At Paraiso Real Estate we’ve had a reassuringly busy few weeks meeting new property hunters (online and in person) looking to invest in the area. Of course there is still a lot of uncertainty in the world and by wearing our masks as required by law here in Andalucia, we are constantly reminded that the new normal is going to remain a somewhat flexible concept for some time to come.
Flexibility is the name of the game. Foreign clients are still doing much of their research from their home countries and our growing portfolio of video tours is very popular. It’s an approach that is new to us but we’re enjoying exploring more ways to share some of our best new listings with you.
At the risk of repeating ourselves, flexibility really is key and we’re doing many more viewings in the evening and over the weekend. Those who have toured with us outside of normal office hours may have noticed four small new recruits, duly masked and sanitised, but more involved than normal due to limited childcare options! We split our work between home and office to enable us to continue providing the best possible support to both clients and collaborating agents at times to suit everyone.
Certainly the most popular properties to view over the past ten days have been the villas under 1.000.000 euros and entry level apartments, mostly ground floors with private gardens. Some families, inspired by their own ability and success at moving their work out of the office and into the home during lockdown, have decided to choose lifestyle as their number one priority and make the permanent move to Spain while continuing their professions remotely. We’ve seen a number of Swedish and Belgian families working towards this option as well as British clients keen to make the move here, despite there being a few more hoops to jump through post Brexit.
We’ve also been talking to investor clients from locations as diverse as Scandinavia, the Emirates and Australasia looking to expand their property portfolios with apartments they can renovate and rent out to holiday makers. Rather than being concerned by current uncertainty, they have been inspired to increase their capital investment in bricks and mortar rather than risk any fluctuations in the financial markets.
Currently, “would be” visitors from outside Schengen and the EU are still restricted in terms of travel and some, having been led to believe they can travel freely from the UK for example, are sadly being turned back from the airport and having to cancel their viewing appointments. However, it seems to only strengthen their resolve to make that lifestyle jump to Spain where most agree that the difficult COVID 19 situation has been handled effectively, with a firm but respected hand.