All the latest news from Valencia Property

When August arrives there are certain things you should be aware of in Spain. Usually Spain stops for a good two or three hours between two and five o'clock every day. In August traditionally Spain has stopped for the whole month. Getting anything done is hellishly difficult. This year may be a bit different though. I have noticed that this year many shops have put up the closed for the holidays sign but it is just for two weeks. Many estate agents I know are only taking a week off. They used to happily disappear around the World for the month of August missing many clients along the way.

One of the things I am often asked is what I do all day as a Spanish estate agent. Well the truth be told I often don't know where the day has gone. However I thought I would give you an idea of a typical day when I haven't got viewings and then in a future post look at one where I have got Spanish Property viewings.

When you are thinking of buying Spanish property there are lots of considerations. The main ones should be location, price and quality of course but even after considering these top three considerations you still need to avoid making the basic mistakes that anyone can make if they are not advised correctly.

Last week I wanted to take a client to see a few places for sale in Valencia. I made a few phone calls and found that three places out of four had been sold in the previous two weeks. Then another client came along and the same happened with three more places, this time houses rather than city flats. Last week we sold a property after having it on site for just a week.

Banks in Spain are a homogenous bunch usually. They don't compete too much on concession of mortgages although if you are a "good" client they might well give you maybe 0.25% less on your mortgage rate as long as you sign up for their insurance, credit cards etc...

If the first thing you are doing when buying a property for sale in Spain is thinking about the possible resale value then you are approaching buying property in the wrong way. Currently there is little value in the market for flippers of property because of the costs of purchase in Spanish property. When you make your decision to buy a property you will be paying 7% tax plus commissions and costs so you have to make sure you get it right. It is because of this that we at Valencia Property do everything we can to make sure that you make the right choice by giving you the fullest information possible.

We have changed the look of houses for sale in Spain so I thought I best show you how to navigate the site and get around it. I missed one thing of course, don't forget the Google+ button on the right hand side. Would love to know your feedback about the new site.

Valencia has had the no vacancies signs out for a few weeks now. I have been told by lots of clients that they have had major problems booking accommodation for when they are visiting Valencia to look at properties. Firstly there was the Formula One, next weekend is Campus Party, the summer is full of events from Iggy Pop last night through to Seal, the Jazz Festival, the midnight beachside firework displays, the Champions' Tour showjumping, ATP tennis etc... (And that is a long etcetera)

Spain has had a lot of publicity recently about the #SpanishRevolution with people camping out on the streets complaining bitterly about the political classes and the banks, but everything has been done in an orderly and civilised way. Other countries have not been so lucky. Greece has had riots, Egypt a revolution, most North African countries are going through the same process and as fuel prices rise the cost of getting to long haul destinations like Thailand, the Caribbean and the States (Not even mentioning the ridiculous checks at airports in The States due to the Homeland security laws) mean that suddenly the old favourites are making a comeback big time when people look for overseas property and places to get away to.

I thought it was time for a change. For a year and a half we have been using the Magazine theme for the site and I thought it was about time that we changed the look, freshened it up and incorporated more images and colour. I know that a lot of people come here for the actual content over and over because it is so good but obviously I want you to make this a regular visit when you are online. Also I want you to look at Valencia Property too because that is where we put the houses. Therefore you are going to have a few links on this page directing you there ;-)

Up to now if you couldn't pay your mortgage in Spain you had three months and then the bank would start proceedings to embargo (Repossess) your property. The process would usually take around a year and at the end of the year when nobody bought it at auction because of the debt on the property, original mortgage debt plus around 35% costs on top, the bank would adjudicate it to themselves at 50% of mortgage value, sell it onto an investor, usually another financial institution, and then start the process of recouping the money from you for the rest of time, they could embargo a percentage of your wages above 648 Euros per month.

Valencia Property started in business 11 years ago at the request of a friend to find him a property. About a year later we put the first website up and until about four years ago it was a total mess but did its job. About four years ago it became database driven after the previous webmaster had refused to do his job properly for a couple of years but the website was still a mess. Last December thanks to Steve at Microedge it became much more coherent and now makes sense for people arriving on the site.

Spain is... First what Spain is not. Spain is not flamenco. Spain is not siesta. Spain is not mañana. Forget the stereotypes. The Opinion. Spain is an infinite loop of possibilities. (Speaketh the Apple Fanboy) Spain is enigmatic. Spain is still different.

I was asked the question which of the properties on the site would you buy if you were moving at the moment? For me there is no competition and I will tell you where and why in a moment but first let's look at why people buy property. Everyone has a different motivation for buying a property in Spain or anywhere else for that matter. Mine are as follows. I have three kids one of whom is away at University but the other two are small and want outside space if at all possible. I need 4 bedrooms therefore but also I need an office space, living room and decent sized kitchen because I spend a lot of time there. I am not too bothered about off road parking and I would prefer to have outside space and a pool but without the hassles of looking after it.

Well it is done! After all of your suggestions, some of them mentioned in the video, after quite a bit of procrastination, after placing a few secret videos as they were from my kids' concerts at school I have now finally finished the 300th public video on the Valencia Property You Tube Channel. That is a whole lot of videos. So enjoy and then look at some of the related videos below.

Today we have a guest post from Morten who writes for Javea Amigos. He has published this on Expat Forum but he said that we could use it as I thought that my readers might like it a lot. I did. It gets you thinking about different attitudes to life. I have also aded a photo here taken at my daughter's concert last week. It is like a Canon convention, so different to the attitudes prevalent in many schools in the UK. Anyway, read on about Morten's toe curling awkwardness! (Oh and you must read about bull football!)

I have just spent a couple of days updating the website with new properties for sale in Valencia, not new build just new for the site. The reason was simple even if you don't believe it, so many properties have been sold recently that the Valencia Property site was looking a little bare.

One of the standard and enduring images of Spain is the little white house in Andalucia with views over the rooftops. It is a pleasant image and one that has attracted hundreds and thousands of people to Spain. There are other options rather than Andalucia though as evidenced by this property in Olocau. Simply put a lot of house for your money and great views over the rooftops.