WHAT DID WE BUY AND WHY DID WE BUY IT?

On our very first viewing trip to Spain you will remember that we were advised by one agent either to rent first or to buy an inexpensive property which would resell easily when we found the property we really wanted to live in. As you will have gathered, we did not take this advice and started the process described above when we put down a deposit to buy off-plan. We only discovered the problems when we came back to Spain two months later to sign the deed of sale and that was when we pulled out of that first purchase. On that trip were two friends who wanted to buy an apartment and we went with them to view properties. There was one apartment they viewed which we loved. It was in an established development. It had views over magnificent sub-tropical gardens and a huge lagoon-style swimming pool. Beyond this was a golf course and then a hillside which, although developed, was far enough away not to obstruct the view.

Our friends rejected this apartment because the terrace did not face south. It faced east and only had the sun in the morning. We liked this apartment very much and regretted that we had not seen it before we entered into negotiations to buy the off-plan apartment described above. That very evening we were scheduled to visit our lawyer to sign the deed of sale on the off-plan apartment.

Following the events of the visit to the lawyer when we cancelled the purchase and remembering the advice we had been given that the Spanish only buy east- or even north-facing, we jumped in the next morning and made an offer. It was accepted. Within two months we were the owners of a two bedroom apartment on the Costa del Sol.

This first apartment was almost perfect. Nothing could ever change the views from the terrace. It was affordable and if we ever wanted to get rid of it it should sell relatively easily. It would also be a very good rental apartment should we decide in the long term to keep it as an investment.

This is the apartment to which we finally moved when we left the UK.

Our first Spanish apartment

We were very happy in this apartment. It had almost everything we wished for. The marble floors were cool in the summer. The east-facing orientation kept the apartment very cool. We had views. We were on the edge of the countryside but only one kilometre from the sea on high ground. Evenings and mornings were blissfully quiet. We even went out to buy a book on birds since there were so many interesting birds flying around which we could not identify.

However, we continued the process of looking for the property which would be our home long term. I have recounted some of our experiences, but every time we went out to look we returned home to our new apartment and thought we really cannot do much better than this. There is virtually nothing in our price range that compares with what we already have. This was the time when we really started to take note of the advice to ‘buy what you need, not what you want’.

Our second apartment

A few months into our Spanish adventure, our estate agent friend rang us up to say that she had just taken instructions on another apartment in the same development, only this time it was a three bedroom duplex (two floors) with three terraces. It was twice the size of our first apartment and it had the same orientation to the east. Were we interested?

The next morning we went to view. It was exactly what we wanted. It had space. It was decorated exactly to our taste and was also to be sold furnished and we liked the furnishings. The terraces were three-quarters the size of our London townhouse garden - they would become an outdoor room. Within 30 minutes we had made our decision. For once heart and mind were in unison and we made an offer which was accepted. Two months later we moved in and since the price was well within our budget we were able to retain the first apartment as an investment for holiday rentals.

This experience only goes to show what I have tried to say throughout this chapter. The right property does exist for everyone but it is easier to find if you are on the spot when it becomes available and can move fast.