Honest Realestate Agent

Posts Tagged ‘Houses for sale in Spain’

Introduction to "Success in Spain - The Audiobook"

I have placed here two uncut videos talking about what it means to live and work in Spain. I recorded them as carcasts and now they are here to introduce you to the audiobooks that are being released very soon to help people out who are moving to Spain. The audiobook has two distinct areas aimed at those who are already living in Spain and also those who are thinking of coming to live in Spain. It will be accompanied by a document with links, tips and that extra special sauce for getting the most out of living and working in Spain.

The first video which you can see above talks about the mistakes that people make before coming over and how they can be avoided. The second video takes it to a deeper level and introduces you to the Audiobook about Success in Spain, how you too can be successful when coming over to live in Spain. The audiobook comprises a series of interviews with people who live and work successfully in Spain and provides a roadmap for those wishing to come over to avoid the crash and burn scenario so common among expats who move abroad on a wing and a prayer.

It provides a road map for coming to live in Spain that gives you all the information that you want and need for starting up in Spain and setting yourself up.

The bonuses accompanying the launch are worth loads too, one of them, the Estate Agent Confessions I have been mentally rehearsing for years and have finally got round to recording it. An inside look at how estate agents in Spain operate and how you can avoid falling for the tricks of the trade. Listening to and putting into practice the lessons of this audiobook will save you thousands of Euros on property purchase and hundreds when renting. This audiobook is worth more than the cost of the course on its own without including everything else. Apart from this there are free chapters from other books by those featured in the interviews and lots of other goodies you can get hold of.

The launch date is at the end of July or start of August so when you sign up for the newsletter I will make sure you get first notification of the launch.

Ronaldo + Kaká and Spanish Taxes

The World of soccer (Football to most of us) has been turned on its head this week by the antics of Real Madrid who have decided that it is time to break some transfer records. Their signings of Kak’a for 70 million Euros followed by Ronaldo for 95 million Euros give or take a million and depending on the exchange rate, is supposed to send a message out about the brand.

So how is it that Real Madrid can spend these vast quantities of money? There is one reason that is obvious, a reelected megalomaniac chairman who refuses to see his mistakes of the past. The main reason though is the “Beckham Law” whatever Ronaldo insists about dream to play for Madrid etc…

So how does the Beckham Law work? Well check out the Wikipedia description for Beckham Law. This means that the set tax rate of 25% can be applied for up to six years avoiding the higher tax rates in the UK and Italy. With high tax rates at 50% maximum in the UK expect to see a flood of players opting to go to Spain rather than the Premier League stating that it has always been their ambition to play there, they have been fans since the year dot etc… This is plainly not true. Tax is the reason simply put. They can earn the same money and be 50% better off.

How can this effect you? You can opt into the Beckham law tax rates for up to six years if you come to Spain and are earning a high salary through a Spanish company. You are required to spend over half the year in Spain which is not too great a cost. So for those of you contemplating moving to Spain get yourself a company set up here before you come and then get that company to give you a contract.

Then of course you need to buy a property with the amazing amount of saved tax to give yourself a good investment. Spain’s first 30 million Euro property has just been designed and started in Mallorca suggesting that prices at the super-rich level are standing up to the World economic crisis. For more information on tax, Spanish property sales and much much more get in touch with houses for sale in Spain. Thousands can be saved on potential property purchases in Spain.

“46 Million People Say Thank You” was the headline in one of the newspapers when Spain won the Euro Championships last summer. Spain’s population when I was studying was stuck resolutely at 38 million with the second lowest birthrate in Europe. 8 million people have come into the country in just over a decade. Many are packing up their bags and heading back to their nation of birth. Those that are here however do require serives and places to live. The housing pyramid base is still strong then as any price reductions bring more potential purchasers including immigrants into the equation, if the banks will actually lend which is the main criteria currently. The banks have totally lost confidence in the same lemming like way that they all jumped on the bandwagon in the first place.

However, notaries in and around Valencia for example have reported an increase in signings in the last month or so after Banco Santander opened up the taps to borrowers a bit. When the Banco de Santander makes a move of this type other financial institutions seem to follow very quickly. Certain areas where the overbuilding of the Costas didn’t happen are holding up in prices really well. Yes they will get caught up in a ripple effect but not in a maelstrom.

Sagunto, a town to the north of Valencia, is a good example. My honest opinion is that it is not the most eyecatching place in the World. It is however OK as it has a beautiful Moorish/Roman fort at the top of the hill and the old Jewish quarter is lovely. They are starting work on the largest freeport in the Mediterranean expecting to create between 40 and 70000 jobs. This will being people into the area and price drops will be minimal from now as demand will outstrip supply. Prices have reduced in this area but by a smaller amount than elsewhere and they continue to hold their values well.

Spain will always be a favourite for Brits as it is a home from home and you can get satellite TV, football at the right times and be back in Blighty for important things very quickly. Younger professionals with the ability to work from just about anywhere because of the internet can still come here to bring up the family with children who can speak two or more languages, in a sunnier place with less crime and fear. People will still want to retire or semi retire here as fuel bills are cheaper and lifestyle is also cheaper, not as cheap as it used to be but cheaper.

And to finish off being a tad controversial, what is wrong with those who offer nothing to the Spanish economy being forced out because life is getting too difficult for them. These are the same people who spend all day in the UK deriding excessive immigration and those immigrants coming over here to take our jobs etc etc… Come to Spain, learn the language, bring a profession, add something to the mix and mix with the Spanish, they are extremely friendly.

Have a life plan and work on it and Spain will most likely work for you

Spain is Different. Marketing Lifestyle Not Houses

How does an estate agency market itself and its website? What do you do to get visitors to come to your site and stay? How can a company use social media sites and search engine optimisation?

If you cannot answer these questions or feel confused by them then you may be storing up problems. The new media outlets allow you to get a lot of free PR, tons of exposure and increase your visibility. If your website is old hat and has not changed its look in years then most people looking for your products won’t come to see you regularly.

Errors happen at times of course. There are many real estate agents that have put up really good looking websites relying almost totally on Flash. Flash is not good for Google juice as their spiders cannot find any content to index. Yahoo and other search engines are the same.

One of the best ways to increase your visibility to the Google God is to have lots of backlinks, good quality ones if possible, going back to your site. Recently I have put my faith in the writing of articles with backlinks in. The articles get published on others’ sites and may bring traffic to your site but definitely bring spiders looking at the content. My favourite service has given me over 1000 good quality backlinks from six base articles in just a month.

After writing an article you can place a version of it within your own site too of course. It is easier to submit automatically to social network sites giving the article exposure and avoiding the laborious manual submission process. Many services exist to do this and the majority have a free version. Social Marker and Only Wire are examples of sites that can do this for you nd save lots of time.

The other thing is you should contribute by providing good content on the social media sites such as Twitter, Friendfeed, Facebook, Digg and my personal favourite Stumble Upon. Do a bit every day on these sites and bit by bit over time you can drop your links in. Services such as Ping.fm lets you update your status faster.

Finally you buy with your eyes so you should make good use of video too. Avoid grainy video if at all possible because the customer will decide on a place straight away in many cases and first impressions count. Make sure to put a bit of yourself into the videos and your audience will give you business.

The real estate market is not the best in the World to be in at the moment but by promoting yourself through these media and making your company more visible you can still be successful. Have a look at the site developed in the last quarter (With some older content) to see how certain techniques have been used

Living and Working in Spain

This article may help those people who have ever thought about moving abroad but have never mentioned it to anyone yet. It is specifically about Spain but could well be applied in some of its general principles.

For a Northern European, a Brit in my case, living in Spain was always my dream. From a young age I knew that it was my long term destination. Why though? Like most people I fell in love with the idea of the country on a holiday, a cheap package one at that. My experience was on the Costa Brava. I was surprised at the ease of life, the speed at which things happened, or didn’t sometimes and the joy in the faces of the people. On visiting Barcelona for the first time I was hooked. Prior to the visit I had often thought about living here, this just made it certain.

Then the question was how to get a plan of action to make sure the dream was realised. I would say it is necessary to learn the language, visit beforehand to get the lay of the land, read about the country and get a good idea of which part of Spain you want to be in.

Once that is decided you need to know what you are going to do here. If you come without qualifications and language skills life will be hard, after all why should anyone employ you before a local of foreigner with the ability to speak the language.

There are a multitude of things you need to know about local customs and practices and life can be very different, most people are constantly caught out for the first few weeks by shop opening and closing times, by the lateness of the eating hours in restaurants by the lack of their favourite products. However, the problems of settling down soon pass.

Therefore what is living in Spain really like

1) Expect to work long hours and fit in your family life around it. Some people do.
2) Expect to take time to adjust whilst you learn the language and get yourself into the community. It is very unlikely that most people will speak English unless you live in a coastal area
3) You should expect to have fun and laugh. Lots of the aspects of life are easier but the bureaucracy is horrendous. Take everything with a pinch of salt and laugh about it because in future it becomes an anecdote
4) Come to my blog regularly and read it as you will find loads of details of what happens when you live in Spain, the good, the bad and the downright ugly, usually involving utility companies this part.

Once you have done that and have your preparation off to a tee then you can find out what  it is like to live here and you will be ready. Only at that point should you start looking for houses for sale in Spain. If you come unprepared then expect to return home after a couple of years with tail firmly between legs. Failing to prepare inevitably leads to failure. By following the tips here your chances of succeeding will increase.

Property for Sale in Spain

At the moment there are more potential customers walking through the door wanting to buy a house for sale in Spain. There are also more people looking for straight rentals as well as option contracts for later dates when the banks are more open to lending after they see a better market and are able to get capital to fund buyers.

Working in Valencia this week has meant a lot of phone calls to sellers of properties asking the question about whether a purchase option contract for the future is possible and the answers have surprised me. After hearing what was involved in a purchase option contract more than 50% expressed a great interest in doing it. So just in case you have a property that you could rent with an option to buy here are some of the ways it can be done.

The idea stems from the fact that someone likes your property but because o the prevailing situation they cannot currently proceed with a purchase whether that is because they need banks to start giving out money again, they need to prove income in Spain for a greater time period or they are waiting for their residency application to go through so as to get a better deal. If these circumstances apply, or maybe just one of them, then renting with an option to buy could be an option.

Drawing up a contract of this type has many variable but the basic premise is a rental agreed between both parties for a fixed period and within that period of time the tenant has an option to purchase at any moment and the right to match other offers on the property. Sometimes there is a guarantee on behalf of the owner to stop marketing the property for a set time so the person renting can settle, in one of our contracts they were guaranteed eight months in the property without any change of ownership. The person renting feels a greater sense of ownership of your property.

The good point for a potential purchaser is that an agreed price is set now and they can buy at that price at any moment. It is possible to rengotiate the price if the market continues to fall too. If prices rise then the tenant is in a good position as their price for purchase is already set in stone. The owner gets a price guaranteed during the contract and has the obligation to sell at that price if the tenant wishes to purchase. The owner therefore has a guarantee on the rental and that tenant is more likely to be careful with the property as they potentially hold a stake in it.

The contract is a bit more complicated than normal as it requires lots of negotiation on behalf of tenant and landlord but here we take care of that negotiation for you.

Houses for Sale in Spain

Quality houses for sale in Spain should be bought now because excellent offers are available due to a multitude of factors. So let’s study the real facts.

1) The fall of the UK pound against the Euro and the spike in interest rates last year placed many British sellers in a situation of needing or at least wanting to sell. Examples include an initial investment of 200,000 Pounds converting to 290-300,000 Euros. You could now sell at around 210-220,000 Euros to recoup the initial pounds invested. Therefore look for properties for sale in Spain from British sellers who can take advantage of this currency gain as they are selling for far lower than residents of the Eurozone.

2) Interest rates have now fallen dramatically so if you buy a property in Spain then you can get a great deal on the mortgage, if you are a decent client. Taking on a current mortgage is also less expensive than getting a new one and the interest rates offered will be better.

3) Buying at the bottom of the cycle is always the best guarantee but when will the bottom of the cycle arrive? Well in many areas it may have already done so. My personal opinion is that you allow some other buyer to wait for the absolute bottom of the cycle because if discounts are already factored in by British sellers using the currency advantage and they realise that to compete they must be keen on price then they are prices to sell very well. The best deals to be had are from British sellers who will convert their Euros to Pounds although other sellers may eventually drop their prices.

4) The higher quality of the house it terms of the property itself, the zone it is found in and the economic situation etc… the smaller the chance of it remaining on the market for too long. Jump into the market now if the house is in a good area at a great price on a good property because as the bargains get mopped up only the excess least attractive properties will be available.

So if you are sitting on the fence due to currency fluctuations, worries about the economy, the uncertainty of interest rates etc… have some confidence as you can get a better deal now than has been available for some time. Valencia Property have some examples of current great deals because the prices are just exquisite, often below the price they were bought at some years ago and well below current market values. Prices range from 90000-240000 Euros and all are from British sellers and therefore you are guaranteed much lower prices than from Eurozone sellers.

If I told you that banks in Spain are profiteering in the current climate would you be surprised. The Euribor rate which is the rate which most mortgages are tied to is at a historic low, 1.9% this week, as interest rates in general have plummeted. For those people closely working with banks and renegotiating people’s loans so that they get a respite from the payments which rocketed last year and will stay that way until the next revision, life is quite difficult to understand. Tracking mortgages don’t exist as such. The system in Spain allows the banks to reset the rate each year according to the Euribor rate during the previous month. It remains at that point for a year. Thus the current situation of falling interest rate leaves the difference between Euribor and charged rates large and developing further.

Euribor is the gauge for lending which banks in Spain use for mortgages. Traditionally banks lend at around Euribor +1. However no banks are currently lending openly as they have no money. Confidence in the market has plummeted meaning interbank lending is not happening. The major source of funds coming into the market are government backed securities. Do you understand where this leads us? They need to offer around 5% to sell successfully. They also get money in by offering higher savings rates such as 4-5%. Therefore all money they are borrowing they are getting at rates well above Euribor. therefore lending at Eurbor plus 1% is now unknown, +2% or more is common.

This means what then? Having a mortgage on a property is really useful if selling. Here, the mortgage is levered on the property as opposed to the person. If you are selling a house make a selling point of the property having a mortgage on it at a good rate because that is now a major difference compared with comparative houses. You need a mortgage on the property so that your house can be a possible purchase for anyone outside of the very few cash buyers in the market as new mortgages have high entry levels and punitive rates. Even a good salary and great credit history don’t guarantee funding from your bank though.

Houses for sale in Spain are still great places to live in and give a good lifestyle. However make sure you have money rather than needing all of the money from the banks.

To make sure you get the best information about properties to buy in Spain make sure to look at this site for Valencia Property.