Saturday 25 July 2015

Our Spanish Dream - Part 31: The banking crisis happens!

Our Spanish Dream - Part 31: The banking crisis happens!

    
March 2008 will be etched on the memories of many people for all the wrong reasons. The banking crisis started, mainly in America, but it had begun. By the end of that year it seemed the whole world was in financial crisis. The bank bailouts were followed by entire country bailouts in the Eurozone. The Bank of England slashed interest rates to record lows, allowed sterling to go into free-fall to devalue the pound and started quantative easing to stop the UK going bankrupt too. The exchange rate had fallen from over 1.40 euros to the £1 to parity in just a matter of months – unforecast and unprecedented, in fact it was almost unbelievable.
Looking at things from the ex-pat perspective anyone living on a UK pension or other sterling income suddenly found their income had dropped by roughly a third. A UK pension/income of £800.00 per month had gone from over 1200 euros in January 2007 down to just 800 euros two years later. Add to that spiralling electricity and gas prices, increased living costs and no interest on any capital savings and many ex-pats found themselves in real financial hardship. With mortgages almost impossible to come by and people in real fear of losing jobs and just ‘sitting tight’ wondering how to ride out the crisis, it was the perfect storm for the collapse of the housing market.
Everyone knew that the building bubble would bust at some point, too many new builds were springing up along the Spanish coast, the rate of build was unsustainable, but a decline in building and maybe a small correction in prices was all that was required, so they said. Well, with construction companies going into liquidation overnight and the value of land dropping like a stone, building ground to a complete halt.
Re-sale prices went into freefall and in some areas the value of property halved. Negative equity abounded and some people had no choice but to hand the keys of their house back to the bank. This was far from Spain’s finest hour.

Dave and Bev Spanish Dream Properties
Dave and Bev Townsend have two homes, their main one in Norwich and a second home in Playa Flamenca in south Costa Blanca, Spain which they also let as a holiday rental www.house-by-the-pool.comThey run a property finding business offering a free service for those seeking to buy a property in the Costa Blanca (Alicante) or the Mar Menor area of the Costa Calida (Murcia) www.SpanishDreamProperty.com. Bev has family in Spain and they intend to move there full-time in a couple of years.

Find us on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/spanishdreamproperty

Saturday 18 July 2015

18072015 60 Second Property Show

Ref: HEDR8403
Type: Semi Detached
Area: Costa Blanca South
Town: Campoamor
Beds: 3
Baths: 2
Pool: Yes
Price: €180,000
Description: This 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom semi-detached house is located in Dehesa de Campoamor and just a few minutes walk to the beautiful sandy beach and marina.

Situated on a small development surrounded by a pine wood this property comprises of a front porch leading to the longe/diner, independent kitchen with door to the utility area and a shower room on the ground level.

Upstairs there is a family bathroom and three double bedrooms all with built in wardrobes and the master having a sunny balcony.

Externally there is a front terrace, rear terrace and a side terrace with private swimming pool.

This property benefits from being just a short walk to the beaches, restaurants and shops. Is fitted with hot and cold air conditioning and is to be sold full furnished.

Friday 10 July 2015

60 Second Property Show

                                   Welcome To the 60 Second Property Show

                        3 Bed 2 Bath
                            Townhouse in Villamartin

Ref: HEDRLD14217
Type: Townhouse
Area: Costa Blanca South
Town: Villamartin
Beds: 3
Baths: 2
Pool: Yes
Price: €109,000
Description: Reduced from €119,000 to €109,000 This very spacious 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom townhouse, with private swimming pool is located in Villamartin. Local amenities, three golf courses and beautiful beaches are all just a short drive away.

The property consists of a large lounge/diner with a log burner, a separate fitted kitchen with an adjoining utility room, a downstairs bedroom, a bathroom and storage cupboard. Upstairs is the second family bathroom, two double bedrooms and a sun terrace, with external stairs leading up to the large solarium with storage cupboard.

Situated in an elevated position, the upper terraces offer fantastic views of the salt lakes and the distant sea.

This property also benefits from hot and cold air conditioning throughout and off road parking. Sold furnished.

Our Spanish Dream - Part 30: Communities

Our Spanish Dream - Part 30: Communities


We often get asked if a property is leasehold or freehold – those terms as such don’t exist. Effectively all individual properties are owned outright, but when you buy a house on a community, you own your house but the communal areas are owned by the community, which is all the owners together. The laws governing how communities are run are known as the Horizontal Laws and all communities have to be run according to these laws.
So what does owning a house on a community mean? First, it doesn’t suit everybody. The strictness of community living varies greatly. For instance, I know a community where all the air con units must be out of sight (so low down on balconies/solariums etc), all sun blinds are a particular colour and the pool is closed during siesta time, (when it’s hottest and you most want to use it!).
Our community is much more accommodating; you can have sun blinds in whatever colour you like, the pool stays open all day and if you want air con units you put them where it suits you. We also have a very understanding attitude to glazing in a terrace or changing your terrace tiles if you wish to do so. So although there are laws governing how a community is run, within that, the community itself decides the details.
On our community there are monthly ‘committee meetings’ and anyone can ask for a particular matter to be discussed and dealt with, but a committee run community is not common and brings its own challenges.
Every community has an unpaid President, elected at the annual general meeting for a one year period and usually a resident. There is also a paid Administrator, usually a legal firm. The President does have total authority which can get interesting if they don’t talk to people!
However they can only act within the law and the administrator is responsible for overseeing that side of things and the financial matters, such as collecting the community fees. A community may be as few as 4 or 5 properties or may stretch to hundreds, but 50 to 100, sharing one or two pools, is quite common. Fees will be dependent on the amount of community facilities so vary from around 400 euros to 800 euros per year (golf courses are a lot more).

Dave and Bev Spanish Dream Properties
Dave and Bev Townsend have two homes, their main one in Norwich and a second home in Playa Flamenca in south Costa Blanca, Spain which they also let as a holiday rental www.house-by-the-pool.comThey run a property finding business offering a free service for those seeking to buy a property in the Costa Blanca (Alicante) or the Mar Menor area of the Costa Calida (Murcia) www.SpanishDreamProperty.com. Bev has family in Spain and they intend to move there full-time in a couple of years.
Find us on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/spanishdreamproperty

Friday 3 July 2015

Our Spanish Dream - Part 29: Keyholders number 4

Our Spanish Dream - Part 29: Keyholders number 4


With no keyholders we contacted the lady we had met in October 2011. Her business was going well and she would be happy to meet us in February. We also went on-line and found another company and booked a meeting with them first.
The first couple arrived and we showed them our check list. They were fine about it but their costings were complicated so some cleans would be more expensive than others. He also said they would pop in on the renters unannounced and if they were out would let themselves in to turn off things like air con left running and leave a note telling the guests they should have turned it off. I was horrified! The idea that they would just let themselves in was totally unacceptable. I found the man very unpleasant, quite an abrasive character, and I could see he would upset people, including me!
It was a relief to meet the other lady again. Her business had expanded, her husband, now retired from the army, and her daughter and her partner were now working with her. The daughter would be responsible for our house. She was in her thirties, well presented, very likeable and had immaculate nails, (like her mother). I later discovered she had trained as a nail technician, which explained a lot.  We liked her and her partner. She was totally unfazed by the check list, her partner would do the airport transfers and any odd jobs. We signed them up, so relieved I didn’t have to deal with the abrasive guy again.
I’m delighted to say they are the best keyholders and cleaners we have had and all the guests have liked them too.


Dave and Bev Spanish Dream Properties
Dave and Bev Townsend have two homes, their main one in Norwich and a second home in Playa Flamenca in south Costa Blanca, Spain which they also let as a holiday rental www.house-by-the-pool.comThey run a property finding business offering a free service for those seeking to buy a property in the Costa Blanca (Alicante) or the Mar Menor area of the Costa Calida (Murcia) www.SpanishDreamProperty.com. Bev has family in Spain and they intend to move there full-time in a couple of years.