Your Spanish Property Questions Answered

 We are really happy to have our new live streaming webcam up and running.

It is positioned in the Torre Bermeja urbanisation, which is half way between Estepona and Marbella, and it overlooks the beach.

It's a streaming webcam so it updates constantly.  You can see the waves in the sea today.

To watch our webcam visit the link below:

Streaming Costa del Sol webcam

Because it's a streaming cam you need to have Java installed to view it.

Remeber that if we can answer any real estate related questions for you then please post them as comments on the blog here.

Thank you.

 This is a question we get asked all the time: "Is it a good time to buy a property in Spain"?

I may be an estate agent but the simple answer is a big YES.  Buying when a market is at its strongest does not really leave you anywhere to go.  Buying when the market is weak means you can pick up a good property at a low price.  And that's just what's happening now.

Saying that, if you are buying today then you need to be prepared to hold on to the property for a few years whilst the market recovers.  This is ideal for lifestyle buyers as they buy for their own enjoyment and not necessarily to make a profit.

Yes there are many properties on the market, yes the exchange rate is quite unfavourable, yes it's more difficult to get a mortgage but there are some real deals to be had today.  And I'm not saying that from an agents point of view.

This post is brought to you in association with Livingstone Estate who specialise in Overseas property including property in Marbella and property in Mijas.

 In my original blog post Craig Thomson asked:

"I have bought property from Polaris World but the builder is not going to complete the development or even start it. I am looking to terminate the contract and recover my instalment of over 40K Euros with interest. Please can you confirm my chances of doing so ?"

Dear Craig

When you handed over your original deposit your lawyer should have ensured that you were given a valid bank guarantee which is a legal requirement of all developers in Spain.

The bank guarantee, of which there is much information about on this website, is supposed to safeguard your money in the event that the development is not completed or it is completed late.

It is important to note too that some developers have sometimes put an expiry date on bank guarantees.  A court ruling recently overruled this so expiry dates don't mean anything anymore.  

In terms of executing your bank guarantee it depends on the date stated in your contract regarding completion.  Has this date now passed?  If it has then you need to get your lawyer on the case ASAP to start the process of claiming your money back.

Normally you should be able to claim back around 6% interest but most people are just greateful to get their deposit back alone.  If you get the interest back too consider it a bonus.

To sum it up, if you have your bank guarantee then yes, it's very possible you will get your money back although unfortunately you may need the assistance of a good lawyer to get it as some developers are really struggling financially.

I hope this information helps.

If you would like me to answer a question for you then please leave a comment below.

This post was made in association with Livingstone Estates who apart from other locations, have property for sale in Nueva Andalucia and property for sale in Mijas.

Here is a question I received on my last blog post from Sean:

"I am desperately trying to sell a 2 bed apartment that I have in Casares, what advice could you give to help me sell it? Its been on the market for over 12 months already. Thanks"

Hello Sean.  

You probably don't need me to tell you that there are a huge number of 2 bed 2 bath apartments on the market at the moment so shifting these can be quite difficult.  The market not just around Casares is tough and some of the developments there were probably sold a too high a price to begin with.

We've seen properties being sold there at very competitive prices recently so you really need to determine your lowest sales price.  If you are in the UK consider the fact that chaning your money back in pounds will actually give you a benefit so consider this when pricing your property.

Properties around Casares are selling so make sure you price it well, dress it to impress and make sure your agent has photos on their website that truly complement your property.  You need to work closely with your agent to ensure that they have your best interests at heart and they they are giving your property 100%.

May I wish you the best of luck selling your property.

If you would like to ask me a question please leave a comment below.

Answers are provided on behalf of Livingstone Estates offering, amongst other places, property for sale in Estepona and property for sale in Marbella.

I'm really excited to be kicking off this blog today.  The idea behind this blog is to provide accurate and reliable information to those either buying a property in Spain or those trying to sell.

I think this will work best if people post their questions in the comments below and we'll answer them as best we can.  

We've been in business selling property on the Costa del Sol for many years so we have a large number of resources to call upon to answer any question thrown at us.  

You may have a question regarding costs, market views, problems selling, etc.  Whatever it is just let me know and I will post the answers here so that everyone benefits.

If you want to know more about us you can read about us on our website Livingstone Estates.

Just leave a comment below and we can get this rolling.