Saturday 13 June 2009

The Tour Continues....

Fresh from huge success in America, the bargain hunter property bus has driven all the way from the states to pick up passengers on the Costa Del Sol in Spain – offering tours of distressed real estate for sale at rock bottom prices, so get your tickets now…



Ahhh, the world of bus tours – from oohing over celebrity houses in Hollywood to creeping across Austria with a group of pensioners, to living it up on an 18-30’s coach.

Now, there is a new trend in bus tours – the credit crunch bus. Already hugely popular with bargain hunters in Florida and Arizona, the bus, which tours distressed property for sale, has made it to Spain.

Organisers Circulo Financiero Internacional, a property investors club, is offering tours of luxury properties on new developments, some of which have had their prices slashed by as much as half.

The organizers said that all properties featured on the tour were ‘real bargains,’ with other developments all offering discounts of between 20 and 40 per cent.

The first tour of the Costas took place earlier this month with a bus-load of Spanish, German and Russian bargain hunters sniffing out the best deals on new developments in Marbella, Estepona and Benehavis.

They saw golf and beach real estate and penthouses, one of which had 50 per cent slashed off its £967,000 original guide price.

On a new development in Puerto Banus, 250 square metre penthouses were going for under £440,000 and 200 square metre apartments were on offer for £351,000.

On a golf development, 200 square metre semi-detached properties that had been repossessed by the bank were for sale at £262,000, a reduction of almost 50 per cent on their original asking price.

The tour is free for members of the CFI investors club and £17 for non members and the property prices can be negotiated still further with the Spanish banks, which is currently far easier than it has been in the past.

A CFI Spokesman said, “The market is stagnating and developers need to shift new homes that in some cases they have built and paid for or are being repossessed or belong to the banks.”

Following the initial success of the credit crunch bus in the Costas, CFI are now planning to introduce similar bargain hunting bus tours in other parts of Spain, possibly in Barcelona and Madrid.

Lets hope you don't see that bus in Moray anytime soon !

Mr Jackson.