Is Now The Time to Buy or Sell ??

 A few days ago I watched "place in the sun." A couple had 150000 to spend on a holiday home. They were shown Torrevieja, and there were some lovely properties. They liked a townhouse which had everything they wanted. A 3 year old car, only 10000 kms on the clock, was included in the price-£116000, if the full asking price was offered. The husband , not content with a fabulous bargain, offered 113000, which was refused, but he wore the sellers down, and eventually they accepted. Some would say he drove a hard bargain, and deserved to be rewarded. Others thought he was a greedy so and so. Guess what I thought?

Lets hope he gets a letter from the Spanish taxman, demanding complementary tax!

The sale never went through.

I know because i was an advisor to freeform for a while and still stay in touch (freeform make Place in the sun for channel 4)

Yes,Harry 07, I think many hope things will improve with Paramount coming, and Corvera airport, but it will take time,  there's many a slip.......I might be leaving in a wooden overcoat, the way things are looking!

Georgia-why didn't the sale go through?

 buyer pulled out.....after the vendors had been across and removed all personal items as well!!!

Welcome to my world!!!!!!

"I might be leaving in a wooden overcoat, the way things are looking!"

I am certain that will not happen & that everything will eventually work out fine for you !! As you know, there is an agent on this Forum who feels this is a great time to buy - just wondering if you may have considered getting him or her on board assuming reasonable fees can be established.

Regards,

Harry

 Harry,

I have an office near camposol but i dont sell there.

There are far too many agents clambering over each other and cutting their own throats with low fees for it to be of any interest to me,plus i personally do not like camposol and i have to at least reasonably like somewhere to sell property on there,strange as it may seem but thats just the way i am.

 harry,

just to add,its very easy to find out whether someone is a him or her...you click on their name and their profile tells you.

I tried it with yours but your not telling??? so is it harold or harriet?

mind you didnt hayley on corrie used to be called harold??!!....now thats a quandry!

"i personally do not like camposol and i have to at least reasonably like somewhere to sell property on there,strange as it may seem but thats just the way i am."

Whats the rational here ?????

 Well - first I would say that a 30% reduction taking into account inflation is not really property 'holding up' that well.  Especially if you are wanting to sell.   Then I would just say - of course all of those other factors influence house prices,  and that is why the prices have always been cyclical.   

And Georgia - that is really interesing that the couple did not buy - I saw that programme and thought they could have done better in a different area.   I also saw last weeks new series where the couple had about 100000 euros to spend, and ended up buying in Turre (5 miles behind Mojacar) for about 50000!!!   And it was a big village house.  It did not enter my head that the couple were being greedy - they are just living in the real world.

 Forgot to say - I am a bit horrified that anyone in 2012 would buy property on the promise of Corvera airport and Paramount theme park.   I would have hoped that estate agents are not using these, but I know they are!!

"I would have hoped that estate agents are not using these, but I know they are!!"

Thats unfortunate Roly - another major warning bell is when someone bullishly proclaims a wonderful time to buy based on production value !!

Harry

About buying in Spain ( Is it the right time ?? ) and Yes we chose CAMPOSOL which  ticked off all the boxes i.e what we wanted abroad. Regards the comments about Paramount Park and Corvera Airport well yes the former still "looking for funding" but land purchased and if it happens will be a few years off yet. Agents and not using this as a selling tool in the area at Camposol , However Polaris World Resorts are using both the airport and Paramount as selling tools . We recently received  an e mailer from Polaris advertising Two bed "new" ie never used  terraced houses with full roof terrace in Jardins blocks for only 44,000 Euros ( £35,000 ) They were originally over £100,000.. This is at Condado de Alhama which is also near the new airport opening in April 2013...  nows the time to buy a house in Spain for less than £36,000 and your buying/legal costs will be approx £3,600. You could do this by taking a bit of equity out of your Uk home at very low interest rates.

Is there a new series of 'A Place In The Sun' then?  Is it the 'Home and Away' variety?  I thought they stopped making it years ago, after it became really embarrassing - Amanda Lamb and the others used to talk about how it was so easy to buy abroad - just make friends with the Mayor and you could get everything done for a couple of euros.  Then, they had the ridiculous one where they 'predicted' the top 20 countries for property investment - just before the bubble burst - saying that property values in some countries would go up 200 or 300% in the next five years (I'm recalling this from memory, but it went something like that).  How embarrassing for them to have been so wrong - I can't imagine they'd have the audacity to start making the programmes again and certainly not to make them with that 'nothing can go wrong' attitude. 

The one with the predictions does highlight an important lesson, though, which is that no-one knows the future and everyone is guessing.  Some people do it in an authoritative voice, but that doesn't mean it is likely to be any more accurate than another person's more tentative opinion. I've invested in property quite successfully over the years (if I say so myself) and I've never bothered about the market or ummed and ahhed about it; I've just got on with it.  If you want to move to Spain and find an apartment for 80,000 euros for example, but you wait because it might eventually go down to 65,000 - which it may or may not do - if you're happy postponing your 'dream' and staying in the UK, where you do not want to be presumably, for another couple of years, well, it's your life and it's tick-tocking away. 

"The one with the predictions does highlight an important lesson, though, which is that no-one knows the future and everyone is guessing.  Some people do it in an authoritative voice"

Thats a fair point. The consensus here appears to be that the general market has further to fall. Only one person has called the market a screaming "absolute" buy at outset this thread. Time will tell !

Harry

 Re A Place in the Sun - yes, there is a new series, fronted by some woman who vaguely says she has made money in property for years etc etc.   The latest series was just filmed in April/May, and is VERY interesting.   It purports to show people what is available post crash, and openly talks about 30 - 50% falls.    The last one (last week?) was in Huelva, and the couple had a budget of £200000 (not euros), and were constantly told 'this one is on the market for xxxxxxxxxxx having just been reduced by xxxxxx - and I am sure you can get it for xxxxxxxx.    They talk about how much it would have been at the top of the market and the sorry slide since - with not a sidways glance at the infamous top 20 countries to invest in.   (By the way, Florida was way down on that list, and then went on to perform MUCH better than Europe just before the crash). - My God, what about all those poor people who were suckered into buying in Romania and Bulgaria after that show!!!    

I think eggcup has the right attitude.  My family has been in property, including property abroad, since long before it became fashionable and 'buy to let' as a phrase was invented.   The surge of BtL mortgages and amateur landlords has all but destroyed the business - but we still maintain a healthy number of properties, aquired over the long years, and always on the basis of long term potential and fitness for purpose.    SO, if you can ask yourself and say 'What is the purpose of my purchase in Spain', and the answer is 'This is a good aquisition for my family, will give years of happiness, and can be left to my children/grandchildren?' - then find something you like and buy.  If the answer is 'will this rise in value and make me money?' - then I would say forget it.

I agree with Eggcup in that life is too short not to take a decision to buy abroad as and when the opportunity presents itself at the right price and based on a decision that it is going to better your family's future, but a better decision would be to rent first anyway.

People who only ever do anything with their life based on financial advancement are not always the happiest of bunnies. 

I would add a word of warning, since selling our apartment in Spain (which has been a costly business from beginning to end), I have read and been contacted by people in desperate situations, stranded in Spain with no chance of selling to return to the UK due to unfortunate circumstances (death of spouse, divorce, etc).

We were lucky that we decided not to burn our bridges in England and kept a place in the UK and as it turned out, we managed to extricate ourselves (having lost a huge amount of money from our savings) when we decided Costa Blanca would never be our permanent home, but we still have a roof over our heads here in the UK.

The point I am making is that many people do not consider what they would do if left on their own without family and close friends (like the lady that contacted me with two young children whose husband died the first year they moved to Spain and cannot sell her house to return to the UK).

If I could offer one piece of advice to anyone thinking of moving to Spain is do NOT and I repeat do NOT give up your house in the UK but rent in Spain until such time that you have decided your future is no longer in the UK but in Spain, no matter if one of you is left on your own or not !

Thats great advice !!!

Condado de Alhama Resort near Mazarron, two bed town houses with full roof terrace are now advertised at 40k Euro !! £32 in UK sterling. You cant buy a new motorhome for that  see "Polaris World Resorts Murcia" and then go to Condado ......... worth a look ...... If you are looking for a good all round investment, place in the sun, buy to let or just a better possible long term place for money thats stuck in the bank.. Watch out for Community fees though as these could be 80 to 100 euro a month. Resort has Golf Course commnunal pools, nice gardens and security . Not a lot to do at Condado but you have Camposol just down the road with lots of bars and places to eat plus another Golf Course supermarkets shops banks etc.

Harry07

'The consensus here appears to be that the general market has further to fall'

Yet you have just agreed with the point that no-one knows the future and everyone is guessing!

Harry if you are looking for a property to buy NOW so that you can start enjoying it NOW, then do so. If it's purely for a financial investment, then as I have said before, it's time to make your own guess.

Certainly NOT purchasing for investment & will most likely buy something next year after trial rental for minimum 6 months. !