I am looking to buy my first overseas property, I want somewhere in Spain, North of the Costa Del Sol, mainly to use as a holiday home but also to let out now and then.

I don't want to spend more than about 150000 euros and I would like 2 bedrooms with access to a pool, ideally a townhouse, but will consider an apartment.

I don't want to be in the middle of nowhere, close proximity to amenities is important.

I have leafed through hundreds of new developments all claiming to be the next best thing, my head's in a spin and I would like to get some advice and suggestions from other forum members as to what they think would be a good buy.

The Costas are over developed and off plan prices higher than similar resale properties. I wouldn't advise investing in Spain. Indications are that prices are on a downward spiral. If you have your heart set on a place over their then consider buying resale. The market is flooded with such property and you should be able to negotiate a heavy discount. Better still, go over there and visit the area you are thinking of. If there is an expat community the chances are there will be a few people that are having difficulty selling on their property. You could save yourself a lot of money by going over and finding out what they would take (less than advertised with Estate Agents ...... sometimes a heck of a lot less.) It also provides the opportubnity to cut out the Estate Agent which will appeal to the seller. One final tip if you are intent on buying is to go now and not in spring / summer. Sales are slow this time of year which puts you in a better bargaining position.

My advice is come to Spain and select the area you like, then choose something where you want to be.

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Costa Del Sol is a good place to start - the Property agents are doing it tough and so are the developers. I like Estepona down near the marriott or Elvira, both family friendly and away from business from banus

But Goldberg is right - hop on a plane and enjoy

We all have our favourite locations and mine is Costa Almeria between Aguilas and Mojacar
Developing but in a nice way and if you buy right you can get some good buys
Do not be put off by the recent Vera problems as they arose under old regulations and buying now is safe
I have bought a villa for winter near Huercal Overa ready in about 12 months [ small development with prices for 2 beds on 400m2 plots from 160.000 €] and also a couple for investment
Now looking to buy on Alhama [ yes I am a PW agent] and it will be a great location
So I suppose you could say 'I have put my money where my mouth is'
Show you around if you like !

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Brian Rowlands BSc FRICS
Chartered Surveyor & Overseas Property Agent:- view my profile on www.myspace.com/brianrowlands
e-mail rowlandsbb@aol.com

Spain - is very hard to beat, the sun and the food and the cava. And the fact dinner in London for a family of four cost £100 versus 60 Euro for the same thing.

Being australian it also feels like home with the sea breeze lifestyle

Hi Pinto

Have a look at the the following website Property Spain from Marben Real Estate, Property La Manga Club, Costa Calida, Murcia. We have office bases in Costa Calida (La Manga Club) and The Costa Del Sol (la cala de mijas) but we offer offplan and resale properties all over spain.

We believe in service to our clients, and therefore will work with you to help you find the property you are looking for.

We will offer all the advice you need, from opening a bank account, getting your tax number or sorting out a mortgage. All of our advisors speak english and are always happy to help.

Feel free to call us on 0800 680 0735

Good luck and happy hunting.

Lisa

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www.overseaspropertyhotspots.com
www.numerounoestates.com
FREEPHONE 0800 680 0706

The UK Telegraph newspaper reported yesterday that “Spanish banks are issuing mortgage securities and asset-backed bonds on a massive scale to park at the European Central Bank, using them as collateral to raise money at favourable rates from the official credit window in Frankfurt.” Since the private market has basically been closed since Sept, the only thing keeping the Spanish mortgage sector from going the way of the UK and US is what amounts to a “covert rescue” by the ECB. The article says it could be
bigger, proportionately, than the Northern Rock affair. The article cites data from Moody's, which says Spanish bank issuance of mortgage-collateralized paper last year reached €62 billion and €53 billion in Q4 alone. “Among those issuing mortgage securities in the last two months are BBVA (€4.9bn),

Caja Madrid (€2.4bn), Caja Catalunya (€1.6bn), CAM (€1.4bn), and Caja Castilla la Mancha (€800m).”

Spain may be avoiding a housing crash only by access to the ECB’s repo window. In addition, the Spanish corporate sector is overlevergaged—analysts say “Spanish corporate debt is now 112% of GDP. The current account.

I think you have to take this article in the context it is written and something similar could be said about quite a few UK mortgage banks who have recently securitised some of their mortage book
The credit crunch between banks lending to each other is still there but in general I think it only becomes a problem when a bank can not do this, because perhaps their mortgage book is not very good
There have been other posts on this forum with details of very good mortgage deals still available from Spanish Banks and the Caja Madrid [ from memory] has recently announced big increase in recurring profits for 2007 of circa 40%
So all is not doom & gloom!!!
For most of EU the property markets are flat but that does not mean that for the right reasons and in the right locations you should not buy....and this applies to Spain

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Brian Rowlands BSc FRICS
Chartered Surveyor & Overseas Property Agent:- view my profile on www.myspace.com/brianrowlands
e-mail rowlandsbb@aol.com

Hi Brian, i agree - only difference i would say is that the mortgage stays with the house in Spain not the individual and i/and others expect a few sets of keys to be left in the letterbox at some stage.

As a rule property or anyother asset cant go up and up! but if you look long term it outperforms every other asset class.

Trick is hold and buy more when everyone else is losing their head and selling