I have been seriously thinking about buying property, renovating it and then selling it on. I have a good idea of how it works in the UK but I wondered if there was anybody out there already doing it in Marid so that I can ask for some advice. I hava a chance at purchasing a neighbour's flat and I need to move fast. Any help would be appreciated!

LC

i personally do not think it is a good market for this type of thing right now unless you get the property at a VERY cheap price.

saludos,
jer...

The consensus appears to be that house prices are going to decline for the next year or two. It depends on whether you're going to need to sell the house, or use it to bring in rental income until prices rise again (and this may be longer than most realise - look at Japan). The thing about Madrid is you'll always have a strong demand, not least from TEFL teachers needing digs. Make sure each bedroom has a study desk and internet/satellite tv is set up, and you'll never be short of good tenants.

If Luisa is just thinking of buying the place in order to sell it quickly and make a small-(ish)profit out of it, by spending money and time cleaning it up, and doing all the necessary & relevant paperwork, etc, it might not be such a good idea, given the current environment at this time, as the profit made could well end up not having been worth the effort and original financial input, and there is a considerable risk of actually making a loss at the end, or only breaking even.

It might however, be a better idea to invest in the property as a business venture, and then at a later date sell-on-the-business for a small profit, after having made considerably more out of it.

What Luisa could do, is with 'partner' (e.g. husband, if married) buy the place, fix it up a little, and open it as a "Pensión" and both register as Autónomo y sociedad civil, (this you will have to research on, but is not so complicated as you might think.

This is something I know about very well here in Zaragoza, but I don't advise on this kind of business arrangement, can only recommend it, as it is extremely popular, and extremely "profitable" as the rooms of a Pensión fill and empty like the proverbial clappers, at least they do here in Zaragoza, they just keep getting filled & reserved from one end of the year to the other, and so a much more serious & meaningful/worthwhile profit will be made, easily re-couping the original financial investments when purchasing the property & cleaning it up, etc.

This is one option that can be considered by Luisa as a viable proposition, and is in my opinion far, far better than trying to set yourself up as a "Landlord" which can be a frelling headache, as the last thing anybody wants in this world, is to find themselves lumbered with strange & difficult tenants, who seem to complain about things endlessly, and is in my opinion not worth the bother, but a Pensión, with several rooms, you will get a high turnover of people, most of whom you will probably not see again, or for a long time, they come, they stay, they pay, they go, and that's it, no need for any involvement, and business with the Pensiónes is really very good now, really buzzing, and here in Zaragoza for example, with the big EXPO-2008 this year, the phones have not stopped ringing with people begging for reservations, emails by the boat load, you basically reserve the rooms for the next whole year, even cancellations are filled again on the very same day!!

So there it is Luisa, consider that as probably the best thing that you could do with your money, Invest it in the property and turn it into a Pensión with as many rooms as it will convert into, a couple of shower rooms, a couple of WC's, nothing too fancy, just basic, and then start making some real profit, just buying and selling it won't make you that much I'm afraid, so not really worth the bother, unless you're a property developer and do that kind of thing all year round, selling many properties. Also I think you will find that buying and selling a property in either Spain or the UK is not something that happens fast in any case, it has to go through proper channels and that takes time, money and paperwork, and is fraught with delays and sometimes other complications that can arise, and so if you only have an "idea" of how it all works, it is better to NOT try and do it all by yourself, as that can often end in financial disaster & complete Loss of money.

http://foros.emagister.com/tema--12726-333934-1.htm
http://www.crear-empresas.com/formajuridicadeconstitucion.htm
http://www.google.es/search?hl=es&q=SOCIEDAD+AUTONOMO+-...car+con+Google&meta=
http://www.gabilos.com/foros/viewtopic.php?p=1432&sid=7...669d0a0393e3253b669c
http://www.todoexpertos.com/categorias/negocios/fiscali...il-con-dos-autonomos
http://www.todoexpertos.com/categorias/negocios/creacio...nomo-por-facturacion

Para crear una empresa
http://www.todoexpertos.com/categorias/negocios/creacio...-empresa-en-internet


If you search for this here on multimadrid, you will find that there are numerous discussion threads on the subjet of Autónomos, going back a few years, with many Links/enlaces to other info/websites within those post's.


Saludos y Feliz Año Nuevo

Angelo
.

Thank you very much for your advice Angelo. All very valuable. The pension is a good idea but with a full time job it's not feasible at the moment. Maybe when I am ready to give up the day job!

Thanks very much MrMark and Jer. I have taken your advice and I didn-t take on the development project after all.

good thing you passed on it, you would have lost your shirt

saludos,
jer...