Spain or UK — which is better?
Hey Guys,
I had a question from Steve, one of my new clients who had been about to buy in Spain but just before he bought we launched a UK development. So now he has to choose one or the other (or both!). Here’s his question – You’ve muddied the Spanish waters a little with the latest set and forget in the UK which also looks promising, have you a spreadsheet on this that analyses costs and benefits?
Well I didn’t have a spreadsheet for this but I think that it is a great topic of conversation. Should you buy in Spain or the UK or both? What is better to start your portfolio.
They are both very different propositions. Depending on whether you want a UK property or a Spanish one. I personally like the idea of one of each as they are both great opportunities, but if you had to choose I would say the UK as this will always be the best foundation for your property portfolio. Spain must always be seen as an addition to it.
You will learn more about building a property portfolio from buying in the UK and I would prefer people get familiar with the UK property market before they go overseas or that they at least do both at the same time (although be ready for a steep learning curve).
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As for comparison of numbers then you would probably go with Spain as the capital growth is more certain over the coming years but you need to consider the added risk of holiday letting the property. This risk is more a function of your ability to market the property to potential tenants rather than an actual shortage of demand for properties or an oversupply of properties.
The UK market is stagnant and probably will be for the next few years or so but with a Set and Forget deal you will not have to worry about it for a full 2 years at least.
Spain does have the benefit of the added lifestyle option for your holidays. This is a big pull but strictly speaking this should have little sway in your financial decision.
At the end of the day I am a long-term thinker and will always choose the investment that will make money in the long term and the UK will always be a great market because of the sheer size of the market but likewise Spain is a very robust market with a long-term pattern for consolidated growth. Also, given the area of Spain that I focus investment on, this is a huge long-term potential.
So which would I choose? In some ways it doesn’t matter – It’s all property and it will all double in 7-10 years..
Live with passion,
Brett Wood
PS. Obviously by sitting down and working through the exact numbers on each development we could choose which one was financially best for you but in a generic article like this I cannot choose; As for me the most important factors of any decision is the structure and strategy used not the actual property. So that’s why you will need to have a one on one chat with me or one of my Portfolio Managers.
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