All the latest news from Valencia Property

Today's video in our 100 tips about moving to Spain takes on the Spanish Coastal Law (or La Ley De Costas) A totally confusing and rambling law implemented in different ways in different areas of Spain it is really something that you should be aware of. Even being a celebrity will not help you if you fall foul of it as Antonio Banderas and Melanie Griffith found out (Google it) Watch the video for a little bit more information and if you are thinking of buying a property near the beach then bear this law in mind and make sure your lawyer checks it out for your particular property.

This huge 270m2 house for sale in the town of Betera is an opportunity for someone to buy as an investment because there are two ways to buy this but you have to be quick. The normal way is at the normal price of 270000 Euros (ONO) You get a six bedroom house on four floors, with garage, bodega, large kitchen, two living rooms and a large terrace with views towards the mountains. It is in the centre of town with all facilities to hand.

If you are thinking of coming to Spain and you have kids then you need to know one thing, they will be given a lot more leeway in Spain then elsewhere. Kids are doted upon in Spain. This all comes from many years of having one of the lowest birth rates in Europe, there was only Italy with a lower birthrate, the usually only child would be doted upon by six people, parents and two sets of grandparents.

Just a quick post this evening. In my last post on this blog I talked about how you shouldn't be paying black money because of the tax implications, never mind the legal implications. However today I went to see a property and was tol by the owner that they wanted 60000 Euros in B not declared on the deeds of any sale. My actual response was, after stopping laughing, to say "Dream on!"

The thorny issue of black money in Spain is one you should be aware of when buying Spanish property. Black money is when you buy a house for one price, let's say 200,000 Euros for argument's sake, and you declare less on the deeds, for example 180,000 Euros. The reason people do this is very simple, tax avoidance. The buyer would save themselves around 1400 Euros in tax in the above example, 7% of 20000 saved, and the seller might well save a lot on capital gains, eg 18% of any capital gain, let's say the original purchase was made at 150,000 Euros and then the sale was declared at 200,000 in theory there would be a capital gain of 50,000 Euros minus costs on purchase and sale, round about 15,000 Euros. The saving therefore would be around 3600 Euros

The post in Spain may arrive, it may not arrive, funnily enough if it is coming from abroad it is more likely to get to you quickly then someone posting it from your own town. Go figure! Anyway this video, the latest in our 100 tips for moving to Spain, talks about whether you will get your post and how will you get it.

The comparison is Hen's teeth. Finding an attic in Valencia with good outside space, not overlooked, with great views and the opportunity to create extra living space for at least six months of the year comes up rarely. Luckily I have a lot of clients who are looking for this and therefore I go out and find them for people. This means that when you come to look for an attic in Valencia I usually have some available. However, what about the headline. How does an attic sell in four hours?

If you are coming to Spain to live then you should be aware of what your rights are regarding the health service and going to see Spanish doctors, or even Cuban doctors as you do many times now in the Spanish health service. One thing you should know is that you should be prepared to take a translator if you need to describe symptoms because not many doctors in Spain speak English and unless your level of Spanish is high they cannot prescribe well or give you the best treatment if they do not know what is wrong with you.

For many years the way to make a quick buck in Spain was to become and estate agent. So many people started in the estate agency business using a mobile phone, a diary and little else that at one stage there was 1 agent for every 200 people in Madrid for example. Remember that is 200 people not buyers. It includes babies, people in nursing homes, extended families etc... This was never sustainable of course when the crash came. My particular experience of this is that around 13 or 14 of my ex clients became estate agents after purchasing through my company. Only one remains!

I just thought today I would show you some stuff that we went to see today. So have a quick look. A couple of clients and a whole day out finding stuff that draws wows from the clients and a lot of beautifuls along with "Argh that's interesting!"

The Valencian tourist board do one thing very well, video. In the past they have put together some excellent promotional videos for the city and you can see them at their YouTube channel here. Now they have teamed up (No pun intended) with Valencia football club to present the city to you through the eyes of some of the footballers from Valencia. Check out the sights and sounds of Valencia as they take you around the city and its iconic places.

I got a call at the end of last week from a client whose house for sale in Spain is really nice. Because of circumstances he needed to go back to Germany and he wanted to reduce the price on his house rather dramatically. So here it is a price reduction from 320K to 160K, and it wasn't massively overpriced at 320K either. So if you want a bargain house for sale in Valencia at 160k Euros with beautiful views

City life is the same the World over. There are marvellous things and there are things that anyone would be sad to see. Think about begging on the streets, people rummaging in bins, and junkies shooting up in public. Now I know that New York managed to clean up the city some time ago with a zero tolerance policy towards anything considered anti social although that seems to be falling apart now. Spain has a similar problem, a friend of mine has just moved out of Barcelona due to the scams, prostitutes and general feeling of the Ramblas these days, and when I went to the UK recently the same problems were evident there except without the joy of the Ramblas and Barcelona in general.

When you are thinking of working in Spain the main thing that generally pops into our head is "Who is going to give me a job?" or "How am I going to get a job?" They are the wrong questions. The question should be "How can I make a living in Spain?" and that is what "The Secrets to Working and Making a Living in Spain" answers.

Next week there is a general strike in Spain. You cannot miss it. Fliers by the UGT and CC.OO the two main unions involved are plastered all over every single spare piece of wall and graffiti that there is in Valencia. The combined positive effect of these fliers on the Spanish economy might well be greater than the negative effect of the General Strike itself. It has been a good time for printers recently I think you can safely say.

Are you thinking about bringing your pets to Spain? What do you need to bear in mind before bringing pets to Spain? Have you got cat or dog that may need tagging or will your goldfish swim away?

I got a lot of feedback about tip number 54 which you can see by going to the You Tube Channel and looking through the playlist that is featured. It asked the question whether you are racist/bigoted. Today tip number 59 has been uploaded into YouTube and that is the simple point that Spain is a noisy place so get used to the idea. Don't buy a city flat then complain about the noise because you have been forewarned about it now. Valencia is actually the noisiest city in Europe apparently and they revel in that status.