All the latest news from Valencia Property

Last week we had a sale in Valencia and we spent five hours sorting out the final signing in the notary because banks are useless. Or rather in this case one particular bank is useless and in this post we are going to tell you what happened and why it's important to choose the right bank and of course why that bank should never be ING Direct!

You look online and you want to find your ideal place in Valencia (or even beyond) and you keep seeing the same thing in all the properties for sale; the Billy Bookcase, the Hemnes Bed, the Ektorp Sofa (Apparently now RIP but I'm sure I saw one there recently), the usual IKEA decoration touches and one of those obligatory tea candle holders. Yes we are all being Hygged, we are all being Abba'd we are all turning into Swedes while eating meatballs and pork knuckle. But it doesn't have to be this way.

When you look online at the various Spanish property portals you will find a wide range of prices for what seem to be, at first sight, similar properties. You might come to the conclusion that someone has just picked a number out of the air and decided to list it at that price and at times, you'd be right. Many times the owner says "I want X" and the agent says OK. No pushback, no valuing, no advice on the market value, nothing. They list the property in the hope that someone comes along and buys it fresh off the banana boat and at times it works.

As Valencia continues to grow in terms of its importance for foreign buyers looking to establish residency in Spain we often hear the mantra "We don't do it like this back home" or "Why is this happening? I've bought loads of places back home and it wasn't like this". Get used to it. This isn't back home. This is Spain and things are done differently in the process of buying property here and also of course in many aspects of daily life. When you are looking to purchase property in Valencia or anywhere else for that matter, the importance of understanding those cultural differences can be critical in getting your purchase over the line because "We don't do it like this back home!" carries no weight with a Spanish seller or indeed with the Spanish system of property purchase. Today therefore it's time to learn about navigating those differences without destroying your potential purchase, get to know the nuances to ensure a smooth process, or even better just rely on our 25 years plus of experience to guide you.

Every month, every week and every day the number of properties available to buy or rent in Valencia and elsewhere drops. In the last three years supply of properties for sale has dropped by 70% and the speed with which properties sell has also dropped, some never even get advertised. This creates a dilemma for buyers, less choice and having to make very quick decisions. It also creates a perfect market for sellers to be, let's say, awkward. Therefore you need to be ready to get your offer in and have the ability to buy and today we are going to go over what you need to do in order to be ready, working hand in hand with us at Valencia Property, because as Bob Dylan famously said "The times they are a changing" and he has never been more right than he is now.

I was thinking of calling this post "Pay Peanuts, Get Monkeys" but thought it might be too insulting to those referred to. Sometimes just because you aren't the best at something it doesn't necessarily mean that you don't know what you are doing it just means you might make little mistakes that cost your client a lot of money, a load of time and a large slice of their sanity. Today we are looking at trying to get something done by cutting corners, not taking recommendations of trusted providers or simply making mistakes and what then needs to be done to remedy the situation.

There are a huge number of reasons to escape the USA right now, we don't need to repeat them here (However we will do later as we quite like reminding you in case you forget some of the mess), but the fact that life is so much cheaper here is a big one. Equally if you are buying property here and getting a mortgage today we are going to explain how much you can save compared with both the USA and also the UK. Most of our clients don't require a mortgage to buy but some choose to get a mortgage because it's a bit of a no-brainer at current rates.

Last week we gave a couple of presentations to groups of people looking to invest in Valencia, some for residential use and others for business purposes. I found myself answering a lot of the questions with the answer "Well, it depends really!" which I know is not the greatest or the most helpful answer. However, it is the most honest answer and in today's article we are going to talk about why it's the most honest answer and look into what you need to take into consideration when you have a project that you may want to carry out because you can't just say "I'm going to do X" somewhere without knowing what you may or may not be allowed to do.

We have written before on these pages about the biggest mistakes people make when buying property in Spain. Anything from not being clear on requirements to believing experts on Facebook (You can read the whole post here) One of the most important things to remember that we wrote about in that post is never to trust your bank in your home country if you are transferring funds from another currency into Euros and today we are going to tell you more about why including a new service that will save you even more. We are always looking to save people as much as possible.

If you have been reading these pages regularly you will know that Valencia Property has your back covered for everything from initial medium term rentals to purchase and beyond and also for any modernisations that you may want to do. We have a number of companies to cover this, Valencia Property sells property in Valencia (And does some longer term rentals), Stepping Stone Rentals is our medium term rental company for stays from three months or more and Valencia Remodels is our renovation company allowing you to buy a place that needs a lot of work and not worry about having to deal with contractors in a different language and remotely.

AI is a new paradigm and a new playground for unscrupulous estate agents. Of course it's not just estate agency that is affected by AI, it will destroy confidence in anything given enough time despite its potential use cases. Can you believe anything you read, see or hear any more? Just last week we saw something that we thought was a bit weird and on delving deeper into the case we found out something pretty shady even for estate agents in Spain. Want to know more? Then read on.

Moving abroad is equal parts exhilarating and terrifying—that moment when you hover over the ‘book one-way ticket’ button, wondering if you’ve made the right choice, saying goodbye to friends and family and wondering what happens now! But what if you could fast-forward and meet the version of yourself already sipping horchata in Plaza de la Reina laughing about how much you overthought it? (And it's funny because that's exactly what I was doing as I started writing this on Friday last and I looked to my right on the table and thought "Of course, that's what people want") That’s the magic of learning from those who’ve already taken the final step. From unexpected friendships at the Mercado Central to the relief of discovering Valencia’s affordable, sun-soaked lifestyle, their stories all share one refrain: ‘I wish I’d done this sooner.’ Let’s quieten those ‘what ifs’ with real experiences from those living here and thriving in their new Valencian life, our clients and more.

We are into July and the heat of summer has arrived of course so we slow down at Valencia Property before coming to an almost complete full stop in August, yes, we are closed in August because that's what we do. Holidays have started for many people already after the schools packed up for the ten weeks!!! that the kids get off (Count them) Summer courses immediately started for parents to get rid of the kids again as they are still working and unless you have the unpaid staff to look after the kids you have an issue (Unpaid staff meaning the grandparents of course).

A few weeks ago we wrote the following about why there is so little supply of properties for sale on the market. Today it's time to write the same but this time it's about rentals so we've updated the first paragraph a bit and got into the weeds on why it's different below. "The last few years have seen the stock of Spanish property available to buy or rent reduce dramatically and as a result prices have risen equally dramatically. Today we are going to look at why there are so few properties available in Spain concentrating just on RENTALS. (We wrote about SALES in the original post which you can see here). This is true not only in the most in demand areas but also in small towns and villages throughout the country even in the places known as "La España Vacia" (Empty Spain). Our post today examines the many reasons why breaking up is hard to do and why there is so little supply in the Spanish rental property market."

Here at Valencia Property we are officially closed until September now. Getting away to cooler climes, visiting or spending time with the neglected family or simply sitting by a fan with a cold drink on a shady terrace watching the World go by and wondering where 80% of the World has gone. Yes, the biggest traffic day in Spain, the 1st of August, has come and gone as people headed out of the big cities and back to their original home towns and villages, their summer retreat or just for the sheer joy of joining a ten kilometre traffic jam in 35 degree heat before returning home exhilirated or frustrated (Delete as appropriate).

I'm writing this a few hours after the USA woke up after THAT debate with a small deluge of mails telling us that the decision is now made and that move which people have been waiting on is being brought forward by a few months and they want to get into Spain and Valencia now. When your choice of "leader" is between a pussy grabbing, porn star humping, tax avoiding convicted felon and your ex-favourite grandpa who might have been doing a decent job but can't string a single sentence together that starts and finishes with the same subject matter then it might just be that your democracy is in a bit of trouble.

Every day we get asked questions about moving to Valencia and many of those questions are the same for everyone. Because of this we decided to put together our latest compilation of questions that are being asked by most people in the mails and messages we get. Now of course you will have your own questions but we decided to compile the questions that we get asked the most about moving to and living in Valencia. We have had previous FAQ posts about working with us at Valencia Property and the process of buying which you can see at the links but today we present the most common questions.

The last few years have seen the stock of Spanish property available to buy or rent reduce dramatically and as a result prices have risen equally dramatically. Today we are going to look at why there are so few properties available in Spain concentrating just on sales. Rentals will be for another day. This is true not only in the most in demand areas but also in small towns and villages throughout the country even in the places known as "La España Vacia" (Empty Spain). Our post today examines the many reasons why breaking up is hard to do and why there is so little supply in the Spanish property market.