Author Topic: spanish banks  (Read 7895 times)

romfty

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Re: spanish banks
« Reply #15 on: Aug 10, 2013, 08:50:23 AM »
Spanish banks are a law unto themselves....... where else in the world can you be offered a tea set for opening a new account or a television for taking out a loan...........crazy.  They are over staffed and yet you still have to queue for everything......

As for Spanish banks chasing a property debt (mortgage) back to the UK, they will, but only  if it is large enough to cover the expense of doing so  and it takes forever, also at present out here the banks are only giving mortgages on property that they hold as defaulted loans, of course they won't admit that...lol!

xetog

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Re: spanish banks
« Reply #16 on: Aug 10, 2013, 11:08:00 AM »
As stated before on this thread, we have our "Bolt hole" there and visit usually about twice a year (Spring and Autumn).  As you say, Spanish banks are a law unto themselves, we were with CAM, but because of the corruption CAM was taken over by Sabadell, who now have upped the fees (every 2 months) by 25%,  Charge us more for a debit/credit card we only use occasionally to draw cash and have just started to charge a bi-monthly 39c for seemingly no activity on the credit card side.  We are shortly due for our autumn trip, so will be demanding an explanation.  We would change banks, but to whom?   We are also finding the trip down from Santander a bit taxing and this year will break the journey with an overnight stop.  We are not at all sure that we want to carry on town the property what with the increased ferry fares and inconvenient timing concerned , but with prices and bureaucracy involved we just don't want the hassle.  It's not mortgaged and was not that expensive, but we face the fact that we may loose the whole sum eventually, we are just over death duties if we hang onto it.. We have thought of letting it our to a poor Spanish couple for nothing but the running costs, but even that seems fraught with problems (plus the issues over Gibraltar).  So we are still thinking.
M. 8)
If you want to control peoples thoughts, first control their words.

firenze

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Re: spanish banks
« Reply #17 on: Aug 10, 2013, 11:44:00 AM »
I rather think time will dictate xetog.  The good you have had might be all you will have in the end from your Spanish idyll, the energy level you have will determine how long you will enjoy the hassle of  getting there.  Your Autumn visit will decide.
Age is a question of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter.

Mark Twain.

romfty

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Re: spanish banks
« Reply #18 on: Aug 10, 2013, 01:05:30 PM »
Our bank which was Bancaja has been taken over by Bankia.......... but we only have a non residents account with them (no interest, but no charges).... and only transfer money across occasionaly to pay for the upkeep of the house, insurance, rates  etc.

The recent scaremongering by the press was that residents with assetts of more than 50K outside of Spain had to declare it......... this is the law but the solicitor I spoke to knew less than I did............ so now I pay a non residents tax once a year.

Travel, I come down through Le Havre and overnight at an excellant hotel in the Pyrenees.

xetog

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Re: spanish banks
« Reply #19 on: Aug 10, 2013, 01:09:06 PM »
Undoubtedly time will dictate firenze.  I realise that we are lucky that we can look at loosing the 150,000 euros that it cost without worrying about our financial stability at home , but did not want to seem blasé about it.  After spending many super holidays in Spain and talking to lots of ex-pats, we decided to dip our toe in the water by buying something we could afford for cash, with a view to selling it once we knew whether we would like to live there and perhaps buying something larger.  Some love it, but from our first long stay, we have hated it.  Well, hated s a strong word, but there are many factors about life in Spain that we find do not coincide with the way we want to live and that wall to wall sunshine does not compensate for home life.  We decided we would keep using it and then decide whether we felt any better, or would sell once I was retired.  Of course a year before my retirement came the financial crash, but again, if we had sold then we might have salvaged a large proportion of the money we had spent, but who expected it to go on for so long?  Now, it would hardly be worth the hassle to sell it as there is so much bureaucracy involved. So far we have driven down the 550 miles in one hop as the ferry times were convenient, now we would have to drive through the night and the last few of trips I have found the last couple of hours driving the 9 hour journey, even in day light a trial, so an overnight hotel stay is called for at even greater expense.  Of course, all of this travelling costs money and the annual cost of owning and using the property is making us wonder whether we should just call it a day.  We will see after this visit as the ferry, hotels etc are all booked & paid for.
M. 8)
If you want to control peoples thoughts, first control their words.

Phil

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Re: spanish banks
« Reply #20 on: Aug 10, 2013, 11:36:54 PM »
A report on channel 4 tonight!
 Unemployed spanish workers are now coming to the end of their 18 month benefits in droves . Banks have been "modifying" mortgages for those that could not pay so that they did not show on the accounts as foreclosures . This is now impossible for the banks to do in such large numbers .
 So the banks will have massive loses for the mortgage defaults and property prices will crash by 50 %.

So is now the time to start looking for a bargain property, or would it be better to wait  & hope that they crash even further?
"I've stopped arguing with idiots. They will only bring me down to their level and beat me with experience.”

Paraphrased from George Carlin

romfty

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Re: spanish banks
« Reply #21 on: Aug 11, 2013, 07:51:19 AM »
Think it has bottomed out Phil.......... in fact the main problem is on the coast where both ex pats and Spanish alike had holiday homes....inland has not suffered quite so much although of course property values have halved.

xetog

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Re: spanish banks
« Reply #22 on: Aug 11, 2013, 09:34:22 AM »
I am not sure the property market  has bottomed out yet.  The banks have hundreds of thousands of new and repossessed homes on their books at cheap, but still inflated values.  If they put them up at market rates most, if not all would instantly be bankrupt and plunge the country into an even greater crisis.  I would be delirious if I thought I could walk away with 25% of the money I have spent, but have friends who have their places up for "any offer" and received no interest.  We are a bit inland and are part of a charming village with lots of amenities (including a swimming pool, barbecue, entertainment areas etc), but are only about 10 mins from the sea by car, so have the best of both worlds, but the recession has exacted a heavy toll of Spanish businesses and I find the mood of most Spanish very downbeat.  Now again we have the spectre of refusal to honour the European health card in several regions, including Valencia province where the hospitals are busy installing card machines even in accident and emergency I understand.  This may all be scaremongering, but worrying for those of us who can't get private health insurance.
M. 8)
If you want to control peoples thoughts, first control their words.

spanishwrinkly

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Re: spanish banks
« Reply #23 on: Aug 11, 2013, 09:51:06 PM »
xetog, it is scaremongering and as usual, the press are making bad news stories in an attempt to sell their newspapers.
I live in the Valencian Province, and have had excellent treatment for cancer, with follow ups continuing now and into the future.
OK, I am resident and have a Spanish SIP card, but you could not better the treatment even if you had private cover.
In fact, we do have private medical cover but as my cancer was spotted by a Health Service test, my treatment has been and continues to be covered by the SIP card.
My brother came to stay with us for a holiday eighteen months ago, and unfortunately he suffered a stroke at our home.
From calling the emergency services to his treatment in the local hospital, the health service here were fantastic.
He used his EHIC card and there was no problem at all.
My wife and I are planning on returning to England permanently in the near future, and one of my main concerns is the bad
publicity which surrounds the NHS at the moment. Fortunately, my sons partner is a theatre nurse with the NHS, and she has
said that the majority of NHS hospitals are fantastic, but this is not news and will not sell newspapers or get in the media.
I believe I will be very unlucky if I get one of the poor performing NHS hospitals in England, as would anyone coming to Spain and finding their EHIC card is not being accepted, both being in a minority of cases.

xetog

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Re: spanish banks
« Reply #24 on: Aug 12, 2013, 10:14:38 AM »
Thanks for that spanishwrinkley.  I realise lots of these things tend to be blown out of all proportion and don't want to loose my sense of scale on these matters.  Our place is 30km south of Alicante and we will continue to use it for a while I guess, but the annual cost (including travel) would now pay for a 2 week cruise each year and I know my wife would prefer that, so the days of the twice annual trip to Spain are numbered.  I hope your return to the UK will go smoothly and that if you need the NHS, it will perform in an adequate fashion.  I believe there are a lot, even a majority of fantastic people in the NHS, but there are those who are just time servers who do give less than value for money. There is a lot of sorting out before we can say that we have a reliable service at all levels, but whether we have the talent in the right place to do it is another question.
M. 8)
If you want to control peoples thoughts, first control their words.