How to Get Ahead Selling Your Spanish Property
January 30th, 2008
The pound has flopped, dropped like a stone and left many Spanish property owners who wish to sell and repatriate their money in a strong negotiating position. How can the economic problems mean good news for those selling property?
Currently the Spanish property market is very slow for Spanish buyers due to higher than usual interest rates, the price of properties versus the average income and the uncertainty surrounding the market. Therefore, if you are a British seller who will be repatriating your money into pounds, now is a great time to cut your price and still get the same amount of pounds out that you would have a month ago at a price 10% higher in Euros. The price cut will have two positive effects for differing buying groups.
The Spanish or European buyer who purchases in Euros and doesn’t have to think about the exchange rate will see your property at a lower price than competing properties being sold by non UK nationals who will not be repatriating their money. This might tempt them to visit and make offers.
The British buyer who has seen prices rise when doing their calculations by 10% will find that your property is not more expensive than it previously was. They may well be willing to go the extra mile to purchase their dream house in the sun.
What are the risks? Well, it is perfectly possible that in the future the pound will go back up but as a 1% cut in interest rates in the UK is being talked about after the recent carnage on the stock exchanges, don’t expect that to happen very soon, giving you a window of opportunity now to sell at a lower price.
Secondly, someone may make an even lower offer. It is currently a buyer’s market and this is going to happen anyway at the higher or lower price. However you will get more offers on the property at the lower price obviously and if you are relocating to another property here in Spain then remember that you too can offer a lower amount and expect to see it accepted at the moment.
Bear this in mind when pricing your property and if you want to sell then look seriously at your asking price as you have a compeititive advantage there. This is particularly important in areas where all of the houses are similar in style and build, for example two bedroom flats bought off plan a couple of years ago.
Article courtesy of Valencia Property
