# Insulate house or not



## maxd (Mar 22, 2009)

Does anyone have external insulation on their house? Spanish houses just seems to be rendered block work and I cannot imagine it has good insulation properties.

Just wondering if it is worth doing my latest purchase in Tenerife as it hardly gets below 17% C there at night, so I guess it is more about keeping cool rather than keeping it warm.


----------



## zenkarma (Feb 15, 2013)

maxd said:


> Just wondering if it is worth doing my latest purchase in Tenerife...


Whereabouts in Tenerife? If you don't mind me asking.

I've been looking at Tenerife recently and I'm quite interested in the place but need to find out a bit more about the areas.

I was watching a 'Home in the Sun' episode recently in Southern Tenerife (although it was from late 2011) and one of the agents interviewed reckoned prices had fallen by about 20% from peak which I found hard to believe. The Canaries have fallen less, but not that much less.

Regards insulation, is it really worth it in a climate that's generally pretty mild all year round? I appreciate it's more about coolness rather than warmth but does it get hot enough there to warrant spending money on wall insulation? You'd have to crunch some figures really to see if it's financially viable or not over the length of time you'd be there.


----------



## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

I would LOVE a properly insulated house! I live in a square white box with a flat roof and while in summer it is up to ten degrees cooler inside, for three months of the year it is impossible to keep warm (around 18-20ºC) without spending a fortune on heating. I have had to revise my definition of "comfortable temperature!" 

Even when it starts to heat up outside, it takes days for the internal temperature to rise.

But I've never known anyone who's been able to insulate their house, and even the new-builds aren't insulated AFAIK.


----------



## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

zenkarma said:


> Whereabouts in Tenerife? If you don't mind me asking.
> 
> I've been looking at Tenerife recently and I'm quite interested in the place but need to find out a bit more about the areas.
> 
> I was watching a 'Home in the Sun' episode recently in Southern Tenerife (although it was from late 2011) and one of the agents interviewed reckoned prices had fallen by about 20% from peak which I found hard to believe. The Canaries have fallen less, but not that much less.


Fotocasa does an analysis of prices based on actual sales and in the Canaries as a whole the price per square metre has fallen from 2,100€ in January 2008 to 1,386€ in Nov 2013. You can play with the data, adjust date ranges and pinpoint locations here:

fotocasa.es: informe del precio medio de la vivienda en España y su evolución.


----------



## maxd (Mar 22, 2009)

zenkarma said:


> Whereabouts in Tenerife? If you don't mind me asking.
> 
> I've been looking at Tenerife recently and I'm quite interested in the place but need to find out a bit more about the areas.
> 
> ...



I bought in the south because of the weather, we will mainly be spending winters there and the south has the best climate. The North is tropical and green but it rains too much, also the North is far more Spanish, not that that is a bad thing, I have even bought in a Spanish area in the south albeit with English neighbours.

The south has the best beaches also as the North has dramatic cliffs and rock faces. There is something about the Island that made me feel good, I have been all over Spain but nowhere made me feel as comfortable as I felt there. Plenty to do, if you feel like going to the big smoke of Santa Cruz you can, it has over 500k people, you can go up the highest mountain in Spain, plenty of beaches and towns as well as have 1 euro pints and petrol for 1.06 per litre. VAT is 7% which is also nice.

As for houses, there is an 11 bedroom place that was on a place in the sun, it is still on the market at 299k euro. I reckon you could offer 260 and get it. I went to see a house in the same street it is not too bad, Spanish area would have to drive 10 mins to beach.

11 bed villa at a knockdown price - 299,950

Here is the vid


----------



## zenkarma (Feb 15, 2013)

maxd said:


> As for houses, there is an 11 bedroom place that was on a place in the sun, it is still on the market at 299k euro. I reckon you could offer 260 and get it. I went to see a house in the same street it is not too bad, Spanish area would have to drive 10 mins to beach.


Thank you for your detailed reply.

That is the episode I saw recently and deliberately watched it because it featured South Tenerife. They did feature that house and apparently it was being used as a bed and breakfast. Whilst I could afford it, it's a wee bit too big for me, myself and I!

I was thinking more in terms of a Studio or 1 bed flat really.

I didn't think any of the properties shown on that program represented particularly good value for money. It's no wonder the couple being shown them wern't interested in any.

Cash buyers want a cracking good deal in this market and not over-priced tat. Quoting prices of what they sold for at the peak of the market doesn't help either, that's history and doesn't bear any relation whatsoever to what someone might be prepared to pay now.

To top it off the person showing the properties wasn't up to much either, typical estate agent — full of bluster and bull and no substance.


----------



## maxd (Mar 22, 2009)

Just noticed that is 299k euro now but in the program it is in pounds.

Well that house is over 400 m2, which means a build cost of about 400k euro + the land purchase cost. If you do not think that represents good value then I think you will never be happy 

If you want a 1 bed flat probably better to be down by the beach in Los Cristianos then.


----------



## zenkarma (Feb 15, 2013)

maxd said:


> Well that house is over 400 m2, which means a build cost of about 400k euro + the land purchase cost. If you do not think that represents good value then I think you will never be happy


That's a bit like saying that Rolls Royce over there was 120k new but is now only 90k, but I don't want a Rolls Royce! 

Neither do I want an 11 bedroom property with all the hassle and expense of maintaining it, not to mention property taxes.

Something is only good value if it's something you want at the price you're prepared to pay.

And by the way, if it represents (in your opinion) such good value, how come it's still on the market?


----------



## maxd (Mar 22, 2009)

640 euro/m2 including land cost is a great deal and way below build cost. As for why it is still on the market I have no idea, I did not go and see this one. Must need some work done on it or something.

I saw a house in the same road that was on the market for 320 and sold for 280. That was gone in less than 2 months but it had 1300m2 of land.

I suspect the lack of garden, the size and the renovations are probably keeping it on the market. As well as the feeling "why has someone not bought it" must be in the back of everyones minds who views it.


----------

