If you have ever had that thought that sometimes remains unspoken about what it would be like to live abroad, maybe this article will help you. This article applies mostly to Spain but the principles can be applied to other countries.

For a Brit, or any northern European, living in Spain is quite often a dream scenario. From very young I knew that my long term destination was here. However why? Most people fall in love with the idea of moving to live in another country on a holiday, I am no different. My first experience was on the Costa Brava North of Barcelona. The easiness of the lifestyle, the lack of urgency and the general happiness of everyone surprised me. A day out in Barcelona more or less sealed the deal. Prior to the visit I had often thought about living here, this just made it certain.

From that point the question was how to achieve the dream, a plan of sorts. My suggestions, learn the language, read about the background and visit, lots, to get a good idea of where you want to be in Spain whether that be mainland or islands.

Once you have made the decision then you need to decide what it is that you will do here. Life in Spain is hard if you are unqualified and don’t speak the language as why should anyone employ you before a local or another foreigner with language skills.

There are a multitude of things you need to know about local customs and practices and life can be very different, most people are constantly caught out for the first few weeks by shop opening and closing times, by the lateness of the eating hours in restaurants by the lack of their favourite products. However all of these are just settling problems.

So what is life really like here;

1) Expect that your family life will have to fit around your long hours. Some people do.
2) Expect to take time to adjust whilst you learn the language and get yourself into the community. Unless you are in an expat area by the coast it is most likely that not many people will speak English
3) Expect to laugh a lot. Life is easier here but bureaucracy is like a maze. Don’t take things too seriously because in the future you will definitely look back on it and laugh
4) Come to my blog regularly and read it as you will find loads of details of what happens when you live in Spain, the good, the bad and the downright ugly, usually involving utility companies this part.

Once you have done that and have your preparation off to a tee then you can find out what  it is like to live here and you will be ready. Only at that point should you start looking for houses for sale in Spain. If you come unprepared then expect to return home after a couple of years with tail firmly between legs. Failing to prepare inevitably leads to failure. Following this advice will help you out in succeeding better.

At the moment there are more potential customers walking through the door wanting to buy a house for sale in Spain. There are also more people looking for straight rentals as well as option contracts for later dates when the banks are more open to lending after they see a better market and are able to get capital to fund buyers.

Working in Valencia this week has meant a lot of phone calls to sellers of properties asking the question about whether a purchase option contract for the future is possible and the answers have surprised me. After hearing what was involved in a purchase option contract more than 50% expressed a great interest in doing it. So just in case you have a property that you could rent with an option to buy here are some of the ways it can be done.

The basic premise is that somebody is interested in your property but cannot purchase currently for one of many reasons, ie Waiting for sale on their property, waiting for banks to start lending, needs greater time before proving income to the banks or going through the process of getting residency in Spain to get a better mortgage deal. If these circumstances apply, or maybe just one of them, then renting with an option to buy could be an option.

Drawing up a contract of this type has many variable but the basic premise is a rental agreed between both parties for a fixed period and within that period of time the tenant has an option to purchase at any moment and the right to match other offers on the property. At times the owner stops marketing the property actively for a time to give the tenant time to decide whether it is for them and so that they can get comfortable in the property, for example in one of our houses the owner stopped marketing for 8 months guaranteeing the tenant peace of mind for that time. The tenant thus has a stake in the property.

The best part for a buyer is that the price is fixed now and they can buy at that price at any moment that may suit them. It is possible to rengotiate the price if the market continues to fall too. The other good part is that if prices rise then they are guaranteed being able to purchase at the agreed price within the duration of the contract. The owner gets a price guaranteed during the contract and has the obligation to sell at that price if the tenant wishes to purchase. The owner therefore has a guarantee on the rental and that tenant is more likely to be careful with the property as they potentially hold a stake in it.

The contract is a bit more complicated than normal as it requires lots of negotiation on behalf of tenant and landlord but here we take care of that negotiation for you.

Quality houses for sale in Spain should be bought now because excellent offers are available due to a multitude of factors. So let’s study the real facts.

1) The fall of the UK pound against the Euro and the spike in interest rates last year placed many British sellers in a situation of needing or at least wanting to sell. An example would be that a property that somebody bought investing 200000 Pounds meant paying out between 290-300000 Euros. You could now sell at around 210-220,000 Euros to recoup the initial pounds invested. Thus you should be on the lookout for British sellers who can take advantage of the FX fluctuations as they are offering their properties at far greater discounts than Eurozone sellers.

2) The dramatic fall in interest rates in the last few months means that if you buy a property in Spain then you can get a better deal on any mortgage needed if you are considered to be a good client. Also you can take on a current mortgage at a far lower interest rate than a new one and with fewer costs.

3) Buying at the bottom of the cycle is always the best guarantee but when will the bottom of the cycle arrive? It may have already done so in quite a few areas. My personal opinion is that you allow some other buyer to wait for the absolute bottom of the cycle because if discounts are already factored in by British sellers using the currency advantage and they realise that to compete they must be keen on price then they are prices to sell very well. The best deals to be had are from British sellers who will convert their Euros to Pounds although other sellers may eventually drop their prices.

4) The higher quality of the house it terms of the property itself, the zone it is found in and the economic situation etc… the less chance it has of staying on sale for a long time. If you are able to get a good property in a good area at a great price just jump on board now because when the excess number of properties in Spain gets mopped up there will only be the least attractive properties left.

So if you are sitting on the fence due to currency fluctuations, worries about the economy, the uncertainty of interest rates etc… have some confidence as you can get a better deal now than has been available for some time. Valencia Property have excellent properties at really low prices because the money paid out by the sellers some years ago when buying was often well below market values in Pounds. Prices range from 90000-240000 Euros and all are from British sellers and therefore you are guaranteed much lower prices than from Eurozone sellers.