Loan for a new property

Looking at buy a place for 50.000 euro (new build), but need to lend half of that from a spanish bank how much whould the repayments apx for a 25.000 euro loan i am 53 years old and have a income. or would i be better off trting to get the loan money from the UK, in the way of a personal loan  i could have one of these at 3.6% apr.

Are you sure of the interests for your personal loan (3.6%) seems very low to me. In Spain most of the bank will lend you the money at a floating interest rate based on the euribor on which they will add a premium (typically Euribor + 2%) with a minimum of 3.5% in al and a maximum of around 12%l.

Currently the Euribor is at 0.2% so you would pay the minimum for the first year. However, the Euribor will not increase in the near future (next coming years) since the situation in Greece and other south European countries have not improved.

So if you really can get 3.6% on your personal loan, you have the safety of knowing your interest for the duration of your loan and you will not be taking any risks to see the interests raise.

From what I can see rightmove it's a no brainer. If you can get a loan in the UK at 3.6%. The 25k€ is only just over 18k£ at the current exchange rates. With a Spanish mortgage you are going to be charged all sorts of fees ingoing like valuation 500€ Admin 1% and they will probably insist that you have expensive home insurance with them as well.That's if you can get one of course, a lot of Spanish lenders don't provide mortgages under 50k€

With a UK loan you should also be able to pay it of early without penalty

Yes i can get a loan from the Nationwide BS 3.6 % this would be over 5years and no set up fees, i can well afford the repayments, on the face of it, its short term pain for long term gain.

I do so much want to buy my own place in Spain but ive just seen a property on the same resort for rent at 250pcm, i know its a english thing to buy/own your own place, but this rental game looks very appealing and the flexibility to get up and go if needs must. Thoughts guy pros & cons please

Would have to know a little about the place to make any kind of judgement, but IMHO and contrary to popular belief, 50k ain't gonna buy you much, so it might be wise to rent first - at least that way you may discover why it's so cheap, before committing yourself. Just a thought. I know, for example, some places on the Costa Blanca tend to be far cheaper than the CDS, but around my area you can buy a crappy apartment for under 50k, but you'd be buying into your worst nightmare scenario of bad neighbours, bad debtors, etc. etc.

Las Terrazas de la Torre Golf Resort (A Polaris World Resort ) Murcia

Interesting! Really shouldn't comment because I don't know the area, but from a quick glance, I would have to assume you're a keen golfer? Otherwise, I can't really see why anyone would want to buy a property there. Unless you do indeed plan to play golf 24/7, I would suggest renting there for a while to "get a feel" for the area (such as it is) if you don't already know it well. The properties look nice, but personally I'd go out of my mind after a day or two out there in the desert!

Best of luck, whatever you do.

Thanks ( never played golf in my life ) lol

I reckon Roberto's comments make good sense.  The price should not change in the next 12 months and UK interest rates should be static-ish also. 

You may find that in 12 months time you feel differently.  Once you buy you are committed for a few years, selling is not easy, particularly currently.  There are some fabulous deals to be had, but IMHO there's no rush.

As the OP is a none golfer he will have the resort facilities almost to himself during the day, I've googled the resort and reviews of it, it looks to be very smart and well spoken of.

I don't know the development either but imagine it's not dissimilar to Condado de alhama which I've visited a couple of times.  It also receives excellent write-ups, but the owners tend to be to those who are restricted to visiting a few times a year for short periods. 

I stopped of at Condado on the way home from Murcia for a meal a couple of months ago and 10 or so of the 12 restaurants around the square were closed, the other 2 were virtually empty.  It was like a ghost town.  A good place to go to with kids in the school holidays and in the peak periods, but not a place to live at, unless you wish to become a recluse for most of the year.

No doubt some kind soul will let me know if I'm wrong, but for me the idea of renting for a year a so sounds good before you commit to a purchase you may regret later.

There are two community forums for the resort on this site so OP can get a flavour of the resort and ask any questions there.

I have only passed by the resort but most of the Polaris resorts are inland but only 15 to 20 minutes from the coast.

I have been told the apartments are only small ( less than 60 square metres on average) and the community fees quite high.

Nice area and close to Roldan  a nice village with our favourite restaurant the Toscana.

60 square metres is not bad for an open plan kitchen/diner/lounge with one double bedroom on-suite shower/bathroom. If it has the benefit of a small balcony or terrace all the better, I've stayed in similar and been comfortable. 

Ive been in these properties they are ok for size, i once had a polaris apt on La Torre Golf ( the resort next to this one ) never had a problem with the size, but not much in the way of storage, but some people have made storage rooms in the garages below the apt blocks.

I was told by a furniture company a few miles east of Cartagena that they supplied a lot of the kit for Polaris World and we he reckoned that they deliberatel selectedy from a smaller sized range to male the rooms appear bigger.  I could cope with that, but not a small bed, not even for a few nights.

But if that's true 60 m2 should be more than reasonable for a 1 bed flat.  But for me it must have a balcony for a longer stay, particularly if there's two of you there.,

I believe the 60 sq metres was for a 2 bedder but I think they do have balconies . We were going to buy on another Polaris resort and those were the sizes they were showing on the plans of apartments.

"I do so much want to buy my own place in Spain....Thoughts guy pros & cons please".

I would ask myself, why do I want to own a place in Spain?

Is it to use myself? If so, is a golf course (in the middle of nowhere) where a non-golfer wants to be? Do I want to have to rent a car every time I come to Spain? Do I want to buy in Spain to experience the culture/lifestyle/people etc. etc.? If so, could I buy a place in a village or town, with a permanent population and some existing infrastructure? 

Do I want to buy in Spain as an investment? If so, where's the return on a property on a resort with dozens of empty properties? i.e: How easy will it be to rent out when there are agencies advertising similar properties all the time (competition!!!). What's my exit strategy? i.e: How easy would it be to sell in 5 - even 10 years time when the developer still has empty units on the market? Remember to factor in overheads such as rates, utilities and community fees, taxes and not to mention purchase costs.

Far be it for me to judge, but I can't help wondering - why this place? Is it purely a price based decision? Cheap, yes. Good value? Not sure....

I reckon, in hindsight, that buying in Spain is an indulgence, not an investment. 

But there's not a half-way house.  For many, the sensible thing currently is to rent, but that comes with lot's of problems and you cannot put your roots down and develop a property if you don't own it.  Also renting can cost more than you expect - many Spanish landlords do not expect to return any of the deposit at the end of the tenancy even if the property is returned in an immaculate condition.

Ownership has it's own difficulties and you also need to be sure that you actually want to spend most of your prescribed 28 days a year there.  For some it will become a millstone, but others cannot wait to get there and "chill".

Our first purchase was possibly not dissimilar to the OP's, but after a year or two we found it was too small, particularly during the winter months when it became a bit claustrophobic.  So we moved to a larger property, but this requires considerable ongoing maintenance and the costs have rocketed.  But is this simply "grass being always greener"?...

Last time we visited Las Terrazas, to play golf, it appeared to be like a ghost town with infrastructure in place but loads of empty apartments as this was one of the classic Polaris World resorts that they continued building in spite of the financial crisis hitting, eventually causing the downfall of Polaris World.

the banks currently run and own most of the original 6 resorts and golf courses are managed by a professional management company.

I m not even sure if there were any shops or restaurants onsite and the nearest Town, Roldan is a drive away and not overly attractive.

are the pools and communal facilities being maintained?

it is a good 20-30 mins to beach depending on traffic and appeared to be very quiet there.

Im with others and would certainly recommend a rental period these days having experienced the pitfalls of buying on a Community.

Is the community you are looking at properly maintained?

What are the Community fees?

Are the fees paid up to date?

have you checked prices of bank resales?