I made a guide all about how to choose the best location for a home & I'm giving it away for free for a limited time. Head to my site to get it: aximolnar.com/
As a Spaniard, I agree with you as to the legallity of properties in the countryside. I also have this romantic idea of living surrounded by trees but at the same time not too isolated. You yourself realised that living like that in Spain is actually living off-grid, and that implies that if you are someone used to living in a town, you will most probably have an awful time living in the countryside. Maybe where you come from it's quite usual to live in a house surrounded by nature, with neighbours 200 m away, but the layout of towns in Spain is not like that, and off-grid homes are simply illegal. Bear that in mind, it takes much more than researching for properties when you buy abroad, it requires looking outside your box, finding out about the area and how things are done, which doesn't necessarily mean that it's wrong just because it doesn't comply with your own standards, it simply is different: either you accept it or leave it.
@@JuanHerrera-bh4ol totally. Many pretend to move to Spain and then expect everything top be as in their home country. Probably those people also complained in their home country... very annoying and disrespectful.
I try to work within other countries rules, I just want to know how things are done so I can go along with what is the cultural expectation. What I don’t like is corruption, is not disclosing defects, is pressure to go through a sale when you need due diligence time, and discouraging your involvement, or getting an architect to do an inspection, or your lawyer is not on your side, and any number of other rip offs. The area around Marbella had a terrible scandal around 10 years ago that involved the mayor, real estate agents, attorneys all in cahoots to rip people off and to engage in fraud.. that’s significant.
If the house was built illegally in the 90s then it can be legalized and registered ion your escritura (deeds). you can register at the local council even with an illegally built house, you can also have a PO box at your local village. The rubbish is recycled and you must do that in the village whilst taking any non recycled to the village communal bins, no big deal. I love living off grid, I have animals and big land. It is so peaceful and the stars at night are amazing!
I guess it depends on the rules of the local municipality, for the houses we've seen we've been told clearly: no way the houses can be legalized and included in the deeds :(
Good point about legalization! It´s one thing if the property or part of it is illegal and another if it´s not "legalizable". We check the difference so not too many properties are filtered out. It´s actually a great point for negotiating the price! :)
A mistake I've seen a lot of foreigners make when shopping for houses in Spain is asking "who designed this?" or "why did they design it like this?" in truth it was not designed at all. Most were converted from animal sheds or tractor barns with no plan or oversight. I do always get a kick out of watching professional builders try to fix issues in a house they've just bought like: -"there's no damp protection!" -"all those rooftiles are only held on by gravity!" -"there's no insulation anywhere!" I could go on. The only reason anyone can live in these shoddy boxes is that the weather makes it easier. In any other country they would be illegal. (even in spain half of them are)
You literally want to go live in houses for animals or to store tools used in the fields, most of these houses were made dozens of years ago and belonged to poor people, farmers or ranchers who lived with just enough. These "houses" have been inherited over time and reformed to get to what you see today. Others are simply second or third homes for people who only use it for a month or two in summer. You think that you are coming to live in paradise with internet, running water, roads and services, but you are going to buy in the periphery of the periphery. This is not the USA where there is a Wallmart every 3 km and you have to take the car even to buy bread. Either you live in nature or outside of it, with all its consequences. End.
Cheers from Spain. I am sure you learnt this already: Whatever is cheap is cheap for a reason, or for MANY reasons. So in the end you will end up quitting the idea of finding bargains, and end up buying a more pricey property. Good luck!
From what I've seen, Spain is also super stringent on building alterations, and fines or retroactive permissions or fixes can be expensive. Real estate is not a protected or certified profession in Spain so they can sell what they want and walk away. They work for the seller, not the buyer. They'll always tell you what you want to hear whether true or accurate or not. It's always wise to get an independent Spanish conveyancing lawyer and a technical architect (sth like a building surveyor) to check administrative and technical legality before finalising that kind of investment.
it depends, mainly, on the conservation listing and location of the property. I find Spain much much less restrictive than Germany, for example. True, if you ask as a foreigner - again depending on where you are - you will likely get a NO for an answer... just to move on and not bother. That´s why I do it for my clients :)
2 года назад+17
Brilliant video and so true about buying out in rural areas of Spain. A lot of people buy finca,s which are not really designed to be made bigger or even get permission to do anything inside or out. Look forward to seeing more of your videos. You have a new subscriber 👍🇪🇸
Nowadays you need 15000 m² of land to build a legal house on rural land. in addition to other requeriments ( such as building septic tanks) in order to get electricity and water. what people have done for decades is build a small tool house (casa de aperos) or a small hen house to ask for licenses to be able to build a well or bring electricity. Once you have this, people will build a house where the tool house was. when the cadastre satellite gets the new images of the area you will receive a fine. This fine is much cheaper than complying with all the requeriments to build a house. but there is a risk that they will make you demolish the house, although it is very rare
Well...here in Romania on the "rural land" people go around by obtaining permission and building "anexa agricola/agricultural annex" which may have a living space...or "mobile house" (a small house without foundation usually on wooden pillars). It may work well as long as the investment as such is small. Probable the golden rule everywhere for foreigners is to rent and live in a particular location for at least one solid year before investing hard worked money anywhere in a foreign country.
💯 A foreigner can't know more about the situation than a local, no matter how much research they do. The locals know all the comings and goings. (Combinatiile😅)
I live in a community building with 30 flats in the center of my town. I have Internet, Gas, Electricity, etc. There are also pharmacies, supermarkets, hospitals, health centers. Surrounded by recreation areas and bars/restaurants. I live in Andalusia. If you try to buy Buckingham Palace at the price of a kennel, you will get exactly what you see in the video. Spend more if what you see is not to your liking. You leave the people of Andalusia very badly showing something like that when it is your fault for wanting to buy for a pittance.
I disagree on the last point. This has nothing to do with the good people of Andalucia and everything to do with falling into traps where you don't know the local terrain and trust the wrong people. Every market has its catches. The Spanish real estate market is still broadly regarded as one of the safest and cleanest if you act sensibly, budget properly, don't cut corners (as you said), and try to familiarise yourself with some of the pitfalls. Come to Germany if you want to see real dirt and sleaze (literally and figuratively). IMO a lot of foreigners make the mistake of thinking that the relaxed attitude of Spanish people to most things in life reflects in the real-estate market. It doesn't and it shouldn't. Nobody should be relaxed about making an investment of tens or hundreds of thousands of euros.
The license for a pool is €800 and the fine for an illegal pool is €600. That’s why they do thinks like this in Spain. I was living there for 10 years and maried with a lawyer!
Always own the land the entire property is on and if possible also everything surrounding it because unless you do, you could have a road, highway, housing complexes or anything a developer has paid the local council for.
The region of Andalucia is massive! I'm an American living in the Andalucian province of Cadiz, which is in itself a very large area. Not all rural areas in Andalucia are as remote as you featured in your video.
I like the last piece of advice, many of us have all kind of ideas but we need to invest in this intermediate step where we should make a trip to see how actually our dream will look like. This trip is a "must" in order to clarify our wishes. For example many people want to live in Germany but they didn't visit Germany to see if they will like it, they just take a job and then become disapointed.
I tend to advise renting a place first. You won´t learn about the details of a place in less that 6 months or so. After all, it´s a big decision to move your life and invest.
OMG I didn't even think of this! Very good point, thank you for sharing! There was a big problem with the water in Andalucia indeed, one of their water dams was almost empty :(
I remember a companion at work who bought a finca with a well ,it ran out of water so he rang the seller and said there’s no water in the well ,the seller replied ,you have to fill it , It wasn’t a well it was what they call a pozo ,just a container for the water .buyer beware .
In that part of Spain, and at the time the video shot part 4, the people built their homes with lower doors as they were very small people. That has to be taken into consideration when looking at homes in the country. My stepson is 2.07 mtrs and has to mind his head in our house that is indeed built to spec. In other countries real estate agents are required by law to take some schooling about different laws, building and construction, etc., but you’re right, not in Spain. Something that is hard for us to get our head around, as you can basically walk of the street and sell or show a home.
Thanks for your comment! It's definitely super interesting to see how people built their homes in different countries! I learnt a lot from the comments to this video! 💕💕
@@AxiMolnar anywhere in the world people where shorter 100 or 200 years ago. In Spain, there are many homes and even complete town centers, that are hundreds of years old. My own house is 300+ years old. I won´t mark it an architectural mistake that my SUV doen´t fit through the garage door then, do I :D
Funny presentation. Good information. Always try to remove the rose-colored glasses. I've lived in remote places and there are some wonderful benefits... but think soberly about the negatives. One does "grow" with such experiences and that is a good thing. You'll return a different person than those who never try (The Hero's Journey?...ha!). If you have the ability to do so, try living in a place for at least a month - preferably in one of the worst months (unless you intend such a property to be used part-year). We lived at 8,000' on a wind-swept, high-desert plateau in very remote Colorado as well as in a 200-year old former sea captain's house overlooking the ocean on an island off the coast of Maine (ferry service, only). It is great fun and certainly not for shrinking violets. Be prepared to feel your complete range of emotions... Be bold but be careful and by all means, have fun in your search! Cheers,🍷
Interesting video. Spain is very different from one region to another one. The main advice is to take a lawyer to assist you in all the steps. My understand is that you were looking for a house to renovate. The issues linked to this « renovation » are the same in every country. Everybody has or would like to do a good deal. As much as you go in the center of country or as far as fo you leave the cost of Spain real estate are cheaper and cheaper but you re often in the middle of nowhere and of course it s not for everybody. Real estate agent issue is the same in every country and it’s not specific to Andalusia or Spain they tell you what you want to hear to my point of view they could not give you technical advice or engineering issues. For the extra works done without a permission if there have more than 5 years then these works like a swimming pool or a garage or an extension become legal and the seller of the house has to pay a penalty. That’s how it goes in the Valencia region. And the end you have acquired a house or not ? Regards
Loved your video….very very informative and educational…..tip: please lower the music volume….just a bit….and please keep making this type of videos. My family has been thinking about moving to Spain and I have watched hundreds of videos on real state: I have learned more from your short video than all those other videos combined……I think you are up to something…….best wishes…..
I am looking at properties in Malaga city. So far I haven't seen a single property that is the size declared in the ad. Let's say that the agents are very generous in describing apartments of 120 sqm that when measured with our own tools are never more than 80/85 sqm. I don't know how do they think that they can get away with that. It's a lot of space missing. Can't talk for other parts of Spain but in Malaga that's how it goes
Crazy! Thanks for sharing the status in Malaga! But if you really like a property, maybe you can use that as a tool for negotiating? I know it's really unpleasant to find this out though😔
@@AxiMolnar The attitude of the agents was quite irritating and confrontational. When you show them the result of the measurement, they usually flatly deny the result and treat you as an incompetent. So I don't think that at the moment you can negotiate too much, it's a seller's market. Too many people queuing to move to Malaga for the quality of life, which is really great.
@@hayati6374 There were not terraces neither balconies in the properties in question. They were not new built properties, so the difference between construidos and utiles does not apply. Also, we hired a Spanish legal advisor to be with us during the check.
I used to sell property in Almería ,the problem of buying in the mountains is the telephone ,or lack of it ,no signal for your mobile ,or no internet ,if there’s an emergency your on your own ,when you are looking this is the first priority ,always use an independent lawyer for legal permission’s ,unfortunately you can no longer live permanently now in Spain due to Brexit ,john c
yes! very good point! There are many things to think about when buying any property! We were always asking about this and curiously most of them had satellite internet.
Plan to buy in Rota, is there a government run appraisal office that legal documents are on file and can I have access to the actual appraised value so I can compare to the asking price. I am from U S of America, what other fees does one need to pay ie.. taxes, insurance etc ..... any advice on renting out the property ?
Please don’t tar all estate agent’s with the same brush. I have lived in Almeria for 19 years in an old cortijo off a rambla. We have excellent internet and telephone signal which wasn’t the case when we first moved here. Most sales people will tell you what you want to hear, but alot will also point you in the right direction to get the correct information you require. It is your responsibility as the buyer to do your research and if you rely on the word of the person selling then im afraid you deserve the pitfalls. The laws have changed here dramatically for the better and its not the free for all that you are implying in your video. A good lawyer will always point out to you if there are any issues with the house.
At least here in Spain, many Real Estate Agents don´t know much about technical nor legal issues of houses. Worst is though, that most buyer think real estate agents are working for them. Truth is, that they work for the seller. They get paid for selling expensive and fast. Just keep that in mind.
It's always a good thing to start with asking & confirming why the house is beeing sold. And the person who is selling the property often doesn't have a rush. And they will measure it once, make a big mistake and don't really care, just like if things are legal or not, if you go and live there, you won't hear any sirenes for a looong time.
Sure, I also ask all the time why they're selling, but I'm also thinking that nobody would share smth like "I'm selling because there's issues with the property" 😅
Hi Axi, After nearly 23 years of living in Andalusia (Alhaurin el Grande) we decided to change to an other area of Europe to live an other life. What you said in your video is 100% correct. I will check your other videos. Regards Erwin from Alhaurinrentals
I am trying to buy, there are so many obstacles. I looked recently at Pruna. Lovely properties, very good quality. Municipal pool is only open during school holidays. WTF? So you have to go and find another pool in another village if you go there at Easter or October. I don't want to have to travel for a swim every day. Then there is "there are no taxis in the village". OK. I don't think this is the true, but I cannot depend on there being like TWO taxi drivers who MIGHT take me where I want to go. Turns out food shopping is not an issue, but the swimming pool is a massive dealbreaker. As to legality I enquired about one house and the owners cannot even FIND THE DEEDS. 😆 I mean, do they really even OWN IT? They took it off the market after this.
I thought almost all pools were open only during the summer. In the northen areas, I have seen more pools that are open year round because they are indoors. “Seen” from checking on google.
😢😢😢 i’ve got the same problem with the height of ceilings. The height of doors is also in cars and even ships they are very tight very small built for low built and that’s for me also a problem and also all the steps which you need to walk in the Mediterranean area. They are very fond of walking everywhere but because of arthrosis he needs to go by another way of transportation so you end up with being in the car all day and then by 40°C and in the south of Spain in the you’re looking even water and then you are depending on water tank car driving water or are you by the water in Jerry cans andthat’s yes without your upgrade facilities like solar panelling water it’s unlivable and places. 😂😂😂😂
I’ve had a house in Spain for 20 years, the area it’s in there are hardly any Spanish left. It’s very diverse now, I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, but I just can’t t sell my house, it’s very close to the beach as well, I’ll just have to leave it to the kids. Cheers.
Giday Axi... brilliant pod cast. I am looking to move to Spain. I have noticed on many older building they have cracks. Of concern the cracks appear to be related to the door lintels and the corners of the building. Are these cracks from seismic activity or are they from contraction and expansion due to moisture... or the ground shifting??? Northern Spain they were most noticeable. I suspect earth quakes If you did a pod cast on these cracks etc and other related structural aspects... I would be most grateful. Thank you Raoul
Hey Raoul, thanks for your comment! I get it, cracks are pretty worrysome. While I can't tell much without being on site and seeing the examples you're talking about, as a general rule: moisture doesn't create cracks. You will see moisture as rising damp in the walls (different color of paint, some salts coming out), but *if the structure is sturdy, moisture won't create cracks.* Cracks are structural, meaning they're either from: ground shifting (as you mentioned), depreciation of the mortar, new alterations that impact the existing structure, etc. *Only a surveyor can tell you the source of them* and you shouldn't believe anything else except for what comes in a technical report. A report would also include the works needed to repair these cracks. Hope this gives you a bit more insight! And good luck with moving to Spain! 💖💖
Hi 👋 smile, nice video, but, if you don’t mind me saying, the background music is too loud & distracting from what you are saying. Hard to concentrate on the actual info. There is no need to always have music playing when it is about conveying important things. 😊 Please, don’t be too negative, different countries, different rules and laws... this is how the cookie crumbles 😉. A lot of people became expats in Spain over the past few decades, and they are happy and content with their choices. In every country you have pros and cons, choose your path wisely, it’s yours to take. All the best 💐
Hi great video you both did , and thanks to say the reality to buy a properly in Spain , thanks to your great courage the this are not true on buy property in Spain we need to be a lot of careful and do not believe on what all the stage agency say they want said at any cost , keep doing 😀 well done , thanks again .
Is all of Spain that dry? I'm trying to find a place in Spain that is GREEN. I'm coming from Western Washington, a temperate rainforest. I know my idea of green is a really high bar, but where is Spain the greenest? Also, where in Spain is the coldest during summer?
Hey Zen! Good questions! And short answer is: absolutely no!! Spain is super big and has many climates and part of the North of Spain is very much green and with way more vegetation, hence it's also the coldest during both summer and winter. You should research the whole regions of Galicia, Asturias, Basque Country and of course the Pyrenees Mountains. Good luck with your search!! 🍀🍀😍
I live in SE Asia, and it can be the same way in Thailand and the Philippines. Foreigners want to buy a house and the so called owners do not have the proper " land title deeds". In the cities, for condos, they do have them. Same thing in some parts of Mexico where they have sometimes taken land back from foreigners.
This is totally on point! I have the same issues finding a place in andalucia! They just build anywhere they want even companies! When they get caught they just pay a penalty fee when the property is really remote probably won't even bother to check lol plz let us know what you were able to find how everything turned out
This was pretty much a deal-breaker for us and Andalucia, so, ehm, we gave up on that and turned to more familiar grounds for us: Tenerife :D Will post more about it soon 😄
@@iNMOspectorSpain Not really imho. Buy closer to the sea and everything will be perfectly legal. Spain is a highly bureaucratic country and legality matters. Those cheap fincas outside are just some upgraded shacks people used when they worked on fields, and later for leisure. They were never meant as homes, till naive westerners arrived and dishonest real estate agents made a business out of it.
I looked at a gated house and there was a flight of steps leading on to a section of garden...wrong.....it was a right of way on to the adjacent property and they had to have keys to get through our property gate.
Hi, it explains why the properties in Andalusia are relatively cheap, they are not buildings but just places without permission for permanent living. The legal status of lands is mostly clear? thank you for sharing your experiences .
yes, 2 years in Madrid and looked around a bit for holiday house finca.. lot of under 100k possibilities with > 5000-10000m2 land but usually only with a small garage/shed looking "house" .. So the permits probably only allow a small farm tool shop and not building a house.. however, did you check if putting a prefab cottage, which is removable at any time, would be allowed?
Good question! I never checked for that and I think it's a good idea for the same reason that you mentioned. The only drawback is that it's still a small footprint, normally they are max 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom, 1 small kitchen 🤔 Which brings us to the questions: what is enough? 🤔😆
@@AxiMolnar prefab can be substantially big, made up of e.g shipping containers: 2 x 40ft with 20ft container combined gives you about 80 m2 of foot print which is most comfortable for a 2 bedroom place with living room, kitchen, 2 bathrooms with shower only.. one has to provide sun panel , septic tank and water borehole.. maybe not allowed to connect to municipal water supply or electrical grid
@@guywuytack7099 Good thinking! 😉Yes, a lot of remote places don't even have municipal water supply and have to rely on the land's water reserves. I think that's the biggest challenge, solar panels for electricity are pretty attainable atm.
Very clear first warnings, thank yu ! Looking forward to next episode.. Question; do yu have any insight in coming law adjustments? I mean; I have the impression that gouvernments in Europa are against people who want to live by growing food, hicken/ fruit/ veggies themselves. Will agry ground be highly taxed some day soon?
Thanks for the nice words and good question indeed! I am not aware of any current and upcoming legislation related to land use and taxation, except the ones regarding building on rural land (not allowed and not going to change)
I haven´t heard anything of the sort. Actually people are more and more returning to growing their own food. It´s also true, that people flee the countryside and villages of Spain, which is wherethere is actually quite significant government support for people, especially foreigners, to move to these places. There are tax and income tax deductions as well as direct subsidies in some cases.
Wow! Thank you so much for making this video. It was very eye opening. I was wanting to buy a property there also but all that sounds very scary. How do you know who you can trust?
Isn't that THE question in life? :) My 2 cents on this, usually things feels scary if you don't know enough about them, the more you know, the more confident you feel in your knowledge. I would trust research, data, papers, facts, personal gut and judgement first and foremost. If a question pops into your head, try to research it before you ask other people about it. If something feels very off from what you know, don't trust and move on. If you want to get a property there, go for a week and look at some properties, you'll get a way better idea of the whole context. THis is an extensive subject, but I hope to give you at least a few hints and ofc thanks for watching and for the comment! 🥰
OMG !!! We were told by someone in the village that the house has been on the market for YEARS (5 years if I remember correctly)....everyone in the village knows about it, it's crazy 😱
Another thing Axi didnt point out about rural peoperties is there is a law in most areas of Spain that a rural house must have at least 5000m2 of land to be a legal rural dwelling. Any less and its an illegal property. Also many properties dont have deeds (cadastral) and so are also considered illegal.
@@AxiMolnar Axi, the problem is, the sort of people that make these mistakes dont read this sort of comment, as they are of the opinion they dont need to do any research as they know what they are doing!
My personal experiences looking for a property in the Valencia region: 1. The range of houses and apartments is generally very large. 2. The prices, overvalued, far from reality and once again show wishful thinking on the part of the sellers. 3. Why? On the one hand, 80% of these objects are in a desolate condition, similar to barracks. On the other hand, the majority of the properties have never been renovated and if they have, they have been renovated in a very spartan manner and not by a specialist. 4. The expertise, in principle there is no precise with current data, e.g. photos and dimensions as well as classification, i.e. a penthouse apartment is in principle primarily an apartment on the top floor, with predominantly other residential units on the same floor. The only advantage is that you have a roof terrace, just like the neighbors have. 5. Building regulations, particularly important for houses, plots of land are often not or only partially buildable. In principle, the municipalities do not adhere to general guidelines and regulations; there are always changes, even retroactively when the governing party changes in the Ajuntamento. To the detriment of the buyer. 6. Real estate agencies, the agents are 90% useless, bring no added value and have little or no idea about real estate Business at all. Commissions for real estate agencies are not regulated in Spain. 7. Conclusion, there are better countries in the EU to purchase a property.
Headshot problem: Please remember that Spanish people are not so tall, compared to other nationalities in Europe. Especially when the building is an older one.
From architect point of view most of apartements är so bad constructed/planned that nockin down a wall wont even help you, ive looked at many many apartments Spain is certainly a big failure regarding layouts. Use lawyer from your country when buying otherwise your smoked.
this woman has had very little experience, her information is old news and happens all over. Most architects, estate agents, lawyers, and both buyers and sellers are aware and simply pay each other off.
Now see, in Portugal an AIRbnb built a rope tethered and plank walkway up into the nether regions, put spacious tents up with plank porches and charges $1650/month / each! It is 450m above the coastline! = Tent hosted by Albert! Achadas da Cruz, Madeira, Portugal. So instead of a cow barn not on the map that is illegal, perhaps there is thought to tent rentals. Kidding, but it may open more funds for better locations to review for self and others. Gee, illegal shed in the middle of nowhere vs tent rental. Hmmmmm its a toss up!
I don't know where you're from but in Spain there is 'generally' a sense of anarchism in everyone. It's hard for us to understand how people on the other side of the Pyrenees can be so indoctrinated to accept government oversight over everything including the private property in which you live and bring up your family.
If you want to live surronded by nature and close to amenities, you need to go to Canary Islands. Now, good internet is not always an option. Decent internet, sometimes. LOL
Just because the properties are 'illegal' doesnt mean they are wrong. We need to take away this dogma of 'if government doesnt say its ok then its not ok' , as the government are slowly taking away freedom its very important for us to do things according to what we think is right, and more often, as we tell the government what to do, not the other way around.
I have no words. My number one suggestion to you is not to start a search for a home when you’ve never visited the country or the area that you think you might want to move to. you want to first visit that province, like Andalusia, probably more than once, and get to know it a bit , various towns, and Larger cities, the coast and the hills so that you get a better idea of where you might wanna live and then start your search. Because you wasted your time and money on listings that were out in the middle of nowhere, and you would not have done that Had you spent some time in Andalusia.
I have a question... most older Spanish stone houses have tiny windows. Is there a way to design a renovation with panorama windows and still receive a building permission with the regional style preserved?
A Spaniard that owns three properties in Spain but lives in California. First, When it is advertised as rural that means that are not built in buildable land; therefore, are rural structures for animals or warehouses to store crops and they can't be used as houses. 2d many foreigners think that they can buy anywhere and "take care" of anything after. 3rd Many possible foreign buyers consult with people from their own nations that don't know anything about real estate or Spanish laws and finally many, but way too many foreigners, want to buy a Mercedes with a price of a Toyota Corolla. All right now in Spain are about 1,800 public employees, 2 governors, 4 mayors and many government officials in prison or goin to trial for real estate corruption. I don't know where are you from, but I would like to know how many are in your country in jail for corruption.
thanks for your comment! I agree completely with your 3 points, they are dependent on the information that a buyer has. Unfortunately, corruption is something we don't have much influence as individuals, no matter where we are :(
@@AxiMolnar I have a property in the Northern part of the country (Asturias). Some people from England bought a small house not far away from mine. They brought a contractor from England, went to the small town (Infiesto) and they said to the planning office there that they just wanted to replace the roof. They didn't replace the roof. They did a big extension of the house and built a new clay tile roof. The local authorities warned them that their contractor was not licensed to do any work in Spain, and they had to hire a local contractor. They went ahead with the English contractor and illegally finished the project. A year later during the Christmas season the English family came to their house there for the holidays and in a very nasty windy Winter day the roof collapsed and killed the couple and their daughter. Their English families came from England to sue the planning office of the small village and the lawsuit was dismissed due to all the illegal, unsafe and dangerous procedures that they did to the house. Nobody will know anything if the families didn't file a lawsuit against the planning office. In the North of Spain it is rare this kind of cases. In Andalucia it is by the thousands, many locals warn the foreigners not to build in many lots and they do it anyway, they bring their own contractors or they hire illegal contractors under the table in Spain and later they bitch and moan when they tell them that the house has to be demolished.
@@louaceveu1925 OMG! that is insane!! The audacity of those people blows my mind! I wasn't aware of this kind of behaviour, thank you for sharing this story! I am thinking now, why didn't they buy a bigger house? Why do these things in a shady way, what's the benefit of that? It's not even about the money, as they obviosouly had enough money to extend the house, it's crazy :(((
@@zzziana The laid back aptitude of the people there make many Northern and Eastern Europeans think that they can do anything they want. In Andalucia it is the worst, they do room additions, houses in non buildable lands even with the locals telling them no to "Built in there",. Most of them they don't even get permits and bring their own people to build it. Very often it is in the English press the news about demolitions in Southern Spain. They truly believe that once they build something, it will be almost impossible to demolish it.
@@louaceveu1925 I spent some time there and the audacity of those, often older, people is quite big. They treat Spain as Wild West, but of course, only when it suits them, otherwise they get grumpy when rules are being enforced on them. Also, I really dont get the expectations, sure realtors lie and misrepresent things, but when I see those sheds in middle of nowhere for 50k , no idea how people can even consider this as fully functional home with all the services. It is clearly from a different time with a quite different use case.
Very informative, we plan to purchase a property in Andalucia ahead of retirement, so videos like this are very useful As a non Spaniard, are there companies you can employ to undertake propery surveys on your behalf, to identify the issues you've mention, so that you can purchase with peace of mind?
Yes!!! You can employ lawyers for legal inspection (checking that the papers are alright and that the property is legal) and you can employ architects for example for technical surveys (for checking the state of the property, what renovations are needed and how urgent are they, if water/electricity/ etc is working properly). In some cases, the real estate agent can employ them on your behalf, but then again, it's better to have a 3rd objective party. These reports will be in Spanish, since they stand as legal documents liable in court, but you can easily translate them (I use DeepL for translations, works very well).
Do you think buying a condo is also this risky to be illegal? For sure i wouldn't buy a condo that is not finished just in case the builder goes bankrupt :)
the only sure way to know if it's legal/illegal is to check the papers, otherwise, anyone can tell you anything they want. And no, I wouldn't buy anything unfinished either, for the exact same reason that you've mentioned.👌
@@AlainTrentini I am actually very acquainted with the Belgium real estate market as well haha. Belgium has a different wild side with the bidding system😸(especially in cities), but yeah, it feels "safer"
@@AxiMolnar If you ever get to Mauritius please check the real estate market there too ;). I am traveling to Mauritius in october and if i like it maybe i will buy a condo there in the future for when i retire in 10 years.
What you need to understand is that those houses are used by Spanish as weekend place or bank holidays place to bbq, so they don't care about legal requirements
Could be for some of them...for the ones that we saw, they were all owned by British (and a Danish) who either lived there (full-time or just in the summer)🤔
Spain have very good weather! But problem is that there are lots of old ugly homes, they should tear them down and build new ones more attractive! Because the young generation don’t like old history, ugly homes! Only old people like the old stuff!
Why do you have to be so extreme and look in the empty and deserted areas? I bought a beautiful house in a town of 1,100 called Serón in the Andalucían mountains. My neighbors all have small pieces of land they farm and sell the produce locally. So I don't need to grow food. My house is recently updated so all the doors and stairs have a lot of headroom. The ceilings are high. I have wonderful mountain views. You're not in the right head set, you need to look at villages not these isolated places.
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As a Spaniard, I agree with you as to the legallity of properties in the countryside. I also have this romantic idea of living surrounded by trees but at the same time not too isolated. You yourself realised that living like that in Spain is actually living off-grid, and that implies that if you are someone used to living in a town, you will most probably have an awful time living in the countryside. Maybe where you come from it's quite usual to live in a house surrounded by nature, with neighbours 200 m away, but the layout of towns in Spain is not like that, and off-grid homes are simply illegal. Bear that in mind, it takes much more than researching for properties when you buy abroad, it requires looking outside your box, finding out about the area and how things are done, which doesn't necessarily mean that it's wrong just because it doesn't comply with your own standards, it simply is different: either you accept it or leave it.
very true! the way we are used to living influences us way more than expected! thank you for sharing this!
Well said Pedro, I greatly dislike when people visit or move to another country and complain about how things are done.
La calidad de construccion en España es muy alta, mucho mas que, por ejemplo, en Noruega.
@@JuanHerrera-bh4ol totally. Many pretend to move to Spain and then expect everything top be as in their home country. Probably those people also complained in their home country... very annoying and disrespectful.
I try to work within other countries rules, I just want to know how things are done so I can go along with what is the cultural expectation. What I don’t like is corruption, is not disclosing defects, is pressure to go through a sale when you need due diligence time, and discouraging your involvement, or getting an architect to do an inspection, or your lawyer is not on your side, and any number of other rip offs. The area around Marbella had a terrible scandal around 10 years ago that involved the mayor, real estate agents, attorneys all in cahoots to rip people off and to engage in fraud.. that’s significant.
If the house was built illegally in the 90s then it can be legalized and registered ion your escritura (deeds). you can register at the local council even with an illegally built house, you can also have a PO box at your local village. The rubbish is recycled and you must do that in the village whilst taking any non recycled to the village communal bins, no big deal. I love living off grid, I have animals and big land. It is so peaceful and the stars at night are amazing!
I guess it depends on the rules of the local municipality, for the houses we've seen we've been told clearly: no way the houses can be legalized and included in the deeds :(
Good point about legalization! It´s one thing if the property or part of it is illegal and another if it´s not "legalizable". We check the difference so not too many properties are filtered out. It´s actually a great point for negotiating the price! :)
A mistake I've seen a lot of foreigners make when shopping for houses in Spain is asking "who designed this?" or "why did they design it like this?" in truth it was not designed at all. Most were converted from animal sheds or tractor barns with no plan or oversight. I do always get a kick out of watching professional builders try to fix issues in a house they've just bought like:
-"there's no damp protection!"
-"all those rooftiles are only held on by gravity!"
-"there's no insulation anywhere!"
I could go on.
The only reason anyone can live in these shoddy boxes is that the weather makes it easier. In any other country they would be illegal. (even in spain half of them are)
💯💯I am those foreigners haha! Reading your comment is like hearing myself when viewing some properties 😂😂
😂💀
Hey, I am an Australian, I live in the bush, nearest town is 150 km away, pop. 340, . I think I would fit right in.
You literally want to go live in houses for animals or to store tools used in the fields, most of these houses were made dozens of years ago and belonged to poor people, farmers or ranchers who lived with just enough. These "houses" have been inherited over time and reformed to get to what you see today. Others are simply second or third homes for people who only use it for a month or two in summer. You think that you are coming to live in paradise with internet, running water, roads and services, but you are going to buy in the periphery of the periphery. This is not the USA where there is a Wallmart every 3 km and you have to take the car even to buy bread. Either you live in nature or outside of it, with all its consequences. End.
thank you for your useful support in finding our new home!
anytime! 😍
Cheers from Spain.
I am sure you learnt this already: Whatever is cheap is cheap for a reason, or for MANY reasons.
So in the end you will end up quitting the idea of finding bargains, and end up buying a more pricey property.
Good luck!
Thanks for the comment, I'm sure there are many people who still need to hear this! 💕
From what I've seen, Spain is also super stringent on building alterations, and fines or retroactive permissions or fixes can be expensive. Real estate is not a protected or certified profession in Spain so they can sell what they want and walk away. They work for the seller, not the buyer. They'll always tell you what you want to hear whether true or accurate or not. It's always wise to get an independent Spanish conveyancing lawyer and a technical architect (sth like a building surveyor) to check administrative and technical legality before finalising that kind of investment.
I agree 100%
it depends, mainly, on the conservation listing and location of the property. I find Spain much much less restrictive than Germany, for example. True, if you ask as a foreigner - again depending on where you are - you will likely get a NO for an answer... just to move on and not bother. That´s why I do it for my clients :)
Brilliant video and so true about buying out in rural areas of Spain. A lot of people buy finca,s which are not really designed to be made bigger or even get permission to do anything inside or out. Look forward to seeing more of your videos. You have a new subscriber 👍🇪🇸
Cool! It's reassuring to see other people coming to the same conclusion haha
Nowadays you need 15000 m² of land to build a legal house on rural land. in addition to other requeriments ( such as building septic tanks) in order to get electricity and water.
what people have done for decades is build a small tool house (casa de aperos) or a small hen house to ask for licenses to be able to build a well or bring electricity.
Once you have this, people will build a house where the tool house was. when the cadastre satellite gets the new images of the area you will receive a fine. This fine is much cheaper than complying with all the requeriments to build a house.
but there is a risk that they will make you demolish the house, although it is very rare
thank you so much for your insight! yup, these are the usual practices and it's important to be aware of everything before investing! ☺
I so agree with points 1/2/3. Same in Valencia.
Brilliant video! Estate agents will tell you anything to sell you the properties…Buyer beware!
yes, beware and before making a final decision, let us inspect the property. It´s well worth it!
Well...here in Romania on the "rural land" people go around by obtaining permission and building "anexa agricola/agricultural annex" which may have a living space...or "mobile house" (a small house without foundation usually on wooden pillars). It may work well as long as the investment as such is small. Probable the golden rule everywhere for foreigners is to rent and live in a particular location for at least one solid year before investing hard worked money anywhere in a foreign country.
💯 A foreigner can't know more about the situation than a local, no matter how much research they do. The locals know all the comings and goings. (Combinatiile😅)
I live in a community building with 30 flats in the center of my town. I have Internet, Gas, Electricity, etc.
There are also pharmacies, supermarkets, hospitals, health centers. Surrounded by recreation areas and bars/restaurants.
I live in Andalusia.
If you try to buy Buckingham Palace at the price of a kennel, you will get exactly what you see in the video.
Spend more if what you see is not to your liking.
You leave the people of Andalusia very badly showing something like that when it is your fault for wanting to buy for a pittance.
I disagree on the last point. This has nothing to do with the good people of Andalucia and everything to do with falling into traps where you don't know the local terrain and trust the wrong people. Every market has its catches. The Spanish real estate market is still broadly regarded as one of the safest and cleanest if you act sensibly, budget properly, don't cut corners (as you said), and try to familiarise yourself with some of the pitfalls. Come to Germany if you want to see real dirt and sleaze (literally and figuratively). IMO a lot of foreigners make the mistake of thinking that the relaxed attitude of Spanish people to most things in life reflects in the real-estate market. It doesn't and it shouldn't. Nobody should be relaxed about making an investment of tens or hundreds of thousands of euros.
Floren, you couldn't say it better!
Great to see a good honest video, look forward to seeing more.
The license for a pool is €800 and the fine for an illegal pool is €600. That’s why they do thinks like this in Spain. I was living there for 10 years and maried with a lawyer!
Good info 😂 thanks for sharing!
Always own the land the entire property is on and if possible also everything surrounding it because unless you do, you could have a road, highway, housing complexes or anything a developer has paid the local council for.
The region of Andalucia is massive! I'm an American living in the Andalucian province of Cadiz, which is in itself a very large area. Not all rural areas in Andalucia are as remote as you featured in your video.
I like the last piece of advice, many of us have all kind of ideas but we need to invest in this intermediate step where we should make a trip to see how actually our dream will look like. This trip is a "must" in order to clarify our wishes. For example many people want to live in Germany but they didn't visit Germany to see if they will like it, they just take a job and then become disapointed.
Definitely, 100%. Even a short trip will bring a lot of relevant information 🍀
I tend to advise renting a place first. You won´t learn about the details of a place in less that 6 months or so. After all, it´s a big decision to move your life and invest.
This is so funny, it sounds exactly like what they would say in Andalusia. Life is a bit different here.😄
Many remote houses overthere are abandoned because the well got dry. They have no water!! Be carefull.
OMG I didn't even think of this! Very good point, thank you for sharing! There was a big problem with the water in Andalucia indeed, one of their water dams was almost empty :(
I remember a companion at work who bought a finca with a well ,it ran out of water so he rang the seller and said there’s no water in the well ,the seller replied ,you have to fill it , It wasn’t a well it was what they call a pozo ,just a container for the water .buyer beware .
@@johncoleman9261 OMG that is a nightmare! Thank you for sharing this!
In that part of Spain, and at the time the video shot part 4, the people built their homes with lower doors as they were very small people. That has to be taken into consideration when looking at homes in the country. My stepson is 2.07 mtrs and has to mind his head in our house that is indeed built to spec. In other countries real estate agents are required by law to take some schooling about different laws, building and construction, etc., but you’re right, not in Spain. Something that is hard for us to get our head around, as you can basically walk of the street and sell or show a home.
Thanks for your comment! It's definitely super interesting to see how people built their homes in different countries! I learnt a lot from the comments to this video! 💕💕
In Scotland too, the old cottages built around the same time all had lower doors and smaller occupants.
@@sheilakerr-jones4345 wooooww!! Now that I think about it, it's valid for many old buildings, the doors are smaller than now 👌🏻👌🏻
@@AxiMolnar anywhere in the world people where shorter 100 or 200 years ago. In Spain, there are many homes and even complete town centers, that are hundreds of years old. My own house is 300+ years old. I won´t mark it an architectural mistake that my SUV doen´t fit through the garage door then, do I :D
would love to see a video you make for homes in Northern Spain.
Please specify. Green Spain (costa cantábrica?) or Pirineos? Cataluña? Castilla y León? It’s a big countryyyyyyy
@@hayati6374 anywhere and everywhere along the North coast and Northern regions.
Most Spanish real estate advertising is lies personal experience
What a great informative video! Thank you for posting🤩
Funny presentation. Good information. Always try to remove the rose-colored glasses. I've lived in remote places and there are some wonderful benefits... but think soberly about the negatives. One does "grow" with such experiences and that is a good thing. You'll return a different person than those who never try (The Hero's Journey?...ha!). If you have the ability to do so, try living in a place for at least a month - preferably in one of the worst months (unless you intend such a property to be used part-year). We lived at 8,000' on a wind-swept, high-desert plateau in very remote Colorado as well as in a 200-year old former sea captain's house overlooking the ocean on an island off the coast of Maine (ferry service, only). It is great fun and certainly not for shrinking violets. Be prepared to feel your complete range of emotions... Be bold but be careful and by all means, have fun in your search! Cheers,🍷
Thanks for your comment, super cool to hear what other people are experiencing and how wild it can get (ferry service only? 😉).😍😍
You are providing a great service. Thank you!
Interesting video. Spain is very different from one region to another one. The main advice is to take a lawyer to assist you in all the steps. My understand is that you were looking for a house to renovate. The issues linked to this « renovation » are the same in every country. Everybody has or would like to do a good deal. As much as you go in the center of country or as far as fo you leave the cost of Spain real estate are cheaper and cheaper but you re often in the middle of nowhere and of course it s not for everybody. Real estate agent issue is the same in every country and it’s not specific to Andalusia or Spain they tell you what you want to hear to my point of view they could not give you technical advice or engineering issues. For the extra works done without a permission if there have more than 5 years then these works like a swimming pool or a garage or an extension become legal and the seller of the house has to pay a penalty. That’s how it goes in the Valencia region. And the end you have acquired a house or not ? Regards
Loved your video….very very informative and educational…..tip: please lower the music volume….just a bit….and please keep making this type of videos. My family has been thinking about moving to Spain and I have watched hundreds of videos on real state: I have learned more from your short video than all those other videos combined……I think you are up to something…….best wishes…..
Thank you so much for your feedback! I'm so happy you found it useful! :*
I am looking at properties in Malaga city. So far I haven't seen a single property that is the size declared in the ad. Let's say that the agents are very generous in describing apartments of 120 sqm that when measured with our own tools are never more than 80/85 sqm. I don't know how do they think that they can get away with that. It's a lot of space missing. Can't talk for other parts of Spain but in Malaga that's how it goes
Crazy! Thanks for sharing the status in Malaga! But if you really like a property, maybe you can use that as a tool for negotiating? I know it's really unpleasant to find this out though😔
@@AxiMolnar The attitude of the agents was quite irritating and confrontational. When you show them the result of the measurement, they usually flatly deny the result and treat you as an incompetent. So I don't think that at the moment you can negotiate too much, it's a seller's market. Too many people queuing to move to Malaga for the quality of life, which is really great.
Did they count terraza maybe? Also m2 construidos are different to the m2 útiles. Saludos o
@@hayati6374 There were not terraces neither balconies in the properties in question. They were not new built properties, so the difference between construidos and utiles does not apply. Also, we hired a Spanish legal advisor to be with us during the check.
@@avaloncarr5429 WOW! I didn't know the attitude is so extreme, thank you for sharing this!
You can find what you want. It will only cost a little more:)
💯
I used to sell property in Almería ,the problem of buying in the mountains is the telephone ,or lack of it ,no signal for your mobile ,or no internet ,if there’s an emergency your on your own ,when you are looking this is the first priority ,always use an independent lawyer for legal permission’s ,unfortunately you can no longer live permanently now in Spain due to Brexit ,john c
yes! very good point! There are many things to think about when buying any property! We were always asking about this and curiously most of them had satellite internet.
Plan to buy in Rota, is there a government run appraisal office that legal documents are on file and can I have access to the actual appraised value so I can compare to the asking price. I am from U S of America, what other fees does one need to pay ie.. taxes, insurance etc ..... any advice on renting out the property ?
Please don’t tar all estate agent’s with the same brush. I have lived in Almeria for 19 years in an old cortijo off a rambla. We have excellent internet and telephone signal which wasn’t the case when we first moved here. Most sales people will tell you what you want to hear, but alot will also point you in the right direction to get the correct information you require. It is your responsibility as the buyer to do your research and if you rely on the word of the person selling then im afraid you deserve the pitfalls. The laws have changed here dramatically for the better and its not the free for all that you are implying in your video. A good lawyer will always point out to you if there are any issues with the house.
At least here in Spain, many Real Estate Agents don´t know much about technical nor legal issues of houses.
Worst is though, that most buyer think real estate agents are working for them.
Truth is, that they work for the seller.
They get paid for selling expensive and fast. Just keep that in mind.
It's always a good thing to start with asking & confirming why the house is beeing sold. And the person who is selling the property often doesn't have a rush. And they will measure it once, make a big mistake and don't really care, just like if things are legal or not, if you go and live there, you won't hear any sirenes for a looong time.
Sure, I also ask all the time why they're selling, but I'm also thinking that nobody would share smth like "I'm selling because there's issues with the property" 😅
Hi Axi, After nearly 23 years of living in Andalusia (Alhaurin el Grande) we decided to change to an other area of Europe to live an other life. What you said in your video is 100% correct. I will check your other videos. Regards Erwin from Alhaurinrentals
Interesting. I just made an offer on property in the genal valley and I see issues coming up re water and property ie housing. No idea what to do...
Why leave Alhaurín el Grande? Considering moving there in the future.
@@InnerGiggles There are now many reasons. Area and people changed a lot. Just leaves not home anymore
@@InnerGiggles It just does not feel home anymore.
@@erwinjansen2885which country did you move to?
I am trying to buy, there are so many obstacles. I looked recently at Pruna. Lovely properties, very good quality. Municipal pool is only open during school holidays. WTF? So you have to go and find another pool in another village if you go there at Easter or October. I don't want to have to travel for a swim every day. Then there is "there are no taxis in the village". OK. I don't think this is the true, but I cannot depend on there being like TWO taxi drivers who MIGHT take me where I want to go. Turns out food shopping is not an issue, but the swimming pool is a massive dealbreaker.
As to legality I enquired about one house and the owners cannot even FIND THE DEEDS. 😆 I mean, do they really even OWN IT? They took it off the market after this.
Whooaaa, the issue with the deeds sounds crazy!! And it's true, in many kind "remote" places you depend on your own car :(
Hello Queen, how are you doing today
I thought almost all pools were open only during the summer. In the northen areas, I have seen more pools that are open year round because they are indoors. “Seen” from checking on google.
Your comment about expertise, yes you are right. That being said, you don’t ask the hairdresser if you need a haircut
Love your comment, so on point 🤩
😢😢😢 i’ve got the same problem with the height of ceilings. The height of doors is also in cars and even ships they are very tight very small built for low built and that’s for me also a problem and also all the steps which you need to walk in the Mediterranean area. They are very fond of walking everywhere but because of arthrosis he needs to go by another way of transportation so you end up with being in the car all day and then by 40°C and in the south of Spain in the you’re looking even water and then you are depending on water tank car driving water or are you by the water in Jerry cans andthat’s yes without your upgrade facilities like solar panelling water it’s unlivable and places. 😂😂😂😂
My favourite part of the video is the headshot count haha
it's entertaining and informing at the same time😎
Thank you, very important info.
Thank you very much.
I’ve had a house in Spain for 20 years, the area it’s in there are hardly any Spanish left. It’s very diverse now, I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, but I just can’t t sell my house, it’s very close to the beach as well, I’ll just have to leave it to the kids. Cheers.
Hi, Spaniard here, living in UK and wanting to buy something in Spain. If you tell me a bit more I might make you an offer
What city is it in, just curious?
Giday Axi... brilliant pod cast. I am looking to move to Spain. I have noticed on many older building they have cracks. Of concern the cracks appear to be related to the door lintels and the corners of the building. Are these cracks from seismic activity or are they from contraction and expansion due to moisture... or the ground shifting??? Northern Spain they were most noticeable. I suspect earth quakes
If you did a pod cast on these cracks etc and other related structural aspects... I would be most grateful.
Thank you Raoul
Hey Raoul, thanks for your comment! I get it, cracks are pretty worrysome. While I can't tell much without being on site and seeing the examples you're talking about, as a general rule: moisture doesn't create cracks. You will see moisture as rising damp in the walls (different color of paint, some salts coming out), but *if the structure is sturdy, moisture won't create cracks.*
Cracks are structural, meaning they're either from: ground shifting (as you mentioned), depreciation of the mortar, new alterations that impact the existing structure, etc. *Only a surveyor can tell you the source of them* and you shouldn't believe anything else except for what comes in a technical report. A report would also include the works needed to repair these cracks.
Hope this gives you a bit more insight! And good luck with moving to Spain! 💖💖
Thank you for this video. It was very helpful with great information! Thanks.
Hi 👋 smile, nice video, but, if you don’t mind me saying, the background music is too loud & distracting from what you are saying. Hard to concentrate on the actual info. There is no need to always have music playing when it is about conveying important things. 😊 Please, don’t be too negative, different countries, different rules and laws... this is how the cookie crumbles 😉. A lot of people became expats in Spain over the past few decades, and they are happy and content with their choices. In every country you have pros and cons, choose your path wisely, it’s yours to take. All the best 💐
Thank you for your kind feedback, I appreciate it and will keep it in mind! 😊
Hi great video you both did , and thanks to say the reality to buy a properly in Spain , thanks to your great courage the this are not true on buy property in Spain we need to be a lot of careful and do not believe on what all the stage agency say they want said at any cost , keep doing 😀 well done , thanks again .
Is all of Spain that dry?
I'm trying to find a place in Spain that is GREEN.
I'm coming from Western Washington, a temperate rainforest.
I know my idea of green is a really high bar, but where is Spain the greenest?
Also, where in Spain is the coldest during summer?
Hey Zen! Good questions! And short answer is: absolutely no!! Spain is super big and has many climates and part of the North of Spain is very much green and with way more vegetation, hence it's also the coldest during both summer and winter. You should research the whole regions of Galicia, Asturias, Basque Country and of course the Pyrenees Mountains. Good luck with your search!! 🍀🍀😍
I live in SE Asia, and it can be the same way in Thailand and the Philippines. Foreigners want to buy a house and the so called owners do not have the proper " land title deeds". In the cities, for condos, they do have them. Same thing in some parts of Mexico where they have sometimes taken land back from foreigners.
Thanks for sharing, this is definitely a very important point to know everywhere! 😊
This is totally on point! I have the same issues finding a place in andalucia! They just build anywhere they want even companies! When they get caught they just pay a penalty fee when the property is really remote probably won't even bother to check lol plz let us know what you were able to find how everything turned out
This was pretty much a deal-breaker for us and Andalucia, so, ehm, we gave up on that and turned to more familiar grounds for us: Tenerife :D Will post more about it soon 😄
@@AxiMolnar oh nice
If you want to go to andalucia, I think you have to live with some level of illegality... they don´t mean bad, it´s just the way they do things :)
@@iNMOspectorSpain Not really imho. Buy closer to the sea and everything will be perfectly legal. Spain is a highly bureaucratic country and legality matters.
Those cheap fincas outside are just some upgraded shacks people used when they worked on fields, and later for leisure. They were never meant as homes, till naive westerners arrived and dishonest real estate agents made a business out of it.
This seems to be happening in Central Portugal too...
Thank you for sharing! I think we must pay attention no matter where we look :D
@@AxiMolnar I think we need more understanding of freedom and how international banking has locked onto peoples land and controls their use. No?
As far as real estate agents is concerned, definitely!
I looked at a gated house and there was a flight of steps leading on to a section of garden...wrong.....it was a right of way on to the adjacent property and they had to have keys to get through our property gate.
Hi, it explains why the properties in Andalusia are relatively cheap, they are not buildings but just places without permission for permanent living. The legal status of lands is mostly clear? thank you for sharing your experiences .
yes, 2 years in Madrid and looked around a bit for holiday house finca.. lot of under 100k possibilities with > 5000-10000m2 land but usually only with a small garage/shed looking "house" .. So the permits probably only allow a small farm tool shop and not building a house.. however, did you check if putting a prefab cottage, which is removable at any time, would be allowed?
Good question! I never checked for that and I think it's a good idea for the same reason that you mentioned. The only drawback is that it's still a small footprint, normally they are max 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom, 1 small kitchen 🤔 Which brings us to the questions: what is enough? 🤔😆
@@AxiMolnar prefab can be substantially big, made up of e.g shipping containers: 2 x 40ft with 20ft container combined gives you about 80 m2 of foot print which is most comfortable for a 2 bedroom place with living room, kitchen, 2 bathrooms with shower only.. one has to provide sun panel , septic tank and water borehole.. maybe not allowed to connect to municipal water supply or electrical grid
@@guywuytack7099 Good thinking! 😉Yes, a lot of remote places don't even have municipal water supply and have to rely on the land's water reserves. I think that's the biggest challenge, solar panels for electricity are pretty attainable atm.
Very good point thank you 😊
Very clear first warnings, thank yu ! Looking forward to next episode..
Question; do yu have any insight in coming law adjustments? I mean; I have the impression that gouvernments in Europa are against people who want to live by growing food, hicken/ fruit/ veggies themselves. Will agry ground be highly taxed some day soon?
Thanks for the nice words and good question indeed! I am not aware of any current and upcoming legislation related to land use and taxation, except the ones regarding building on rural land (not allowed and not going to change)
I haven´t heard anything of the sort. Actually people are more and more returning to growing their own food. It´s also true, that people flee the countryside and villages of Spain, which is wherethere is actually quite significant government support for people, especially foreigners, to move to these places. There are tax and income tax deductions as well as direct subsidies in some cases.
Yes I think it’s coming
Too expensive for the small quality
Please do more of these videos.
Wow! Thank you so much for making this video. It was very eye opening. I was wanting to buy a property there also but all that sounds very scary. How do you know who you can trust?
Isn't that THE question in life? :) My 2 cents on this, usually things feels scary if you don't know enough about them, the more you know, the more confident you feel in your knowledge. I would trust research, data, papers, facts, personal gut and judgement first and foremost. If a question pops into your head, try to research it before you ask other people about it. If something feels very off from what you know, don't trust and move on. If you want to get a property there, go for a week and look at some properties, you'll get a way better idea of the whole context. THis is an extensive subject, but I hope to give you at least a few hints and ofc thanks for watching and for the comment! 🥰
Omg, the house at 3:18 in Guajar Alto, we wanted to visit. 😱
OMG !!! We were told by someone in the village that the house has been on the market for YEARS (5 years if I remember correctly)....everyone in the village knows about it, it's crazy 😱
Excellant video. Thankyou. !!! 😁
Glad you liked it!💕
Valuable Thank you
Subscribed. Awesome content! I am currently starting my journey to look for a house. And these were some really good points. Thank you a lot!
Yeeeey! thanks for the feedback, I want to share all my knowledge about this for everyone to know! 💕
Another thing Axi didnt point out about rural peoperties is there is a law in most areas of Spain that a rural house must have at least 5000m2 of land to be a legal rural dwelling. Any less and its an illegal property. Also many properties dont have deeds (cadastral) and so are also considered illegal.
@@roberttill3787 Thanks for your comment! The more we share, the more informed people are! 🍀💕
@@AxiMolnar Axi, the problem is, the sort of people that make these mistakes dont read this sort of comment, as they are of the opinion they dont need to do any research as they know what they are doing!
@@roberttill3787 True :( But even if a few people read the comment and are more careful, I count it as a win! 🥹
My personal experiences looking for a property in the Valencia region:
1. The range of houses and apartments is generally very large. 2. The prices, overvalued, far from reality and once again show wishful thinking on the part of the sellers.
3. Why? On the one hand, 80% of these objects are in a desolate condition, similar to barracks. On the other hand, the majority of the properties have never been renovated and if they have, they have been renovated in a very spartan manner and not by a specialist.
4. The expertise, in principle there is no precise with current data, e.g. photos and dimensions as well as classification, i.e. a penthouse apartment is in principle primarily an apartment on the top floor, with predominantly other residential units on the same floor. The only advantage is that you have a roof terrace, just like the neighbors have.
5. Building regulations, particularly important for houses, plots of land are often not or only partially buildable. In principle, the municipalities do not adhere to general guidelines and regulations; there are always changes, even retroactively when the governing party changes in the Ajuntamento. To the detriment of the buyer.
6. Real estate agencies, the agents are 90% useless, bring no added value and have little or no idea about real estate Business at all. Commissions for real estate agencies are not regulated in Spain.
7. Conclusion, there are better countries in the EU to purchase a property.
Great video! Thanks
Headshot problem: Please remember that Spanish people are not so tall, compared to other nationalities in Europe.
Especially when the building is an older one.
From architect point of view most of apartements är so bad constructed/planned that nockin down a wall wont even help you, ive looked at many many apartments Spain is certainly a big failure regarding layouts.
Use lawyer from your country when buying otherwise your smoked.
💯 it's definitely not as easy as it seems in some TV shows haha
this woman has had very little experience, her information is old news and happens all over. Most architects, estate agents, lawyers, and both buyers and sellers are aware and simply pay each other off.
Super valuable info, thanks so much. Any tips on properties in Galicia?
Haven't analysed anything there, but on the top of my mind: make sure they're well-insulated. Somehow insulation approach varies vastly across Spain 😊
Now see, in Portugal an AIRbnb built a rope tethered and plank walkway up into the nether regions, put spacious tents up with plank porches and charges $1650/month / each! It is 450m above the coastline! = Tent hosted by Albert! Achadas da Cruz, Madeira, Portugal. So instead of a cow barn not on the map that is illegal, perhaps there is thought to tent rentals. Kidding, but it may open more funds for better locations to review for self and others. Gee, illegal shed in the middle of nowhere vs tent rental. Hmmmmm its a toss up!
to be honest, we were thinking of this as well haha 😺 tents are always legal on your property 😆
@@AxiMolnar Would a yurt be legal as a tent? ruclips.net/video/pbBESLtgI9E/видео.html
Tenerife or Gran Canaria may be more to your taste.
Moved to Tenerife already, haha💕
I don't know where you're from but in Spain there is 'generally' a sense of anarchism in everyone. It's hard for us to understand how people on the other side of the Pyrenees can be so indoctrinated to accept government oversight over everything including the private property in which you live and bring up your family.
Axi, after 40 year in CM any wall can be removed and anything can be done with enough money.
I agree and would like to emphasize: *with enough money* 😄
thx for this..i`m looking at the same thing at the moment.
Great video .
Buying in Spain is easy selling is not
I can imagine💯
Loved your video. Did you end up buying in Spain?
Thanks for the comment! Yes, we rerouted to Tenerife 🍀😊
very helpful
Glad you think so!
If you want to live surronded by nature and close to amenities, you need to go to Canary Islands. Now, good internet is not always an option. Decent internet, sometimes. LOL
That's where we ended up haha 😄 I can't complain about the internet, it's pretty good (we have a contract for fiber with Orange)
Thanks for making this video. Buyer beware!
Yes❤
Great points! Ty Ty Ty ✨💛✨
Just because the properties are 'illegal' doesnt mean they are wrong. We need to take away this dogma of 'if government doesnt say its ok then its not ok' , as the government are slowly taking away freedom its very important for us to do things according to what we think is right, and more often, as we tell the government what to do, not the other way around.
Hilarious! Scary.. Thank you!
Very. Nice place Spain. From north east in Assam. India
I have no words. My number one suggestion to you is not to start a search for a home when you’ve never visited the country or the area that you think you might want to move to. you want to first visit that province, like Andalusia, probably more than once, and get to know it a bit , various towns, and Larger cities, the coast and the hills so that you get a better idea of where you might wanna live and then start your search. Because you wasted your time and money on listings that were out in the middle of nowhere, and you would not have done that Had you spent some time in Andalusia.
I have a question... most older Spanish stone houses have tiny windows. Is there a way to design a renovation with panorama windows and still receive a building permission with the regional style preserved?
It is important to be aware about the news laws......... The risk: to loose everything.
A Spaniard that owns three properties in Spain but lives in California. First, When it is advertised as rural that means that are not built in buildable land; therefore, are rural structures for animals or warehouses to store crops and they can't be used as houses. 2d many foreigners think that they can buy anywhere and "take care" of anything after. 3rd Many possible foreign buyers consult with people from their own nations that don't know anything about real estate or Spanish laws and finally many, but way too many foreigners, want to buy a Mercedes with a price of a Toyota Corolla. All right now in Spain are about 1,800 public employees, 2 governors, 4 mayors and many government officials in prison or goin to trial for real estate corruption. I don't know where are you from, but I would like to know how many are in your country in jail for corruption.
thanks for your comment! I agree completely with your 3 points, they are dependent on the information that a buyer has. Unfortunately, corruption is something we don't have much influence as individuals, no matter where we are :(
@@AxiMolnar I have a property in the Northern part of the country (Asturias). Some people from England bought a small house not far away from mine. They brought a contractor from England, went to the small town (Infiesto) and they said to the planning office there that they just wanted to replace the roof. They didn't replace the roof. They did a big extension of the house and built a new clay tile roof. The local authorities warned them that their contractor was not licensed to do any work in Spain, and they had to hire a local contractor. They went ahead with the English contractor and illegally finished the project. A year later during the Christmas season the English family came to their house there for the holidays and in a very nasty windy Winter day the roof collapsed and killed the couple and their daughter. Their English families came from England to sue the planning office of the small village and the lawsuit was dismissed due to all the illegal, unsafe and dangerous procedures that they did to the house. Nobody will know anything if the families didn't file a lawsuit against the planning office. In the North of Spain it is rare this kind of cases. In Andalucia it is by the thousands, many locals warn the foreigners not to build in many lots and they do it anyway, they bring their own contractors or they hire illegal contractors under the table in Spain and later they bitch and moan when they tell them that the house has to be demolished.
@@louaceveu1925 OMG! that is insane!! The audacity of those people blows my mind! I wasn't aware of this kind of behaviour, thank you for sharing this story! I am thinking now, why didn't they buy a bigger house? Why do these things in a shady way, what's the benefit of that? It's not even about the money, as they obviosouly had enough money to extend the house, it's crazy :(((
@@zzziana The laid back aptitude of the people there make many Northern and Eastern Europeans think that they can do anything they want. In Andalucia it is the worst, they do room additions, houses in non buildable lands even with the locals telling them no to "Built in there",. Most of them they don't even get permits and bring their own people to build it. Very often it is in the English press the news about demolitions in Southern Spain. They truly believe that once they build something, it will be almost impossible to demolish it.
@@louaceveu1925 I spent some time there and the audacity of those, often older, people is quite big. They treat Spain as Wild West, but of course, only when it suits them, otherwise they get grumpy when rules are being enforced on them. Also, I really dont get the expectations, sure realtors lie and misrepresent things, but when I see those sheds in middle of nowhere for 50k , no idea how people can even consider this as fully functional home with all the services. It is clearly from a different time with a quite different use case.
Very informative, we plan to purchase a property in Andalucia ahead of retirement, so videos like this are very useful
As a non Spaniard, are there companies you can employ to undertake propery surveys on your behalf, to identify the issues you've mention, so that you can purchase with peace of mind?
Yes!!! You can employ lawyers for legal inspection (checking that the papers are alright and that the property is legal) and you can employ architects for example for technical surveys (for checking the state of the property, what renovations are needed and how urgent are they, if water/electricity/ etc is working properly). In some cases, the real estate agent can employ them on your behalf, but then again, it's better to have a 3rd objective party.
These reports will be in Spanish, since they stand as legal documents liable in court, but you can easily translate them (I use DeepL for translations, works very well).
Because Spain is our little European Mexico/ India, didn't you know?
The words "Let the buyer beware" holds in ANY country and situation. You can be jerked in Any country. That's really all you needed to say.
So basically, bring an architect and lawyer with you. I guess I will rent instead
Do you think buying a condo is also this risky to be illegal? For sure i wouldn't buy a condo that is not finished just in case the builder goes bankrupt :)
the only sure way to know if it's legal/illegal is to check the papers, otherwise, anyone can tell you anything they want. And no, I wouldn't buy anything unfinished either, for the exact same reason that you've mentioned.👌
@@AxiMolnar Spain looks like the wild west compared to Belgium here :)
@@AlainTrentini I am actually very acquainted with the Belgium real estate market as well haha. Belgium has a different wild side with the bidding system😸(especially in cities), but yeah, it feels "safer"
@@AxiMolnar If you ever get to Mauritius please check the real estate market there too ;). I am traveling to Mauritius in october and if i like it maybe i will buy a condo there in the future for when i retire in 10 years.
Axi, I’m loooooooosing my cooooooool🎉🎉🎉🎉😮
What you need to understand is that those houses are used by Spanish as weekend place or bank holidays place to bbq, so they don't care about legal requirements
Could be for some of them...for the ones that we saw, they were all owned by British (and a Danish) who either lived there (full-time or just in the summer)🤔
Finally is it possible to find a house about 100 square meters with all the documents not far away from the town? Mostly interested about Asturias
Hey Irina, most probably yes 🍀You have to go and search for some properties on-site.🤞
You probably where looking in the wrong place... there are very many alternatives in Spain without any of these issues...
Hey Carlos! Could be, we were new at this ☺What areas are you thinking of that are not so problematic? 🍀
@@AxiMolnar ruclips.net/video/S1iYmvtR6Lg/видео.html
@@AxiMolnar ruclips.net/video/4sikbJfoQhk/видео.html
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Spain have very good weather! But problem is that there are lots of old ugly homes, they should tear them down and build new ones more attractive! Because the young generation don’t like old history, ugly homes! Only old people like the old stuff!
Why do you have to be so extreme and look in the empty and deserted areas? I bought a beautiful house in a town of 1,100 called Serón in the Andalucían mountains. My neighbors all have small pieces of land they farm and sell the produce locally. So I don't need to grow food. My house is recently updated so all the doors and stairs have a lot of headroom. The ceilings are high. I have wonderful mountain views.
You're not in the right head set, you need to look at villages not these isolated places.
intéressant
Your boyfriend is too tall for Spain!
😅😅