buying an apartment in spain
Discussion
Shnozz said:
And Rob - good shout on the penthouse with terrace. You end up often spending more time outside than inside, so decent terraces are more useful than a garden or another bedroom IMO. Also with no garden there comes minimal maintenance for lock up and leave.
All well and good having a pool, gardens and full on hacienda style property but if you are not there full time it’s paid assistance or a lot of work each time. Both our U.K. and Spanish property is terraces only and low maintenance so can be left for months on end to negligible detriment.
Very much the thinking. Needed to be somewhere could just lock up & leave for months at a time without needing to worry. Having outside space that was also more than just a balcony for a couple of chairs was a big plus. All well and good having a pool, gardens and full on hacienda style property but if you are not there full time it’s paid assistance or a lot of work each time. Both our U.K. and Spanish property is terraces only and low maintenance so can be left for months on end to negligible detriment.
Congrats Rob.
As Shnozz says, outside space is massively important out here… it’s where you spend most of your time for at least 8 months of the year.
Weather has been brilliant in Andalucia since Christmas (though it did piss it down for 5 weeks before that). We had lunch out today… sat around in t shirts drinking ice cold beers.
As Shnozz says, outside space is massively important out here… it’s where you spend most of your time for at least 8 months of the year.
Weather has been brilliant in Andalucia since Christmas (though it did piss it down for 5 weeks before that). We had lunch out today… sat around in t shirts drinking ice cold beers.
Congrats Rob.
Interesting to read what others are saying about the outdoor space. We agree 100%, but it seems like the Spanish don‘t. Getting something holiday sized with decent terraces has proven very difficult for us to find. In Alicante they are building more of them now, but the prices are insane. Also looks like quite a lot of places which used to have terraces, which have then been built over or covered.
Our place is stalling at the moment because part of the terrace has been built on and not legitimised. The sellers agent doesn‘t want to get it legitimised before the sale in case they are told to pull it down. Our Gestor says that it needs to be done or we can‘t change the water contract over and obviously we want it legal in any case. Haven’t heard from the Gestor or the agent since the 27th, so assume they are negotiating.
Interesting to read what others are saying about the outdoor space. We agree 100%, but it seems like the Spanish don‘t. Getting something holiday sized with decent terraces has proven very difficult for us to find. In Alicante they are building more of them now, but the prices are insane. Also looks like quite a lot of places which used to have terraces, which have then been built over or covered.
Our place is stalling at the moment because part of the terrace has been built on and not legitimised. The sellers agent doesn‘t want to get it legitimised before the sale in case they are told to pull it down. Our Gestor says that it needs to be done or we can‘t change the water contract over and obviously we want it legal in any case. Haven’t heard from the Gestor or the agent since the 27th, so assume they are negotiating.
eyebeebe said:
Congrats Rob.
Interesting to read what others are saying about the outdoor space. We agree 100%, but it seems like the Spanish don‘t. Getting something holiday sized with decent terraces has proven very difficult for us to find. In Alicante they are building more of them now, but the prices are insane. Also looks like quite a lot of places which used to have terraces, which have then been built over or covered.
Our place is stalling at the moment because part of the terrace has been built on and not legitimised. The sellers agent doesn‘t want to get it legitimised before the sale in case they are told to pull it down. Our Gestor says that it needs to be done or we can‘t change the water contract over and obviously we want it legal in any case. Haven’t heard from the Gestor or the agent since the 27th, so assume they are negotiating.
I had a similar issue mate and my Spanish seller really couldn’t understand why I was insistent on getting it legitimised before I bought it; his view was surely I’d want the tax saving each year from not having parts added to the deeds Interesting to read what others are saying about the outdoor space. We agree 100%, but it seems like the Spanish don‘t. Getting something holiday sized with decent terraces has proven very difficult for us to find. In Alicante they are building more of them now, but the prices are insane. Also looks like quite a lot of places which used to have terraces, which have then been built over or covered.
Our place is stalling at the moment because part of the terrace has been built on and not legitimised. The sellers agent doesn‘t want to get it legitimised before the sale in case they are told to pull it down. Our Gestor says that it needs to be done or we can‘t change the water contract over and obviously we want it legal in any case. Haven’t heard from the Gestor or the agent since the 27th, so assume they are negotiating.
Was all a bit of aggravation but got through it in the end. In my case it was that fact the garage wasn’t registered on the deeds. There are 5 houses of 16 in the community that have these garages below - none are registered on the deeds except for mine (now). Given it’s 100m2 it wasn’t a tiny addition. Not sure if the original developer registered it that way for ease, given the 11 houses don’t have any garage, or whether they just saw it as a tax benefit to buyers of the garage was never listed on the deeds.
I’d be very surprised if they could get it legalised in a timescale that would be appropriate for a sale btw. You could be talking years. Surprised your solicitor hasn’t suggested asking the vendor to pay for the architect to draw up the plans and make the application itself. However, if it were to fail after purchase, you’re left holding the baby.
Congrats Rob, looks fantastic. Duquesa is one of the best places to buy on the CDS in my opinion.
Conversely we're looking at selling ours up on the Costa Almeria as it's just not used enough and the long term letting market is on its arse.2 beds, 1 bathroom, decent size terrace, 2 pools and tennis court on site... €400 a month
Conversely we're looking at selling ours up on the Costa Almeria as it's just not used enough and the long term letting market is on its arse.2 beds, 1 bathroom, decent size terrace, 2 pools and tennis court on site... €400 a month
MrBig said:
Congrats Rob, looks fantastic. Duquesa is one of the best places to buy on the CDS in my opinion.
Conversely we're looking at selling ours up on the Costa Almeria as it's just not used enough and the long term letting market is on its arse.2 beds, 1 bathroom, decent size terrace, 2 pools and tennis court on site... €400 a month
Long term let’s never seem to stack up from the owners perspective. Is it not worth pivoting to short term Airbnb lets? Seems you can get the same per week in peak months as you could per month for a long term let, plus added bonus of less likely to get any non-paying overstaying renter or claiming any sort of residency rights. Appreciate you need to pay for a changeover cleaner but over a year a short term rent seems a better option with the bonus of being able to book it out whenever you want for yourself or friends and family. Conversely we're looking at selling ours up on the Costa Almeria as it's just not used enough and the long term letting market is on its arse.2 beds, 1 bathroom, decent size terrace, 2 pools and tennis court on site... €400 a month
Shnozz said:
Long term let’s never seem to stack up from the owners perspective. Is it not worth pivoting to short term Airbnb lets? Seems you can get the same per week in peak months as you could per month for a long term let, plus added bonus of less likely to get any non-paying overstaying renter or claiming any sort of residency rights. Appreciate you need to pay for a changeover cleaner but over a year a short term rent seems a better option with the bonus of being able to book it out whenever you want for yourself or friends and family.
I think that works for popular destinations, but ours is a bit out of the way. It's only 1.5km from the beach, but you do need a car really. In between long term lets it's always been marketed for short term, but we've never had any significant uptake. That said, we've not put it on a mainstream site like Airbnb or Vrbo. Something to think about I guess. We certainly won't get rich selling it in the current market!Shnozz said:
I’d be very surprised if they could get it legalised in a timescale that would be appropriate for a sale btw. You could be talking years. Surprised your solicitor hasn’t suggested asking the vendor to pay for the architect to draw up the plans and make the application itself. However, if it were to fail after purchase, you’re left holding the baby.
To be honest I‘m not sure how it all works. That‘s why I‘m leaving it to them to figure out. We also had major parts of the villa that fell through that needed to be legitimised and neither our advisors, the seller nor their agent thought it was more than a formality.eyebeebe said:
Shnozz said:
I’d be very surprised if they could get it legalised in a timescale that would be appropriate for a sale btw. You could be talking years. Surprised your solicitor hasn’t suggested asking the vendor to pay for the architect to draw up the plans and make the application itself. However, if it were to fail after purchase, you’re left holding the baby.
To be honest I‘m not sure how it all works. That‘s why I‘m leaving it to them to figure out. We also had major parts of the villa that fell through that needed to be legitimised and neither our advisors, the seller nor their agent thought it was more than a formality.Shnozz said:
It’s amazingly commonplace and the attitude very relaxed towards the rules! For outsiders it seems scary but you do end up adopting the a similar relaxed approach, or you would go insane.
Agreed and we‘re fine with that. We‘ve been advised though that it‘s now normal practice that you get any of your „improvements“ added to the deeds when you sell, as Spain is trying to be more regulated on these things. Seems a pragmatic approach. If the seller had been more flexible on price to begin with, I think we‘d have been willing to take some more risk. If they won‘t go for it, we want an appropriate reduction in the price. If there‘s no negotiation to be had, then so be it. We‘ll find something else (eventually).Shnozz said:
Apologies if you’ve already said, but are the vendors Spanish?
Not 100% sure. She spoke Spanish with the (Russian) estate agent and I think a bit of English with us, but the names on the nota simple suggest Dutch origin. It looks like it‘s an inheritance case where the father has died.I only ask as the Spanish seem to have a laissez-faire attitude towards both rectifying these sort of legal issues with getting a property ‘right’ on the deeds etc and also remaining robust on price. My sellers were from Madrid and were not very flexible when we discovered the deeds issue, on rectification of it or making any concessions either financially or in terms of input on their part to try and fix the issue.
GT03ROB said:
GT03ROB said:
When down to the Costa del Sol, last week. Idea being to see if it was somewhere worth buying & if so where we should consider. No intention of buying
Really liked the Duquesa area. Dropped an email to an agent last Friday afternoon as we had a quiet morning on the Saturday before flying back early evening so was interested in getting to see a few properties & what we could get for our budget.
Agent met us took us round a few properties in the Duquesa area. Saw a few properties, but frankly nothing that grabbed us. Final property was actually final 2 on a development that has recently been completed. A 3 bed ground floor with a garden area & a 2 bed penthouse, with more terrace space than inside space. The roof terrace has sun all day, with sea views both ways, the other terrace has views down to Gibraltar. After viewing had a drink with the agent. Said we really liked it but couldn’t commit until we had exchanged on a property in the UK we were selling. With the agent we persuaded the seller to take the 2 bed off the market pending an exchange this week. They agreed pending confirmation yesterday. We finally got exchange today so have been able to sign off the initial paperwork today.
We are actually opposite end of this block but same afternoon view.
Other side
This is all just above Dona Julia Golf course
Hopefully in in about 4-6 weeks
https://donajuliagolfviews.com/en/gallery
....and all just gone through.....Really liked the Duquesa area. Dropped an email to an agent last Friday afternoon as we had a quiet morning on the Saturday before flying back early evening so was interested in getting to see a few properties & what we could get for our budget.
Agent met us took us round a few properties in the Duquesa area. Saw a few properties, but frankly nothing that grabbed us. Final property was actually final 2 on a development that has recently been completed. A 3 bed ground floor with a garden area & a 2 bed penthouse, with more terrace space than inside space. The roof terrace has sun all day, with sea views both ways, the other terrace has views down to Gibraltar. After viewing had a drink with the agent. Said we really liked it but couldn’t commit until we had exchanged on a property in the UK we were selling. With the agent we persuaded the seller to take the 2 bed off the market pending an exchange this week. They agreed pending confirmation yesterday. We finally got exchange today so have been able to sign off the initial paperwork today.
We are actually opposite end of this block but same afternoon view.
Other side
This is all just above Dona Julia Golf course
Hopefully in in about 4-6 weeks
https://donajuliagolfviews.com/en/gallery
Edited by GT03ROB on Friday 14th October 21:23
Edited by GT03ROB on Friday 14th October 21:43
swanseaboydan said:
Are there any nice hotels round the Duquesa area ? Me and the missis are heading down in April time to have a look around between there and up as far as nerja I think - with a view to buying something in the future
You will be miles better off renting a place around the Manilva/Duquesa/Soto area !Booking.com or Duquesa.net will show you plenty of options
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