Hi,
The foreigners tend to congregate inside the old city walls and in the Grand Via / Russafa, pushing up prices significantly. If you keep away from these admittedly lovely areas you will pay a lot less. Another reason to keep away from the old town is the tourists.
There are no "bad" areas of Valencia. No areas are plagued by crime. You can make a happy life just about anywhere. The locals would say that Natzaret is bad (the only bario with a reputation), but by international standards it's fine (just poor and badly connected).
Most valencians live in flats. I agree this is the best option if you want to live in town. Be aware that they don't really have the concept of an over-arching freeholder, so you need to pay attention to the state of the building that you are buying into.
Some suggestions:
Cabanyal: buzzy, grungy, full of life, right by the beach, cheap. You can buy houses here, but they will need refurbishing.
Benimaclet: up and coming, loved by its young and trendy occupants. Not much to look at.
Paterna - Benimamet - Valterna : lots of high quality blocks, but you do feel a fair way away from the center.
I wouldn't worry too much about district, as long as you are near a metro station, all will be well. Just look for a nice flat in a building that looks attractive to you.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Roland is right. There are no "bad" areas of Valencia. A nice flat in a building that looks attractive to you will be very easy to find. However, the prime thing to bear in mind is "What do we want from Valencia?" Is this building where you find Valencia as you would wish to experience it? Are you happy to commute to get the buzz? In that sense, I would very much "worry about the district". As in every city in the world, you pay for location.
So much of it has been built in recent decades. Away from the centre, long avenues and boulevards through the residential districts are notable for their trees. There are, of course, local supermarkets, shops and bars. This is where the Valencianos live, who go to work, have family lives, need schools on hand. To a degree, the suburbs.
Of course, there is "life" there, as there is in any residential district. We are all familiar with this from our home towns and cities but is it what's wanted from a foreign adventure?
I recall an episode of "A Place In The Sun" where a young English couple came to Valencia to buy a place because they had so much enjoyed their many visits to the central city. They were shown a small atico right in the heart of the old town. A one bedder but a bit of outside space. They loved it. Then they were shown various other properties, away from the centre, with lots more space for the money and finally, a house down in El Cabanyal. A whole house! Great investment! Near the beach!
They got very excited about this but, on reflection said, "We didn't come here to invest but for the buzz of what we so enjoyed. The atico may be tiny but it is what we want, where we want it."
I live just off Av de Baron Carcer. It's northern end passes the back of the Mercado Central, which is 400m from my flat. The only tourists I see are those peering at maps, a bit lost. They are the wrong side of the market. Walk through the market and yes - it can be a mob scene if a couple of coaches have just unloaded, with visitors to the market and to La Lonja, the mediaeval silk exhange on the other side of the road.
I was having a coffee in a cafe opposite the market when an entire coach-load of Japanese tourists burst through the doors and made a run for the loos. As there was one ladies and one gents and 40 Japanese ladies and about 5 Japanese gents, the mayhem was mighty. As usual, the staff were a model of forebearance and patience.
There is a tight little area from the market to Plaza de la Reina and the cathdral which is the main area for tourists. But many of these tourist are the Spanish! Valencia is very popular with the natives. I have been asked directions several times by Spanish people looking for somewhere - often calle de los Caballeros, the street that runs from the basilica next to the cathdral up into the el Carmen barrio, which has a feel similar to NYC's Greenwhich Village or London's Soho.
To give you an idea of how local the tourist area is, a coffee and a pastry at La Lisboa, a cafe behind La Lonja, is €2.50. A five minute stroll to the cafe in the plaza Napoli & Sicilia, where you will find the local clinic if you need your ears jetwashed after your flight, the same is €1.70. And you will have walked past some of the best that old Valencia has to offer, including Plaza de la Reina and the wonderfully named alley c/ de los Baños del Almirante. How many baths does an admiral need? The admiral's palace is now the offices of some level of the city/province/regional/federal administration, as are most of the ancient buildings in VLC, including the palace of the Borjas, who became the Borgias, the Spanish popes.
I knew el Canayal's reputation as a barrio on the up. But it has to be said that it is coming up from a rather low base. Grungy is the word Roland used. Spot on.
It was blighted for many years not only by being run down on account of not fulfilling its original purpose, the fisherman's village - the fishing fleet is presumably now industrialised and based in the enormous port - but by the proposal to extend Av Blasco Ibáñez, 6 lanes gardens 100m wide down the middle, from its seaward end at c/ de Serradora right through el Cabanyal and down to the seafront.
When I was given a walk round by an estate agent he indicated the cross streets he reckoned would be safely clear of the disruption caused by the compulsory purchases and the construction of the avenida.
But I set out by myself to give el Cabanyal the opportunity to show me what it has to offer. I walked the length of the main 7 north-south streets that run parallel to the seafront and many of the cross streets too.
It reminded me of The Isle of Dogs after the great London docks had closed down and before Canary Wharf etc had created a new town on the area. The run-down remnants of a thriving, working class community rather left behind by failure of the city to invest in infrastructure and to encourage regeneration.
El Cabanyal is pending. Give it 20 years ... or get in now, if that's what you like.
There has been, over the years, a campaign to have this Av Blasco Ibáñez project cancelled and, with the defeat of the PP ruling VLC, the project has died a death.
As Roland mentioned, buildings are maintained by a management company retained by the residents' community. The management company presents a selection of quotes by companies bidding for the business. The residents vote for the quote they favour. I imagine it's similar to the condominium system in the USA - tho' without the armed guards!
My building is a bit dog-eared. I bought 1/3 of the way through a surcharge for the expense of dealing with the roof, so was in for the other 2/3rds. This year we have a €200/month x 12 surcharge to renovate and paint the facade.
Get a paper map and a hi-lighter. Trawl the property portals. Tour districts with Google street - incredibly useful. Get out on the street.
There is no substitute for leg-work.
