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Ghost Villages for Sale in Spain

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Re: Ghost Villages for Sale in Spain

#181

Post by geezerjay »

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…

> As fitting a portrait of our present era’s wealth distribution as any.

Wishing to buy a $172k real estate property is hardly a problem or a sign of income inequality for a US citizen, where the average home listing price is about twice that value.

Re: Ghost Villages for Sale in Spain

#182

Post by markdown »

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…

> 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.

http://www.tribewanted.com/

Re: Ghost Villages for Sale in Spain

#184

Post by duggan »

geezerjay wrote: post #181
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…

> As fitting a portrait of our present era’s wealth distribution as any. Wishing to buy a $172k real estate property is hardly a problem or a sign of income inequality for a US citizen, where the average home listing price is about twice that value.

There is a difference between a $172k "gift idea" and the single largest purchase most people make in their entire lifetime as a loan repaid over most of their working career.

Re: Ghost Villages for Sale in Spain

#185

Post by ben_w »

AdrianB1 wrote: post #141
ben_w wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My siblings were interested in buying an old place in the Spanish countryside as a BTL holiday home, but heard some worrying things about the Spanish legal attitude to inheritance that put them off second hand places. (I won’t repeat what they said; they are neither lawyers nor speakers of Spanish so I give their fears no more than 50% credence).

This can be a problem for some people, but based on the comments I've read in the years I've been reading this site most people are in favor of paying huge taxes. Let's say you pay 75% taxes, what is the problem? When you die, the state will get the place and sell it someone else that wants to pay for it; again, and again, and again. You kids will have to work and pay to get it, for the state is just $$$ profitssss.…

It’s not the state which is the problem, according to my siblings. It’s related to the family of who they might have bought from.

Again, I don’t want to give specifics. I don’t want to spread false certainty about how a legal system I literally cannot read does or doesn’t work.

Re: Ghost Villages for Sale in Spain

#186

Post by rorykoehler »

yellowapple wrote: post #179
rorykoehler wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why did you say that?

Not the GP, but I'd say humans are not meant to be cooped up in these piles of boxes we call "cities". I've lived in both rural and urban areas, and strongly prefer the former; the latter may be more "efficient" mathematically, but at the cost of a substantially-worse quality of life in my opinion.

I grew up in a rural area and now live in one of the most densely populated neighbourhoods of the most densely populated cities in earth. I strongly prefer the latter even though I still love visiting nature for relaxation. You know what runs the countryside? All the people who built houses there.

Re: Ghost Villages for Sale in Spain

#187

Post by yellowapple »

rorykoehler wrote: post #186
yellowapple wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not the GP, but I'd say humans are not meant to be cooped up in these piles of boxes we call "cities". I've lived in both rural and urban areas, and strongly prefer the former; the latter may be more "efficient" mathematically, but at the cost of a substantially-worse quality of life in my opinion.

I grew up in a rural area and now live in one of the most densely populated neighbourhoods of the most densely populated cities in earth. I strongly prefer the latter even though I still love visiting nature for relaxation. You know what runs the countryside? All the people who built houses there.

> You know what runs the countryside? All the people who built houses there.

There's a difference between "countryside" and "wilderness". I think you're talking about "wilderness", because "countryside" is kinda defined by agricultural use (which traditionally implies people living on their farms/ranches). Houses and barns are - IMO - understandably okay in a countryside. Wilderness, not so much; I agree with you 100% that it's better to not actually live in places that we should be conserving for future generations (or at least not build permanent structures; camping is fine, IMO).

Regardless, you don't have to stick to the extremes. Smaller cities/towns that allow for close proximity to either countryside or wilderness (or both!) without outright sprawling onto it would give you the benefits of both. Reno, NV is a perfect example of this: urban living in the valley, surrounded by mountains and deserts where it's easy enough to entirely avoid civilization if you so choose.

Re: Ghost Villages for Sale in Spain

#188

Post by rorykoehler »

yellowapple wrote: post #187
rorykoehler wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I grew up in a rural area and now live in one of the most densely populated neighbourhoods of the most densely populated cities in earth. I strongly prefer the latter even though I still love visiting nature for relaxation. You know what runs the countryside? All the people who built houses there.

> You know what runs the countryside? All the people who built houses there. There's a difference between "countryside" and "wilderness". I think you're talking about "wilderness", because "countryside" is kinda defined by agricultural use (which traditionally implies people living on their farms/ranches). Houses and barns are - IMO - understandably okay in a countryside. Wilderness, not so much; I agree with you 100…

All those farms have the potential to become wilderness with urban farming, lab meat etc. In Ireland there is a 3rd type of rural where every man and his dog has built an eyesore of a house on their carefully manicured 1 - 5 acres of land. You can pretty much drive the country long and wide and never not be able to see a house like this (except in the designated nature reserves).

I'm ok with smaller towns and cities as long as they are very high density. They tend to sprawl however.

Re: Ghost Villages for Sale in Spain

#189

Post by yellowapple »

rorykoehler wrote: post #188
yellowapple wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You know what runs the countryside? All the people who built houses there. There's a difference between "countryside" and "wilderness". I think you're talking about "wilderness", because "countryside" is kinda defined by agricultural use (which traditionally implies people living on their farms/ranches). Houses and barns are - IMO - understandably okay in a countryside. Wilderness, not so much; I agree with you 100…

All those farms have the potential to become wilderness with urban farming, lab meat etc. In Ireland there is a 3rd type of rural where every man and his dog has built an eyesore of a house on their carefully manicured 1 - 5 acres of land. You can pretty much drive the country long and wide and never not be able to see a house like this (except in the designated nature reserves). I'm ok with smaller towns and cities…

> urban farming, lab meat

When these things become practical and ubiquitous and cheap, then sure, farmland could become wilderness again.

> Ireland

That kinda explains our differences in opinion, then. The US is a lot bigger and roomier, so more space to spread out beyond the small 1-5 acre plots (you do see them still - I grew up on an 8-acre ranch - but they're typically surrounded by plenty of more open fields, albeit typically fenced).

> [smaller towns and cities] tend to sprawl, however

Only if allowed to do so, which doesn't necessarily have to be the case. We could be surrounding those towns with protected wilderness, for example. Reno's an example where the very geography makes significant sprawl less practical (though it's still happening in the north and south to an extent).

Also, one thing that often slows the sprawl is the sheer cost of extending utilities further and further from the population center (and that cost - at least here in the US - is the responsibility of the property owner). Even building your own self-sufficient alternatives (wells and septic tanks and solar panels and such) is expensive enough to be at least somewhat of a deterrent (if they're even practical in a given climate). When these towns do sprawl, it tends to be along roads that already have power lines.

Re: Ghost Villages for Sale in Spain

#190

Post by libertine »

somberi wrote: post #164
libertine wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

May I ask what you would consider as above-average income.

If your income is 1500€+/month (after taxes) you can have a pretty good life.
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