bank repossessions in marbella cheap properties for sale marbella distressed property costa del sol distressed property marbella 
I was involved in a bizarre situation last week. A client of mine, let´s call her Mrs. Smith, responded to a property advertisement on the internet for a 3 bed property for sale in Marbella, priced at €195,000. Another Costa del Sol property agent had advised me that he was dealing directly (and exclusively) with a local bank that had repossessed the property and that he had been asked by the bank to find a buyer within an agreed timescale of 3 weeks, of which there were 7 days remaining when my client took a look at the property. Continue reading »
100% spanish mortgages cheap property costa blanca costa blanca distressed property distressed property for sale in spain Most of the well-known Spanish banks have been massively exposed to the collapse of the Spanish property market, and many have been left with a huge inventory of empty stock, made up of repossessed homes on the Spanish costas or entire projects that the banks have taken on from developers in distress. Now, most of the banks in Spain have real estate divisions, with high street shops and websites advertising the properties for sale.
apartments for sale marbella distressed properties marbella golden mile properties marbella marbella property for sale Everyone knows that there is currently an over-supply of Spanish property along the Costas, leading to webpage after webpage of so-called bargains and distressed sales in places such as the Costa del Sol and the Costa Blanca, undoubtedly the most popular areas for most property-seekers.
One of the jewels in the Costa del Sol property market is of course Marbella, home to the rich and famous, the glamorous yacht-harbour of Puerto Banus, the Saudi Royal Palace on the Golden Mile, and the atmospheric Old Town in Marbella itself. Continue reading »
illegal properties marbella lawyers in marbella pgou urban plan marbella town hall marbella town hall plan marbella After many years of waiting the new Marbella PGOU Urban Plan was finally approved on Friday, 29th January 2010 by COTUA, the Andalucía Territorial Planning Commission.
Even though exceptions have had to be made in order to pass the new PGOU, the fact remains that there will never be a better time to buy land in and around Marbella or have the most choice of available plots of land that have now become legal under the new PGOU Urban Plan. With building regulations and order being brought back to Marbella, prospective buyers can now finally buy with confidence and knowledge. Continue reading »
bargain spanish properties buying spanish property in sterling euro sterling exchange rate properties in spain for sale The general feeling is that most British buyers are waiting for sterling to recover to particular ´trigger´ rates such as 1.15 and in particular 1.20
In fact, the last 2 weeks has seen a surge of UK enquiries for property in Spain after sterling rallied over 5% to hit the first of these magical triggers.
But let´s look at this situation from the other side. As we previously mentioned, most of the Spanish properties for sale in the key hotspots of the Costa del Sol and Costa Blanca are owned by British vendors, and during the demise of sterling in the last 12 months, they have been able to lower their asking prices considerably, and in some cases accept incredibly low offers, precisely because of sterling´s dire straits. Continue reading »
buy spanish property in sterling distressed property costa del sol euro exchange rate euro sterling conversion spanish property If you are thinking of buying a property in Spain in the near future it´s certainly becoming an interesting market. The part that the fluctuating euro/sterling exchange rate is playing cannot be overlooked, the primary reasons being these:
- the majority of Spanish property enquiries received by most of the popular portals and websites originate from prospective buyers based in the UK (and therefore likely to be buying in sterling).
- The majority of vendors seeking to sell their properties in Spain are British, and most will therefore be seeking to repatriate the proceeds of their sales back into sterling. Continue reading »
buy spanish property in sterling euro rates euro sterling exchange rate foreign curremcy exchange The recent rise in the value of sterling against the euro has led to as much as a 40% increase in the number of Brits buying the European single currency.
With the sterling euro exchange rate hovering at around 1.15 in recent days, many Brits who regarded this figure as a psychological trigger to exchange currencies have taken advantage of the 12% increase in sterling´s value within the last 12 months.
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bargains in elviria beachside elviria property cheap property elviria elviria property for sale hacienda playa property If we assume that the legal matters are sorted in the next few months and the Marbella property owners can move on with their lives, this doesn´t compensate them for the months of misery and uncertainty that they have endured, particularly those who are desperate to sell their properties in Marbella as a result of the recent financial hardships.
You see, if there is a hint of a problem as to the legality or status of a property in Marbella, the banks and mortgage lenders will avoid it like the plague – a handy excuse in the current credit crunch. So this means that the only option for sellers of properties caught in this legal minefield is to appeal to cash buyers who are prepared to take a risk……….however calculated that may be.
This severely restricts the pool of available buyers, and drives the asking price lower still.
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cheap property in marbella discounted property costa del sol distressed marbella properties marbella property Most Spanish property commentators have been reporting the problems that have beset the Town Hall of Marbella in recent times. Corruption scandals, dodgy planning consents, overbuilding………we´ve seen it all.
Since the last ´legal´ Town Hall plan in 1986, developers have run amok in the Marbella property market, with common practices that have included overbuilding on plots of land, and building of apartment blocks on land deemed fit for other purposes such as parkland and green zones. All of this had gone on in recent times during the years of greed and corruption that fuelled the Spanish property boom of the late 90s and early 00s, with several notable Marbella politicians caught up in allegations of bribery and corruption.
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bargain properties in spain distressed spanish property euro sterling exchange rate spanish properties for sale Many potential UK-based buyers of Spanish property are holding off in making a purchase, firm in the belief that they are best waiting until sterling has recovered at least some of its lost ground against the euro.
Of course, this makes sense. Why buy something now, when you can get it for 20% less in 6 or 12 months time?
But one interesting statistic may make those UK based buyers sit up and take notice. As one of the leading Spanish property portals, we have noticed increasing volumes of enquiries during the last 6 months – strange when you think of the financial mess everyone is supposed to be in. I guess this means that the purchase of a Spanish property is still on the agenda for plenty of people, particularly as the prices have come down and started to look so attractive. Although around 70% of our enquiries eminate from UK based clients, 70% of the actual sales volume can be attributed to non-UK buyers. And in the vast majority of cases, these buyers are from the eurozone.
