Private Property For Sale in the Canary Islands

 As one of the leading estate agents dealing with overseas property investments, Property-For-Sale-Abroad has a very extensive
   portfolio of available overseas property for sale.
   There is a great deal of choice on offer across the board. From the initial choice of country, region, resort and the specific type of
   new property development to the specific style and type of property, the choice is yours.
 

   You, as our client benefit from the years of experience that the team at Property-For-Sale-Abroad possess, our staff will be on
   hand at every juncture of your overseas property purchase, from country selection to completion.
   Wherever your desired overseas property investment destination the only choice of estate agent is Property-For-Sale-Abroad.

   Property-For-Sale-Abroad has property for sale to suit the needs of everybody. With Florida, the Cape Verde Islands and
   the ever-popular Canary Islands appealing to investors who are looking for guaranteed sunshine.
 

   So little rain falls across these three resorts that buying property in any one will be a very hot investment.

   Investment in pre-construction property in Bulgaria along the Black Sea Riviera currently offers amazing investment opportunity
   according to monetary exchange rates. Whilst there is a multitude of new development property across Spain, Italy and France
   affording investors property enjoying the fantastic Mediterranean climate. Spain is still as popular as ever with overseas
   property investors with many new development programmes offering amazing pre-construction property for sale right across
   mainland Spain and the Mediterranean islands of Spain.

   From off-plan property for sale in the southern Spanish Costa resorts to pre-construction new development property on the
   islands of Majorca, Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera, Property-For-Sale-Abroad have a property to suit the requirements of
   every overseas property investor.

This basic property inspection checklist will get you started on what to look out for when you are inspecting a property for sale. Print out a checklist for each property inspection visit you make, so that you can take notes to refer to and compare.

If you decide to buy property privately without the help of a real estate agent, you need to understand how the process works. In this concise, but informative, buyer’s guide, we explain each step of the way to reaching your dream – to put you on the right track and hopefully make you realise that buying real estate privately is neither very different from using an agent, nor as complicated as it may seem.

Click here to view 9 Steps to buying property privately in the Canary Islands

Your guide to buying property off plan in the Canary Islands, Spain, is a blog set up by Sorted Sites , who are a website and design company in Tenerife, specialising in Real Estate Web Solutions.

Spanish property purchase in the Canary Islands from a Developer is a good investment as long as you don’t mind waiting a little until the property is completed.

Among our property listings at buyprivateproperty.com, you will find a choice of attractive off-plan property opportunities in the Canary Islands. In this brief Q&A style guide, we explain what buying off-plan property in Spain entails and how to go about choosing and acquiring your own off-plan property.

Why do developers sell property off plan?
Developers try to sell a certain number of properties in a new development ‘off the plan’ as quickly as possible so that they minimise the amount of capital they have to invest in the project and so minimise their risk. This also means that they can afford to work on more projects at a time. Besides, once there is a healthy public interest in a project, the developer can often negotiate more advantageous loans and also attract other third-party investors.

What’s in it for me when I buy off-plan property in the Canary Islands?
As is the case elsewhere, buying property off plan is very popular with people seeking to own a property in the Canary Islands. However, buying off-plan property in the Canary Islands does have the usual, obvious drawbacks – basically having to wait for completion of the property (usually up to 2 years and sometimes more) and not being able to see the finished property before committing to the purchase.

However, for many people, the huge advantage of buying at a price that is typically 10%-30% less than the market value for a similar property makes buying off-plan property in the Canary Islands a very attractive option indeed.

There are also other advantages to buying property off plan. For example, if you buy early enough into a development, you can choose from among the best properties (e.g. corner units, penthouses and properties with the best views) which are the first to sell out. Besides, in many cases when you buy off plan, you will also be given the possibility to choose the property’s finishing and fittings to suit your taste.

How does buying off-plan property work as a short-term investment?
There are many people who buy off-plan property popular areas of Spain – such as the Canary Islands – as a pure investment, to sell for a profit further down the line. However the idea of selling your off-plan property for a good deal more on or just before completion is a ‘get-rich-quick strategy’ that rarely plays out that way in real life – contrary to what some real estate agents might tell you.

In practice, there will often be many other new off-plan units available nearby in upcoming development phases of the project, and these will compete strongly against your own property at first and limit just how much you can raise the price initially. Besides, you will also be competing for buyers against other owners of property in your development, many of them eager to sell. This means you would generally be better off waiting a while for things to settle down before putting your finished off-plan property on the market if you want to be able to get the best returns on your Spanish property investment.

How do I go about choosing my off-plan property in the Canary Islands?
As you search for off-plan property in Spain’s Canary Islands, you will have to rely on plans, models, artist’s impressions and other documentation to choose your property. In many cases, the developers will have a pilot unit completed for display purposes. However it is important that you clarify how the property you are buying relates to the pilot unit you are shown, as the actual finishing may not necessarily be of the same quality. If there is no pilot unit, there may be similar units in other phases of the same development that you can look at to get an idea of what the finished off-plan properties will look like.

It goes without saying that you should find out as much as possible and visit the site of the development and the surrounding area before making a decision. Also ask about the kind of community you are buying into (nationality, average age of buyers, etc. and if the development is predominantly a holiday or a residential one). Another thing you should check is if there will be an owner’s association or maintenance fees for common areas, and what the community rules and regulations will be. The developer should be in a position to provide you with all this information.

How do I research the developer when buying off-plan property in the Canary Islands?
Choosing a good and reputable developer is just as important as choosing the property itself. View other properties built by the developer and if possible try and speak to the owners to find out their experiences. You can also look up the developer’s name on the Internet to see what kinds of comments people are making about them.

Ask your Spanish lawyer to make sure that the developer is financially stable and has taken out insurance against bankruptcy and any other potential issues that could affect the development you are interested in. Your lawyer should also check to make sure that the development has the appropriate planning permission and other necessary paperwork before you pay the deposit on an off-plan property in the Canary Islands.

What is the typical payment schedule when buying off-plan property in the Canary Islands?
Usually, you can stake your claim to an off-plan property in the Canary Islands by paying a small deposit of a few thousand Euros on the property. Later on, you will be required to pay the remainder by instalments usually starting once – or just before – the building works have begun. These payments are normally due on pre-determined dates or when specific project milestones are reached.

This means that if you are financing part of your property purchase through a loan, you will not have to borrow the full amount from the start and can arrange with the bank to increase the sum of money on loan as each payment becomes due. This will save you a considerable sum of money on interest.

What other expenses will I have to pay besides the price of the property?
In the case of a new property, the buyer will have to pay 4.5% IGIC (a special low VAT rate applied in the Canary Islands) on the value of the property. There will also be stamp duty, and notary and land registry fees amounting to around 2% of the purchase price.

This property-buying guide is intended to cover issues specific to off-plan property. For more general information on buying property, please read our Guide to buying property privately in the Canary Islands