Cheap Property in Spain - Points To Remember Before You Buy

There is currently a surge in interest on the search engines for discounted Spanish real estate. To demonstrate this you only have to look at the Google adwords tool to see the phrase" cheap property Spain " is being searched for about 3600 times per month. Many people who have been sitting on their hands now think this is a good time to start looking at the market again, hoping that they will avail thenselves of a repossessed/auction property at significantly less than market value. In many respects this is true as there are many great bargains out there, however are you really sure what you are looking at is a bargain?

The first point to consider is that many auction and repossessed properties have not been properly looked after or maintained for some time, in many cases, disgruntled previous owners have damaged or removed kitchens, bathrooms etc. before they were forced to vacate. For this reason it is of massive importance that you physically view the property before making a decision. This may seem like an obvious statement, but in my experience clients have gone ahead with buying on the say-so of an agent or buy viewing a couple of pictures. This is not a good idea. You need to visit and take a meticulous look at every aspect of your prospective purchase, go over it with a fine tooth comb and make notes. When you leave, tot up all the work that needs to be done and add it to the overall purchase price, along with buying costs. Does it still look like a bargain?

Also you need to analyise whether the property is a genuine bargain. Never forget the massive rally in prices that property in the Costa Del Sol saw during the boom years. So if you are seeing a 40% reduction in those prices, the property is probably not a bargain at all, it is at its true value. How do you establish this - by doing considerable research on the development in question and its price history. Find out from the developer what the original prices were, what was the most recent transaction price? What is like-for-like property currently being sold for in similar developments?

You need to couple your own research with that of a few reputable estate agents in the area, then aggregate the information you have. Only then will you start to build up a proper picture of exactly what is a real bargain.