All the latest news from Valencia Property

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.

A few months back we posted about an idea floated by the government here in Spain to tax purchases of property to non resident, non EU citizens at 100% of the purchase price, effectively making a 300k purchase 600K. My response and advice was don't panic... at least not until we see the details. You can see the post here. I said that those reporting it as not 100% tax on property but 100% increase in property taxes to be paid were probably wrong, it was never that. And to think there are legal firms who read the proposals and came up with that! I also said that it will probably never happen. This week the government presented their draft proposal to parliament and my response is still, don't panic. It'll probably never happen and even if it does we already have ways around it.

Valencia is a place that benefits from what the World has become over the last couple of years in general. It benefits because the basics for a good life are here with a more than reasonable climate (one of the best in the World according to many official sources), an excellent work life balance, an affordable place for people to move to from many more expensive areas of Europe and the World, a progressive outlook and from it being a comparatively safe place to settle in terms of personal safety and also safety from natural disasters, potential conflicts and more. Moreover it definitely benefits from homeworking and in this article we are going to explain why.

A few years ago we recommended a lot of places to eat out in Valencia, you can see that article here. We crowdsourced the information from our clients about what their favourite places were and many people found it extremely useful for finding new places to eat out. Then Covid came along and things changed. So it's time for an update to our current favourite places. We chatted about this in the last podcast which you can listen to here but today we will give you more information, links to the restaurants and a few other places that we also like.

One of the things that is growing in popularity as property and rentals become more expensive and lifestyle demands change are coliving projects. Traditionally in Spain only students lived in shared apartments and the quality of those apartments was pretty average as owners thought that students would trash the places through a lack of cleaning and general maintenance. As a student in Spain back in the day I can confirm that they were probably right.

We have spent a lot of time in our posts recently looking at the property market, interest rates and even international geopolitics but in the end the reason people want to come and live in Valencia is the lifestyle isn't it? So today we are going to look at what is happening in the upcoming extended summer in and around Valencia. Why do people come and live here? To experience some of these things along with the day to day experience of living in a vibrant, safe and interesting country with a fantasatic climate. So let's go.