A few Steps to heaven

                                     CARAVACA DE LA CRUZ
 If you do a google search on buying a property in Spain I have no doubt you will find a veritable avalanche of information. Quite aside from the commercial ones, by property agents and the like, there are hundreds upon hundreds of others. These will be news items in online papers, postings on expat forums and indeed blogs like ours.
Many of the non commercial type will be tales of doom, gloom and strife. Whoever said "Bad news sells best. Cause good news is no news." * was right. Over the years I have read and seen  many reports of what can go wrong when you buy in spain. Of course, as in any country, some of the reports showed genuine cause for grievance and my heart goes out to those concerned. However I have so often read tales of woe from people who seem to have left their rational thinking self back in UK.
I do not intend to go into the whys and wherefores of what can go wrong or what idiots people can be. All I want to point out is this, would you buy a place in UK without a solicitor, would you sign a paperwork you could not read, would you flout planning laws and plead ignorance, would you think a business person was a social service, would you expect their services to come free. Would you buy a property without thoroughly checking out the area? Then bearing in mind you are looking in another country, would you expect everything to be done as it is in UK? 

If the answer is yes to all the above what can I say. Hands up, cannot say I have not been guilty of making some mistakes but hey I am a grown up and take responsibility for my own foolish actions!

So, headline grabbing horror stories aside, IMHO you need to: Have a good solicitor who knows about the type of property you are buying. Some have never dealt with country properties for example. This can be a complicated area and requires specialist knowledge much the same as some places in the Highlands of Scotland. Choose an agent who has been around for long time and is well established in the area you want to buy in. Remember big is not always better, the first place we bought was through a huge company that had just gone public,  they disappeared overnight. Better someone who lives in the area and may well become  a neighbour. Then of course ask loads of questions and it may be advisable to stay in the area for a fews weeks to get a feel for the place.
Right now there are some fabulous bargains to be had on the Spanish property market theres no doubting that. That aside always always proceed with caution, then there is much more chance you will get just what you want.

*  think it was from the film "Ace in the hole"

Non residents tax warning

The tax authority is now closing in on non resident property owners who are not presenting there annual tax returns and payments, the tax authority has linked with the land registry system and knows who owns every property, resident and non resident in Spain, every property owned by a non resident is taxable as income even if you don’t rent it out,The tax declaration and payment for 2008 has a deadline of December 2009, late declaration and payment incur a fine, ignorance of the law is not accepted as a reason for non payment, Property and bank accounts can be embargoed until back taxes are payed in full.
It is important to realize this is an income tax on your property, and is separate from and and in addition to the local tax IBI/SUMA which is an annual payment on the actual bricks and mortar, It does not relate to income in terms of your wages and pensions,but only to property ownership.

Property prices fall

For anyone hoping to sell there property here now is definitely not the time. The only places that are selling are going at eye wateringly low prices. Some people just cannot afford to hang on any longer so are taking whatever they can get. With the inflation in UK and here dreams of nipping over every few weeks to enjoy time in a holiday home are fading fast. Flights appear to be more expensive too so that’s having an effect.
It’s ok if you want to sell and buy another place because it’s a sell cheap buy cheap situation. What we seeing happen now is those people who cannot get the use of their property here are selling to avoid continuing outgoings. Even if you are not coming over you still have bills to meet.
We have seen apartments as low as 37.500 euros, 2 bedroom apartments for 50.000.

Banks are foreclosing on mortgages too, we spoke to someone only yesterday who has sold and had to take out a loan to pay off the mortgage. There are over a thousand new unsold properties in Formentera alone. Property Developers are finding themselves in dire straights. Some unfortunate people who have bought off plan may never see their property built or their money refunded.
The glut of unused properties has also affected rentals. When we first came over 4 years ago 500 euros a month seemed to the going rate you can now get two bedroom apartments for 300-380 including utility bills. Good news for the low paid here at least and for young people who want to leave the parental home. As they say it’s an ill wind that blows nobody any good.

The Moving Population

Well we have been here for over three years now, we were the first to move into the road along with John and Linda, we watched the block of apartments opposite get finished off and people move in, its noticable how many people have sold up again, left to go back to the UK or permanently let their property, there are several properties on the market in our road but there are so many in this area for sale they are like a needle in a haystack, and with the the slump in the property market there is not a lot of hope for sellers.
Quite a few of the properties are now used for holidays ,and the longer term tenants seem to come and go on a frequent basis so we see a regular change of faces.
As more and more people realise they are not going to sell easily it will be good if they rent longer term so that we can continue to have a good community.