Nice piece of property, only $65,000,000

More lovely properties on Christie's Great Estates for Sale, which features this
one at Dar Olfa, Morocco's most exclusive enclave.
(This is not an ad --wish it were-- just a fascination.)

Is buy-to-let a good investment in Spain?

Financial crisis increases renting over buying

SPAIN -- (by Fuster & Associates) Buy-to-let is an incredibly popular investment method in the UK but it has still not fully caught on in Spain. This has been due largely to the Spanish rental laws which have historically been extremely rigid as well as the propensity for the Spanish to purchase their homes rather than rent which has held back demand. However, this could be set to change with the Spanish press revealing that the government is considering further changes to rental laws in order to provide flexibility. There are also currently very attractive rental yields with residential property offering 5.3% annual yields, well above returns available on government bonds and savings accounts. On top of this the current economic situation in Spain with low wages and a relatively high earnings to property price ratio mean that more Spaniards are being forced to consider the rental option. This rise in demand coupled with further changes in the law which would provide security against defaulting tenants could be the catalysts for a buy-to-let boom.

Your questions: Do I need an Energy Certificate when buying from a bank?

Q: I am about to buy an apartment from a bank. Should I ask for an Energy Certificate? And do I need one to sell or rent it?

A: An Energy Certificate (Certificado Energético) is obligatory to all proprietors and therefore, also to financial entities, including Sareb ('The bad bank') and all official agencies wanting to sell or rent a property. The Certificate must be presented when completion at the Notary is signed or at the time of signatures for a rental contract. Also, the property must have its current Energy Certificate when it is advertised for sale or rental, including//on estate agents’ website and other advertising.

Good news about 'Cláusula Suelo' or Ground Clauses in Mortgages

MADRID -- The Supreme Court has dismissed eight mortgage contracts that included Ground Clauses -- the controversial Cláusula Suelo that caused much unease last year among property owners on a mortgage loan (See Defining Cláusula Suelo) -- thus rejecting the bank's argument that the contracts were read at the Notary's office on signing the contract. However, the Court decided that the entity (Caja Segovia, now part of Bankia) breached its duty of transparency by not explaining the clauses properly to its customers taking out a mortgage. There are several other legal matters that have yet to be resolved in this case, about which we will be reporting as soon as they are. If you have a cláusula suelo in your mortgage contract, you would be well advised to contact the bank that holds it, or better still, contact your lawyer, who will explain things clearly and tell you what you can do to get it invalidated.

Why is my home not selling?

SPAIN – This fact is, of course, not exclusive to this country. However, there are a large number of homes left unsold here, especially on the Costa del Sol. Advice given to Spanish sellers on various websites might be handy knowledge for expats, too:

·        One ad is not enough.  Even a series of ads may not be enough. The secret behind successful marketing is in repetition, so we can learn from the likes of Coca-Cola, Lever Bros. etc. etc. The big boys, in other words. (More  ideas and suggestions below.)

How could the new capital gains tax law affect you?

MADRID -- A new capital gains tax comes into effect on January 1, 2015. Not every property seller is impacted, though. According to Fuster & Associates, the government is eliminating two coefficients when calculating the tax due on a property sale. It does mean, however, that some vendors will see a large increase in the amount of capital gains they are liable for. There are three tax groups that will be exempted from paying, however:

Castle, anyone? No? A fortress, then!

Drastically reduced
from €2.3mm to €1.9mm

SPAIN – You can buy your own castle, or even a fortress, if you have a spare €600,000 to €10million. No doubt as one of the results of the crisis but also because it costs a great deal of money to maintain one, castles are – while not exactly two-a-penny – for sale all over Spain. This country does not have the equivalent of a National Trust, as in the UK, so owners and heirs find it difficult if not impossible to keep them up. Interest has arisen in the last couple of years, mainly from international investors. While most have been in private ownership, several are held by companies and some, a small minority, by the State.

‘Regularization’ of 300,000 homes in Andalucía is a ‘scandal of incalculable consequences’

Marbella

SEVILLE – A new decree on the legalisation of otherwise illegal homes in Andalucía has been called a ‘guarantee of savage urbanism’ by the environmental pressure group Ecologistas en Acción (Environmentalists in Action). These homes were built on what was officially classified as ‘non-buildable land’ (SNU, Suelo No Urbanizable), and the new decree is ‘a fiasco that will have serious legal, territorial, environmental, social and economic consequences [that attempt against] the general interest of the citizenry’, according to the NGO. When the Junta de Andalucía asked SNU for it opinion on the proposed decree, Ecologistas en Acción sent in their own proposals which would eliminate the principal attraction to building on agricultural land, which would be extremely profitable to developers. The Junta never replied nor consulted them again. Below we have summarised the main arguments presented by the SNU.

Do I have to indemnify the tenants if they leave before the contract ends?

Q: I’m ending a rental before the contract runs out. Is it legal for the landlord to demand indemnization of a month’s rental for each year left on the contract?

SPAIN – (Original source: idealista.com, and consultation with specialist attorneys) First, read the contract carefully (which you should have done before you signed it). Most of them contain a period of notice, which if it is met, you need pay nothing. However,

What is the catastro?

MADRID (+Opinion) – If you own a property in Spain it must be registered at the Catastro that belongs to the province where the property is located. The word itself (aside from the fact that it is the beginning of another one: catastrophe or catastrofe in Spanish, which describes it pretty well for most of the country) is translated as cadastre in English, but it is not something you hear about much in the UK, I’m told. So what is a cadastre?