Buying an apartment in Spain these days???

MetaPhysical

I love Spain and speak the language reasonably well. I've just retired early at 58, haver a good pension and I find myself with a large amount of cash and tinkered with the thought of buying an apartment in the Mercia or Alicante area for me and my wife's sole use so we can stay there three or four months per year and can go biking, photography, walking, do astronomy etc. We would never rent it out. It's just a thought at this stage, a pipe dream maybe and we're debating the pros and cons. For example, to drop £300k on a property is a lot of lengthy AirBnB rentals! Lots of sabre rattling from the Spanish government as well.

Obviously this subject is a vast minefield wth a ton of traps. Anyone got any recent experiences to share please or any thoughts? Is it more trouble than it's worth?

subjecttocontract

Recently sold one that we owned for over 20 years. There are thousands of Brits who live permanently or who own holiday homes in the area. If you have the money then it's really down to personal choice. Property is reasonably cheap compared to the UK but generally it doesn't appreciate in value as it does in the UK. Most of our capital gain was due to exchange rate rather that an increase in price. Buying costs are significantly higher in Spain so it's a good idea to pick the right one the first time or it can get costly. There are limits on how long non EU owners can stay in one visit to Spain.....I think it's 90 days......so you might like to check that to ensure it suits you.

Catonthemoon

No experience… just some thoughts.

(1) Spain can get very cold during the Winter months, so make sure you buy one that’s south facing (on the assumption that you enjoy lying out on the balcony).

(2) In recent years, Spain has seen a surge in the number of empty properties being squatted, which becomes a financial & emotional nightmare for the owners. There is a lot of info on the net about this (for example, check out ‘Costa Blanca Forum).

I’m not trying to put you off, because many thousands of Brits are never affected, but be very aware of this & ensure that the property is as secure as you can possibly make it when you are not there.

Best of luck. Cotm

kipsterno1

This is something we have mulled over for many years. We never followed through with it when working as we wouldn't have made full uses. Now we are retired we have dismissed the idea looking to do longer rentals several times a year. That way maintenance is someone else's problem, we can visit different areas as we are not interested in becoming part of the community and the funds can stay invested hopefully paying for more holidays. Over the years we did consider buying overseas we have seen many changes in relation to foreign ownership which is another worry.

Emmia

I'd definitely consider the 90/180 Schengen restrictions that apply to UK passport holders - that's a rolling 90 days in every 180 the clock doesn't reset if you pop back to the UK.

Unless you also have an EU passport?

TroubledTarts

We have had a family property originally grand parents, then parents and now ours bought new some 39 years ago by my grand parents.

45 mins south of Alicante near Torrevieja.

Personally it was a shame we left the EU and length of stays are restricted and the tax you have to pay to be residential needs a lot of thought but it sounds like you want to use it less than 6 months of the year.

The winter months yes it can get cold but it's cheap to heat with air conditioning set to heat and of course they are welcomed by most in summer for the cool they provide.

We have heard of occasions of squatters and this has cost people a lot of money.

There are no guarantees prices will rise massively and you also have the upkeep to think of so from an investment point of view it may be better investing your £300k and giving yourself much more options with air BnB's etc.

Sentimentally our property will be held in yhe family forever, we hope, but would we buy now? I don't think we would.

MEM62

Save your capital. £300K invested should yield you around £15K per year. More than enough to rent apartments and B&B's and you'll not have lost you capital or have to deal with the complexities of Spanish conveyancing.

DigForVictory

Hate to sound like a blinking optimist but you would also need a legitimate Will in Spain. And as for what would happen if you were to lose capacity - I don't know if Powers of Attorney travel. I think the have a spree on the interest advice gives you a great deal more freedom of manoeuvre, both now whilst you are fit enough to enjoy it & later when you need a bit more help but aren't ready to downsize to a cottage on St.Peters Approach…

monkey-fingers

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82011138#Comment_82011138

As an aside, if you've got an alarm (or better, cameras) on the property, as long as you let the Police know within the first 48 hours, they can now evict without a court order.

In Catalonia, the new squatting laws have problems because the courts just can't keep up.
But in most other areas, it's starting to work now.

MetaPhysical

Thanks everyone for your thoughts. Sounds like a minefield and a ton of complexity and stress I can do without. AirBnB it is then!

LillythePink

We bought a house last year not far from Granada and our process was quite easy looking back, we had a lawyer who was so on it, it was unreal as the area we bought in was nowhere near them so I think they learnt about buying a rural property as opposed to a city/town, we completed within 2 1/2 months and that even factored in lawyer holidays

It all depends on what you want to do short/medium and long term…our aim is to retire there in a few years so wanted something to suit us, if you buy and don't want to rent it out and don't want to be tied down to somewhere for all your holidays (as why have a place and go elsewhere), then hotels/rentals or Air BnB's would be better so you can travel around.

We certainly weren't looking to spend £300k, but near the coast and in different areas, I can see prices would be that high - we didn't want to be by the beach at all, we have many within 10-15 mins of us now and we don't go so we wouldn't there, so our house was half the price.

We have dark skies and mountain views so our cameras will be getting used a lot