Should we be buying in Spain?

After watching UK real estate programs on people selling up and moving to Spain and all the problems they seem to have, I would want to do a lot of research before taking the plunge.

But hey, if you wanted to get residency (which may lead to a passport and Euro access/ability to work there, don't know, just saying) it might be of benefit there to someone.
 
I know that American citizenship/residency is of great value to many people in various countries. That is why they have the green card lottery. I wonder whether Euro residency is as valuable. I know that in Australia, foreigners can be granted residency via the economic migrant status if they can invest/purchase 5 mil worth of assets in Oz. Therefore, if you can buy Euro residency for 200k, that is dirt cheap.
 
Have you sdeen "buying Hoses abroad"? There are lots of horror stories on their about Spain. Buyer beware.

One lovely "mansion" had a railway line proposed to go through their backyard.
 
The residency offer sounds like a very good deal, but 160K Euro will not get you a mansion in a desirable beachfront suburb as the article suggests. It would get you a 2 bed flat in a less than average Barcelona suburb. In southern Spain you might get a luxury house in the middle of nowhere, for example on a struggling golf resort development half an hour from the coast.

In Barcelona prices are much higher, plenty of flats still over a million Euros, though prices have dropped 30-40% in Catalunya http://www.idealista.com/venta-viviendas/barcelona/eixample/

I bought in Spain a year ago and spend a lot of time there, was there last weekend. I rented it out for 7 weeks and that paid the mortgage interest for the year. Certainly your money goes a lot further there than Australia. There are many Russian owners around where I bought, and local Catalans.
 
It sounds as though the residency deal may have limitations or strings attached.

Much of the EU belongs to the Schengen area, which basically has checkpoints coming in, but not on frontiers within it. It's the blue area on this map.

500px-Schengen_Area.svg.png


As an example, I've travelled between the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Germany, France, Belgium, Switzerland and Denmark at various times, and only ever run into one identity check. I think that was for a police operation too.

The article suggests that the visa would only offer residency in Spain, but not necessarily the whole Schengen area. Work rights aren't mentioned either.

As for EU opportunities, I think that the Netherlands could be a buy in a few years time, once prices level out. It's a prosperous country, good communications links, and property is generally well maintained.
 
joeExpat said:
The residency offer sounds like a very good deal, but 160K Euro will not get you a mansion in a desirable beachfront suburb as the article suggests. It would get you a 2 bed flat in a less than average Barcelona suburb. In southern Spain you might get a luxury house in the middle of nowhere, for example on a struggling golf resort development half an hour from the coast.

In Barcelona prices are much higher, plenty of flats still over a million Euros, though prices have dropped 30-40% in Catalunya http://www.idealista.com/venta-viviendas/barcelona/eixample/

I bought in Spain a year ago and spend a lot of time there, was there last weekend. I rented it out for 7 weeks and that paid the mortgage interest for the year. Certainly your money goes a lot further there than Australia. There are many Russian owners around where I bought, and local Catalans.
Click to expand...

Did you buy in Marbella?

I traveled all across continental Europe. Spain is the only place I felt like a tourist / foreigner, no body speaks English there, they don’t even try
 
china said:
English will do just fine but otherwise money is the universal language.
Click to expand...

Yes English will do just fine to get screwed over and part you from your money.:rolleyes:

There as a few horror stories kicking around where english folk have gone over to Spain and bought themselves a nightmare. Makes it way easier for the Spanish (or any nationality and country )to sell to the unsuspecting if they don't speak the language.

Cheers
 
zed_kid said:
Did you buy in Marbella?
Click to expand...
No I bought on the Costa Brava, a rugged coastline between Barcelona and the French border.
It's popular with Russians, Germans, French and Dutch, but not the British who prefer the gold coast style beach resorts of southern Spain (e.g. Marbella), though the Costa Brava has a couple of those also (Lloret de Mar)
zed_kid said:
I traveled all across continental Europe. Spain is the only place I felt like a tourist / foreigner, no body speaks English there, they don’t even try
Click to expand...
But why should they ? It's up to tourists to try to speak the local language. ALL Catalans already speak two languages. I reckon about 20% speak English as well, compared to maybe 50% in Switzerland and Germany. Many speak French also, so that's 4 languages. I find Spain much friendlier than France or Italy, but yes tourists stick out more than they would in northern Europe.

handyandy said:
There as a few horror stories kicking around where english folk have gone over to Spain and bought themselves a nightmare. Makes it way easier for the Spanish (or any nationality and country )to sell to the unsuspecting if they don't speak the language.
Click to expand...
Hundreds of thousands of foreigners buy in Spain, there are bound to be a few horror stories for the media beat up on. It's good to know the local laws though, particularly regarding country Fincas that restrict development and property within 100m of the sea (Ley de Costas).
 
handyandy said:
Yes English will do just fine to get screwed over and part you from your money.:rolleyes:

There as a few horror stories kicking around where english folk have gone over to Spain and bought themselves a nightmare. Makes it way easier for the Spanish (or any nationality and country )to sell to the unsuspecting if they don't speak the language.

Cheers
Click to expand...

Watched a couple of horror stories on Fox, where an English couple buying in Spain who could not speak the language were buying direct from RE agent.

To cut a long story short the contract they signed was incorrect, and major structual work required on the property stated that the "buyer" would complete this work, but it should have stated/read that the 'vendor' would complete this work.

What they needed to do in the first instance was employ a Solicitor who speaks English/Spanish and who specialises in this area who would then ensure the contract was correct and interpret the finer details to the non speaking buyers.

Anyway.... the story goes like this, once this professional was involved things got sorted relatively quickly, but prior to this I think this went on for quite some time, could have been years can not recall now.

Seems common sense that you employ the right people so you dont get ripped off, but I am guessing most will take short cuts to save a couple of $.

Cheers, MTR
 
MTR said:
Seems common sense that you employ the right people so you dont get ripped off, but I am guessing most will take short cuts to save a couple of $.

Cheers, MTR
Click to expand...

Or put in the time and do the home work but people want instant gratification even in the investing community.:eek:

Cheers
 
joeExpat said:
The residency offer sounds like a very good deal, but 160K Euro will not get you a mansion in a desirable beachfront suburb as the article suggests. It would get you a 2 bed flat in a less than average Barcelona suburb. In southern Spain you might get a luxury house in the middle of nowhere, for example on a struggling golf resort development half an hour from the coast.
Click to expand...


Yup, what Joe said. Plus, hubby said something the other day about prices coming down further at the end of next year. Something about banks waiting until then to sell off stock. I can't remember. Baby brain :)
 
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