Are you glad you bought your holiday home.....or do you regret it?

 Hi all,

We are considering buying an apartment to use as a holiday home as there are some real bargains out there at the moment, however we are debating whether it is a good idea or not.

We both work full time and each have 30 days annual leave a year and so could use the apartment several times during a year, we are both due to retire in the next 10 years and would look forward to using it more often then.  No grandchildren yet, but there's always a possiility, so potential further use as well as being able to have friends and family stay with us.

We both like the appeal of having our own things in Spain instead of lugging them around in a suitcase and being able to have beach stuff i.e. sunbeds, parasols etc. ready to put in the boot.

But, is it worth spending around £80k just to have our personal things available for what will be limited use?

What do you think?  We would appreciate your comments either way, especially from those who own a hoilday home.

Cheers

Kelju 

 Yes, love it.  No regrets.  Except of course we could now buy much more for our money.  But you have to LIKE the country, the people, the culture.  Too many people move over or buy property who really don't want to live among Spanish people, and who are not interested in Spain or its culture.   Go over and explore before buying!!!

 Yeah, it's true you can get so much more......my friend purchased a place in the UK around the same time we bought our place in Spain circa 2003.  She's made about £195k profit but we've lost around £30k.

We don't regret buying, didn't buy for rental purposes and love Spain.......but wouldn't it be nice to have a wedge of money to buy now.  You can definately get amasing bargains in the current climate so if you like the country, culture and people go for it 

I think prices will start to increase in certain areas once the upcoming big developments are closer to opening.  For example Murcia will have Paramount and Cartagena City will connect with the EU Freight Train Network.......however today prices are seriously cheap.

No regrets whatsoever, the one big plus that I find is when we go to our holiday home we are relaxed from the minute we arrive because we are familiar with the place.

One of things people said to us and we even thought it too was - 'Do you want to always go to the same place time after time?' Got to say that has been the biggest advantage to owning a place in Spain. As you get older you really don't want the hassle and uncertainty of not knowing what you are going to get when you arrive.

Strange little things like your own pillows, bedding, personal items start to mean a lot and when you really get to know an area it is much better. Nice to be able to meet and bump into people that you know and are neighbours with - just like at home.

I can get door to door in 4.5 hours - quicker than going to Cornwall which is where we used to go.

We moved in three years ago at the top of the price rise - probably would'nt get as much for our place now as we paid for it but we really bought it as a house rather than an investment. Having said that you really get what you pay for and the good stuff still and will always fetch good money. Watch what  you can buy cheap as it is cheap usually for a reason.

Have a look at the Mazzaron / Alhama area in the Costa Calida. This place will really take off if the Euro survives and the proposed major investments in leisure and transport actually are delivered.

Jon Faulkner

We've owned our own place for over ten years and don't regret it at all. Had some fantastic holidays, made many, many new friends and now we are retired we have more time to spend in our dual locations. However, don't forget that it's not just a one off purchase. There are many costs involved in the purchase and significant ongoing costs, bank charges and not forgetting maintenance of the property. Many of these costs are rising due to the financial problems in Spain. When these are taken into account, if you are not going to get a lot of use out of the property, you might want to consider a cost benefit analysis of owning as opposed to short/long term rents.

There are many, many threads on here regarding the issue of property purchase at the moment in Spain. Prices are cheaper than they were 5 years ago but the £/€ rate is still very, very poor and with the economic turmoil continuing it remains a very dangerous option in my opinion. The state of the Spanish property market is by no means stable. We have been considering selling and buying a different property, in the same area, for the last few years now but at the moment I don't consider it to be a feasible option until I have more confidence in the market.

 We do love it here in Spain and now we have a permanent property it is even better.

However, looking back, I do regret buying a holiday home.  The community charges, the utility standing charges, the annual taxes and solicitors fees have to be taken into account.  On top of that, the property crash has caused me to lose half the value of what I paid for it.  Saying prices may go up is not taking a realistic view.  There are, in the very small community where my holiday flat is, dozens of similar properties for sale.  We used the holiday home for 7 years and I reckon it cost me about €12,000 a year overall taking into account the loss on the property and the bills etc.  That's about €4,000 per visit.  Just think of the place I could have rented for that!  

At first, we had no intention of actually moving to Spain but we loved the area and way of life so much that we decided to retire here.  The holiday home (a 2 bed upstairs flat) would not have been conducive to permanent living but the house we eventually bought is.  

My advice, for what it's worth, is simply rent, even if it is the same place every year so you get used to it.  You can't really get a place with a garden etc if it is only a holiday home.   In the future, you may want to make it a bit more permanent even if you only visit every couple of months.  Don't regret having the wrong place as something suitable for a couple of weeks a few times a year may not be suitable later on and you may end up with a millstone around your neck.

Only my opinion, of course, but the question was do I regret it.  First, yes, Second definitely No.

Buying a holiday home ties you to that country and as a result could limit your time/funds to visit other countries.

Also Spain has both high acquisition and disposal costs and it's not easy to sell if you need to some time in the future.

For many their Spanish holiday home has become a real financial headache.

Make sure you do your sums as to annual costs of owning  - IBI/rates, elect, water, community fees, maintenance costs etc - for some that can be a sizeable sum.

Also if you need a mortgage then I would say definitely no.

Hi Kelju,

I have sent you a p.m.

I bought a holiday studio in 1983 and enjoyed coming to Spain for several years staying in the studio.

In 1988 I took early retirement in UK and have lived in Spain on the Costa Del Sol  ever since, albeit moving around a bit but always in the same area

From a purely personal point of view, I cannot understand those who complain about Spain.  It may not be 100% perfect but on a give and take basis, it's as good as I could reasonably expect it to be.

And since 1983, the administration has improved by leaps and bounds and again I have no real complaint.

I would absolutely hate it of for any reason was obliged to return to UK.

 And at the end of the day, it is about much more than having your own place to keep bits and pieces.  It is an opportunity to really get to know an area, and its people, culture and food etc.  Having said all of that, I would not like to be in  a position of never going anywhere else, and we enjoy holidays outside of Spain.  However, having a place somewhere in Andalucia, or Murcia, gives you a great base to explore fantastic cities (especially when the High Speed train is finished!!).    

 Thanks for the responses, they certainly give food for thought.

Great to hear that having your own things, familiarity and getting to know an area add to the ownership experience.

We will certainly heed the comments around ongoing costs and ownership becoming a financial headache / mill stone.  Doing a cost benefit analysis is good advice, working out the cost per visit etc.  

With regards to selling on the property, I don't know at this stage whether we would want to do this at some point in the future, I suppose that if you buy the right property at near the bottom of the market then that limits the prospect of negative equity.

I don't know what the inheritance tax situation is but there is always the possibility that we would leave the apartment to our offspring so they can enjoy it, we will consider the IHT as part of our research.

Luckily we will not require a mortgage so the future uncertainty over exchange rates will only affect yearly charges etc.

Kelju

We have two properties that we rent out but on a long term basis.  If you are renting out for holidays you need to make sure you buy somewhere where there is a demand.

Also, as there are so many properties for rental now, the competition is much more fierce, so you have to take that into account, as well as the high costs of marketing your properties for rental.

However, in terms of being tied to the same place for all your holidays, that doesn't have to be the case.  With sites such as homeexchange.com you can swap it for a holiday in another country at any time, without having to pay the rental costs.

So, I suppose the best advice to be would be buy in a popular holiday area, suss out the competition on holiday rental websites such as www.spain-holiday.com and enjoy it when you get the chance!

Justin

Hi,

We bought ours 2004 and yes I do regret buying becuase the prices now seem so high than when we bought.  However we have many great holidays over the years with the kids and love the spanish culture and weather.  Like you it is nice to have your own bits and pieces in the apartment but to be honest, I would rather rent  than buy as owning a property you have to keep on top of things, insurance, maintenance, if anything goes wrong, leaks or what have you.  I would rather rent even though you have to carry your belongings in a suitcase as with owing a place comes responsibilities and it is nice to switch off when you go away and renting is so much cheaper.

Good luck in your decision

 Hi justin,

We are not looking to rent out the property but might be interested in the home exchange site if we do purchase, so I suppose the same criteria applies regarding location etc.

Hi Angela59,

Good points about maintenance, leaking pipes and worrying if the property is OK once you have left, I suppose maintnenance in respect of keeping things clean, tidy and well maintained (rather than dealing with problems or emergencies like leaking pipes) gives you something to do.

That is another of our concerns, once we've done the exploring the area etc. would we be bored and end up staring at the four walls?  Can you get enough of a good thing?

Kelju

 I think the last thing to worry about is being bored and staring at the walls.  The good thing about having your own place, or a place you are familiar with, is that you get to know the best things and places.  The best supermarkets, the best bars, the best restaurants, the best times to go somewhere etc.  You also get to know people around you and, possibly even more important, the places to avoid.  

It would also give you time to look around the area to see the places you might want to, eventually, use more often.  Committing yourself to the purchase of a holiday home is a big expense, even with the low prices around nowadays (those low prices hold good in UK at the moment, as well).  

I would never try and put anyone off as I think moving to Spain has been one of the better decisions in my life.  It;s simply the original holiday home idea that I regret but, as with all things in life, you can't see the future and how it will pan out.  We may have hated it after a while and regretted it for that but that;s definitely not what happened. The same with people moving over lock, stock and barrel.  Work out how much renting will cost you for a few years then balance that against what you may have spent on a holiday home.  The more you use it, the more cost effective it will become.

Hi Kelju,

I must say we like the area we bought in and the urbanisation, very pleased with that but sometimes we do feel it has run it's course as the kids would like to try out different locations but because of owning our own you are committed financially and emotionally to going there as often as you can.   I have often heard some other people like me who bought and they said it is no different from being at home as you still have to do the groceries, cleaning, washing and all the bits that go with owning a home which is true, whereas if you go on a holiday be it package or you rent you don't have the same responsibility.