders,

Renting is not cheap. You are paying somebody elses mortgage. For our place we'd pay around 900 a month renting it, thats 108k over 10 years and nothing to show for it. We didn't pay a lot more to buy it and will own it outright a few years later, paying the same per month including taxes etc. Obviously when you own it you can rent it out short term when you are not there and earn good money.

I couldn't disagree more.  We've been living in our rented 3 bed, 3 storey townhouse for just over 4 years.  We initially were paying 550 per month, then got it down to 500 about 18 months later.  And just before Xmas, we got it knocked down to 400 euros per month.  The landlord's mortgage is around 700 euros per month, plus he has to pay IBI and community fees, so I'm paying part of his mortgage.

I've just added up how much we have paid in rent over the 4 and a bit years and I reckon it's about 28,000 euros, which seems like a lot of money.  We moved in just after prices started to fall and the property was worth around 260,000 euros based on recent sales at that time.  There is now an identical property on the market for 125,000.
Had we bought at that time instead of renting, we would now be looking at a minimum of a 135,000 euro loss.  By renting, we only lost 28,000 euros.

We also have the flexibility to leave Spain within days if we needed to unlike the many unfortunates burdened with negative equity properties all along the coast.  They're stuck in Spain unless they hand the keys back to the bank.

Even buying now at the supposedly cheap prices, you could easily see prices coming down a further 25-30%.  There's simply no demand at the current prices.

Sanchez! Said  "We initially were paying 550 per month, then got it down to 500 about 18 months later. And just before Xmas, we got it knocked down to 400 euros per month.

Its fortunate you found an accommodating Landlord Sanchez otherwise you might have had to move three times , obviuosly you are a good tenant but i dont know if this is standard for spain ie getting rent reduced ?

I think you have to keep in mind this post is about people who are buying or have purchased. at current FLAT market prices.   In a few years this could be reversed and you might end up saying "Wish we had taken the plunge when prices were flat"

The market according to some Estate Agents in Spain is improving and some of this is due to other European Countries incuding Russia.

Who really knows how it will go in the next three years

The market according to some Estate Agents in Spain is improving and some of this is due to other European Countries incuding Russia.

And most of us believed in father Christmas too, but we don't any more.

JOhNzX SAID "And most of us believed in father Christmas too, but we don't any more."

Fact ..More Properties were sold in 2012 than 2011..... that is the market improving. simple.

The results are returned by the Notarys office..

.Of course if 10 properties sold one year and 11  the next,  that too woud be an improvement, but of course it would not mean anything.

You may be right,   but I will not be 'investing' this year,

Fact ..More Properties were sold in 2012 than 2011..... that is the market improving. simple.

The results are returned by the Notarys office..

 Of course houses will sell at rock bottom prices.  I just got a mailing from La Manga Club - once the glittering prize - saying it had properites at 70000 euros.   These will have been well over the 200000 mark.   In my view - that does not indicate an improving market, it just means that very cheap properties are being sold a little more easily since all the talk about the break up of the eurozone calmed down.   To me, an improving marking would need to be showing some price inflation or at least stability.   The market is not improving.  Nor is it likely to improve in the foreseeable future.   That does not mean that no properties will sell - but they wont sell at anything but bottom prices.  

Once again, just for the road - Spain is not going to be a good buy for investment - and I would include buy to let (and I make part of my living out of buy to let in the UK).   BUT if you love the country and want a place to live in or use - then of course it is a great opportunity to get something you would only have dreamt of seven years ago!!! So go for it.  If you do go into buy to let in Spain, then pay your taxes and contribute something to the struggling economy.

Hi Aliton I think Spain will be always be popular for Holidays because it's only 2 Hours away and with the cost of flights rising everyday Spain will survive, I spend about 4 Months of the Year there and really enjoy Torrvieja, and such superb walks, and now with this huge new shpping centre La Zenia Boulavard, and cranes in the skyline all around things are looking up......go for it.....