Spanish Property Viewing Trips
For the last few years – since 2008 really – foreign property hunters wanting to buy a home either for holidays or for a permanent move have been a rare breed indeed in Spain. However, in recent months we have noticed a distinct rise in the numbers of guests visiting us on one of our Spanish Property Viewing Trips, with the thought of looking for a property in the area.
More such guests are Adam and Helen, who spent a week with us very recently, bringing their 7 month old son Zac with them, and they had their entire time here arranged around estate agent visits and property viewings. They were already familiar with the southern part of the Costa Blanca, but felt it was not typically Spanish enough for them and had too large a proportion of non-Spanish residents for their liking. They therefore decided to acquaint themselves with our part of the northern Costa Blanca, where there are properties of all sizes to choose from, and often at comparatively bargain prices. They had visited the Place in the Sun property expo in London before deciding to come out here, so were in a good position to have made contacts and formulated their ideas.
They spent almost every day out and about viewing many different properties, although they knew that theirs had to be a reasonably large house, as they now have a total of five children. Their intention for the trip was to settle on an area that they felt would be right for them and hopefully find a suitable property. They were well aware that prices have come down to levels not seen in Spain for many years and so were looking for a home that reflected this trend in the market. By the end of their time here they had made a shortlist of two that matched their requirements – ones that already had sufficient accommodation or which could be easily extended and improved – and they were considering whether to submit offers to the owners.
During their time here they decided the Gandia area suited them very well indeed, with sufficient entertainment and recreational facilities to suit their growing family in the years to come, but also within easy reach of Valencia city either by car or train for times when they might feel the need for all that Spain’s third city has to offer.
The very day after they left, we had yet another prospective house purchaser stay with us for one night. Again, Lucy had come very well prepared for her Spanish Property Viewing Trip and although she only stayed the one night, she arrived in the early afternoon and promptly met her estate agent and went house viewing, and then the next day, when she was only due to return on an evening flight, she again spent the large part of the day looking at yet more Spanish properties. She also felt that the area was right for her and saw at least two properties that might fit the bill. She plans to return in the near future – or possibly send her husband to see if their ideas coincide – and decide if one of these houses is the one for her, or whether to continue the search. Either way, we look forward to seeing probably not only Lucy and her husband, but also Adam and Helen again as they all move their property search forward in our part of the Costa Blanca.
