British people selling Spanish,Fr, Portuguese property. Selling up in Ireland too?

yqtwqxqm

Talking to a mate of mine last night who owns a property management company in Spain.
He tells me that since the Brexit vote a lot of UK foreign property owners are now worried on several counts that their investment is heading down.
And so are offloading their foreign properties before the sh!t hits the fan.
Basically trying to offload their property before the rush when prices really start to go down.

Things that have them worried are.
Falling sterling, if they have uk pensions etc. Also for walking around money and flights.
Tax laws changing as they will be no longer in Europe.
And a few other misc reasons he was saying they are all worried about Brexit and being exposed to foreign property.

I wonder will British people start offloading property in Ireland too, and do they even own enough of it that if they were offloading en mass would it have any effect.

OfflerCrocGod

Doesn't make sense, if your property is in €s and you are worried £ will fall further then it seems sensible to keep the € asset.

CJhaughey

Retirees that traditionally bought a place in Spain/Ireland/France will now be worried as they won't have medical insurance automatically in the EU.

yqtwqxqm

OfflerCrocGod wrote: »

Doesn't make sense, if your property is in €s and you are worried £ will fall further then it seems sensible to keep the € asset.

That depends if your income is in £ and also if you have a mortgage or not and in which currency.

By the sounds of it there are more downsides to keeping the properties than selling up now and knowing exactly where you stand.

The way my friend put it to me about foreign properties was that he had clients who were long time owners of foreign properties who have now decided its cheaper to by a rental in the UK and pay the tax and use the proceeds of that to rent abroad when you need to.

Doesnt work if you have retired to Europe, but it does work if you only over for a month or two every year.

There are a million variables though. Some people stay abroad six months and rent the place for the rest of the time. Others only go abroad a few weeks and rent. Others dont rent. Others live abroad and draw their uk pensions.
The uncertainty is the killer and that will lower prices, so a lot are moving now to sell before the rush starts.

I have a foreign property myself but hardly use it anymore. I dont really have to sell it because its hand for the rellies and family gatherings etc etc and nice to have when we want it. But thinking about it even the property taxes alone cost me more than what it would cost me to rent a place for the odd week or month.
Maybe im better off selling too before the value goes down, since the rellies get more out of the place than I do.

The_Conductor

A lot of French are also dumping property these days (the French taxman is making demands for property tax on overseas holdings- its not a recent development- but they're getting better at enforcing it). You also have Russians dumping property in the region (for similar reasons). There are whole areas of Portugal- which are rapidly becoming Irish and German in nature- and the expats from both nations are getting a bad name in the local press........

As for Brits dumping property for medical reasons- I don't see it as being a determining factor. Sure- they can get private health insurance like anyone else. The absence of E1-11 eligibility simply means they will have to pay for treatment at the point of administration- which a lot of the time, despite your E1-11, you have to do anyway (particularly in Spain- not so often in Portugal or France).

Property is being sold on the Iberian peninsula- I wouldn't go so far as to say 'dumped'- but it is shifting- and the main sellers are not British.........

yqtwqxqm

The_Conductor wrote: »

A lot of French are also dumping property these days (the French taxman is making demands for property tax on overseas holdings- its not a recent development- but they're getting better at enforcing it). You also have Russians dumping property in the region (for similar reasons). There are whole areas of Portugal- which are rapidly becoming Irish and German in nature- and the expats from both nations are getting a bad name in the local press........

As for Brits dumping property for medical reasons- I don't see it as being a determining factor. Sure- they can get private health insurance like anyone else. The absence of E1-11 eligibility simply means they will have to pay for treatment at the point of administration- which a lot of the time, despite your E1-11, you have to do anyway (particularly in Spain- not so often in Portugal or France).

Property is being sold on the Iberian peninsula- I wouldn't go so far as to say 'dumped'- but it is shifting- and the main sellers are not British.........

Being in Portugal and Spain a lot I would say that they love the Irish in both destinations, though not in the rowdy destinations, the likes of which attract stags etc, nobody like anybody in those places.

Id agree that medical concerns arent an issue at all, though having been in a Portuguese hospital, I would fly to Ireland for medical care any day. I hear Spanish hospitals are even worse, but have no experience of them.

The most prevalent concern at the moment is uncertainty, and its that reason that they apparently want to move on selling now - to beat any potential rush.

the_syco

CJhaughey wrote: »

Retirees that traditionally bought a place in Spain/Ireland/France will now be worried as they won't have medical insurance automatically in the EU.

I'd say it'd have a lot more to do with visas? If you have retired, and live in the abroad house now, I think you'll be okay, but if you have bought a house, plan to move there, but suddenly don't know if you'll be able to live there as the UK doesn't want free movement to be kept.

Thus I'd say many are getting out whilst the going is good, rather than trying to flog off the property if sh|t hits the fan, and everyone currently living in the UK needs a visa to stay in their holiday home.

Most likely, the people there will be kept, but those that have yet to come in may not be?

MarkAnthony

There's a huge lack of understanding (generally because no one knows to be fair!) on what Brexit means. It's very likely that free movement will remain. However if you're a bit thick or a bit of a nervous nelly you'd be liquidating now.

It's really important to realise just how insular the average Brit is. It's not quite on the scale with some Americans but it really isn't far off.

the_syco

MarkAnthony wrote: »

It's very likely that free movement will remain.

I'd wonder how many of those that are selling off are those that voted yes, for believing in their own misinformation?

flutered

was there a bit in the last uk budget where osbourne stopped or intend to stop paying welfare to uk claiments abroad

yqtwqxqm

flutered wrote: »

was there a bit in the last uk budget where osbourne stopped or intend to stop paying welfare to uk claiments abroad

That will surely stop now.
But I doubt the people selling property now are on welfare, so its probably nothing to do with that situation anyway.

Even though Brexit doesnt effect me, unless foreign property values tank with this sell off, it has made me think about it.
I was just working out with my property abroad that if I sell up now, I could by a 1 bed apt in Dublin outright. Take the rent and pay the running costs and 50% odd tax on it and have a nice profit left.
This profit would be about the same as the current property tax and expenses that I pay on my foreign property as it is, and would allow me to rent the same foreign property back for the year, or even better to rent it or similar back for ony the time I want to spend in it and leave me with a heafty sum in my pocket for booze and nosh while away.
Jesus what have I been doing? The folly of inertia.

I thik I might sell up now in case they Brits do make them tank.

Shint0

flutered wrote: »

was there a bit in the last uk budget where osbourne stopped or intend to stop paying welfare to uk claiments abroad

I think they cut fuel allowance anyway for some expat pensioners. It was dependent on whether the location's climate had a higher temperature than the location with the highest average winter temperature in the UK. It caused a bit of an uproar among British expat pensioners living in the south of Spain as evening temperatures there can drop.

I think there had already been a bit of exodus of British expats residing permanently in Spain back to the UK in the last few years anyway because of the Spanish economy and high unemployment rates.

utmbuilder

don't mean to hijack your post, but whats a good site for overseas property?

zef

Kyero.com is a pretty good one - I have noticed a whole lot more villas etc added in recent weeks. I've been keeping an eye on specific area (Catalonia) and a lot of decently priced property has been aded in the past week or so.
Daft.ie has an 'Overseas' tab, you might find something suitable there either.

yqtwqxqm

utmbuilder wrote: »

don't mean to hijack your post, but whats a good site for overseas property?

Better off looking for websites in the country you are interested in.
The likes of Daft will have prices that are too high for foreign properties.
Find local websites or contact local EAs.
Daft feal in Irish to Irish selling.
A property is worth what a local will pay, not what a well off foreigner will pay.

Ive decided im putting my foreign property on the market on Monday.
Might as well cash in in case the balloon bursts.

The_Conductor

yqtwqxqm wrote: »

A property is worth what a local will pay, not what a well off foreigner will pay.

Ive decided im putting my foreign property on the market on Monday.
Might as well cash in in case the balloon bursts.

Not entirely true- there are numerous Irish bidding against each other in some parts of Spain and Portugal- to the annoyance of locals who feel its driving prices far beyond where they should be- and pricing locals out of the market..........

How or why there is still such an amount of money floating around- is beyond me- however, it does appear to be the case.

yqtwqxqm

The_Conductor wrote: »

Not entirely true- there are numerous Irish bidding against each other in some parts of Spain and Portugal- to the annoyance of locals who feel its driving prices far beyond where they should be- and pricing locals out of the market..........

How or why there is still such an amount of money floating around- is beyond me- however, it does appear to be the case.

That was my point.
Stick to the local EAs so you see the properties that arent in that situation.