(written by the Spanish estate agent!!)
Psychology of owning a home you live in.
If you own and live in your house as opposed to buying investment property, you’ll spend money on the manicured lawn, the driveway, the electric gates- all stuff you absolutely do not need.
If you rent however, you’ll be just as comfortable living there but psychologically, you will not feel inclined to spend money on it. Your friends (and bank manager) will tell you that home improvements like the mahogany stairway add value to your home- no they don’t- It’s all a con job!
If the home you own is in Spain and ideally on the Costa Blanca you won’t waste any money you don’t need to. The rental return to you is the very same if you retile the kitchen or you dont- Guess what? you wont do it, meaning more money in your pocket.
Buy it and you will come.
Another reason I like to see people investing in Spain is that it almost forces people to come here on holiday – If you have a place in Spain, you’re going to want to spend at least a few weeks in it every year. You get enjoyment from it. You can earn an income 50 weeks of the year and the other two weeks you and the family will make life memories- The energy that this gives you will last you for another 50 weeks, until you come again next year. Compare that to locking up all your cash in the house you live in which is a constant drain on your money. It’s a liability – ie it takes money from your pocket, the property asset you own in Spain will give you a cash return as well as return that money cannot buy.
Another factor on buying a (large) property in Ireland that you live in, is you take it too seriously. Every month on the news we hear “house prices up 1.4 % this month” and you’re happy – Disaster next month as the newspapers tell us “house prices down 1.5%”. Who cares? You are not selling today anyway but the press (and I have to say the whole real estate industry) wants us to believe we are just about to miss the next big boom and so we always need to know what our house is worth. You worry that your neighbour may have paid 1,000 euro less for his house and you are thrilled when you hear he paid 1,000 more. Buy on the Costa Blanca and all of that nonsense goes out the window!
Home exchange; We use home exchange all the time. I am in Holland right now writing this on a home exchange which literally means that. A Dutch family is in our home in Spain and we are in theirs for a selected period- in this particular case, three weeks. No money changes hands and tens of thousands of people travel the world like this every month. Most people will not do a home exchange with their 200,000 euro house with its mahogany stairs and electric gates. If you buy in Spain however, you’ll get hundreds of applications to exchange, you can offer them your Spanish home in exchange for a trip to their country. It’s just another benefit of owning a property in Spain- another form or return on your Spanish investment you will not get on your Irish home.
So in summary here is the advice of this non financial advisor, Spanish estate agent (yes, I know how this sounds!!)
Buy a home in Spain and rent it rather than a home in Ireland to live in.
It’s better value. Saying that owning the home you live in is an investment is not true.
A home in Spain puts money into your pocket.
The home you live in in Ireland takes money from your pocket.
You won’t take a Spanish home so seriously and you are not looking at the market trends every second day.
You have flexibility in both countries. You are not tied to one location in Ireland and you can move to Australia for a year whenever you want.
Come to Spain when you home here is free. That is priceless for you and your family.
Try home exchange and see how much you save and you will love travelling like this.
Spend less on maintenance in Spain. Rain and damp is hard on a house, sunshine, not so much!!
Spend nothing on your rental home in Ireland- let your landlord do it.
Sell your home in Spain quicker than one in Ireland.
Sorry to all the estate agents all across Europe I’ve just upset here with my views!
If we can help you to find that dream home in Spain, please just let us know.
We are here to help.
