The Ultimate Homes Blog

This isn't really the usual type of blog that I write but.... With effect from tomorrow March 1st, we will be offering various properties through our collaboration with one of the largest banks in Spain - Banco Sabadell - with a further discount of up to 40% , and these are properties in some cases already with discounts of 50%. In short huge discounts available on bank properties starting tomorrow until the end of April. Watch this space!!

A new law which should have been effective from January this year required all homes (and commercial premises) that are offered for sale (or rent) in Spain to have available an Energy Efficiency Certificate. This is a European wide initiative which will affect millions of homeowners, and comprises a report on the home´s energy efficiency. Whilst the new law has not yet been passed by the Spanish Government (it is expected in the second quarter this year),it will not be possible to sell or rent a property unless it has the certificate, which should be paid for by the owner. Below are some of the most frequent questions about Energy Efficiency Certificates for existing homes: 1. Has the royal decree regulating the Energy Efficiency Certificate been approved? Not yet, but it should be approved shortly and is expected to come into force by 1st June 2013 at the latest. 2. Who can issue an Energy Efficiency Certificate? According to the royal decree energy efficiency certificates s...

Mid-February already - where does the time go I ask myself? After January's extended holiday period  in Spain and not forgetting what seemed like never-ending blue skies and that Spring had come early, we are really suffering here now with cold temperatures of around 13º to 15º Centigrade. Of course it does depend on what you are used to but when temperatures drop below 15º, the winter jackets come out again. With respect to the property news, well official sales numbers were released last week published by the National Statistics Institute confirming that the number of property sales fell by just over 11% in the year 2012, which marks two years of declines and the fourth time in five years that property sales have decreased. The news is released in advance of a more detailed report and analysis which will reveal for example specific data relating to foreign buyers. And expectations here are that the percentage of foreign buyers buying property in Spain will have inc...