Reply to: mortgage for Spainish property

[FiveTimes]

Just a side note, the friend I mentioned that gave his back a couple of years ago also bought on in Florida and he says it's worked very well for him. About the same price (probably due to Spanish boom a the time thought) and it's bringing in a tidy profit for him. I wasn't interested in a property so far away as I wanted to visit it fairly cheaply but it shows there is money to be made...just not on the Spanish coastline.

I know a few owners over in Florida and they are struggling to turn a profit so your friend must be doing really well.

One owner who we have rented off a couple of times is basically just breaking even.

[b0redom]

The thing which has put me off doing this has been that you need a tourist license to let out a property as a holiday home, and they're not granting them any more.

[NickNick]

So NLUK where do we find these lists of properties for sale by the banks? Out of interest how much did you pay and for what and what's it worth now?

I was looking at Gran Canaria and that seems very expensive.

If you look on right move it will quite often state that the place is bank owned.

[aoxomoxoa]

List of Spanish bank websites offering discounted repossessed property

Are these legit ?

I hope your due diligence consists of more than asking a bunch of strangers on the internet, on a forum that has nowt to do with Spanish property?

[MarillionFan]

List of Spanish bank websites offering discounted repossessed property

Are these legit ?

[northernladuk]

i would be interested in that too, we really fancy something on menorca but prices seem to sustain themselves out there (but i could be wrong)

Ok, the person I mail at the bank is hardly quick at getting back to me else I would have been able to sort this months ago but will drop them a note see what they say.

[portseven]

I must admit I don't know how to get a list, I would assume they put them straight through a local estate agent but it's a good question so I will ask the bank next time I speak to them

i would be interested in that too, we really fancy something on menorca but prices seem to sustain themselves out there (but i could be wrong)

[northernladuk]

I suspect those that just hand it back will find it comes back to bite them in the botty at some point. The debt is still there and enforceable. Even across borders.

Possibly, it will be interesting to see. I think chasing some debt they will never recover is going to be the least of their problems. It is pretty unprecedented to start taking properties back and write the mortgage off even though it is in negative equity so they may just get away with it. We will see.

[ASB]

I suspect those that just hand it back will find it comes back to bite them in the botty at some point. The debt is still there and enforceable. Even across borders.

[northernladuk]

I see. So its 'simply' down to what you negotiate?

Presumably then you are in unfortunately in negative equity. If these find their way to the banks then its going to be a long time before the outlook improves since the banks must be ending up witg a huge amount of property.

Yup in a nutshell, price I was advised to ask for was way lower than the mortgage. Most of them are. They are still 'worth' the full amount as there are some lovely properties there, just a pure case of supply and demand. They were a tad over priced when they went up due to the boom but for what you get they are way way under priced now.

I can't even begin to guess how many of these the banks own, it must be a good percentage of all the properties in this area alone, all in negative equity. Some UK people just walk off and let it be repossessed, other are using the route to give it back if they can. You can tell how bad it is when the banks have realised it just isn't worth chasing the people for the debt and are writing it off. They are paying community fees on all these as well don't forget.

Another blow to the banks was this guy who managed to sue the banks for his deposit when new builds fell through. He found that if the developer went bust the banks were liable to pay the owners their deposits back which tend to be 20% of the price of the property so not only are they taking on properties they can't sell they are giving owners 10's of K in deposits back.

I can't believe Spain didn't go bust years ago from the weight of these issues let alone taking in to account the rest of countries problems.

[northernladuk]

So NLUK where do we find these lists of properties for sale by the banks? Out of interest how much did you pay and for what and what's it worth now?

I was looking at Gran Canaria and that seems very expensive.

I must admit I don't know how to get a list, I would assume they put them straight through a local estate agent but it's a good question so I will ask the bank next time I speak to them,

My property was similar to this one and when they were for sale off plan at 280k Euros back when 1 euro was worth 50p. Most of us can't sell them as it just won't cover the cost of the mortgage so serious negative equity problem. This one is now up for 120k Euros which for what you get is a bloody bargain but people just aren't buying. Real shame as it is lovely complex, just up the hill and not on the sea front so holiday lets aren't an option.

Vistalmar Duquesa Norte 3 bedroom apartment for sale in Puerto de la Duquesa Manilva with Barrington Homes Estate Agents

Mortgages are about 1K euros but rent is only 500 a month so again just pointless. I had mine on interest only trying to see the slump though but now it's empty I have given up.

[MarillionFan]

So NLUK where do we find these lists of properties for sale by the banks? Out of interest how much did you pay and for what and what's it worth now?

I was looking at Gran Canaria and that seems very expensive.

[ASB]

Do holiday makers go to Barcelona?? My property is on the Costa Del Sol in between Gibraltar and Banus so I couldn't comment on properties in the cities so might have to take everything I said with a pinch of salt.

Costa blanca is very popular. Barcelona is a great city. Very popular. Just come back as it happens.

[ASB]

Everything is in such a mess over there banks are taking back the properties and just writing the debt off. I just do the paperwork and hand the keys back. No impact on credit rating or anything like that. They tend only to do it for local residents but the person dealing with it for me over there has negotiated with the manager to let me do it as well. The banks must own at least 30% of the properties on my complex alone let alone the 100's of other complexes all along the Costa Del Sol. It's an utter disaster out there. The amount of debt they must own in empty properties must be staggering and christ only knows how much they are spending on community fees they owe as well so I wouldn't touch Spain with barge pole.

I see. So its 'simply' down to what you negotiate?

Presumably then you are in unfortunately in negative equity. If these find their way to the banks then its going to be a long time before the outlook improves since the banks must be ending up witg a huge amount of property.

[northernladuk]

Just a side note, the friend I mentioned that gave his back a couple of years ago also bought on in Florida and he says it's worked very well for him. About the same price (probably due to Spanish boom a the time thought) and it's bringing in a tidy profit for him. I wasn't interested in a property so far away as I wanted to visit it fairly cheaply but it shows there is money to be made...just not on the Spanish coastline.