Finding the right place
Tuesday, February 5, 2013 @ 1:22 PM
The next morning Carlos was on the hotel doorstep again waiting to take us to more potential holiday homes. I hoped he had got the message by then. Theoretically, we wanted to be near the beach, we were happy to drive to the golf courses, we would like a few restaurants close by and we didn’t mind it being quiet. He took us to the sales office of Los Altos de Nuevo Vera where a plan of the complex lay across the table in 3D. It was built close to the last one we had viewed and just a few minutes’ walk from the beach and consisted of 4 storey buildings with lots of different sized apartments. There were to be 3 swimming pools surrounded by the apartments, large carparks and gardens, a children’s playpark and secure gates manned by staff. It was great and we were interested. Alongside the office there was a fully furnished show apartment with all the appropriate finishes and styles. It was lovely! The first 2 blocks had been built but were not yet occupied. I supposed that this was what was known as buying offplan. However Maurice had no intention of buying something he couldn’t see, so he insisted on visiting the site.
Carlos took us to the apartment block but due to health and safety reasons no one was officially permitted on the premises. As we got out of the car I told Carlos to look the other way and we left him sitting outside the building site. We ventured carefully up the rough path covered in building materials and stones to find the apartment we had liked on the plan.
I was thinking that I needed to see what way the sun shone on the property and Maurice wanted to get a feel for the place. It was rough and unfinished but it certainly had potential. It was a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom ground floor apartment with a lounge/dining room and separate kitchen and utility.
It had a large terrace that opened on to the garden and swimming pool. The tiling was not completed in the swimming pool but hedging and palm trees with protective covers had already been planted and not much imagination was needed to visualise what it might look like finished. Oh yes we could see ourselves enjoying the sun on that terrace! When we returned Carlos was being upbraided by a security guard for letting us venture on to the site, but the damage was done as we had seen what we needed and we were excited.
We also needed time to think so Carlos took us for lunch again. I wanted to talk to Maurice alone and he wanted to talk to me but Carlos was there suggesting this and that and discussing the pros and cons. After lunch Carlos drove us back along Mojacar Playa and to another apartment block close to a golf course and overlooking the sea. The position was almost ideal but it was accessed by a long steep hill which would have to be climbed on a daily or nightly basis unless we used a car. We agreed that the view was not worth the inconvenience of the hill climb.
As we travelled in the car I could see Carlos watching me from time to time in the rear view mirror. I wanted to close my eyes and go to sleep as this was all too much to take in, but I needed to think it out and talk to Maurice.
We decided to return to the sales office of Los Altos de Nuevo Vera to look at the options of the only complex we had liked and give it proper consideration. There were different apartments and different prices. Unfortunately no one there spoke English so Carlos had to translate for us. I thought that they always seemed to say more in Spanish than the English translation and I wondered if we were missing or misunderstanding some things. The apartment we chose was €201,000. A long time was spent indoors waiting, wishing we were in the sun, wondering if we had enough money, worrying if we might do the wrong thing.