Buying Spanish Real Estate - Your home in Spain

 I've been living in the interior of Spain since 2003, firstly in Murcia and more recently in Andalucia. During that time I've worked with real estate agents as a translator and also worked on many projects with Spanish and English builders. I'm writing this in May 2010 and I think in all my time here there has never been such a good time to buy an old property and to get it restored.

I say that against the background of the worst collapse in the Spanish housing market Spain has ever seen. Vast oversupply of new housing stock has caused prices to plummit. Also investment in the construction industry has disappeared so there are plenty of builders looking for work.

Where I live in Olvera, the local agent, Zoe Rolland Males of Olvera Properties has just sold six properties in a month.

"We're enjoying a mini-boom at the moment" said Zoe. "Many houses are available at knock down prices and buyers are sensing the market has reached rock bottom. We have urban property available of a habitable standard for as little as 20 thousand euros ($25,000)".

Obviously some of these properties will require some work. Often the roof will need attention, there may be rewiring to be done or some work on the front of the house - the fechada.

I asked Jim Roberts of building firm Remote Restorations for some advice on restoring a Spanish property. He told me the first thing to do is to ensure the structure of the property is sound.

"We always work from the bottom up and the outside in, making good any aspects of the structure of questionable integrity. Very often we find we have to replace wooden beams that have rotted or been attacked by woodworm. Often floors, doors and window frames will need replacing. We do all that sort of structural work first before moving on to the plastering and tiling."

"Spanish wiring and plumbing will often need replacing in houses that are being restored. This probably sounds more costly than it is. Luckily the materials are not too expensive here. Obviously it depends on the size of the house but typically a full reform can be performed and you'll still have change out of twenty thousand euros."

The hotspots in Spain at the moment are inland towns in the southern part of Spain. Coastal areas have been the site of the most development and have some cheap property available but they don't seem to be bouncing back with the same energy as towns inland. Recent buyer Anne Marie Kingsnorth said:

"The thought of buying a new house on one of the urbanisations filled me with dread. I bought a town house in Olvera because it was unique, had lovely views, had legal paperwork and was part of real spain".

"Without wishing to appear a snob, I came here to learn the language and integrate into the Spanish community, not sit around in bars watching British TV!! There are a only a few other British families in the town here but we all seem to be of the same mind!"

Sean Roberts of the property agent CSV (Casa se vende) in Murcia told me he also has a lot of knock down bargains in Murcia.

"The Spanish have traditionallly had a strong housing market" he said "but now for the first time they are having to lower prices to resolve problems with mortgages and loans that are relatively new problems to a democracy that only stems back to 1978. Under Franco home ownership was all important and the Spanish had one of the highest rates in Europe. Property development is relatively new to the Spanish and this is the first time they are dealing with problems such as negative equity."

He went on "Cehegin in the North West of Murcia where I sell property is a typical mountain town with a stable agricultural economy but we have many properties on our books being reduced by owners desparate to realise some of their capital. We are definately the beginning of a boom and another feature is how many buyers are coming from America and Canada."

Zoe Males added "yes we too are seeing a lot of activity from non-english buyers. Whereas the British were buying here five years ago, we now see more interest from Germans. Dutch, Scandanavians and people from America.