Im going to buy in Spain.

Leper speaks from experience. He has lived it, we are dreaming it. There's a difference!!
 
noproblem said:
I would imagine he knew that already, as anyone reading this also does. So, in effect, it doesn't add anything he/we didn't already know. I also thought that was obvious
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I read it as an impatient comment from someone who asked the following question twice and didn't like Ravima getting in the way of his important question..

Sunnygirl69 said:
Interesting post by Browtal.... Wondering if prices have bottomed out in Lanzarote?
What would one be expecting to pay for 2 bedroom apartment in good location?
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Sunnygirl69 said:
Wouldn't mind a bit of heat in Costa Almeria right now Leper, glad you enjoying your stay. Could you give me a guide for asking price for 2 bed apart with pool at the moment? Hoping to view 1 in Lanzarote on Friday.
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Sunnygirl69 said:
Not sure how that adds to the conversation but thanks Ravima
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I also thought that this was a very odd comment.

Looking at Nevin the chef in Majorca the other night on TV I just wanted to be there. The restaurants, the bars, the outdoor life.....all looked great. Often thought about buying a place myself, have the money but I personally would like to be able to move about different locations/countries and not have the problems of ownership.
We travel to Spain in the shoulder months of April or May or June or September or October. Renting an apartment owned by someone else for €500 a week or €1200 for a month is good value in my opinion. You will spend at least €2k on costs per annum owning a property. I think that you would want to be spending 6 months of the year there to get value from it.

However it must be nice to have a place, where you can leave clothes, medicines, personal items and not have to worry too much about packing suitcases when you wanted to head off. Also to own a place where adult family members can make use of.
 
Let's not get caught up with semantics lads. Buying a holiday home abroad is a daunting affair and let me admit can be a good adventure too. "Hey Lep! - you're going soft," I can nearly hear some saying.

Buying a holiday home in Ireland and abroad for use as a holiday home only must be an enchanting experience provided you know what you are doing and recognize the inevitable pitfalls. The end results are bricks and mortar in a place in which you wish to spend many happy hours in sunshine without a care in the world. And there's nothing wrong with that and best regards to anybody going down this route successfully.

We bought for investment (I've never heard anybody else say this) and to have our pensions augmented through renting. Obviously, we were always going to use the place as a comfortable bolt-hole too. But, when you add up costs -V- gains you don't have to be a chartered accountant to know that I invested in a loss making adventure. I was hammered in AIB shares and Eircom shares along the way too. I'm not the kind to go for a quick buck; I'd enjoy letting profits mount up over a long period of time. Life's a bitch and it didn't work out, but I'm not moaning to Joe Duffy or anybody else as I always knew there was a chance that we wouldn't gain. Unfortunately, that chance manifested itself on several occasions throughout my leprous life. You can get on with your life or bemoan what you tried. I prefer not to look back.

Obvious Question - Can you make money from investing in a holiday home abroad? Certainly, you can, but you need to be cold and unforgiving. Bad as I can be, that ain't me! But, I'm enjoying Spain at the moment and we are swopping our apartment for one on Italy's Lake Garda next April for a month. It's always nice to have something to look forward to.
 
I took the jump and bought two years ago. There's no doubt it costs in terms of time, money and sweat, but I love my little house in Spain. I hope to move there in the near future. I love that I have my own things in place - I don't intend to rent it out, but will likely return to IRL or elsewhere in Northern Europe when its high summer in Spain. The costs for me on maintainance etc are roughly 1000 all in. I don't drink or smoke, so this is my vice. Unlike Leper (de auld money grabber investor) I don't see it as an investment.
 
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Hi Horusd.Well i think that it is an investment whether you like it or not and a good investment.You cannot beat the old bricks and mortar investment and never mind the fancy electronics and evs etc.investments nowadays where we all get manipulated by by so called experts and carried away etc.in my humble opinion of course;Enjoy your house in Spain.We only live once.
 
I've been keeping my eye on property in Spain from about 2014, not really with the intention of buying but you never know what might take my fancy and I would have to agree with Lep I see no sign of the Spanish market slowing down, I'm constantly surprised at the value that some of the Spanish estate agents list properties at and especially in the last couple of years it seems like it's gathering a head of steam
But unlike the Irish market where your nearly always competing against another bidder in Spain a property can be sitting there for months if not years before there might be an offer with the added bonus that the buyer usually negotiates the price down
There's the price that the seller wishes they could get and then there's the actual (reduced) price that they normally end up selling for!!

I should also add that I'm looking to rent a property in the general area for my winter stay and I'm seeing a huge increase in rental prices as well
and I'm also seeing a lot more properties (at least from my research) that are already fully booked or the January/February slots are gone compared to previous years that I've been looking.
My own search is not going as planned, I'm down to my last two properties one with an estate agent and the other is an AirBnB and it's a lot tougher this year compared to previous years for a numerous reasons
 
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When I was buying I was of course looking at value but I had a few criteria:

* Mixed area in terms of occupants. (Lots of expats and Spanish).
* Good community services. My community charges 220 per annum for a wonderful pool and well kept gardens and streets.
* A reasonable social scene - especially for a non-drinker like me.
* No more than 40 mins from airport. Near major roads/motorways
* Area that people live in all year round. No tumble weed in January, thanks.
* Away from bars and for me away from the beach (I am 5 mins drive to beach) etc.
* High (enough) ground to avoid occasional Spanish flooding.
* Near a bus (in case I can't drive for whatever reason).
* Near services like supermarkets, plumbers, electricians, and especially English-speaking one's.
* Garden/outdoor space and parking nearby.
* Near a park. Huge natural park beside my house. Cannot be built on, it's my favourite amenity.


As for investment, I didn't consider that too much. My intention is to leave proceeds and assets to www.seasheperd.com to protect the marine environment. I'm also looking into a project in the Amazon which reforests the rainforests. Both featured on "A Perfect Planet" by the wonderful David Attenborough. I don't have kids, my family are financially comfortable, I want to use whatever money to protect the planet. No one in my family will miss my money, but it could make a small difference for the planet.
 
Weather wise, where abouts in Spain will you get good winter weather? It's a bloody big country. Cyprus is a place I spend a lot of time in, but in winter it can be nice somedays, there's a few months where the weather can be very iffy and can get on your nerves because it gets cold as well. Seems the weather/climate everywhere is all over the place and going forward who can tell what's going to happen? In Dublin at the moment and the weather up here can be totally different than down west. Don't laugh, it really can be and I doubt the rainfall up here is anything like at home, warm here too.
 
noproblem said:
Weather wise, where abouts in Spain will you get good winter weather? It's a bloody big country.
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Lep will probably be of the same opinion as me, the Almeria region which is I believe Europe's one and only desert region is the place for consistent good warm dry, not humid, sunny weather and I would hazard a guess that the Mojacar area is the one of best in the region
But having said that my first year there 2017, it snowed two weeks after arriving which I was told by some it's the first time in living memory
The second year there were record snow falls in the Sierra Nevada's which when the wind starts to come from the east mainly during February cools some of the areas that I would be cycling around but its still dry and sunny so not so bad,
Last trip 19/20 was probably the best weather wise ,no more then about seven days of rain average day temps mid teens to mid twenties
night time can be a bit cool but you're normally tucked up nice and cosy in front of a log fire reading a good book or what ever

Had friends stay a month in Malaga February 2018 and the majority of the time they spent indoors because of the rain so it was back to Kerala for them.
 
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Way back in 2003, I had cashed out a nice voluntary redundancy offer and had landed a better paid job into the bargain. That money was burning a hole in my pocket and sunny climes beckoned. A few trips to the Canaries followed and even Florida was checked out. Bottom line: no matter how I did the sums, it just didn't add up. Too many uncertainties. Managing property at a distance. Etc etc.

Eventually bought a nice apartment in Dublin for the price of a decent place in Lanzarote. The rental income, even after taxes, comfortably pays several multiples of the price of a very nice holiday every year.

No regrets.
 
Bronco Lane said:
horusd. Can I ask the area you purchased in? Sounds really nice.
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Hi Bronco
I bought in a small town south of Alicante called Torrevieja. It is is "working" town with a large sea salt business. You can see the pinkish hills of sea salt dotted around. We even have flamingos in the salt beds.

There's also quite a busy market garden vibe with small farms, vineyards etc, and many orange, lemon and nut groves. It's quite rural in parts. It's developed a really great park around most of the town (Parque Natural) with cycling and walking routes. There's (in my view) ugly developments as well, with some very large ex- pat (British) developments - one called "Quesada" which I would avoid personally. Spain can be a mixed bag, I like the town I live in, but there's far prettier ones geared more towards the tourist market.
 
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Bronco Lane said:
horusd. Can I ask the area you purchased in? Sounds really nice.
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When I first read this post I prayed "Please don't let it be Torrevieja" - We bought our first Spanish apartment in Torrevieja and in one of the tower blocks where on a clear day we could see the ground.

I'm not going to say anything more other than I'm glad Horusd bought in a favourable area of Torrevieja.
 
Fair play to those who jump in and if it works out ( not guaranteed) . Being fairly risk adverse I have stayed on the sidelines!
 
Torrevieja is nice. I like the old casino. Definitely avoid Quesada!
 
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