best holiday home destinations

J

jd28

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Ive been thinking for a while about purchasing a holiday home abroad. I have four kids and am embarrassed to say I am not well travelled, bar Spain that is. It would take forever to go and see all the different destinations and I would appreciate if people could share any experiences they have in this regards. I'm basically looking for somewhere sunny and family orientated without being in the middle of a party zone. Thanks in advance
 
Simple question - why??

If you are spending cash already saved, you are talking about €150K plus. If you invested that in a hi interest account, you would probably get 3.5% return and if you added air fare to that, woundn't you have a great holiday anywhere in the world each year, rather than being stuck in the same spot, with all the worries and expenses of owning property in a foreign counrty.
 
€150k will worth about €75k in 10 years in real terms. The value of the property purchased should have doubled in value.
 
No matter where you buy, please, please make sure that you don't have to depend on rentals whilst the property is unoccupied. If you are ok with that, then a major part of the battle is over.

You will have to take into consideration ease of access too and how expensive flights are all year round. Summer flights at least double or triple in some cases as you probably know already.

With that in mind, if its a bit of sunshine you are after, then countries like Spain are top of the list. Cheap and relatively short flights, lots sunshine, things to do, no language barriers. There are so many beautiful areas that have not got caught up in the concrete jungle era and still maintain their Spanish culture yet having everything you need to enjoy a break away.

Portugal and Cyprus would be similar, but it is more expensive and so are the flights.

Are you buying for you or your kids? My teenager is grumpy no matter what country he goes to but I have a 3 year old who loves the beach and playing by the pool.

As long as you can afford it and are happy with it, then go for it, no matter where it is. Yes there are a million things to take into consideration and you could follow all the best professional advice in the world and it may all be well intentioned - but as long as paying for it doesnt get you down or trying to get to it and you know you will enjoy it, thats what counts.

Take your time and dont rush into anything either way. Maybe you could use the opportunity to go on lots of holidays to several different places and get a feel for it - time to dust off the passport sweetie and get packing!
 
Thanks for the replies, In regards weighing it up as an investment as long as it appreciates a small bit I'm not bothered, I basically want it to enjoy for the family. In regards being stuck in the same place there is more pros than cons ie: being able to bring the extended family out to enjoy it also. If anybody has bought and used a place id be happy if they could give me a run down on how they got on, was thinking maybe Italy or Greece.
 

I thought there were high property taxes in florida; can't recall the annual percentage but it was based on property value and last time I checked [admittedly a couple of years ago] it seemed prohibitive, despite the positives as outlined above. Has the tax regime/rate softened?
 
Somewhere in Europe is a good spot, and aim for something under 80k, that way you have cash for flights etc.

Malta is very pleasant, cheap to live and very good for kids and adults, plus the weather is great. South of Spain, but I found it to be getting more polluted last time I was over.

I would say Croatia but for ease of access out of season it's a little bit of a pain, plus the main coastal spots are stupidly priced (2,000k per m2).

Check Malta, at least they speak English there.
 
I would say South of France, Ryanair flies into Carcassonne and Girona (Nth Spain) and Marseilles so lots of options on how to get there and flight less than 2 hours and very cheap as well. We have 2 teenagers who were getting to the age of longer coming with us but who have met up with other French/dutch/English teenagers who they keep in Bebo/MSN contact with all year and now live for the times we are going away so they can meet up with them. We have also bought bikes,Playstation etc for over there so its like home from home for them. It has also done wonders for their French in school!! We get usually 4/5 trips per year and also have been able to rent out whilst we not using it without any problems.
 
there is no guarantee that the property will double in10years and inflation eat into your lump sum toreduce it by 50%.It it psosible, but remember that just as values can go up, they can go down and in fact they can even plummet
 

Why? because they want a holiday home.
 


I'd go for Orlando also. As holiday homes go, the slow market there at the moment as well as the weak dollar you can get alot for your money out there. So long as you wont be reliant on renting the place out to cover a mortgage, you wont go far wrong. Its ideal for kids with the theme parks, weather is great, people are friendly and in my opinion it is the safest place in the world to invest, in reltion to the actual transaction of buying a property. Escrow accounts, title companies etc are involved. I have purchased in Florida many times now and have never had a problem and i have always brought offplan. I would suggest though you obvoiously look for a resael completed property with a pool. Contact a few realtors and chat to them on the phone first to see who you think you may get along with and then get out there to have a shop around and view some properties.
 
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