The increase in housing does not stop and infects the most problematic houses in the market. Four bedroom apartment in the Moratalaz neighborhood in Madrid. 210,000 euros are requested. His adverters not to miss “this excellent opportunity.” Only one photograph of the facade is shown and below one understands that it is a floor that is not available. “You can’t visit, apply or mortgage. You have to buy paying in cash and the buyer assumes.”
There are hundreds of properties like this, especially in large cities, and not just occupied. Floors are also marketed with loads, in auction, with a tenant or with usufructuary (nuda property). These homes, which were recently residual, now take a significant volume of the affordable offer. It is true that they can be bought with a discount – more than others – but they are not bargains, especially if you take into account the number of problems they will give.
Given the new reality of the market, in January Idealista included new filters in its search engine: Nuda Property, rented, with tenants, illegally occupied and available (without any of the above restrictions). Last March made the calculation: 2.6% of the total were homes that could not be used immediately. There are 315 ads in Barcelona and 335 in Madrid.
Fotocasa has also counted them. From 2021 they began to gain ground and in 2022, with the price rebound, they were 21%. Today, “35% of the homes on the offer of less than 200,000 euros have restrictions and have already been consolidated as one of the access roads to the low section of the market, in a context in which they indicate in the portal. In Madrid they represent 37% and in Barcelona 34% (here the prices are lower and there are more floors that are around 50,000 euros).
In the National Federation of Real Estate Associations (FAI) they verify the proliferation of these homes. “Years ago they were one in 20 and now they can be one in five per area. The first third of the properties offered are these, complex assets,” says its president, José María Alfaro. The expert recalls that the 2023 Housing Law obliges the seller and the owner to inform about the situation of ownership of the property in the announcement.
Who buys are investors, small or long -term surplus value. Or companies that acquire assets that have very aggressive discounts. The law firms advise to analyze each transaction parameter so as not to waste time, money and, above all, the sanity.
The most complex and risky operation is the purchase of a busy floor, although it is the one that allows the greatest discounts: between 40% and 60%, as the case may be. “You have to initiate an eviction or subrogate procedure in which the previous owner had already started. There is a risk of finding serious damage and that the occupant is insolvent. It is recommended that this additional cost will be weighed when assessing the price of the house,” says Montserrat Acebes, lawyer of Vilches Lawyers. Another option is to negotiate and deliver to the occupants an amount of money. Prices have also risen. “For less than 15,000 to 40,000 euros,” says Luis Miguel Fernández, director of Aestimatio Abogados. The lawyer knows what the matter is about. One of its customers bought a 40%reduction in the Barrio del Pilar (Madrid): it paid 125,000 euros. “Then I interposed a procedure to recover possession and in six months we got the floor, although it was destroyed.” Mari Luz Rodríguez, lawyer of Legálitas, warns: “Banking entities do not usually grant financing to acquire these properties.”
NUDA PROPERTY
That is, the ownership of the property is acquired, but not the right to use and enjoy it. “The final possession will depend on something as ambiguous as the death of the usufructuary, so it is a long -term investment,” they clarify in the KLJ firm. The more years the usufructuary is, the more expensive the house. The Eduardo Molet real estate has for sale the NUDA owned by an apartment on the Paseo de la Florida (Madrid) for 239,500 euros. The current owners are 67 and 70 years old.
The purchase of homes with loads is quite frequent, but it is important to do a detailed study of its amount to assess whether the operation is profitable. Montserrat Acebes advises to identify them (mortgages, embargoes …) before the purchase requesting an updated simple note. You also have to request the debt certificate from the community of owners and verify that there are no debts with the City Council (IBI or garbage fees) or with supplies. The buyer responds to the debt of the current year and the previous three years.
The acquisition of real estate or by means of the transfer of the auction (the award of the auction gives its right to a third party in exchange for a price) are other problematic categories. “Discounts can be 30% or 40%, although perhaps afternoon five or six years to take possession,” says Luis Miguel Fernández. In Legálitas they give the keys: “Before bidding for a housing that is auctioned it is necessary to review the documentation and loads well. In addition, you have to check if 100% of the ownership or just a percentage is auctioned, for example, 30%,” explains Mari Luz Rodríguez. The lawyer also advises to check if the house is busy and if it can specify reforms, which must be taken into account when making the bid. “You buy blindly and ignore its state of conservation,” says Vilches’ lawyer, who also recommends legal advice.
The least problematic operation is the purchase of a rented home and, in fact, if the seller can prove the solvency of the tenant, there will be no major discounts. “No more than 5% or 10%,” says Alfaro. And, in some cases, none. According to the director of Aestimatio, “the buyer seeks immediate profitability not less than 3% or 4% per year.” In KLJ they explain the precautions: “It is important to review the contract that the tenants have signed; especially if they are entitled to the score and retracting, the duration of the contract, the rent, if the payments are made in time and the solvency of the tenants, since the new owner is subrogated in the position of the previous landlord.” If the tenant is not obliged to allow visits and there is no good harmony with the landlord, he can refuse to open the doors. “It will not be possible to access for your appraisal and banking entities are reluctant to grant financing,” says Rodríguez.
Another thing is the acquisition of a house with an old rent contract. Here the thing is complicated because the tenant pays a minimum rent (200 or 300 euros per month). “There are those who have paid compensation of 500,000 euros to the tenant to leave the house,” says Fernández.
