Buying in los alcazeres - Page 2

colouredman wrote on Sat May 25, 2019 3:05pm:

Hi Lisa,

As a long time property investor here in UK and until recently the owner of a beachside apt in Paphos in Cyprus for 12 years i can give you these crucial tips:

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1. The coasts in any tourist-oriented country are the regions/areas which are developed first and therefore by implication, the oldest. So some properties near the sea may be as old as late 80’s. That means old spec, old electrics, old construction and building codes, old tired concrete etc etc. As demand in an area grows then developers start building inland, so usually inland tourist properties are newer.

2. In the boom years the Spanish were throwin these properties up in the 100’s of 1000’s. They are often not the best built and tacky, and the reason is this. A developer knows that he doesnt have to try hard with properties near the sea coz the sea itself will sell the property. Property inland has to have a lot more goin for it to attract buyers. These coastal properties are built largely specifically with foreign buyers in mind, not for sale to the Spanish. Mostly that means standards are lower in build quality.

3. Bear this in mind more than anything.... If you buy near the sea yre payin an absolute premium for that! If you spend €100,000 buying on the coast, about 30% of that at least is ‘in the sea’ not in your property. If you spend the same half hour imland 100% of your money is in the property which quite simple means... a better property, with more independence, more land, more bedrooms, more modern, more m2 space etc etc.

4. I was once where you are now.... the retirement or holiday home dream of long days in the sun. Indeed i had all those things and more. But what i also experienced was so many things i could not possibly have imagined.... noise or loud music from other neighbours/owners, or noise from those they rented to. Furniture scraping across floors above us. Cigarette ash raining down onto our balcony from balconys above, etc etc. A key thing to understand about that kind of apt block/communal living, is that you have to really (now) take on board that (contrary to what you now think) your holiday home happiness (or unhappiness) is a lot less in your hands than you think. If that sounds dramatic consider this. Imagine all the people in your street or neighbourhood (the good ones and the bad) living above you, below you, at the sides of you; etc, i.e all in the same building. In imagining it how does it feel? All i can add to that is that I did it and for 12 years and Ill never do that again. The property type we now look for is as detached as possible, for all the above reasons and many more.

5. Be very very very aware of ‘Communal Fees’!!!! These are a nightmare, and cannot be ignored in overall property costs. Some are as much as €50 to €100 per month and always go up up up over time. This is mainly coz the costs of pool maintenance or the salaries of those who do it, all goes up over time. Bear in mind also that if theres ever a time you dont use the apt much or need to return to live in UK youll still be paying, and effectively paying for something yre not using. Another issue with Communal Fees is that generally a small group of people on a block committee wield the power, and a lot of it too. If they decide the block needs repainting or the pool revamping etc you and other owners will be contributing to that without necesarily wanting it or agreeing with it. A few years ago our committee pretty much unilaterally decidec the block needed re rendering and painting. As a consequence (coz the block kitty was low) i had to come up with over €1000 one pay day before Xmas. I was absolutely livid but still had to pay.

6. In any block you will have a percentage of non payers. At least until they pay up or have their property embargoed other owners end up paying more just simply coz they ate paying less or none. Our block was only a block of 8 yet consistently we had 3 non payers who up to when we sold up last Nov, owed the committee/owners about €20,0000!!!

Good luck but go into what yre doing forensically!! Oh and buy a good book on buying property in Spain. It will open your eyes to the complexities and pitfalls of it. Anthony Foster has a very good one for £12 available from Amazon.

Tim

Lisa61 wrote on Fri May 24, 2019 9:41pm:

Help help help. Been looking at buying in los alcazeres but also along beach up to la Zenia.we have had so many conflicting views on areas. We are looking for a 2/3 bed property near beach an use of pool would be a bonus. We have four small grandchildren that would be holidaying too. Any areas we...

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... should avoid or any areas recommended would be so very much appreciated.many thanks lisa