I don’t usually make a big deal of this but we are house hunting this week (again). We think on this occasion we’ve found our Valhalla. As always in Spain, everything is subject to negotiation and (assuming the seller signs a pre-contract agreement), then the house is basically ours. We find out tomorrow for sure.
We are hoping to buy a 4 bedroomed house of around 190 metres, (2K square feet) in a small town of 12K people in Jaen, Spain. In the summer, everyone roasts at 45 degrees (130 degrees??) but the heat is dry. In the winter you need central heating. The house we want has that.
This is a part of Spain that will always be Spanish. It grows the best olives I’ve ever tasted. Sweet but with a ‘quiet’ bite. House prices here mean we can be mortgage free for the first time in our lives and still have enough money to build an independent office in the garden area. Jude’s delighted with that prospect.
Any US readers thinking about making property investments – all the soundings indicate that CAGR price inflation (in this area) will be north of 30% this next 2 years. A house costing around €120K will yield €4-5K in annual rent as a holiday home – assuming 12 weeks rental per annum for 4-6 persons ijn a typical rustica house.
Corporations that are set up over here grab certain tax advantages. The witholding tax on sales is 5% of the declared price but in the current climate that’s peanuts, especially as at least 20% of the sale proceeds is in currency. This is normal in Spain – it is NOT money laundering but a way of avoiding tax. In our case, the amount saved this way is more than the lawyer’s fee plus 50% of the seller’s commission. It’s a good deal.
There are daily flights from Madrid so if you can easily get into the Madrid hub, you have 1 hour additional flying time.
For those UK folk trying to imagine what it is like here – think the Lake District with no water and a people who will try and make conversation even if you only have ‘ola!’ and ‘Buenos noches’ as your stock phrases, Oh yes – no-one locks their doors at night.
UPDATE: No-one eats in restaurants in the traditional sense. You buy a drink, , say a ‘cana’ – or wine glass of mountain fresh beer, you are given a tapa – something to eat. It might be Manchego cheese drizzled with local olive oil on bread, it might be deep fried shrimps, it might be tempura fried anchovies (boquerones) with salad, it might be wafer thin Serrano ham on warm, crusty bread, it might be…
Hasta luego|!
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