bottom picking

[sunman]

just watching the 'Tonight' programme on ITV, all about Brits putting their toes in the water & buying holiday homes at bargain prices,

Portugal not mentioned but Spain (Malaga) being called at 50% down from 4 years ago, and some reporting even better bargains,

one couple cut £100,000 on a property they sold 2 years ago; they've just got back into the market, bought for £160,000 on a development that was selling at £400,000 8 years ago!

rest of Europe, France, Italy, Bulgaria all being called 35% down,

countryside properties in Spain seem to be being offered at any money you care to bid, but seem to need renovating.

interesting programme; even if the punters don't use it themselves they can probably get very good rental returns.

[widge]

Interesting topic but terrible title. "Bottom Picking "C'mon sunman this isn't the Daily Mirror !

[joeysoap]

Interesting program alright. There was a feature on the English couple who applied for and got planning permission for a villa in Spain. After the villa was built the authorities decided that the planning permission should not have been granted and proceeded to knock the building. Gathered from the program that a court in Spain decided that it was ok to revoke the permission and granted them €26,000 in compensation. Really odd. Could not see the Portuguese pulling a stroke like that. Surprised they are not going to the European Court of Justice on that one. (or perhaps we don't have the full story ?)

[sunman]

Interesting topic but terrible title. "Bottom Picking "C'mon sunman this isn't the Daily Mirror !

a very common trading & charting term Widgey boy, to save you the googling it's an equity & foreign exchange traders terminology to explain his attempts to buy at the lowest prices & sell at the highest, one can pick one's top just as much as one's bottom.

the interesting inference is that UK folk think that possibly Spanish property prices have got somewhere close to as low as they're going to go and are stepping in and making purchases;
if that's true it's an incredible call, reportedly there are 2,000,000 empty properties sitting in Spain, getting those moving is as daunting as trying to lift The Titanic, but I suppose it's reassuring that folk think the banks are now able to both withstand the cost of holding onto the bad loans that plague the property market and to offer them off their books at great value prices.

I was wondering what effect this might have on The Algarve, on one hand our prices look relatively high compared with Spain, on the other we all think The Algarve is much nicer than the costas so it might be interesting to see where any price premium might settle down.

and I know you're sometimes interested in what time I'm posting, I'm up early making a cup of tea prior to settling down to watch F1 qualifying, COME ON LEWIS!!!

[James Faro]

Interesting program alright. There was a feature on the English couple who applied for and got planning permission for a villa in Spain. After the villa was built the authorities decided that the planning permission should not have been granted and proceeded to knock the building. Gathered from the program that a court in Spain decided that it was ok to revoke the permission and granted them €26,000 in compensation. Really odd. Could not see the Portuguese pulling a stroke like that. Surprised they are not going to the European Court of Justice on that one. (or perhaps we don't have the full story ?)

Joey, they sort of are! Not knocking down but reverting the ownership back to the state. There is an old maxim "old law is good law" and this unfortunately may be adhered to.

http://www.algarveresident.com/0-54893/ ... culous-law

The property market looks very good in the United States some great investments for the medium and long term. Was outside New York last month and some of the properties for sale are huge with reasonable rent returns.

[joeysoap]

Wow, lots of owners could get caught offside there, easily enough.

US economy at least 2 years and maybe more ahead of europe so no surprise that property there is on the up. Yearly tax on property can be stiff. Then again there are 5 states with no income tax. Friends of ours have moved out to Nevada recently, and can't believe they have no income tax to pay.

[James Faro]

Many estate agents' websites(USA ones) have a history of their properties(price fluctuations since being put on the market) and the yearly rates/tax on them. Very good for making calculated guesses in whether to purchase and budgeting.

[EMM]

The states is not all its cracked up to be.
Buying a property does not give you automatic rights of residence.
We have friend who moved to the states bought a business then added another.
They employ locals .
They were given a 5 year business visa and when that expired the couple spent months apart as the wife being in the UK at the time could not return until their visa was extended.
This took 9 months and entitles them to only another 5 years unless they are lucky enough to get a green card before then.
Another couple we know own properties in Florida, they used to make at least two long stay visits a year until arriving at the airport one day they were hauled into immigration and were informed that if they stayed for more than 90 days in the next 12 months they would lose their right of entry into the US.

[sunman]

by the time Obama's had a good chunk of annual property taxes off you & George Osborne has taken his long haul air taxes it makes owning a holiday home there an expensive business; my brother spends every Christmas in Disneyland which seems a bit Mickey Mouse to me.

my daughter went to see the Halifax yesterday, they're queueing round the block to get in on this help to buy; & then they all come knocking on the door of Mum & Dad to stump up their 5% deposits; this'll be taking priority over 2nd home buying so it might still be a while before our market picks up

[James Faro]

Sunman and EMM do you think just because you own properties abroad that you have the right to be negative about others buying overseas?

If you do.............then congratulations as you are damn right and 100% spot-on!

ALWAYS best to actively research out for the minuses before even thinking about the pluses because it may end all in tears instead of tears of joy. I have known a few people whom have not the proper research and regretted buying abroad - mostly in Spain and one in Portugal(though was an age-related issue). Thanks to the web many people now share their experiences whether good or bad.

Once after thorough research and professional advice, you will then know what you will encounter long-term then a decision can be made.

[EMM]

Year or year sales YTD are up over 30% in Portugal ( Algarve daily News ).
Still a long way from the heady days of 2007/8 but good news is welcome.

[sunman]

http://www.globalpropertyguide.com/Euro ... ce-History

[widge]

Year or year sales YTD are up over 30% in Portugal ( Algarve daily News ).
Still a long way from the heady days of 2007/8 but good news is welcome.

Whilst your optimism is admirable continually posting comments which suggest recovery are wide of the mark. sunman's article describes the fact that the property boom passed by Portugal & we have not suffered the same "boom & bust" scenario as Ireland & Spain. This has been the subject of many previous posts and is well documented both here and elsewhere.

[EMM]

Widge, There is little chance if any that prices and activity will return to 2007/8 levels for 10 years or 15 years , who knows.
We have to live with the markets of today and if sales improved by 30% in 2013 over the same period in 2012 which itself were higher than 2011 then this is good news.
Not perhaps what those who are still holding on to overpriced properties in todays market want to hear but it is better news for those who have taken a realistic approach to pricing.

[widge]

If you read the article that sunman posted you will see that house prices continue to decline year on year in Portugal & in the Algarve in particular.

It may be true that transaction numbers are up slightly, the Algarve Daily News talks about an 8% increase in August - I couldn't see any reference to 30% year on year but perhaps I read the wrong article ?

There were no heady days in 2007/08 that I can find reference to , but if it gives you comfort so be it.