José Elías: 'A rundown property for €26,000, only 10 minutes from a capital'
José Elías claims a fixer-upper is available for €26,000 near a capital. The forum discussion highlights the reality: car costs, fuel, renovation, and lack of services.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
A rundown property for €26,000, only 10 minutes from a capital: the calculation that doesn't add up
The phrase attributed to José Elías has ignited the debate: “I’m moving to a village 10 minutes from a capital, and you can have a rundown property for €26,000.” For those who have spent months looking at prices, the figure sounds like provocation; for the person who launched it, it’s a perfect headline. It is not data extracted from a study; it is a post-dinner remark, and as such, it circulates.
Can you buy a house for 26,000 euros, only 10 minutes from a capital?
The answer depends less on the price and more on the capital city. The specific cases cited in the debate involve old houses in historic centers of small municipalities and a chalet 23 minutes from the capital of Jaén for less than 25,000 euros, complete with a large terrace, garage, and views of the mountains. However: you must be prepared for the cold and, probably, for demolition debris.
Ten minutes from Valencia, the same money isn't even enough for a garage.
The variable is not the distance, but what city lies on the other side of those ten minutes.
The costs not included in the listing
The purchase price is only part of the bill. Renovation costs are missing: some say they bought 220 m² for 60,000 euros and left a similar amount to fix it up. Also missing are the transfer taxes, the IBI (local property tax), and municipal fees and permits paid upon arrival. And missing is what isn't included in the deed: doctor, school, paved road, bakery, and supermarket, as summarized by one forum user. For him, this void explains the discount better than anything else: such a price is a message from the market about the location, not an opportunity.
Another segarro obstacle, according to another participant, is that many of these empty houses carry inheritances divided among multiple owners and therefore never come up for sale.
The daily commute that eats into the savings
The calculation of savings evaporates as soon as the car enters the equation. One forum user calculates 600 euros per month for fuel, not including parking or time. And ten minutes during rush hour turn into half an hour with astonishing ease. Added to this is the schedule: if your shift ends at 9:30 PM and the last train or bus has already passed, the cheap house becomes isolated five days a week. Remote work resolves part of this, but some argue that if many people applied it simultaneously, these villages priced at 25,000 to 40,000 euros would rise in price in less than a year; the bubble would travel with the newcomers.
The political precedent doesn't help: the debate recalls that there were those who already recommended moving to an hour outside Madrid.
With those figures, the remaining question is how much of that 26,000 euros is a bargain and how much is the risk premium of living somewhere, as one forum user summarizes, that nobody wants to live in.
The phrase attributed to José Elías has ignited the debate: “I’m moving to a village 10 minutes from a capital, and you can have a rundown property for €26,000.” For those who have spent months looking at prices, the figure sounds like provocation; for the person who launched it, it’s a perfect headline. It is not data extracted from a study; it is a post-dinner remark, and as such, it circulates.
Can you buy a house for 26,000 euros, only 10 minutes from a capital?
The answer depends less on the price and more on the capital city. The specific cases cited in the debate involve old houses in historic centers of small municipalities and a chalet 23 minutes from the capital of Jaén for less than 25,000 euros, complete with a large terrace, garage, and views of the mountains. However: you must be prepared for the cold and, probably, for demolition debris.
Ten minutes from Valencia, the same money isn't even enough for a garage.
The variable is not the distance, but what city lies on the other side of those ten minutes.
The costs not included in the listing
The purchase price is only part of the bill. Renovation costs are missing: some say they bought 220 m² for 60,000 euros and left a similar amount to fix it up. Also missing are the transfer taxes, the IBI (local property tax), and municipal fees and permits paid upon arrival. And missing is what isn't included in the deed: doctor, school, paved road, bakery, and supermarket, as summarized by one forum user. For him, this void explains the discount better than anything else: such a price is a message from the market about the location, not an opportunity.
Another segarro obstacle, according to another participant, is that many of these empty houses carry inheritances divided among multiple owners and therefore never come up for sale.
The daily commute that eats into the savings
The calculation of savings evaporates as soon as the car enters the equation. One forum user calculates 600 euros per month for fuel, not including parking or time. And ten minutes during rush hour turn into half an hour with astonishing ease. Added to this is the schedule: if your shift ends at 9:30 PM and the last train or bus has already passed, the cheap house becomes isolated five days a week. Remote work resolves part of this, but some argue that if many people applied it simultaneously, these villages priced at 25,000 to 40,000 euros would rise in price in less than a year; the bubble would travel with the newcomers.
The political precedent doesn't help: the debate recalls that there were those who already recommended moving to an hour outside Madrid.
With those figures, the remaining question is how much of that 26,000 euros is a bargain and how much is the risk premium of living somewhere, as one forum user summarizes, that nobody wants to live in.
Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (54 replies).
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