Spain is paradise on earth, or so believe the many thousands of Northern Europeans who have been making an exodus to the country, whether as permanent residents or as tourists looking for a regular vacation home.

Britons’ First Choice

A recent study conducted by Barclays Bank and the University of Navarra Business School, showed that sixty five percent of Brits call Spain their first choice, while another 38% say it is their only choice. The facts support this study. In early 2005, the town halls in Spain showed an increase of nearly thirty percent more British residents.

Better Buyer Protection

You may have heard of scandals where people were entangled into disastrous off plan purchases. These buyers chose to invest in properties that (as they later discovered) had planning irregularities. They tried to recover their deposits but could not negotiate for a settlement with the developer. Unfortunately the legal system in Spain is more bureaucratic than the legal system in England, but there are steps taken to return the money to the buyers.

The Spanish government has promised to make improvements in the country and to provide better protection to buyers. Recent scandals have made the issue more prominent and have helped people more conscious of the problem. The recent elections will also hopefully lead to a new era of well managed and sustainable development which in turn will improve overall quality of life.

However the buyers themselves have to be careful of scams. For example there is a common marketing toolk where people try to sell you properties with a rental guarantee, but the reality of the matter is that the “guarantee” was simply made by bloating the property rates by the level of the required guarantee. This would then be returned to the buyer within an agreed upon timeframe. Some committed a six percent guaranteed yield, but with a price increase of 12 percent! In this case people have to read the fine print and do the math.

But despite the occasional crook (and you’ll find them anywhere, even outside of Spain) Spain continues to be one of the best real estate prospects, especially with new laws and government policies that are consumer-friendly. Just be careful of being fooled by hype and exercise caution and common sense when buying a home. After all you can’t expect the law to protect you if you don’t try to protect yourself.