Hmm, Phil!I'm really not sure what the Estate agent is trying to tell you and I suppose it all depends on the circumstances. If a local farmer is looking to grow grapes then of course he will pay more for a larger piece of land. However if you are looking for a house to live in either permanently or as a holiday home then much of the value will probably be in the size of the masia or casa or almacen or whatever it is. A large and legal property on a finca of say half a hectare would, I assume, be worth much more than a tiny casita on a 3 hectare plot, or larger. I could be wrong of course! I hope this is of use but my advice would be 'do your homework and shop around'. Hope this helps.

Phil, estate agents definitely aren't 'all the same', the one we used for our purchase was/is absolutely excellent.

As Viking says property prices will reflect what is required from them.  A property of 10 hectares isn't necesarily going to be worth 10x more than one of 1 hectare. A property that has a proper 'habitation' for reformation is going to be worth more than one that just has a little almacen on it but lots of land.

The Sage has spoken! As a long term investment I tend to agree, slower than gas and oil but a finite commodity.
Oh dear, I'm having to agree with him this time!
                                                                   Old Nelson.

Pondgirl,
Now you've started me off !
Perhaps you would like to recommend who this estate agent is, who can do no wrong in your opinion.

Hello all

The process of dividing a parcela is known as segregación, and is carried out by the DARP, the Generalitat's agriculture dept.

In theory, and as far as I understand it:

- If your land is irrigated (regadio), you need a minimum of 2 hectares, which you can split into two new one-hectare parcels.
- If it is non-irrigated (secano), you need a minimum of 8 hectares.
- If it is forest land or similar (pinar, bosque, matorral) you need a minimum of 25 hectares.

If you have say, a finca made up of 4 hectares of non-irrigated land and one hectare of irrigated land, you can split the two.

However there appear to be numerous exceptions (such as when a finca is split by a track etc) and I'm often surprised at what people manage to split -- you really need to get an appointment with the agriculture dept and present your case.

I have been along several times as an interpreter, and none of their staff appear to speak English...

http://www.gencat.net/darp/c/departam/adreces/adre03.htm has a list of DARP addresses. You will need to take a plan of your finca.

Hope this helps

AgentX

Hi Nobrot
Will this affect your ability to sell the rest of the property at a later date? Or are you not worried about that?  Just a thought, as I would have possibly have tried to come to an amicable agreement.

Steve,
I wouldn't have thought it would make much difference.The piece in question cannot be seen from the farm and to be honest it's that small we didn't even know it was ours,it's useless except to our 'new best friend',as I say,we still own the land apparently but he has the right to use it so a future purchaser would still buy it but would have to honour the agreement.The land hasn't even got a tree on it.

(P.S. What's the plural of cactus)