Overseas Property World

There has never been so many people searching for cheap Spanish properties, cheap property in Spain and other variations in the search engines. The trend does not only exist in Spanish property, more people are searching for cheap overseas property as well, but Spain is getting more searches because its volume of repossessions and distressed sales are known worldwide.

This trend is so great that we felt it needed to be addressed; exactly what qualifies as a cheap property in Spain? The answer can be applied to other countries and other buyers as readers see fit.

Firstly, one must remember that a property being repossessed is the end of a process. The time this process takes is usually one of the least pleasant times in the former owner’s life. It is likely that the former owners would have suffered from some form of depression during this time, and/or at the very least deep anxiety and apprehension about the future.

When a person feels like that, going about the business of an average day becomes difficult, let alone the upkeep of a property.

There is also the fact that the people being repossessed now are in large part those who have overstretched themselves to buy a home on 100% finance and/or at many multiples of their salary.

Bearing these facts in mind it is likely that a proportion of repossessed and distressed sale properties will need substantial work to bring them up to standard.

Another thing that people fail to consider is that the banks offer the best repossessed properties — i.e. a foreigner that had defaulted on the loan of a luxury property that had hardly been used — to their staff and their family members. This means that the proportion of poor quality properties among distressed property sales in Spain is increased further still.

Finally, there is the fact that Spanish property, for the most part was grossly overvalued during the boom years, by as much as 40% according to some analysts. This means that when you see a property at a discount of 20% or 30% off its peak price for a quick sale, the property may only just be realistically priced, not cheap and not a bargain.

So, what is a cheap property in Spain? The answer is: the same as a cheap property anywhere; a property that you bought for a good price, and that when it is up to a liveable standard, is valued at more than it ended up costing you.

Therefore, to buy a property that is cheap, one must do a lot of research into the area and also go and see the property to assess its quality vs. its price.

Thus, repossessed and distressed properties that are selling so quick that you don’t have time to go and see them first, are not necessarily cheap. It is a Russian roulette; you may well buy a property that proves to have been cheap for what you get, but you may end up with a complete nightmare.

It is up to you whether or not you want to take the gamble — there are some at such low prices that they have to be worth a punt. In closing: repossessed and distressed property sales ads tend to pressurise people into snap buying, when in reality you should always go and see a property before you buy it.

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