Now is the time?

Plasticballs

Surely with all time low interest rates NOW is the time to invest in a property in Spain?... I'm retired now and I'm thinking of buying a place on one of the Costas for around 100k.. I will use it to escape the english winters and enjoy it much more than having the money earning next to nothing in some bank here.
I can't see how I can lose. I am not buying to sell quickly so how can it not be better?.... What do you think?

TakeCareOfThePennies_2

Plasticballs wrote: »

I can't see how I can lose.

:rotfl::rotfl:

And so said all the people who borrowed well over their means to fund buy to let property portfolios in the run-up to the credit crunch.

Sorry Plasticballs, if you genuinely can't see how you can loose then you shouldn't be contemplating an "investment" of any sort whether it be in a piece of property or otherwise.

Good luck is all I can say.

MEM62

There will never be the right time to buy property in Spain in the foreseeable future.

You will invest £100k in an asset that will not increase in value and that you will not be able to liquidate if you need the cash.

Even if you ignore that point it does not make financial sense as rents are so cheap. Just off the coast you can rent a house for around EUR 400 per month. That means, even without allowing for any interest earned, your £100K will rent you a house for about 27 years! In the meantime, if your plans change you still have your cash.

Live in Spain by all means. I absolutely love the place and will probably end up there one day but under no circumstances would I ever buy property there.

droopsnoot

I guess it depends. On the one hand you talk about somewhere to go to get away from the winters here, but on the other you talk about "investing" and not losing money on it. Spanish property has got a lot of stigma about it because of the last big rush, but for everyone who's lost money on somewhere (based on what they paid for it in the boom) there's someone who got a bargain.


I have zero direct experience of property, I must say in case it isn't obvious. What you should perhaps do is sit down and work out all the costs - pick somewhere, tot up cost of buying it, cost of running it and keeping an eye when it's empty, flight costs for your visits, and compare that to renting somewhere for an extended winter break when you feel like it. That would at least give you a financial comparison to base your idea on.


I must admit I've been tempted to do something similar, and I was interested to see that "Polaris World" were back on the TV last year advertising their apartments again, but instead of an entry level of about 150k Euro they were down to 70k. That makes it tempting, but you have to consider how much further down they can go if the Spanish economy doesn't improve. I have little or no handle on our own economy, never mind anywhere else, so it's stuff like that where I start to lose momentum. On the one hand you can imagine it'd be nice to wake up somewhere sunny in December, on the other it's perhaps not so nice if all the shops and bars are closed for the winter, or out of business.

TCA

MEM62 wrote: »

Even if you ignore that point it does not make financial sense as rents are so cheap. Just off the coast you can rent a house for around EUR 400 per month. That means, even without allowing for any interest earned, your £100K will rent you a house for about 27 years! In the meantime, if your plans change you still have your cash.

That's the best advice you'll get. At best, rent in the area you want to live for an extended period before even considering buying.

redmalc

I agree with the sentiment but we have been looking at buying over the last few months and noticed the agents are inflating the asking prices given the exchange rate

Plasticballs

TakeCareOfThePennies wrote: »

:rotfl::rotfl:

And so said all the people who borrowed well over their means to fund buy to let property portfolios in the run-up to the credit crunch.

But thats the difference....I wasn't buying to let... I'm buying to enjoy and use whenever it suits me.. at a moments notice if I want. I cant see in the long term how its worse than having the money in the bank doing absolutely nothing while I freeze my nuts off here...I could have it for years and years... I could let it out sometimes to earn a bit extra cash and leave it to my kids eventually.. I'm just saying it sounds good to me...

TakeCareOfThePennies_2

Up to you in the end how you spend your money Plasticballs. So if you've made your mind up on Spanish property, then so be it.

badger09

Plasticballs wrote: »

But thats the difference....I wasn't buying to let... I'm buying to enjoy and use whenever it suits me.. at a moments notice if I want. I cant see in the long term how its worse than having the money in the bank doing absolutely nothing while I freeze my nuts off here...I could have it for years and years... I could let it out sometimes to earn a bit extra cash and leave it to my kids eventually.. I'm just saying it sounds good to me...

If £100k is your total savings, I think you'd be mad.

If you have many times that amount, and you want to own your place in Spain or anywhere else, why not?

Do you own your home in UK? What will happen to it while you're in Spain? Can you meet the running costs of both?

As has been suggested, why not rent over there initially? You may find its not for you after all, and you'll still have most of your £100k

kingrulzuk

All i will say is good luck

KGriff

Plasticballs you start off by saying you are retired and have 100K in savings.

So you spend all those savings to buy the Spanish property.

Now you have two properties to furnish run and maintain and travel between. You have to insure and pay local taxes on both properties and you may need two cars, one here and one in Spain (or you may want to hire one) ... Telephone lines, broadband etc etc.

A lot to think about. I have met people who did this and found themselves amongst other Brits who wanted to socialise (drink) all day. They found it was quite a lonely life ... but the weather was good.

If you have family here, then you may find you, or your spouse, miss the children/grand children, particularly if the winter months you mention, includes being away in Spain for Christmas and the New Year.

Medical cover and quality in Spain, can also add to woes.

So I think the advice to rent first and see how it goes is a good suggestion.

Find out from the Brits over there what problems they have encountered and look seriously at your finances and make sure you can easily afford the likely extra costs and consider your options if things go wrong or if you are suddenly faced with a large unexpected bill (new roof or car needed etc.)

Most importantly, assuming you have a partner, see what they 'really' want to do... Buying a property abroad has to be by consent of all those affected.

It also includes your children (if any) in this matter. That can be a positive thing (perhaps) as they will want to make use of the premises as a holiday destination for themselves...er ... and the grand children too.

You have lots to think about. Even more than I have mentioned here in this short post.

Ultimately though, the decision is yours.