European Day. Hondon de los Frailes

A special charity night in the Hondon Valley was held on 15th July 2017. This has been an annual event in the area for a few years now and brings together many residents and their visiting friends to enjoy what is a street party with live music. Organised to raise moeny for the Fiestas and local people this event fills the main plaza of Hondon de los Frailes.

This is a popular community night for all nationalities to enjoy food, drink, live bands and a disco. This year the bands were “The Hardest” (a classic rock tribute band) and “Stone Control” from Alicante who perform as a Rolling Stones tribute act. Proceeds started at 8.30pm to a very late finish … 3am +.

The village plaza was jam packed with excited and party-mood residents and holiday makers of all ages who enjoyed singing and dancing in the street. Those that booked a table were allowed to bring their own food and beverages so the atmosphere was very jovial.

A great night that the whole Hondon Villas team attended to support our local community. Thank you for a great night!

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All proceeds go to the Frailes Fiesta’s Collection.

Brexit? What Brexit, we love coming to Spain

Business Premises and Warehouse for Sale / Retail UintSpanish Tourism Minister Alvaro Nadal told a news conference to present tourism figures for 2016 that the number of arrivals last year was up by 9.9 percent over the 68.1 million foreign visitors who flocked to the country in 2015. It was the fourth consecutive year of record numbers of arrivals.

There was no Brexit effect in 2016, it did not affect British tourism in our country,” said Nadal, before adding this trend should continue this year.

Tourism represents some 11 percent of Spain’s gross domestic produc.

Already advance reservations as well as requests for landing slots at Spanish airports are going very well which confirms that the tendency for British tourism remains the same.

Each foreign tourist to Spain spent an average of €1,023 ($1,078), a 3.75 percent increase over the 2015 figure.  They spent a total of €77 billion in the country in 2016, an 8.3 percent increase over the previous year.

So Brits LOVE IT! We at Hondon Villas can’t predict the future but we do echo that 2016 and so far 2017 would suggest Brits (Dutch and Belgiums) are still keen to buy property in Spain. We are as busy as ever and had the confidence to open bigger premised earlier this year.  We are cautiously optimistic of Spanish Real Estate, despite prices being fairly static to showing slight growth.

Costa Blanca Villas For Sale
A property on the Costa Blanca is a dream for many people and once you’ve visited the area, you’ll understand why. As well as an excellent climate, the Costa Blanca boasts many beautiful Blue Flag beaches, superb sports opportunities, lots of festivals and lively nightlife. No wonder so many people are choosing the Costa Blanca for their Spanish holiday home! Here in the Hondon Valley we are surrounded 360 with glorious mountain views bathed in sunshine for over 300 days a year.

On the Hondon Villas website, you can find hundreds of Hondon area properties (Southern Costa Blanca region), from secluded rural houses and villas to town houses, land and apartments. Our property lists are frequently updated and our informed staff can help you understand the local market and make an informed decision when buying any type of Hondon Valley home or property.

Spain’s public holidays in 2017: Official List

Enjoy Easter in AlicanteThat’s right Spain get a lot of bank holidays and unlike the UK a lot of them are not on a Monday.  The Local.es has listed them for you.

Spain will have a total of 12 national bank holidays in 2017 but also there are many regional / local holiday. So get organized and start planning some weekends away.  Here is the official list of all the public holidays across Spain, as published in Spain’s BOE official state bulletin.

The nine national public  (Red Days) holidays in 2017 across all of Spain are:

January 6th: Dia de los Reyes Magos, Three Kings Day, Epiphany. (Friday)
April 14th: Good Friday
May 1st: Workers’ Day
August 15th: Assumption of Mary, (Tuesday)
October 12th:  Spanish National Day, (Thursday)
November 1st: All Saints’ Day (Wednesday)
December 6th: Constitution Day (Wednesday)
December 8th: Immaculate Conception, (Friday)
December 25th: Christmas Day (Monday)

Apart from these national dates, all regions have additional holidays. See below for the full list. Here is our own Valencia, Costa Blanca South / North.
April 13th: Maundy Thursday
April 17th: Easter Monday
October 9th: Valencia Day  (Monday)

You may also find that some Town Halls or Regions have even more extra days or half days for special occasions. And further that if a bank holiday is close to the weekend that in rural areas, like the Hondon Valley, the locals will extend their break.

So that Manaña feeling is very real … if you can’t beat them, join them eh?

Drones in Hondon Valley. Good or Bad?

As an established estate agent in Spain, Hondon Villas are always keen to use new technology if it helps present and sell our clients houses, improve our real estate services and help speed up our work flow.  [ Published on: 29 May 2017 * updates Jan 2018 below]

We did consult an experienced lawyer on the use of drones ( see below). She advised us that in a nutshell: it seems clear that the laws in Spain (as we write in 2016) it is not advisable to fly drones for commercial purposes or anywhere over urban or populated areas, particularly government owned or where security and privacy is paramount. To do so can incur massive fines.

Background: Well we saw some excellent promo’ footage of luxury properties in places like Marbella, Florida, UAE, etc. After seeing these we thought that for some luxury properties with a global appeal, aerial photographs or video would help the prospective buyer in their potential property choices.

But are they of use in Hondon? Does the law allow us? Well,  about two years ago we at Hondon Villas researched the use of Drones for aerial photography as we were unsure of the appetite for such a service, the cost to do it or even if it would help or hinder or business.

Of course it is early days for such technology and because of mass production and a relatively low price entry level, unmanned remote aircraft are now in abundance. Rightly or wrongly, many people already have them. But as a result, there are now numerous reports of some pilots abusing their use with no regard for others. In short aerial photography has become a “wild west”  situation.

So it turns out that the use of retail drones, particularly over private land, government buildings, urban land & housing estates is contentious across the globe. Indeed there are few places you can fly them legally unless the drone and pilot register and get permissions, particularly for commercial purposes.

Indeed, a local Hondon Valley real estate agent has already used a drone to film the area and some of our own clients have expressed to us the dismay they have that their home, location and land layout have been exposed without permission. Did the agent get permission? Well the law would suggest it would be necessary as it’s used for commercial advertising (branded with a logo) and the flights are over populated urban land and critically within the Alicante airport flight paths.

So whilst the use of drones in Real Estate seems a good idea, it is not as straight forward to just buy a drone and willy nilly film whatever you want – even though many agents here are already doing so!

Indeed, it is risky in many ways. The Spanish government has collected almost €2 million from drone fines alone since 2015 as they actively looked for breaches of the law. There is a total ban on drones in around the Balearic Islands for instance.

Pro’ versions of drones with high-end UHD cameras can be costly and difficult to fly. So the EU & USA in general are keen to legislate on their use and limit the areas they can be used. The reasons are mainly on safety, privacy and security grounds. After all a falling drone could damage property or hurt someone and people are quite precious about their privacy and can feel spied on.

We think in general, the above reasons for laws on drones have some merit in this uncertain world. And of course many people will and do misuse this new technology for criminal or dubious activities.

So Drone laws make sense to us. And whilst the main manufacturers and retailers pile drones high on shop shelves and sell them to anyone, there are actual laws to govern their purchase, registration, use and permissions. It can be a “red-tape” paper chase, especially in Spain. ( Royal Decree-Law 8/2014 on Air Navigation and Law 18/2014, of 15 October )

We certainly advocate laws on grounds of privacy in built-up areas. E.G. In Spain a property vendor may list their house with many agents, so do we really want those many agents “droning” over properties on a regular basis? We don’t think so. We get the impression that local residents would take a dim view of regular “spies in the skies“.

So, after a lot of questions to legal eagles, near-by flying clubs and asking people in the Hondon Valley, plus taking into account the price of a pro drone purchase, accessory costs and training, we at Hondon Villas concluded that currently (2016) using drones in Real Estate might not be the way to go until the laws are changed over these temporary 2014 ones in place now.

So, yes we’d love to offer the service to those that want it but as the Hondon areas are predominantly an urban sprawl we think that many locals would soon complain about noise, nuisance and security issues. In short, we respect the law and our prospective clients privacy and safety. We can’t rule it out for the future of course so we will be keeping an eye on any developments and laws.

Our SOLICITOR spelt out the current stance in Spain:

The matter of private or commercial “drones” is regulated in Royal Decree-Law 8/2014 on Air Navigation and Law 18/2014, of 15 October, approving urgent measures for growth, competitiveness and efficiency.

Article 50 of that Law establishes provisions relating to civil aircraft piloted by remote control.

That provision primarily regulates identification, features, possible uses, operating conditions, enabled airspace, security, accreditation of pilots and authorization certificates. An important remark is the obligation to obtain the necessary authorizations and make the flights always during daylight, in good visual meteorological conditions and out of congested areas of cities, habituated towns or settlements and outdoors gatherings of people.

Also, the drones can only be used for technical or scientific works; which in accordance with European standards it includes specialized operations such as research, pest control, photography, surveillance, security, patrol, advertising, fire fighting, rescue and scientific works. So, although the law does not define what is meant by specifically technical or scientific works, it seems clear that in Spain is not currently allowed the use of drones for commercial purposes.

On that regard, State Aviation Safety Agency showed, in his note of April 7, 2014, the following statement: “is not allowed, and has never been, the use of aircraft piloted by remote control with commercial or professional purposes “.

As a final note, it is important to know that this regulatory framework is provisional and will apply until the approval of the regulatory rules laid down in Final Provision second, second paragraph, of the Act. So, it is possible that operating drones in Spain in urban areas and for commercial purposes can be allowed despite that is not what Law has permitted so far.

Update May 2017 …

The Spanish RPAS regulation (Ley 18/2014) is only applicable to flights for commercial purposes and all professional activities.

But for recreational use (hobby) you should comply with the provisions in Spanish Law “Real Decreto 552/2014” (rules of the air), article 15, that allows RPAS flight at low altitude “as long as they do not involve any risk or harm to people or properties on surface

So in particular you should:
– operate at Visual Line Of Sight (VLOS) and below 120m height.
– not fly in urban areas and over buildings and people. Overfly of populated areas and crowds is not allowed.
– not fly in controlled airspace (near airports) and avoid flying in areas where flights are conducted at low altitude with manned aircrafts.
– not fly at night or in bad weather conditions.
– please ask your local authorities prior to flying.
– other special restrictions may apply, for example in some special areas like Natural Parks and Biosphere Reserves.

Update Jan’ 2018

Spain has recently changed the laws on Drone usage for both commercial and hobby use. They are still quite strict however. In a nutshell, the pilot has a legal responsibility to fly with consideration of the safety, security and privacy of people and buildings, including him/her self. Commercial or paid drone pilots must be registered, insured, medically certified as fit and trained to use a drone (currently about 4 day course and an exam). Certain flights, locations and areas require authority from the AESA (Spain’s state aeronautic organisation). There are distance rules for built-up areas and “sensitive buildings” like hospitals, airports, schools and urbanisations.

Free Prize Draw Winners…

FREE PRIZE DRAW WINNERS : LANCE & GAIL
The Hondon Villas team are pleased to announce the winners of our Free Prize Draw. You’ll remember we recently opened our bigger office in the main plaza of Frailes. All those that attended were entered into a draw to win a prize.

Hondon Villas Priz eDraw 01

Congratulations to Lance & Gail on winning the Hondon Villas Free Prize Draw, a dinner for two at Restaurante 28, in Hondon de los Frailes, a dinner for two. Enjoy your meal guys!

Thank you to all those that attended, sorry you didn’t win! Remember we will be having more free prize draws so you can enter again. Keep checking and join the Hondon Villas FACEBOOK page for details

So many unloved homes in Spain!

WOW! It is estimated (2015 survey) that well over 3 million Spanish homes / houses are unoccupied. There are many reasons for this: held for future investment, unfinished urbs, unpopular areas, occasional holiday homes, derelict or failed projects, illegal builds, land-grab, etc. Many of these are still unoccupied since the financial crash in 2008. Not all are for sale or rent of course but there is a massive glut of homes across Spain, especially on the Costas.

It does now mean lower property prices and indeed it is a buyer’s market right now. Many who want to sell their Spanish property are finding that offers are well below their desired asking price (-25% – 40%). And here at Hondon Villas we know first hand that very few sellers in the Hondon areas get a price they want. And further, with the passing of time and on-line knowledge, all modern buyer’s are much more savvy in making “cheeky” offers and negotiating. Unlike the pre-crash market when we had to fight to get our dream home in Spain!

Be realistic about Hondon house prices

So, as facts are, it is best to be realistic and to expect a lower offer, especially if you want to sell quickly. We have seen clients refusing to budge on price or have a house on the market too high for too long (years) to find that the inevitable has to be done: i.e. to lower the price and magically more people are interested.

You may think you have the most wonderful home, tendered with loving care and hard-earned money but it is the buyer’s market.  Of course we know people don’t want to give their homes away but the question is: Is it worth putting your life on hold?

Factor in relative prices or differing exchange rates

It might help your reasoning if you can factor in that if you want to re-buy in Spain then the national % reductions will also be relative to your next house purchase. So if your home to sell is about 25% lower than when you bought then a new home in Spain may be similar or more.

And, if you are returning to a non-Euro country like the UK perhaps the low Euro is now in your favour as opposed to when you bought years ago. E.G. The low Euro to the pound  can mean significant difference when returning to the UK.

2006 : £200,000 sterling @ 1.46 would buy €292,000
2017 :  €292,000 Euro @ 1.19 would now buy £245,000

As a basic example (not withstanding fees) and of course depends on the exact rates you bought at / sold at. And factor in the price reduction and just maybe there is still some profit or at least a reasonable break-even.

Need help selling your Hondon Villa or Hondon Valley Home?

If you wish to discuss your property situation or get a free valuation then please call into our Frailes office (in the Plaza)
or call our team Monday to Friday : (0034) 965 075 357.
» www.hondonvillas.net

Hondon Villas in the Top 1000 Euro’ Agents

Great News for Hondon Villas… we just climbed 92 places to #138 in the “European Property Most Influential Professionals League Table” run by RISE and European Property .Com .*

Hondon Agent in the EuroTop 1000 Agents

*This top 1000 leader board for Europe’s most influential real estate agents as is scored by Klout & a unique algorithm. The scoring system is calculated by taking into consideration a number of factors including blogging in Twitter and Facebook, quality of content, the amount of new followers and amount of public engagement. The leader board is managed by independent third party Rise Global.

Who are Hondon Villas:
Hondon Villas are a local, experienced, multi-lingual and dedicated real estate team. We predominantly help our multi-national clients (British, Dutch, Spanish, French, etc) to buy, sell or rent properties in the Hondon Valley area of Alicante, Spain. With over 30+ years experience in real estate (UK and Spain) we can offer a professional and caring service to all our clients. No other agent in the area can match our experience, service and knowledge of the Hondon Valley region… yes we even know where to buy milk at 11pm! We actually live here and employ the services of a vast network of experts in legal matters, currency, finance/mortgages, banks, planning and local tradesman. We also have excellent linkage with the local mayors and town halls.

We know by the regular comments and praise we receive that we go beyond the call of duty and engage in excellent customer care. We aim to have every client feel they have a friendly and trust-worthy team at Hondon Villas. A good 60% of clients come from recommendations.

Having been established in the Hondon Valley area for over six years we have surpassed our own expectations of property sales, homes and better still, our reputation… We love Hondon!

We feel that Hondon Villas is already by far the top agent in the Hondon Valley for that personal service. And we look forward to looking after your property needs.

Call or visit us at our office in Hondon de los Frailes. Keep happy, keep healthy!