how many people really want to or are trying to sell their spanish property?

Ok, not sure where to post my question, so if it's in the wronfg place (oops) sorry, but can someone please  please give me a moment and try and answer my question.

There's a lot of whispers going about, saying property,jobs etc are plummeting (probably spelt wrong, but it is early) if this is true, and it's an 'if'  then just how many people (British) are looking to sell, and is it like TV programmes are reporting, very very hard to find a buyer?

If anyone has an opinion on the truth of this please reply, also roughly how long does it take to sell in Spain and how good are the estate agents?

Umm, probably not a good question, but would like to know the real opinion of Brits in Spain trying to sell or the opinion if someone knows someone who wants to sell, and are getting no where. How long have people been 'on the market' ?

I need to know as my other half has a relative seriously ill (no it's not looking good, maybe 6months max) so I said I would 'ping' people and ask them for frank honesty. Just how long (best & worst  time frame) does it take to sell anything in Spain. Plus, does anyone actually go from the UK to view a resale property?

If anyone is able to just give an opinion from own experience or from what they have heard from others, it would help as we are going to have to confront attempting to sell at some stage, not yet  - but sadly it will happen eventually, and we just want to have a realistic idea, has it really gone belly up as in : it's hard to sell, even rent, get jobs etc  - if so please say because we need to know the truth we do not want to mis lead people as and when we have to sell when relative eventually passes away.

Thanks to anyone willing to tell it as it is, we are asking now because as and when - we will be full of sadness-  but  by asking now at least we are forewarned  if that makes sense. This is a dreadful thing to raise, so sorry if it upsets anyone.

thanks all

x

Sorry to read your post, but to answer part of your question.  We have had two properties on the market for nearly two years.  Both are town houses - one in Torrevieja and one near San Javier.  Both have been reduced in price over this period ot time, but still very little interest has been shown.

I guess it all depends on where the property is located,type of property and the price. In the street where i live i know about 9 properties sold last year,mainly to Spanish buyers. These are all 2/3 bed apartments.

Hi,  can I suggest you read the latest newsletter and the comments to Justin's piece ( including mine) on exactly this subject?

I think it would be difficult to give you very frank answers without my reply being taken down by the moderator so bearing in mind this is my opinion and my experience here goes..... I am sorry if it is a bit if a rant, this is the stuff they don't  tell you on "Place In The Sun" though if you spell out ithe initials it is more like the truth (I wonder if they knew that?)

You really have to ask yourself why you want to go to Spain  The cost of living is practically the same, a pound was 1.11 euro last week.  There are NO real jobs and the ones that there are  go to the Spanish. Unless you are self employed in a useful trade I doubt you will make a living.  If you are retired you have to look at how far your funds will stretch. There is no social security for non residents to speak of.  If you become resident and are a pensioner things are better. There is a language barrier, it isnt like over here where we print every thing in lots of different languages for immigrants, In Spain they expect you  sort it out yourself.  Many of the housing estates will be ghost towns for much of the year they are built for foriegners as holday lets. The ones who are there will be of different nationalities do you speak German, Sewdish, Russian?  Unless you are going out with an extended family or already know people out there you will have no social network or any form of suppport. So many people think it is sun and sangria, it isn't, never was.  You have to live , pay your bills earn money,  pay tax just like everywhere else it just happens to have a better climate.

White goods, tv's etc cost  a mint,  resale propeties should be furnished, this is a double edged sword most of it is rubbish  you wouldn't give away.   The do empty the bins every other day though.

Phone lines take forever to get.  Broad band -- don't make me laugh!  oh, and the more rural you are the worse it is for service of any description.

I have just come back from my apartment after being robbed.  They took all the usual small eletrical items TV, sky box, DVD hoover, microwave, mobile phone etc and also alot of our clothes including underwear, don't ask, I don't know why. I think they were disturbed and would have cleaned us out otherwise.  They broke into the othe 6 ground floor flats in my community but most of them are vacant.  Dealing with the police and insurance about this is a nightmare if you don't speak fluent Spanish. Dealing with the police is just a nightmare anyway even if you are the victim.

Most of my problems in Spain have arisen from living in a community. I would never do it again. The other owners (Brits) would not pay the monthly community charge leaving the 5 or so who did to pay uo until the electricty and water were cut off.  There is now no outside lighting and the pool is full of green slime.  No amount of threats or cajoling woould make these people pay up.

Eventually they realised that the bubble had burst on the property market and stopped paying their mortgages and gave the apartments back to the bank..  Our administrator of the community  (which is a cross between a lawyer and an facilities manager) was next to useless and didin't take these people to task when he should have done.  The best I can say about him is that he  is totally incompetent, others would call him a crook.  You must choose the people who work for you with great care, corruption  and disinterest are rampant.

The housing market is on its backside in Spain, alot of the estate agents have vanished like puffs of smoke.

The resales market in Spain is non existent, there never was much of one in the first place. That isn't to say people arn't trying to sell, everybody is trying to sell, nobody is buying.  Originally the money was made from new build by getting mugs (sorry brits) to buy "off plan" ie a picture of something,  the deposits being used to finance the previous developers building project ( if your lucky). This bubble had to burst, the Emporer's new clothes seen for what they were, and it happend last year,  big time

The property prices I saw last week were more than 50% less that the same properties for sale a year a go.   Yes, resale property is advertised ad nauseam, basically unitl it sells or the estate agent goes out of business (as two of mine have)

Many sellers insist on sticking to unrealist prices from the boom times years ago then whine that they can't sell. What they mean is they wont sell at a loss.  In truth at the moment I couldn't give my apartment away but I didnt by it to make a quick profit  and move on as most do so I am prepared to tough it out.

You have to watch the sale price against what has been declared on the deeds as there are taxes to pay. Many sell bleow the deed price and expect you to give them a brown envelope with the difference in it.  You wil be astonished at the number of brown envelopes being passed about and all of them will have your money in them

You have to check that all the debts on the property have been dischrged or you will inherit them.

You have to watch what is declared in the sale, make sure the seller actually owns it not part of it or you may find his 20 cousins still iving in your back bedroom  -- legally.

I could go on and on but this post is too long.  You CANT be too careful. You WILL make lots of mistakes  Be prepared to take it on the chin. Ask your self the hard question why do I want to go to Spain

Hope this hasn't depressed you too much!

From our experience...

1. Prices of the properties are being reduced day by day. In some areas there is a "price war" between sellers. Bearing in mind that sometimes the sellers are also the banks, because the banks are taking possession of the properties when owners cannot pay their mortgages… and thus the properties are being sold at lower prices.

2. Purchasers... the Spanish purchaser was waiting for this situation. Now they are taking the opportunity to buy a second house for holidays.  But the Spanish purchaser is different from the foreign one. For example we recently have a few sales and all of the properties have been bought by Spanish people. They do not mind to buy here in Murcia or Torrevieja or Benidorm: they look for the lowest price. However the foreign purchaser takes into account other factors such as proximity of the airport, facilities, fiscal consequences...

3. Agents... there is also a "war" between agencies. They are charging lower commissions and they are working very hard to sell properties. A couple of years ago it was not unusual to have two - three potential purchasers for the same property; now they have to look actively for purchasers.

My suggestion: if there are other properties for sale in the same area, first, try to find out the current prices. Then put the property on the market and try to do it with different estate agencies (being careful with the exclusive contracts) and compare commissions. The estate agent could also advice you with the price and the best way to put the property in the market. Also do not forget that if you are a non resident seller it is very advisable you are informed of the taxes implications whether you have to pay or claim back to The Spanish Tax authorities.

Hi,

The Living in the sun property auction on 13 Dec 2009 did not take place due to insufficient interest in the properties( All were key ready fully documented and some with no reserve)

All within 40 mins of an airport and 15 mins from a beach.

Not much of an upturn in the market place.

So this is the market place you will be entering.

I've just read through all these articles as we too are trying to sell our modest house, but not to return back to UK but upgrade to something bigger. 

I'm resigned to the fact that we either sit it out or simply take a massive hit on it, however the competition in Murcia alone is staggering.  According to La Verdad (murcian paper) there are 34,000 new builds unsold! 

Don't imagine there are that many keen spanish buyers!

Hi everyone - WOW !

I was not expecting to read this, I am still in disbelief,I had to read some answers 3 times to get my head round it all.

Have to just clear this up though,  we don't want to move to the property as and when we are faced with deceased estate or whatever it will be called in spain. we will just want to get rid of it. Which brings me to the next question, if you are not living in spain how do spanish estate agents treat you - as in do they look after their own first because you are "out of sight out of mind etc"  - how would we know that Mr Estate agent is pushing property spanish owned as his priority because he gets his olives from the friend of the finca owner etc and wants to keep on good terms ? Therefore : never mind the Brits, how will they know.

If we were to resort to having to use a spanish estate agent,which i can see as being the only option, is it the norm to leave keys with them or is it safer to fly out when there are viewings (yes that might sound wishful) just what do peopledo when they have to sell a deceased person's property when the executor lives in UK and can't up and move?

Lastly, surely it makes sense to buy a resale, as it would be in an established community or area and not on an unfinished developement, plus if a resale does that not cover issues re paper work, as in if someone has been living there, the paper work must be AOK?

This does sound like a nightmare : Question to  Marioposa07 : I thought Murcia was THE place, how come there are 34,000 unsold properties, without sounding rude (and I am not being rude)  did you mean to type 340 but typed 34,000 thinking about £'s by mistake. Don't get upset with me, I just want to check coz that's a hell of a lot of property if it's right.

I reckon this could well be (and maybe should be) an ongoing thread, at least everyone can say how bad it is where they are and also post info on signs of upturn/good news.

Again I say sorry in advance for raising a question that may be delicate re current situation on property. But I only did this as I know we are going to be faced with dealing with funeral then sale issues, and we have no idea whats going on due to TV in UK still saying its great with great rental etc, but if not then we will need to sell fast as we don't want to be worried about something that's not  "down the rd " where family can pop in after work to make it look like a house isn't empty.

Once again, excellent replies, honesty is so much better and I thank you all for that. Just a quickie, when someone dies do the spanish officials give any grace re sorting stuff out, allowing extra time frames as paper work has to go to/from UK?  Is there a "it must be sorted out within say 3months" attitude or is dealing with deceased /empty property more compassionate.

Please keep the feedback coming, all info/opinions welcome, because as and when we get to funeral situation, probably will be too upset to ask ,so I guess forewarned etc etc is the way to go.

xxx

Mariposa07

I wouldn't be too worried in your position, it's a good time to be moving up in the market. Taking a big hit on yours is irrelevant as long as you make sure that the one you buy takes an even bigger hit. Even if both properties have to reduce by the same percentage, you will still be financially better off in real terms.

I'm afraid feethelove, it's not a typo, it really is 34,000 in the region of Murcia alone.  An example, I went to measure for curtains at Mar Menor 2 Golf Resort the other day, the clients were telling me that Polaris had build 1,100 new apartment (on an already established site) and only sold 400!  Times that by however many golf resorts there are in Murcia and you begin to see the broader picture.

Hi MP07

that's really and i mean really scary, is there nothing that can be done for the owners,i can't imagine how they feel i think it would be an emotion undescribeable.

saying that is Murcia a big place, and which are the worst hit areas or is it every where in Murcia.

when relative passes on there is no mortgage or the equiv in spain, but i think someone mentioned you have to pay a tax to sell a spanish property, does this still apply on a deceased's property where its not a case of selling to buy something else?

someone also mentioned people are handing keys back to banks etc as rentals didnt happen so cant pay mortgages etc, is there nothing like we have in the uk where people can file for bankruptcy so if no equity they can still keep properties until an upturn then sell?

i think its terrible people are suffering this, is it just 'golf' properties or all  aprt & villas that are affected?

if you or anyone has anything re dealing with a deceased in spain eg how to fly someone back to uk for burial etc i would welcome it. likewise anything such as who in official capacity we would need to contact to arrange for body to be flown home,eg would that be english embassy, has anyone done this ?

x

 Roughly: once you sell a property you have to pay capital gains tax and some other expenses and taxes depeding on the purchase/sale agreement (plusvalia tax - increase of the value of the land-, Notary's fees...). 

In case that the property is not sold before the sad loss of your partner the inheritors will pay inheritance taxes.

I will send you the information from the Spanish Tax Authorities web site via PM (information in English). 

Hi Feelthelove - I would strongly advise you to look at a pre-payment funeral plan for your relative.  There are a couple of companies here which deal in these and then, when it is needed, everything can be organised in keeping with the wishes of the family.  Funerals here in Spain tend to happen very quickly so you really need to be prepared in advance.  I can send you some names if you want to check this out.

As for selling the property, it can take a very long time, sometimes years, to sort out the estate of the deceased.  The most important thing here is that there is a spanish will that covers all the spanish assets with a full power of attorney to a spanish lawyer.  This will allow matters to be dealt with here, but you can still expect it to take many months and there will be inheritance tax issues to deal with also before you would be allowed to put the property up for sale.

As for the housing market, I am an estate agent in Torrevieja and the market is still very slow here.  However, I don't think you should be too concerned with the issues around selling as it will be many months, perhaps years, before you have to deal with this and the market will (hopefully) be very different by then.

It is so difficult to deal with any death of a loved one but I'm afraid it is so much more complicated when you are dealing with a different country and different legal systems.

Regards