Suggestions for holiday home in Spain

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Oso

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Hi all, I am looking to purchase a holiday home in Spain preferably along the Costa del Sol or maybe Mallorca. I am looking for the sunshine, mediterranean way of life. I want to avoid the down market resorts and go for a location that is quite sophisticated and has some culture. This is not with a view to making money although in the long term some price growth would be nice to have. There should be some rental demand also.

Will consider apartments. Budget 250k Euros.

People have mentioned to me the Cadiz / Huelva area also. I haven't been to this area but any feedback would be appreciated.

Thanks for any advice you may have.
 
Personally would not touch the Costa del Sol, too built up altogether, Cadiz and Huelva very authentic Spain, also around Seville would be lovely. Have you thought of the Algarve, a far nicer country and not as built up.

My cousin has a place in Soller, the North of Majorca, its so beautiful but a terribly expensive area to buy. We are considering buying around Barcelona, going over in June to look.
 
Isla De Canela, Ayamonte, Huelva Provence. on border with with portugal, algarve coast. stay in these apartments each year for last three. 45mins from Faro, so great flights.

good for beaches and golf and lack of english speaking tourists.
bit of spanish helps, great food (seafood of course) and other stuff.

Pork and Black pig Jamons all big down here. Restaurant - CHeck out Masion De Las Chuletas, Villablanca, 10 mins up the road!

all delightful and food still cheap, welcome real. Isla canela saw massive property gains three years ago, but nothing selling there now and plenty of "por vente" signs everywhere. golf up and coming with new courses every year.

I think renting is great tho. come and go, no hassel
 
My OH has gone on a few golf trips to the so called posh parts of the Costa Del Sol around Marbella. He says he woulndn't buy there if they gave them away free. Very touristy, quite seedy and just yuck, in his opinion.

I guess it depends on what you are after. If you want to go on holidays with lots of upper middle class irish..maybe its the place for you.

Personally I would consider a reliable airport that will always have flights direct from Ireland and perhaps consider places within 2 hours drive of that.

I have travelled all over Spain. Not a country I particularly like....but my favourite place was Galicia in the North West. Weather not terribly reliable. Probably too difficult to get to from Ireland. But gorgeous and great food!

I also like the area near the french border and the Pyrenees...in-land.
 

same here, lucky enough to have seen these parts and couldn't agree more "pulpo de galicia" (octopus fried in garlic - mmmhh). i'm totally with the renting and discovering the different areas. so much more varied and no hassel with keeping a place.
 
I can get by in Spanish, thanks to Instituto Cervantes , working in Texas and travelling in South America and Spain. I was actually pulled to the front of a queue of gringos once, cos I was the only one who spoke spanish. A surprise to me!

Generally I don't like Spanish food...cept the stuff in the north west.
Best European country for food IMHO is Austria.
 
Mommah said:
Best European country for food IMHO is Austria.
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thats a real shame. i think the best country for food is ireland.

france has the best chefs

spain knows what to do with the food it has, most irish don't, which is why we export 90% of ours.

you are ahead of your time on austria
 
I have to agree with you about Ireland, I think the food is excellent.
Often a bit overpriced but generally very good.

I live in France and have to say that the french have lost it...big-time....there are 50 odd restuarants around us all (bar 2)serving muck.
Although we got a gift of a meal in a 2 star michelin restaurant in a few weeks..so I'll be able to comment on haut cuisine...which isn't usually my style.
 

I would consider the area around Moraira in the North Costa Blanca (about an hour north of Alicante). Rental income won't be great but it is a beautiful area and doesn't have the influx of tourists (apart from Benalmadena) that you will find in the Costa del Sol and Southern Costa Blanca (Torrevieja, Guardamar, etc.)

You won't have much choice but to look at apartments in that price range, this area isn't cheap and hasn't been that badly hit in the downturn. It is mostly an area of villa properties unfortunately, so you're choice if looking for apartments won't be as varied as it might be elsewhere.

If it's culture you're after I'd suggest Valencia and its environs.
 
Agree with Yellowbelly, if you want to look at making a few bob down the line, stay away from Costa Blanca and other bad selling areas and try a relatively "upmarket" resort area like Western Marbella. 250 k should get you great value down there right now; I was there a month ago and I was surprised at how low prices have dropped in some very good developments.
Ignore the asking price by the way in all cases, and ask around of locals as to what places are really making --there's a significant difference. I saw one good development that is well settled and has a high percentage of owner occupiers, and nice 2 bed apartments in it are actually making around 170 to 180k (asking about 220k).
Key issue is this: Don't even think of buying in a new development, at any price. You may find yourself living in an almost empty building that is owned by a bank or a receiver, and you won't know what will happen to the common areas or even to the other apartments. Buy only in settled blocks that have been built a few years, with a high percentage of owner-occupiers. Ideally buy a house, but you won't get a good one around there for 250k unless its in a development with communal charges, so still issues to watch for.
If you always wanted a place in Spain, and you want to have the option of making a few bob when things improve, this is a great time to buy. There is absolutley nothing selling, and sellers are taking serious hits in order to offload. The brother of a friend of mine recently offered me a house on five acres of olive and orange trees in a very beautiful part of Granada province for 150k, and intimated that he would take less if pushed. In good times that would have made 250k no problem; you couldn't buy the land and build the house for that now.
(I declined by the way. One Spanish home is enough!).
 
Hi,

I'm getting a little miffed at people referring to Costa Blanca as "downmarket" - prices are certainly cheaper than "upmarket" Costa del Sol. When I was purchasing my holiday home I made a decision not to purchase on the Costa Del Sol - had been on previous holidays before and didn't like it. I chose the location of Costa Blanca for the convenience of airports, location to beach, and I also chose an "upmarket" urbanisation with a variety of nationalities from spanish, scandanavian, dutch, german, scottish, irish and english. I have two young children and visit regularly and enjoy it. There are plenty of nice restaurants but I do miss the authtentic restaurants and food spoken about on previous posts but then again with two young children they wouldn't appreciate this food. On the costa blanca there are a lot of expats from England and Ireland it is hard to get away from that as I'm sure it is on the Costa Del Sol - they are not all "downmarket" people. Once you have a car you can go inland and explore the real spain. For pure convenience of having two airports and fabulous beaches and very mild winters it is the "downmarket" Costa Blanca for me anyday and by the way the cost of living compared to Costa del sol is certainly cheaper as as management fees on urbanisations. On any of the costas you have to take the good with the bad.

Angela59
 
This is really useful feedback, appreciate your responses so far. It'll be fun checking all these areas out. I'm starting with Mallorca next weekend. I've enjoyed going to Costa del Sol but agree it can be seen as seedy . Seville is one of my favourite cities but there is no sea nearby! (which makes it less sea dy Will keep researching.....Cheers.
 

Avoid the Cadiz area; if you drive in to Cadiz from the West and take a turn off to the left a few miles before entering the city, you will get a shock. There are endless estates of empty houses and apartments, many sold to German and Swiss buyers, and all of them empty and sad looking. Bad place to buy if you are ever looking to resell. Great beaches, but not much else -- it's a wasteland right now.
No offence to angela59, but the same is true of a lot of the Costa Blanca -- too many properties chasing too few (or no) buyers, and an area without the cachet of the Costa del Sol. It is hard enough to sell in the Costa del Sol now, but at least there is an odd property shifting. In good times, you stand a better chance of making something on a property in an area where people aspire to own a holiday home.
The day you buy is the day you sell. Location, location etc. The old cliches are grounded in reality.
 
Lollix said:
an area without the cachet of the Costa del Sol.
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Whilst I take good heed of your excellent investment advice I can't help thinking that if the Costa del Sol is considered to have "cachet" then I shan't be buying in Spain, at all, ever. I thought it was way over priced and a bloody awful place to boot. Only places with any character were the very small villlages way up in the hills like Mijas, or the town of Ronda, and well away from any likely investment "hot spots." Just my humble opinion.

Oso: I'd go touring around yourself in both the off and high season, rent for a while before you buy, take your time, and enjoy.
 
Hi,

Buying for lifestyle and investment are two very different things. But I agree with lollix "the day you buy is the day you sell" and for that reason I did buy in an "upmarket" urbanisation which is well finished, fab gardens, good neighbours in an excellent location - costa Blanca is a huge costal area and you can't generalise about the whole area. At the moment nothing is selling on any of the costas apart from the banks selling repossed houses!

Angela59
 
Sorry if this is slightly off-topic I have an apartment in Lanzarote. It's in Costa Teguise and is in a 4* complex right on the beach. Unfortunately, due to the current financial climate I have to sell. Do any of you know of good websites where I could advertise it ?

I hate having to get rid of it but needs must
 
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