Ghost Villages for Sale in Spain • Hacker News Board

Re: Ghost Villages for Sale in Spain

#61

Post by libertine » Sat, Mar 30, 2019, 3:09 PM UTC

rdl wrote: post #9

I'm sure there are plenty of people who can work remotely who would love to live in a place like this, if it were either turnkey or at least if there were some collective action organization. Makes even more sense in Portugal, though -- you could live in a place for 182 days/yr, after putting 350k euros investment into it, with a grant of portugese citizenship. I'm sure there are similar villages/properties in rural…

The great thing about Portugal is that it's a rather small country, so even if you live in the interior, you can quickly get to a large city, or even the coast.

As a portuguese I can tell you that Portugal is an amazing place to live if you have an above the average income.

Re: Ghost Villages for Sale in Spain

#62

Post by MeltySmelty » Sat, Mar 30, 2019, 3:22 PM UTC

wickedsmile wrote: post #48

veryworried wrote: post #6

Yes, how dare somebody buy something expensive with their own money!

It's funny that the ones who complain about wealth distribution the most are the ones who have insanely more wealth that includes pretty much everyone on HN. It's a pool club where only rich come.

Keep crying you poor.

Re: Ghost Villages for Sale in Spain

#63

Post by lumberjack » Sat, Mar 30, 2019, 3:45 PM UTC

deanalevitt wrote: post #23

The big question is land ownership. Does the buyer get to own the land? Or is it more like a 100-year lease from the state? $100k for large swathes of land anywhere in Europe sounds like a steal to me.

"Ownership" is meaningless. Each region of Europe have their own laws regarding what you can and cannot do with the land you "own" and what duties and rights you get by owning it. For example, you might buy one of these houses but the building codes mandate that you renovate and preserve the exterior. Heck, in some countries you are not allowed to even live in structures outside the habitable region.

Re: Ghost Villages for Sale in Spain

#64

Post by Pfhreak » Sat, Mar 30, 2019, 3:59 PM UTC

LifeLiverTransp wrote: post #47

Another sign that industrialized civilisation consumes its inhabitants. All to the citys, to sit in tiny cubicles and apartments, waiting lonely for ones demise. What a triumph, what a archivment.

> waiting lonely for ones demise

I mean... there's a whole lot of assumptions there...

Re: Ghost Villages for Sale in Spain

#65

Post by glup » Sat, Mar 30, 2019, 4:06 PM UTC

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #32

pavlov wrote: post #4

”The company recently got a boost after Gwyneth Paltrow flagged one of its villages on her website as a good Christmas present.” I thought this was a joke, but clicking on the link reveals that a $172k village in Spain was indeed listed in “gift ideas” alongside such more traditional items as a $7700 Hermès surfboard. As fitting a portrait of our present era’s wealth distribution as any. Future generations may look b…

Heck, just look at the thread on the cancellation of Apple's wireless charger. Part of me wished I could post a gif of the daunting and terrifying task of putting a phone in a docking station.

Ya I just buy a new one when my current one runs out of juice.

Re: Ghost Villages for Sale in Spain

#66

Post by ALittleLight » Sat, Mar 30, 2019, 4:09 PM UTC

rdl wrote: post #45

atomical wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think parent comment was referring to foreigners buying a place and working remotely.

Yeah. I am planning to get Portuguese residency through property purchase along with some friends, although we might not go for rural. Only need to spend 14 days/yr there, though. It is a 350-500k EUR investment. If you rent the property out you should be able to cover the debt service. (Obviously it exposes you to Portuguese RE risk, as well as EUR currency risk, and requires good credit, but a 500k piece of propert…

How do you plan to rent the property out? Won't you need a property manager of some kind?

Re: Ghost Villages for Sale in Spain

#67

Post by randomdata » Sat, Mar 30, 2019, 4:16 PM UTC

Scoundreller wrote: post #49

Mediterraneo10 wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree. As someone from Romania who works remotely, I moved from the big city to a village about 50 km away, seeking a quieter life. Even there fiber had been run out. It only took a few days for the ISP to show up and run some fiber from the pole to my home, and then I was enjoying speeds as fast as I had previously had in the heart of the city. Romanians are lucky that this country saw an early broadband boom in t…

Meanwhile, in Canada, the providers are starting to market 5G, but the data pricing is so terrible, 3G is more than enough and still requires ample rationing. I have to be careful not to stream too many podcasts. Forget music or video.

At least we have decent wired service in Canada. Out on the farm you can get unlimited gigabit service for under $100/month.

Re: Ghost Villages for Sale in Spain

#68

Post by bogomipz » Sat, Mar 30, 2019, 4:19 PM UTC

rdl wrote: post #9

I'm sure there are plenty of people who can work remotely who would love to live in a place like this, if it were either turnkey or at least if there were some collective action organization. Makes even more sense in Portugal, though -- you could live in a place for 182 days/yr, after putting 350k euros investment into it, with a grant of portugese citizenship. I'm sure there are similar villages/properties in rural…

>"you could live in a place for 182 days/yr, after putting 350k euros investment into it, with a grant of portugese citizenship"

Could you elaborate on this? Is there a name for this program? Might you have a link or some further reading?

Re: Ghost Villages for Sale in Spain

#69

Post by rorykoehler » Sat, Mar 30, 2019, 4:22 PM UTC

jankotek wrote: post #58

rorykoehler wrote: post #42

Am I the only one who sees depopulation of rural areas as a good thing? It's an opportunity to rewild large parts of the continent. We don't need humans dominating every last square metre of the globe. That's part of what is causing most of our problems in the first place.

Not everyone hates humans ;-)

Why did you say that?

Re: Ghost Villages for Sale in Spain

#70

Post by rdl » Sat, Mar 30, 2019, 4:28 PM UTC

ALittleLight wrote: post #66

rdl wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah. I am planning to get Portuguese residency through property purchase along with some friends, although we might not go for rural. Only need to spend 14 days/yr there, though. It is a 350-500k EUR investment. If you rent the property out you should be able to cover the debt service. (Obviously it exposes you to Portuguese RE risk, as well as EUR currency risk, and requires good credit, but a 500k piece of propert…

How do you plan to rent the property out? Won't you need a property manager of some kind?

Yes. If it is in Lisbon we will probably do 4-8 units in a building with a dedicated concierge/Airbnb manager shared across them. Otherwise, there are services which manage like that.

Option C is a rural property and finding a long term farmer. Maybe find someone who is already farming his own land, buy it and lease back at the long term rate. Need to own the property for at least 5-7 years, but I wouldn’t be against owning Ag land indefinitely.