Dutch property pricesgoing south

[spidergawd]

Might be good to hang on a bit anyone thinking of relocating.

Falling Netherlands house prices leave owners stuck

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-23681604

[Lafe]

This seems all too familiar.

[Sailor59]

Got an e-mail the other day from an agency in Tenerife I registered with. Two bed, two bath apartment. Fully furnished, communal pool. Nice area.

Minimum 6 month agreement, £10 a day. Full utilities of power, water, satellite TV, phone line (calls extra), unlimited Wi-Fi, ground and pool maintenance, local taxes..., worked out at another £8 a day. Just over £126 a week for everything. As a special offer they would cover the deposit of 8 weeks up front.

Desperate times.

[Slip & Sal]

I thinking of investing my super annuation(like a retirement fund) in real estate. Where would be a cheapish but profitable area to buy in the Nederlands? Where do you look? What are real estate agents called/names?

[Slip & Sal]

Do they have repossession sales in the Netherlands?

[elasticband]

funda.nl

is one of the biggest sites where the agents(makelaars) advertise

[Slip & Sal]

cheers was just looking at a unit near grasshopper 2 I think.

[Uncle Ron]

Got an e-mail the other day from an agency in Tenerife I registered with. Two bed, two bath apartment. Fully furnished, communal pool. Nice area.

Minimum 6 month agreement, £10 a day. Full utilities of power, water, satellite TV, phone line (calls extra), unlimited Wi-Fi, ground and pool maintenance, local taxes..., worked out at another £8 a day. Just over £126 a week for everything. As a special offer they would cover the deposit of 8 weeks up front.

Desperate times.

Sounds appealing, however... the +4 hour plane ride on and off of the "Island" isn't so much.... paradise does come at a price.
With the daily weather (year round at that) being mostly sunny with temps between 16-25c, might be worth it...

As for buying property in The Netherlands, regardless if the prices seem to be going down a bit, that market has been played out.
First to go are properties that no one wants, then the not so undesirable, and so on...
Bottom line - prime real estate won't drop to the levels of affordability for most people, so this story is basically a non-starter for most.

Buy real estate in Spain - cheaper, the weather is 1000% nicer, and personal cannabis use is tolerated. Did I forget to mention that Morocco is a short boat trip away?
Too easy...
...

post script - if the drop in prices does stimulate sales, i hope that buyers are aware that when the market rebounds, so will their property taxes when reevaluated.
...this is a major reason why many lose their property - they aren't able to pay the taxes when the property value increases.

[Smith2]

What are real estate agents called/names?

They're called some very choice names around here. Bastards, wankers, pondscum...

[elasticband]

cheers was just looking at a unit near grasshopper 2 I think.

get out of the center, it is nicer and you generally get better for your money in my opinion and i looked at at many apartments as a private renter here so i imagine the buying market will be the same

expect to pay k.k which is about 5 - 10% of the listed price as an agent fee,

[SatoriKarma]

I'm currently planning on relocating to the Amsterdam area and am currently looking at all the various areas. I can't decide on whether to pay a higher price for a small central Amsterdam apartment or a lower price for a larger one further out of the central area. I've looked at Jordaan and I really like that area but the prices there are pretty steep. Budget is probably around €150k.

Any thoughts on good areas appreciated.

I'm selling the UK house at the end of this year, so will be a cash buyer - no mortgage thank god.

Reading that article, it sounds like Amsterdam prices have further to fall, so I might be better holding off buying somewhere for the moment.

Any thoughts? Is now the right time to relocate to Amsterdam or should I hold off for a few years?

[SatoriKarma]

Buy real estate in Spain - cheaper, the weather is 1000% nicer, and personal cannabis use is tolerated. Did I forget to mention that Morocco is a short boat trip away?
Too easy...

Hmm if only it was that easy.

I have an apartment in Spain, I could quite easily go and live there full time. Only one problem...

If you live there for more than 183 cumulative days per year (6 months more or less) you automatically become a fiscal tax resident. That means you now pay Spanish taxes on your world wide income. But that isn't the problem. As a fiscal tax resident you also have to declare all assets over €50,000 in value, that includes property, bank accounts, shares, pensions and so on.

Knowing how corrupt the Spanish officials are, they can fuck off if they think I'm declaring my worldwide assets to them, so they can grab and tax them when they change the laws to allow them to do so. And the penalties for non-declaration are pretty punitive.

No thanks.

[Uncle Ron]

Buy real estate in Spain - cheaper, the weather is 1000% nicer, and personal cannabis use is tolerated. Did I forget to mention that Morocco is a short boat trip away?
Too easy...

Hmm if only it was that easy.

I have an apartment in Spain, I could quite easily go and live there full time. Only one problem...

If you live there for more than 183 cumulative days per year (6 months more or less) you automatically become a fiscal tax resident. That means you now pay Spanish taxes on your world wide income. But that isn't the problem. As a fiscal tax resident you also have to declare all assets over €50,000 in value, that includes property, bank accounts, shares, pensions and so on.

Knowing how corrupt the Spanish officials are, they can fuck off if they think I'm declaring my worldwide assets to them, so they can grab and tax them when they change the laws to allow them to do so. And the penalties for non-declaration are pretty punitive.

No thanks.

Ouch, then there's that I suppose...
Good info to know...thanks.
An easy workaround is to move on Day 182...
I'm an EU resident (US citizen in Germany) and have been reading shit loads about splitting my time between Germany and Spain (think snowbird). The only obstacle, and not a difficult one at that, is having health insurance coverage while residing in Spain. For a small extra fee, my insurance company will cover me, as they do for many German citizens/residents who reside elsewhere, especially during winter months.
As for owning property in Spain, it may not be for everyone, but I think for investment purposes would be better suited than The Netherlands.

...

[SatoriKarma]

An easy workaround is to move on Day 182...

Absolutely, that's the plan. But it does mean I can only stay there for up to 6 months in any year, hence the need for somewhere else for the other 6 months. My current thoughts are Amsterdam.

As for owning property in Spain, it may not be for everyone, but I think for investment purposes would be better suited than The Netherlands.

Well, that's interesting and I'd really be interested in hearing your reasons for why you think this.

Whilst Spanish prices are currently pretty low, I honestly don't see the Spanish property market recovering anytime soon. I think it's going to take anything from 10-20 years for that market to recover for the simple reason there's so many unsold properties there, unemployment is rising and the Spanish government seem clueless about how to turn their country around.

Whilst the Dutch property market has also seen a fair amount of decline in prices, the demand for housing there is pretty high and it won't take as long to turn around as the Spanish market.

What's your view?

[Slip & Sal]

What are real estate agents called/names?

They're called some very choice names around here. Bastards, wankers, pondscum...

crack up