Valencia Property Blog

There are a huge number of reasons to escape the USA right now, we don't need to repeat them here (However we will do later as we quite like reminding you in case you forget some of the absolute and ongoing mess). However, the fact that life is so much cheaper here is a big one. Equally, if you are buying property here and getting a mortgage today we are going to explain how much you can save compared with both the USA and also the UK. Most of our clients don't require a mortgage to buy but some choose to get a mortgage because it's a bit of a no-brainer at current rates. It makes total sense to do so.

I was inspired to write this after my colleague Gavin sent me the following graph. 30 year mortgages in the States are now 7.5% fixed rate. I'm sorry but that's mental. Who in their right mind would take that as a deal? (Hands up if you have) Headwinds are coming to the property market for sure in the States.

Meanwhile in the UK they don't really do many long term fixed rate mortgages. You can get a 20 year fixed rate mortgage and the interest rate is below that of the USA, 6.09-6.86% apparently but it's still not great.

Meanwhile Spain's mortgages fall under the European Central Bank Interest Rates. Currently you can get a 20 year fixed rate mortgage offer for between 2.49% with discounts and 3.75%. Average is around 2.75% which is why we used that in the following example. We compared a 20 year fixed rate mortgage in Spain at 2.75% with a 30 year fixed rate mortgage in the USA at 7.5%, for the same amount, 300,000 Euros or Dollars. And there are some major takeaways from that.

The monthly payment on a 20 year mortgage in Spain is less than on a 30 year loan in the States, 1625 vs 2129.
The amount of interest to be paid back over the lifetime of the loan is massively different. You will save over 370,000 dollars or euros in interest payments alone, and that's before we factor in insurance on the loan etc...
Your total cost of purchase as a result on a 300k property is 390k in Spain and 766k in the States.
As we mentioned earlier there are strong headwinds in the USA property market at the moment not only because of interest rates meaning the value of the property could drop and if you are forced to sell at any point you could have a problem.

If we take the UKs rate of 6.5% and put that into the comparison then we get the following figures.

The monthly payment is actually more in this scenario at 2,237 pounds but you still save 230k in interest payments compared with the 7.5% rate in the States. However you pay an extra 146K in interest over the same 20 years as the Spanish mortgage so again it makes sense buying in Spain and living in a cheaper country with better communications, infrastructure and quality of life.

If you think that a mortgage here in Spain might work for you at these really low interest rates then contact our partners at Mortgage Direct and ask to work with them to get a pre-approval. This is an essential first step on your route to becoming a property owner here in Valencia and Mortgage Direct have the experience of working with all sorts of international clients to get them finance at great rates. Also take a look at the full process of getting a mortgage here in Spain below, after all forewarned is forearmed.

There are a couple of things to bear in mind here when thinking about a mortgage. You are likely to be offered a maximum of 70% of the price of the house on a mortgage. You will need to find 30% for your downpayment and also 15% in costs. This might be a higher downpayment than you would need to find in the States or the UK and also higher costs. Bear in mind though that ongoing costs are cheaper. We pointed this out in a previous post.

If you have the money available for the downpayment then living in Spain for twenty years will be considerably cheaper than living in the States or the UK not only in terms of mortgage costs. When you factor in everything else that is cheaper such as food, utilities, community (HOA, property taxes, insurances (Health, car and home for example), restaurants (and not having to pay tips on top of the bill), public transport, travel and that none of this is increasing due to stupid tariffs imposed by an economic illiterate and more... then it looks rosy...

Then we have the intangibles and here we are mostly looking at the USA... not worrying about being shot, not worrying about being kidnapped off the street and sent to a gulag in El Salvador, not wandering who might be an ICE (Gestapo) agent, less worry about your kids, the ability to let your kids read what books they want to read and to have libraries to read those books in, not having to kowtow to a Fascist leader... you get the idea. But we all know that usually it comes down to money.

The USA is about to get a whole lot more expensive due to the tariffs but apart from that it's about to get a whole lot more difficult to find things that were imported previously (Almost everything) and it's about to get a whole lot more dangerous. Anybody sensible would want to get away. However, if you are a MAGA then just stay where you are, it'll all be fine I'm sure, Fox News told you it would be I'm sure. (Good job MAGAs don't understand insincere sarcasm, long words or how tariffs, supply chains or virtually anything else works)

Why Would You Get A Mortgage?

As an American it makes total sense to get a mortgage as part payment of your property purchase at these rates because you don't decapitalise yourself and at the same time you can probably earn more on your savings in the States than what you are paying out (If mortgage rates are higher then savings rates are too). This is probably true for those of you reading from the UK too. However, you might want to keep an eye out for currency risk as the dollar depreciates as it retreats from being the reserve currency of the World and the pound depreciates because... well Brexit and more. You may also want to take a look at last week's post for some investment possibilities. Just click on the image below (And yes, we are taking the p*ss with the title).

What Can Your Money Buy You Then?

Obviously it's at this point that I tell you to go and look at our main website and find something that suits you. However, as we are here let's take a look at something where a 300k mortgage, meaning you pay out just 1625 Euros per month, is feasible.

We featured it last week but this property in Benifaio is pretty impressive so it's here again.

Great Possibilities in Serra 495k

"REDUCED BY 200K FOR QUICK SALE"

Well hello there! If you’ve got this far its because you’re looking for an absolutely enormous property to develop, maybe for your ever expanding Amish family, or maybe you want to open a Kibbutz, or crowd fund a Hipsters Yoga Retreat, Boutique Hotel, Luxury Dog Kennels, Spanish Cricket HQ, Retirement Home or any other venture that requires space and potential, and where better to do that than in the rather pleasant town of Serra with its spectacular views and cool, clean, fresh pine scented air in the Sierra Calderona.

This impressive looking property has a whopping 700m2 to play with, 400m is currently liveable space and the rest is covered terraces, with plenty of rooms, nooks and crannies to develop and extend your vision, combine that with the impressive 7500m2 of extremely private and multi tiered plot of urban land which would allow additional homes to be added, a huge pool, obligatory fronton court and you have almost endless possibilities, set in the foothills you can wander down to the town for the day to day stuff and what you save on the petrol can be spent on the Menu del Dia at the restaurants, bars and tascas.

So if you’re starting a project or looking to wind down, kick back and relax, this place may be just what you were looking for, time to take the first step towards your future.

If You Liked This...

Then as usual just click on the images below to be taken to more posts and our socials. You won't regret it. Loads more anti-Fascist content and a whole lot of great information.

In the house we find 5 double bedrooms with fitted wardrobes, 3 full bathrooms, a bright reception entrance that leads to a wonderfully spacious living room with glazed garden patio, reading room library with fireplace, open plan kitchen and dining area with pantry and utility room buff.ly/Ze6MCjn

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— Graham Hunt (@grahunt.bsky.social) April 19, 2025 at 1:37 PM

Finally it has arrived. It was time to step up. We are setting up the new Valencia Property Business Division for buildings, commercial properties, land sales and joint ventures. buff.ly/uiDlSOF #Valencia #ValenciaProperty #CommercialProperty #BuildingPlots

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— Graham Hunt (@grahunt.bsky.social) April 19, 2025 at 10:01 AM

Standout Villa With Outstanding Views Pedralba 210K

The type of property we rarely list any more. On an urbanisation but further from the city than the more expensive places In L’Eliana or La Cañada. Why don’t we list them? Because they are usually crap, that’s why. Illegal builds, no internet, poor quality construction, rustic land, all of the above….

So when we do list one, you can be guaranteed it is very good, and maybe one of a kind. This house was built only 16 years ago, and it feels it. Solid and modern, good windows and with a proper pool (ie not a converted reservoir tank). It is on an urbanisation, but just in case you get too comfortable, the last 100 metres is unpaved. That is really the only indication that you are not in a more established urbanisation. And the price of course!

The main house has 2 double bedrooms, a bathroom and an open kitchen and living area. The terrace and pool are just a few steps from the house, so easy to make use of them as an extension of the living area. The views from here are amazing, across the valley to the south and west, great sunset viewing. In addition, the garage area downstairs has been converted to a guesthouse. Completely independent from the main house, there is a bedroom, bathroom and a living area.

You will be dependent on a car here however, the nearest town is Pedralba (8 mins drive) which is beautiful, but Liria is probably worth the extra few minutes in the car (15 in total) for choice of shops, restaurants and of course the metro to the city. However you won’t feel isolated because as well as friendly neighbours who live here year round, there is fibre internet available on this urbanisation.

Valencia City is 40 minutes drive, and to be honest I’m not driving out that far unless its somewhere that I think is worth it. And I think this is. Oh yeah, and don't be annoying us saying that's great but can you show me 6 more like it. There aren't 6 more. This is the one worth seeing, get in touch.