For some of the people that get in touch with us via mail, our social media channels or even phone, Valencia City living is the be-all and end-all of their property search here. If they cannot get what they want in the city itself then they don’t want anything. That’s totally legitimate as a mindset but might be a bit limiting. After all you don’t know about something you don’t know about, what’s just around the corner may be as good or even better than what you are looking at and have set your heart on.
Today, therefore, we are going to look at changing that mindset. What are the benefits of getting a place near to Valencia City as opposed to in the city itself, what are the downsides and where are the best places to look if you are interested in thinking outside the box?
In order to do this we are going to take some examples and show what your money buys you in the city and look at comparable prices outside the city in what we can call the Valencia city suburbs. We also look at the choices our team made when looking for where they are living.
Getting More
We are constantly striving to get our clients more for their money. Within the city of Valencia this may mean looking at different areas comparable to the places that the client is initially looking at. You get a lot more for your money around Ruzafa than in Ruzafa itself for example. This week however we have been reminded that you can also get more for your money outside the city and sometimes that means considerably more. We are going to use an outlandish example here to demonstrate but you’ll get the idea.
We are going to use the following as an example:
Now this apartment in Valencia is one we know pretty well.
Why?
Well, we actually bought it in 2015 for the rather amazing amount of 28,000 Euros. It was a wreck and we totally modernised it. In fact our modernisation can be seen in the photos because nothing has changed since then, even the decoration is how we left it. However if you take a look at the listing you’ll see that it seems to have grown since we modernised it as they are claiming it is 82m2. It’s not. It’s around 55m2 unless they have put an illegal extension on the front or back of the building (They haven’t).
After modernisation we sold it for 59,000 Euros and luckily, for tracking purposes of this post, a friend of mine bought it. They got a good deal. However, because of work issues and relocation they sold it in 2017 for 72,000 Euros. As far as we see it there has been no change of ownership since then but that could be wrong.
Between 2017 and 2023 prices have risen dramatically in Valencia but there is no way a third floor without lift in this area is worth 180k, despite our quite wonderful renovation with a fantastic use of 55m2.
What Can You Get Outside of the City for A Similar Price?
I live in La Pobla de Vallbona just 15-20 minutes from Valencia depending on the traffic. This is a part of my garden. The terraced houses you can see are 150m2 with shared pool and garden and wonderful neighbours ;-). Four bedrooms, garage, living room, kitchen, three bathrooms is the norm and everything regarding facilities in walking distance from the house. We sold the one pictured for 195k just two weeks ago. I know what I prefer. The only similarity is that neither the 180k apartment in Valencia or the 195k house in La Pobla have a lift.
You do need to change your mindset though. A trip to the beach is a 25 minute drive rather than a 15 minute walk. You are surrounded by 25000 people in the town rather than just under 1 million in the city. A night out might involve a taxi back rather than a stroll and public transport is available, just not quite as often.
La Pobla isn’t your only option though of course. Let’s look at Naquera, in the hills surrounding Valencia just 20 minutes from the beach and city.
This inflation busting apartment has a large sun terrace, shared pool and gardens, a real 87m2 plus 34m2 terrace as opposed to an imaginary 82m2 in the 180k place in the city, and a garage place as well as lovely mountain views. Now Naquera isn’t as big as La Pobla, you are only surrounded by some 4000 people, but it has all of the basics for living including supermarkets, basic shops, cafes, bars and restaurants. Read the description…
“In the last few months, I’m sure due to rising interest rates and general inflation, we’ve had a lot of clients looking for properties in the 150k zone, before around 200k would have been more popular. However in Valencia city, that doesn’t get you a whole lot. Apartments in a nice part of town sure, but they will probably need a lot of renovation, and if you haven’t got the budget for that, it won’t work.
So we have been encouraging our clients to have a look in the towns outside the city where there is still fantastic value to be had.
For example this apartment is in the town of Naquera, about 25km from Valencia, but still only 15 km from your choice of beaches. So a bit further, and there is no metro line here as we are in the foothills of the Sierra Calderona National Park. If you can live with those 2 cons, let me list the pros:
Large Terrace (34m2)
Second en-suite bathroom
Community pool
Views of surrounding countryside
Interior garage space
Trastero (independent storeroom) 12m3
Gas central heating
Air conditioning (living room and main bedroom)
Perfect condition, 100% ready to move into
It is only 5 minutes walk from the town centre with plenty of bars and restaurants. If you are looking for a very nice apartment just outside Valencia city, but have one eye on what’s going to happen to the economy in the next couple of years, this place is the solution.”
If you are looking for even more of a get away from it all feel and want a little bit of self sufficiency in your life than you could do a lot worse than this house near to the sleepy village of Torres Torres.
“The rising price of Avocados and the dream of self sufficiency that made Richard Briers into an eco tyrant and Felicity Kendall into the muse of many wannabe urban allotment owners might inspire you to take a punt on this neat little house just outside the town of Torres Torres to the North West of Sagunto. If that doesn’t then the price might do.
You have around 2000m2 of plot mostly filled with an array of fruit trees, including 4 of the aforementioned Avocados, and potential to develop more of the grow your own market means that this is not a house for the faint hearted or those, like myself, with the total opposite of green fingers. It’s not a place to have as a holiday home, it needs to be lived in and the gardens tended to.
The house itself has four bedrooms, all doubles, a bathroom, toilet, kitchen and living room with plenty of outside terraces and shady seating areas. There is a deep pool which needs filling to enjoy taking the edge off the heat, nice countryside and mountain views and there is good mobile coverage meaning you can tether your Netflix habit to your phone. Off road parking for a few cars if required but make sure to bring the bug spray, that’s what you get with a lot of trees.”
You Can Also Do Better In The City Of Course
It’s not really fair to compare a ridiculously laughable price to what you can see above outside the city though, so also think about using our knowledge and experience to guide you within the city. The apartments below, all much better value and offering a lot more space or value for money (or both) than the example above and they will give you a better lifestyle.
If you really want just 50m then you get it in Ruzafa or the Botanic where prices per square metre are higher than in the example above in general and you also get a small terrace in the Ruzafa example or 3 bedrooms in the Botanic example. You also get 10k change. Click on the images to see more.
However for more space, there are other options.
For just 136k and around 10k to modernise the bathroom and kitchen along with a few tins of white paint and a box for the Christmas tree you can have three bedrooms, seventh floor and plenty of light with a lift in Malilla right by the central park. There’s a bit of traffic noise but add on another few thousand for new windows and a few years until the nearby flyover is underground and you have a great deal. and still a lot of change out of 180k.
In Marxalanes you can get 66m2 and a decent terrace with a lot of light for just 137k. We love these type of apartments. The ones where the location and orientation are great, and the interior is easily improved. Take a moment to weigh up the pluses and minuses, and you’ll see this is a real bargain.
And if you fancy double the size but a similar price then there’s this place. 100 Square Metres on a quiet street in a good part of town, ripe for some minor cosmetic surgery in the kitchen, implant a nice new floor, get some furniture preferably made this century and you could even bleach your annex, clean as a whistle and ready for anything you’ll be confidently strutting down the Turia Riverbed Gardens and straight into El Carmen
The Choices Our Team Have Made
As I write this on my terrace overlooking the garden you saw above I’m happy with my choice. And this was a conscious choice enforced by a positive constraint, we like positive constraints. When we arrived in Valencia in the late 90s we wanted to buy a house with a garden and space for the family to grow. The constraint was that we couldn’t afford to buy what we wanted in L’Eliana where we were living originally so we moved to the next town up in La Pobla. L’Eliana is 16km from Valencia La Pobla is 18km. That 2km extra made a difference of around 20-30% in price which meant we got a lot more for our money and we haven’t regretted that decision since. There’s a motorway into the city and it’s essentially the same time into the city from my house as it would have been from most houses in L’Eliana. We still have plenty of space and have been able to make changes in the house over the years that suited us.
David on the other hand chose to live in Campanar just outside the riverbed and this was a choice which still suits him as his wife’s work is walking distance away, he can get in and out of the city easily and loves the fact that the public transport means he hardly ever has to get his car out of its garage and he has everything he needs for day to day living within a five or ten minute walk. The added advantage is that his kids walk to school is just over 60 seconds on a good day and it’s an area that lots of families have chosen for the same reason.
Gavin bought an apartment in Valencia but then moved out to the north side of the city to the Horta Nord as the family grew and Almassera, where he rents a much bigger house than his flat, is in easy striking distance of the city and beaches while offering more space for his money. He rents out his apartment in the city for a similar price to what he pays for a house outside allowing his family more space and a car parking space too. Gavin spent a lot of time thinking about the move and hadn’t really honed in on the Horta Nord but as soon as he saw an opportunity there he went for it and now loves living there. (He also added he will probably downsize back into the city one day when the kids leave home)
Jess chose to stay in Ruzafa and gets away at the weekend to Denia. Again Jess bought a place which she rents out in Ruzafa while renting a smaller place at a lower price from the place she bought as she didn’t need the extra space for her lifestyle. Denia gets her away from the city and the sea breezes clear out her head every weekend.
Maria rents currently in Mislata but when she decides to move she plans to do something similar to Gavin and look outside the city on the North side for easy access to the city and to the area where she trains for Roller Derby. Again the search for larger spaces limits her search within the city as you get more space outside. As Maria is in charge of our modernisations she has no worries about finding a place to do up, she doesn’t need it ready to go.
Paul lives in the Amistat district of Valencia but the family has a summer and weekend place out in Lliria from where he can indulge his love of cycling. Amistat is one of those areas that is handy for everything being between the city centre and beach and Paul likes the convenience of it. Getting out of the city at times is important though especially now with a growing family so Paul uses the family’s place in Lliria regularly.
What Are The Mindset Changes?
You need to be ready to use public transport or a car more because one of the obvious delights of moving here is the city of Valencia itself for eating out, leisure facilities, entertainment and even people watching. However, bear in mind that every small town and village around the city has an excellent sports centre, plenty of cafes, bars and restaurants and more. You can’t find original language version cinemas or musical theatre perhaps but for most day to day stuff the towns and villages around Valencia will more than suffice.
You will need to realise that you are never far from the city. Many of our clients come from large cities around the world where getting into the centre of their city takes them up to an hour or more, London anyone? Los Angeles? Even in the suburbs here it will only take you half an hour maximum to get into the city under your own steam and a maximum of an hour by public transport. You will be in and out of the city but have more space to enjoy when you are at home.
And finally, you may find that your requirements change when you are looking for property outside the city. An apartment may become a house, you may want shared facilities which are easier to find outside the city such as pools and tennis courts, you may want to be nearer to a local school with space for your children or you may want to be far away from your neighbours and have space for a couple of donkeys. Once the mindset changes then maybe your priorities may change too.
The Valencia Property Guide to Saving Money (Part One)
Our latest podcast is all about how you can save money on your Valencia Property purchase. Practical tips to make your money go further, a bit like this post. It was released on Saturday and if you haven’t yet seen it then have a listen. Trust us and trust the process. Listen below or on our podcast page.
Golden Visa Property of the Week
Just 1k off a Golden Visa you may want to invest in a garage space with this one elsewhere to complement the purchase, this villa in L’Eliana allows you to have your extended family staying with you while you avoid them by living in the upper part as downstairs is self contained.
“It’s the middle of the winter now, and summer seems like a long way away. In fact, it my be hard to believe that in a few short months we will all be complaining about the heat and humidity and the endless sunshine.
However, if you can’t wait that long, you can recreate your own Valencian summer here. Because this villa in La Eliana has its own sauna in the garden. Yes, if you love sweat dripping off your nose every time do anything requiring even the slightest effort, this is the house for you.
In fact it is 2 houses in one, each floor having an independent living area, with 2 bedrooms on each level. Great for when you have family staying and you just want to keep a little bit of separation. Which is something you might have to explain to creepy Uncle Raymond before you allow him into the sauna. (Towels definitely not optional Ray).
The metro is just a short few minutes walk, and there is easy access to the CV-35 so the city and the airport are less than 20 minutes by car. Double glazing throughout, porcelain tiled floors, central heating, this is a top quality house for the price. So if you’ve had enough of this winter and can’t wait to be changing your t-shirt 3 times a day, call us now, we have the place for you.”
If You Liked This
We have written before about the areas around Valencia, and lifestyle design so check out those related posts below. Just click on the images to be taken there. And feel free to search through the blog for more information on taxes, processes, mortgages and more.
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