Se vende – or actually we could not care less if we sell or not!

Spain is saturated with “en vende” signs which seem to have taken on a life of their own. They come in all different forms; professionally printed, bought from a DIY store or just scrawled on whatever is to hand. For instance the crusty dried moss grey kind, complete with rusty blotches on warped wood. Then those just spray-painted across the crumbling facade of a house or wall. In contrast to the UK where it is always “For Sale”, they might also be called “se vende”, “es ven” or whatever else, depending on the Spanish idiom used.

There is always a number or two scribbled any old way on the homemade signs and these are direct to the owner. If the seller is very old, it might be the offspring in charge, but no matter for more often than not the numbers are unreadable due to the onslaught of the Spanish sun. Usually it is the printed ones that succumb first, no archival ink used here!  Their legibility and orientation are good indicators of the time the sign has hung around.  A sharp smart phone photo helps resolve that problem, er, um, sometimes…

Properties were traditionally sold directly, maybe through a middle man at most. That is until the boom came along when suddenly the estate agency business seemed like a a win-win situation. Then the economic crises arrived and the agencies fell like dying flies on window sills in a lose-lose situation. The improbable names of them faded into oblivion as they slipped slowly down the walls and doors. Popular cities still have agents galore, but here in the interior it has gone back to word of mouth and the unofficial middle man. Oh yes, there is one agent left a few villages away, but he seems more interested in his admittedly impressive ecclectic guitar collection – so not much point going down that route.

As a result, although there are still abundant places theoretically for sale, you have to hunt for them. Some families, not necessarily rich by any means, have inherited so many properties and land, that they do not really value what they have!  Their domains can even be seen as a nuisance – all those trees to maintain for instance.

These places seldom boast for sale signs. Such is life. The owner(s) need to be prodded along, like, you know that place near Penyagolosa that you haven’t visited in 30 years with the neglected olives? Would you like to sell it for 35,000€?  Indeed they might be interested after hearing that number!  Good luck getting to it though – it probably doesn’t even have a road.

For these reasons fincas around El maestrat are often dirt cheap and it is quite possible to pick one up for less than 10,000€.  After all, apart from the access problem,  there is everything to do. The building, or what is left of it, often consists of a few stone walls and the odd rotting roof joist sitting in the middle of nowhere. Then there beggars the question of the legal document proving ownership – an escritura. These fincas naturally passed through the family so official documents almost became redundant. Everyone knew who owned what after all. But as non-family, you had better be clear on this before purchase or expect serious problems later on down the road.

If a successful introduction is made, the seller gives a unspecified fee to the middle person – if there is one. Whatever the sum, he is always grateful. He might even share a drink or 10 with you in the local bar and entertain you with memories of the times past  before your finca became a ruin.  Don’t be surprised if this includes a scandal or two. And by the way I say he as I never met a she involved in this “hobby” yet!

So if you want to buy inland, familiarise yourself with the Spanish-run village bars nearest to the area you are interested in. Here they usually know who might have something as well as the name of the unofficial agent who props up his bar money and more in this way.

Be warned – the range of properties go from the simple, simply impossible to imagine what to do with them, to the grandiose, at least on the outside and in terms of acreage. In my case, I have seen such extremes that at times I felt somewhat disheartened. A jewel from the outside, and a wreck or horribly modernised interior. Rarely the reverse, but it happens, though not on my pitch!

I keep on adding to my catalogue of “for sale signs”.  Some years ago this one  below took my fancy in particular.  I walked up and down the mountain road, snapping the beckoning house from all angles.  When I got home and loaded the images on my computer, I could read the phone number clearly on one of the photos.

The casita reminded me of the first time I was pulled to El Maestrat by the  image of a little masia alone on the mountainside around Culla. It was so romantic and seemed to promise protection from the modern world. It even had a beautiful stone cisterna attached to it that sort of looked like a pool. Within three days I was on a plane to Reus to see it, but it was sold by the time I landed. Or so I was told as I have never been able to find it during my many explorations up and down these mountain roads.  Often I have wondered if it was really for sale, or a substitute photo (happens more often than you think). If it was a real place, who bought it?  Did they look after its ancient allure?  I shall probably never find out.  In the meantime, I tried to resist the urge to call about this one above…

p.s. – I did call and I was quoted a ridiculous 150,000€!  At least I thought it was that because the owner was a lady of a certain age in Barcelona who still thought in pesetas. She professed to be very fond of this casita, an inheritance from her father. She babbled on a bit and all the time I thought, no, you are not at all attached to this place, but to my foreign accent which indicates that I am a mug. Later I discussed the millions of pesetas with a local and the price was confirmed to be as thought.  No water, no electricity and no roof to speak of, accessible only by mountain goats. Years later, it is still for sale but the phone number is now illegible and the walls are on the path of no return. Never seen anyone there. Proof that some people are not THAT desperate to sell. They name their price and don’t care if the ruin disintegrates into the land completely…

To see more” for sale signs” in Spanish – updated when and can – click here.