Valencia Property Blog

Here at Valencia Property we have always been fans of quality over quantity. Orange juice made with oranges not Sunny Delight, mature cheese with taste not that "Tierno" rubbery rubbish, the odd ugly building making us appreciate the classical facades even more not Benidorm with its surfeit of hideousness. You get the idea. With property it's the same, why list everything when most is not worth it?

We wrote an article a while back about why we don't list everything we are offered, there are plenty of reasons, but today we are going to look at quality control and what it means for listings. We are also going to show you some examples of things we just will not list and give the reasons why. Many agencies are so desperate to have something to list that they will just list anything and everything and then just hope that some random person will buy it without doing any research into legalities, value for money and even whether it really exists. Yes, even that.

The Difficulty in Deciding

Firstly we have to say that our job is difficult as we have to have criteria to decide what is worth it and that criteria is a constantly moving target. Something we discounted three or six months ago might well suddenly be a great deal when the owner reduces the price allied to movements in the market and a tightening of supply. So things move onto our radar for our clients even though originally we may have discounted them.

Why Do We Decide to List?

The property has to have something to recommend it for our clients whether that's location, price, facilities, amenities locally or even something special like a terrace, an amazing makeover or potential to be a fantastic place even if it's currently as rough as the side of a matchbox. It might even be as simple as knowing that we have a particular client in mind for a property after they have gone away empty handed previously but we know what will suit them. Once we see something in a property then it's time to list it. However we see hundreds and thousands of properties both listed and on visits and the vast, vast majority of them we don't list.

What Stops Us?

Price (Of Course)

The main thing is almost always price. Who knew? We are going to use some examples. This doesn't necessarily mean that these agents always have ridiculously expensive properties with no quality control of course. This property is an absolutely ridiculous price. The justification is that it has been redesigned by a reknowned Valencian architect. Honestly, I don't care. It is still over 6500 euros per m2 in an area with an average price of 3121 Euros per m2. In the same area we will soon have a much better place for sale for 300k less and a huge terrace. Not to be outdone the most expensive place for sale in Valencia is an eye-watering 12000 per m2. This week's Las Provincias talks about average prices in each area of Valencia, you can see the image below, and the most expensive area, L'Eixample or Ensanche is just over 4000 Euros per m2. 12,000 Euros per m2 is an absolute p*sstake. But taking the proverbial biscuit is this absolute robb e ry at just over 17000 euros per m2 in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento. What these ridiculous prices do of course is artificially inflate the average prices seen below as nobody is paying that for these places. They will probably be for sale forever

Location

Sometimes you see a place that looks like it might be a great fit for what you are looking for but we don't list it. We know what our clients look for in a place in general and we definitely know what they don't look for and the things they don't look for you won't find in the listings online because negatives are never really pointed out. So if the building is in an area we know people usually say no to, if it is an apartment in a building where there are known issues whether that be construction, noise or other, or if the area is too remote, in the case of villas for example, then we won't list it. Sometimes we get it wrong and sometimes something will get onto the site that we figure might work. However, once it has been on the site for a long time then the original reason that we thought it might not work could be proved to be true.

We had somebody asking us this about a cheap property recently and the truth is that it is a great property at a good price but we don't get many properties in that area and for our particular client base it is too far away from Valencia. It may work really well for someone needing to be in that area but our client base doesn't really need to be anywhere in particular, they generally want to be in a place.

Circumstances

When we wrote the original post about this we listed any number of extenuating circumstances that might make us not interested in listing a property. Below is one of the examples.

There are often reasons not to list but sometimes if you can look past a particular thing then the property may still suit you. A flight path overhead, a pig shed next door and a noisy rally track are just a few of the things that for me would be non-negotiable. Our clients feel the same generally. Some construction next door or nearby, not much of a view or knowing you'll need to do some work are totally fine as those things might suit people.

Knowing there will be a nice new villa next door or more in the area rather than a piece of waste ground is an advantage. Not much of a view? Then make sure the garden looks great as Valencia is flat and sweeping views are rare. Needs some work? As long as the bones are good, the location works and it's within budget then go for it!

Speed

This is why we have pocket listings, it's so good we know it won't last. The effort of going to the property, talking with the owner, doing the photos and plans, uploading and thinking of one of our brilliant descriptions is wasted when the day after the visit a deposit is placed on the property. So sometimes, something doesn't get onto the site because it's just too good. Sounds weird right! If you are lucky you are here at the right time and you get to see it and make your offer. You won't believe how often this happens, kismet.

Criteria

Over the years we have had thousands of requests for property and the requirements are remarkably similar. We have said on these pages before it's rare to find someone asking for darkness, light usually wins out. Equally, nobody asks for small spaces, open spaces and large rooms are preferred. No view loses out to a view. Cockroach infestations are not really a selling point so clean and tidy wins out. What I'm trying to demonstrate here is that we know our market.

There is no reason to list rubbish as life is too short. If yoy are clear about your requirements and you communicate that to us using the forms on our site, one of which you can fill in below, then there won't be hundreds of properties that match unless you are too vague. And we are sure that dark, damp and small are not things you'll be writing below.

The Podcast is Back

Listen below to your mothly dose of the Valencian Property podcast now back for its third series after the summer break. Mortgages and options, what people are looking for, five tips, initial client meetings and a whole lot more get into the latest information packed 20 minutes. Have a listen.

25 Years of Valencia Property Anniversary

If you are reading this on the day it's published then our anniversary event will be in the future i.e, tomorrow. But most of you will be reading this after our event on the 10th of September 2024 when we celebrate 25 years of Valencia Property with a little get together for some of our previous clients.

We will be having a videographer and photos there and next week we will be showing you some of it for those of you not able to attend. Equally, in next month's podcast we will be sharing a lot of their experiences of buying property in Valencia and the process of doing so. So make sure to bookmark this page and our podcast page so you don't miss a thing.

Villa of the Week

To quote 10CC "Art for art's sake, money for God's sake". And you'll probably want the money to buy this place.

Art is a weird thing isn't it? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and all that. Do you love Van Gogh's Sunflowers or the pisstake that was Damien Hirst and his "physical impossibility of death in the mind of someone living" (aka a shark preserved in formalin)?

We all have our favourite art, that thing that makes us stop for more than two seconds in front of it when wandering around an Art Gallery in some random European Capital to escape the heat or rain for a bit. But there is one thing that we can probably agree on and that is that when a house is presented with a lot of good looking art, as opposed to a huge preserved shark in a glass box, then the photos of the property are a lot more satisfying.

This house is one of those although it might be described as a bit too much, as the art presented here means there are possibly too many money shots. Take a look at the pictures to see what we mean. Luckily the artwork is matched by the surroundings with this house being nestled into the hills of the Sierra Calderona in Serra so if you are an artist you won't be starved of your inspirational muse outside.

Five tastefully decoarated bedrooms, two bathrooms, an excellently and seemingly sunken living area, rustic style kitchen, open staircase, dining area and some beautifully placed terraces all decorated by more busts than at a Venus de Milo cosplay convention and set on a plot of 800 plus metres with a pool and well maintained gardens just a couple of kilometres out from the small mountain village of Serra, half an hour from Valencia City itself, this property speaks volumes and should not be around for long. (That was a long sentence wasn't it) However, remember what we said... beauty is in the eye of the beholder. What does your trained eye tell you about this place?*

*It doesn't tell you it has fibre optic internet so you could also work from here but it has!

Valencia In The News

Every week people share stories about Valencia with me and this week was no different. One I had seen previously and the other I had missed so here are a couple of recent articles. Just click on the images to be taken to the articles.