Sterling crashing down

[Jool]

No spanish banks and UK can rip you off on receiving fees, its another reason to use authorised currency brokers as they can set it up so there are no receiving fees.............

I find Cajamar the best for no fees here in Spain and if their system does charge me then next time I visit the bank the staff automatically check my account and credit them all back, without being asked!

Its 1.09 today...........

[Retro P]

I have nothing to say, said it already several times over the last few months, but believe me as BTO said, "you aint seen nothin yet".

[wendyakemp]

I am in the strange position of having "bought" a house in Spain three years ago but never paying for it. It was fine when we got 1.50 euros to the pound and fortunately I sent some money to Spain in readiness. When the savings account was dipped by the Spanish tax man despite filling in the correct forms I left the rest of it in the UK.
Last night I got an email saying that we should complete next week............at 1.08????? I am weeping as I write this as my savings will no longer cover it let alone the taxes.

[anyroads]

The days of the 1.40 -1.45 exchange rate are far over. At those rates the £ was way over valued.

As someone who pops over now and again (4 times this year)and pays standing orders in euros, of course I would like a better exchange rate than at present (even if paying for Ryanair flights via a Visa Electron card makes then cheaper when converted to Euros ). However if I see an exchange rate of about 1.15 anytime soon, I will grab it. I hope I am wrong of course, but that may be as good as it gets.

The silver lining of course, it makes property bought at exchange rates of 1.30 plus more valuable.


anyroads

[katy]

If anyone wants to buy them............

[anyroads]

wendyakemp said.....

I am in the strange position of having "bought" a house in Spain three years ago but never paying for it.

This is not too unusual. I am aware of a run of eight houses which had been sold to UK buyers about 3 years ago when the exchange rate was indeed 1.45 plus (the agents/builder actually accepted £2000 as eur 3000 deposit, =1.50 ). The purchase of four of those houses has never been completed. I imagine the four would be purchasers simply walked away from the deposit. I can't imagine they got it back. Neither I imagine can be compelled to buy.

As it is a buyers market, why not make an offer of less Euros. Some builders from that period are desperate to get houses off their hands.

anyroads

[El Cid]

The silver lining of course, it makes property bought at exchange rates of 1.30 plus more valuable.

Not when you have to reduce the price by 50% to sell it!

Sid

[anyroads]

Sid.....

I can't imagine reducing anything by 50% to sell it....

anyroads

[El Cid]

Well, some people are having to!

Sid

[Campo Steve]

I know of one who has reduced by more than 50%. Just wants to sell to get rid of the mortgage.

[Scot]

3 bed 3 bath reformed townhouse with garden and patio for 100.000 euros ono in Rio Gordo. Been up for sale for 4 years. Is that not cheap enough?

[markwilding]

do you have more info?

[masterob]

Cheap is not the same as value for money. It depends on what prices similar properties sell for, where the house is located, how well it was reformed etc. It could still be over-priced especially as it has been on the market for 4 years irrespective of the downturn.

[Retro P]

Anyone who "buys" ie pays cash for something they would be willing to sell for 50% of the original purchase price in my opinion, has serious reality issues and needs therapy.
Anyone who takes out a huge mortgage for something they really can't afford needs similar attention.
I have no sympathy for those who surround themselves with a false lifesyle they are unable to support!!

[anyroads]

If people are having to reduce by 50 % or over, it just means they overpaid in the first place, which is a different thing.

anyroads

[El Cid]

It depends. It's easy with hindsight. What was a fair price at the time of buying and what it is worth now are two different issues.

Some properties, such as new apartments in large blocks, are worth 50% of what someone paid even two years ago. the banks have bought up a huge number of such properties from bankrupt developers and are now selling them at huge discounts.

If you have a decent sized detached house in a good area, particularly if there is no longer any opportunity to build new houses, such as in the campo or areas where no urban plots are available, then it is still possible to sell at the same price you would have asked 2 years ago.

It all comes down to the usual rule of "Supply and Demand". If you have a property that is the same as 1000 similar properties in the same area (most of which are "distressed" sales) then the supply exceeds demand by a huge amount. On the other hand if you have a unique property with little competition from other sellers then it will sell at a much higher price.

Sid

[spanish_lad]

3 bed 3 bath reformed townhouse with garden and patio for 100.000 euros ono in Rio Gordo. Been up for sale for 4 years. Is that not cheap enough?

do you have more info?

rio gordo is .. miles from anywhere, small shops, old campo town. great if you want to move your furniture on a donkey and travel for 1 hour just for a large shop and if you like snow in the winter

sometimes .. things are cheap, or being reduced weekly for a reason. excellent if you want to go there for the place, but if you are buying on a budget, you´ll be stuck there.

ive seen 4 bed townhouses in my town (30k population, large mercadona, lidl and dia 10 minutes drive, airport 30 minutes, 7 schools, doctors, any shop you want etc ) go for the same - the one over the road, old and not reformed as such, sold for 120k, my neibours house is on the market right now for 130k and is like a show house inside. they have dropped that from 180k to sell it.

[wendyakemp]

My house was a real bargain although it needed money spent. My only problem is that I had enough money to buy it cash but with todays exchange rate I now have a shortfall. I am not in a position to take out a mortgage and in fact its not really enough money to warrant that. It just frustrating that I will have to shell out more now as I did originally change enough money but spent some on reforms during the three years I have been waiting to complete. The money left in the uk is now a third less than last year.

[markwilding]

My wife and I thinking of buyng something in the south of Spain . not everybodies situation is the same.I believe it could be a good time to buy. I'm not affected by the exchange rate and prices are down but I think in the long term they will rise again
However I'm not interested in the interior because for that I could go to La Rijoa which is just 120KM from here with a completely different climate similar to all inner parts of Spain

[tjtops]

If you have a decent sized detached house in a good area, particularly if there is no longer any opportunity to build new houses, such as in the campo or areas where no urban plots are available, then it is still possible to sell at the same price you would have asked 2 years ago.

Oh really....and which fairy tale anthology did THAT come from???!!! It certainly isn't the case in 'our' campo, sadly.
Please do get real....