A Zamora ruin for €15,000: the hidden bill
A 153 m² house in Zamora, Spain, is listed for €15,000. Tearing it down costs €5,000 more and a new roof €20,000. The real price of the rural dream.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
A 153 m² ruin for €15,000: what the photos don't tell you
The listing has all the hallmarks of a bargain and, at the same time, of a trap. A 153-square-metre house, 22 minutes from Zamora, is on offer for €15,000. The images show the façade, the entrance hall, the living room, the bathroom and a security door propped up with a plank. Of the kitchen, nothing: the seller has not uploaded photos. The price seems ridiculous, and it is, but not because of what you can see, rather because of what you can guess.
Demolition costs more than buying
The first blow comes when you calculate the demolition. Removing the rubble from a 100-square-metre home is estimated at around €2,600. With taxes, fees and unforeseen costs, the figure climbs to €5,000. And that is just to knock it down. Putting on a new tiled roof is another €20,000 at the very least. The total cost of turning the wreck into a clean plot almost triples the purchase price. The initial investment is no longer €15,000 and is dangerously approaching €40,000.
Structurally, a plot with remains
The technical assessments circulating about the photographs leave no room for optimism. Rising damp at the bottom, streaks on the walls that betray leaks, brick with no insulation whatsoever and, probably, no foundations. The roof, moreover, is made of fibre cement containing asbestos, a material whose removal is mandatory and regulated. The conclusion is repeated in several assessments: this is not a renovable house, it is demolition material. What is being sold is the land; the building is surplus.
The Airbnb mirage and emptying rural Spain
There is no shortage of people who see a business opportunity: paint the walls, put in a decent door and rent it out at €100 a night on Airbnb. The fantasy collides with demographic reality. The same offer is repeated in villages in Zamora, Soria or Badajoz, where there are ruins for sale at €60,000 or €70,000 that have gone more than a decade without a buyer. The €15,000 house at least has the virtue of not asking an absurd price for what it is not. The price is right for land, not for a home.
The listing will still be there. Every visitor will do the same calculation: how much it costs to demolish, how much it costs to rebuild, how much it costs to move back to a village with no services. The security door, with its padlock, remains in place. It still has the original key, which is the only thing you don't pay extra for.
The listing has all the hallmarks of a bargain and, at the same time, of a trap. A 153-square-metre house, 22 minutes from Zamora, is on offer for €15,000. The images show the façade, the entrance hall, the living room, the bathroom and a security door propped up with a plank. Of the kitchen, nothing: the seller has not uploaded photos. The price seems ridiculous, and it is, but not because of what you can see, rather because of what you can guess.
Demolition costs more than buying
The first blow comes when you calculate the demolition. Removing the rubble from a 100-square-metre home is estimated at around €2,600. With taxes, fees and unforeseen costs, the figure climbs to €5,000. And that is just to knock it down. Putting on a new tiled roof is another €20,000 at the very least. The total cost of turning the wreck into a clean plot almost triples the purchase price. The initial investment is no longer €15,000 and is dangerously approaching €40,000.
Structurally, a plot with remains
The technical assessments circulating about the photographs leave no room for optimism. Rising damp at the bottom, streaks on the walls that betray leaks, brick with no insulation whatsoever and, probably, no foundations. The roof, moreover, is made of fibre cement containing asbestos, a material whose removal is mandatory and regulated. The conclusion is repeated in several assessments: this is not a renovable house, it is demolition material. What is being sold is the land; the building is surplus.
The Airbnb mirage and emptying rural Spain
There is no shortage of people who see a business opportunity: paint the walls, put in a decent door and rent it out at €100 a night on Airbnb. The fantasy collides with demographic reality. The same offer is repeated in villages in Zamora, Soria or Badajoz, where there are ruins for sale at €60,000 or €70,000 that have gone more than a decade without a buyer. The €15,000 house at least has the virtue of not asking an absurd price for what it is not. The price is right for land, not for a home.
The listing will still be there. Every visitor will do the same calculation: how much it costs to demolish, how much it costs to rebuild, how much it costs to move back to a village with no services. The security door, with its padlock, remains in place. It still has the original key, which is the only thing you don't pay extra for.
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (69 replies).
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