Real estate is not a science. When asked about whether it is better to sell or wait, the experts from the comprehensive home platform Housfy reiterate that, first of all, any decision-making depends on the needs of each owner and, secondly, on market trends.
The owner must analyze, first of all, what his financial situation is. Selling a flat is a feasible option if what you need in the short term is liquidity, says Iván Guillén, commercial manager at Housfy Inversión.
Similarly, potential charges on the home, such as a mortgage loan, can convince a homeowner to sell the home and get rid of the debt, especially when it is not their primary residence. If it is a property without a mortgage, renting is already more interesting: it would mean obtaining the full return.
If, even with a mortgage, the owner can pay the loan payments with the rental income and still receive a monthly cash flow, another option would be to study the risk and keep the property as a real estate investment.
Waiting to sell, the experts agree, is a feasible option: housing prices are resistant to inflation in most of the peninsula and very pronounced drops are not expected in the coming years.
Of course, delaying the sale without renting the apartment in the meantime can be a burden for the owner, who will continue to pay taxes and other associated expenses without receiving a return in return.
Some landlords, on the other hand, would rather have their property empty than rent it out again, perhaps due to a previous bad experience with a delinquent tenant. In that case, the sale will have to be considered, especially if “you detect that you can obtain an interesting capital gain”, recalls the real estate investment specialist, Iván Guillen.
It should not be forgotten, however, one variable in the equation: the buyer. The interest rates of the loans for the acquisition of houses have experienced constant increases this last year and the banks have restricted the granting of mortgages for those who want to buy a house.
This means that, for their part, some buyers who do not meet the requirements of the banking entities have no choice but to wait and opt for the rental of a home in the meantime. If the owner does not have a cash urgency, he may well wait for more favorable conditions for buyers and more opportunities for sale.
Some more, others less. A rental in our country lasts an average of two and a half years, have calculated the real estate experts at Housfy Alquiler. This time could be enough for inflation to come under control, Europe to stop tightening financial conditions and families to recover their purchasing power to be able to access the purchase of homes.
If we take into account the upward trend in rental prices, and that the market is short of available rental homes, the remuneration that the owner would receive in these two and a half years on average is attractive enough to take advantage of a good profitability of the house and reconsider the sale of the property once the rental is finished.
Although passed, the new progressive rule is barely being implemented yet. And it is that most of the measures depend on the governments of the autonomous communities, which need time to declare, if they so decide, their municipalities as stressed residential market areas.
The alarmist speeches in this regard, however, are altering the decisions of many owners, who have preferred to sell their property rather than manage a flat for rent in a changing legislative context.
In reality, the Housing Law is not affecting rental profitability, or at least not as much as inflation has, and it also offers a series of tax breaks for those owners who opt for the usual rental instead of the temporary or the vacation