Moving to Murcia

I have taken 3 week holidays for the last 6-7 years in Murcia, whilst there I have looked at properties in different areas. I am now in the fortunate position of being able to spend a reasonable amount on a property. Due to tax implications I will be spending 6 months in Spain then back in the UK. A few years ago i looked at the Mar Menor Golf Resort but thought it too 'Truman Show' , a bit sterile. Some golf resorts were too far away from the coast and some the architecture was not to my liking. 

Over the years we have rented properties on golf courses because we like the greenery and find some properties a bit harsh without it.

A couple of years ago we decided to stay on MMGR just to see what it was like, we were really surprised how much of a

community there was and we enjoyed it. We went back the following year and again enjoyed it. So now the MMGR is

joint top with Torre de la Horadada, as places to buy a property.

community fees do come into it, but as a comparison, my holiday home in the UK costa me £145 per month, no pool, no gated community, no TV channels, only a caretaker and a lift.

everyones circumstances and likes and dislikes are different, if we all liked the same thing it would be very boring.

Steve I got told the other week community fees on MM2 for a town house was around 70 euros, not sure what a villa is, but apts on MM2 are much higher than houses.But with windtaker telling me I am a agent you would think I should know what all the fees are.

Hi newworld,

the villas on MM2 are around €70 so I am told, on MM from €140-150 up to €200 monthly dependant on what villa etc you have. If I buy on MMGR and get a frontline golf villa with pool, I will rent it out in the summer fetching approx £1-1.5k per week subject to taxes and local laws, this will offset the community fees. My place in Eastbourne will be left unoccupied whilst in Spain, but will still cost me £145 in monthly maintenance fees and £160 monthly in council tax. Ouch.

perhaps I can get a job working for your estate agency ? 😉

Yes you can have job no problem, the last person who I interviewed was a plumber he was clue less, he thought there was only one place in Spain somewhere called camposol, there was a load of 2 bed villas put for sale last week on MM2  starting at 127k you will have probably seen them if you fancy one let me know I am doing 2night stays in my hotel I use for people that buy property from me,  I will throw in a furniture pack also.

Hacienda Del Alamo

This is a large resort spread out over a vast area, which is what I loved about this resort compared to others like La Torre, Mar Menor, Roda Golf.

Prices are amazingly low and bargains are to be had on this resort. 

I purchased a 2 bed 2 bath spanish apartment last year and community fees are only 57 euros a month so nothing really.  Its a holiday home but I plan to move out there within the next few years.

There is a good community on resort and plenty of people who live there full time.

All properties I viewed were well built and considering they had been shut up for years, didnt show any signs of damp or mould compared to some I looked at at Condado.

There is a local school nearby (5 mins by car) along with Mercadona supermarket.  

The beaches of the Mar Menor or Mazarron are only 35 mins by car.

On resort you have 3 bars / restaurants to eat at and hopefully in the future more will open.

If the new airport ever does open, then this will be very close.

I maybe bias due to owning on resort, however we had been looking for years but never found what we wanted at the right price until we came to HDA, which is a beautiful resort, with plenty of different style properties on the market at reasonable prices.

Good luck with what you decide x

This message was last edited by paulauk on 16/06/2016.

We looked here for the reasons you stated I would strongly advise against. Surrounded by pig farms and fly city !!!! OMG been in Spain a while and never known anything like it. Lovely infrastructure etc but most have that....I think a little isolated. 

All the the golf resorts have high fees so think carefully on ongoing costs. Personally I love a bit of ex pat around as I would feel isolated if all Spanish.

good luck. Have a few months off and come over and rent the best way to buy is to live it for a while. 

Spain is a real enigma where property is concerned, village houses with fabulous roof terraces and mountain views can be had for very little cost when compared to something similar where we live in the UK. Where we stay in Spain, beach front in Calahonda a small 2 bed duplex can be had for circa €250K, whereas closer to the AP-7 you  can pick up something twice the size, with a pool, for around the same amount of money.

I lIke the idea of being within walking distance of the shops, pharmacy, restaurants, bars, bank etc, without having them next to me, and as for neighbours,you get what you get, maybe you will be lucky, we quite like it when the complex that we stay on is circa 30% occupied. A friend has a 4 bed, 3 bath villa with pool half way up a mountain in the Bennisa area of the Costa Blanca, you need to use the car all the time, it's one and a half km from the nearest mini market and a small beach and beach bar, it sends me stir crazy after a week.

We enjoyed the tapas culture on the Costa Tropical, and the quality of the paella ordered 24 hours prior to eating it, infact the quality of the food in general almost rivaled that of the Northern Costa Blanca, albeit the latter being a very expensive property area.

You need to rent before you buy, get a feel for certain areas, if you want a UK expat area there are many to chose from, however you might like the idea of village life, or being on the outskirts of Cartagena, which is a lovely city.

Good luck.

Last message was right on the button, rent first, and in several different areas if you have the time.

However as the first place we bought was in the Mazaron area and I have been to most of the places mentioned, I'll put in my fourpenneth.

When we were first looking we stayed in Roquetas del Mar the first year and the next in Moriara and looked at the whole area in between. We fell in love with Moriara and would have bought there but the prices were high. We also highly rated Garrucha and Mojacar.

We liked inland places but ruled them out as we wanted to be within a few minutes of the coast. But if you want to integrate and learn Spanish you will have to give up easy reach of the beach as English becomes the method of communications on the Costas except between spanish speakers.

In the end we settled on Mazarron. It was a Port like Moraira but here was property we could afford and we just loved having nicely presented three+ course lunches on the paseo with wine for 8E.

Camposol

We lookeed around the port and town first but the first properties we actually looked at were on Camposol. We were shown area 'A' first and were reasonably impressed whith what we could get for our money. But dear Oh dear we were then shown a property like the one we were thinking off on 'C' think. First impressions were bad as the road was blocked with cars (being just able to take one car) and a furiture van stopped us from getting in at all. We then went to the top of a hill that was in the process of being buldozed flat where he said our property would be. It was not for us. The builder was in many cases shoddy (houses slipping down slopes) and never finished the site properly. Many residents have legal problems and do not have the correct paperwork many years later.

However we have several sets of friends there who like the place, the community and the golf course but it was not for us.

Country Club

On the way back for Camposol we came accross Country Club. After Camposol we found it clean tidy and the properties extremely attractive. They promised that they were just about to build a 9 hole golf course, international library, observatory shops and restaurants. We were infatuated and went to the agent and put our money down. We had endless troubles during the purchase, however these were caused by the developer who I understand is no longer involved with the site. We did not get any of the facilities. But the properties were well built and the place may well be worth considering if you take it as it is now. You will certainly know what you will be getting and have non of our off plan problems.

Hacienda del Alamo

Loved playing golf there. The properties looked great and well built. But were out of our range as we only wanted a small holiday flat or bungalow. But the prices may be keen now.

Other golf resorts.

I have played golf at most of them. Many have nice attractive places on the golf course. The main problem is that they are usually run by the company that built them or it's successors. They have you by the short and curlies. They decide the community fees which will be high and the onsite shops and bars will be much more expensive than outside.

Coastal resorts.

We are on our second flat in the Orihuela Costa area. We are there because of the amenities, the sea and the desire to live where the owner's community is small. We are also interested in having a communal pool and area for our guests. We have two large shopping centres and everything we or our guests could want. We are not in a Spanish area. But nowhere on the costas is the real Spain. You can find Spain if you look for it. We still do not speak Spanish well despite trying hard. It is a two edged sword, if you have difficulty learning the language you are more comfortable in the costas but if you are in the costas it is more difficult to pick up the language.

Inland

Pinoso is the place we have most knowledge of that is well away from the coast but even here there are lots of expats. A small number of these speak the language well and have integrated. It, like other similar towns is pleasant, and more Spanish in the way of life. Since the property price crash both 'local' and 'expat' property is very reasonably priced. But being inland and higher up it is 6C cooler in winter. To our mind you may as well be in England if you have to take the plants in in November to avoid the frost. Inland from Mazarron we would rate Totana quite highly.

This email is getting long, but I hope it is giving you a flavour of finding a place in Spain.

Before I sign off read a good book on purchasing in Spain. Find out all the pitfalls for the unwary, there are many.

I cannot list them all here but a few of the most important come under the headings:

Abogado - use a lawyer - you would not buy in the UK without one, don't risk it in Spain. Make sure your Abogado is not involved with your developer.

Bank Guarantees - if buying off plan essential and a legal right.

Escritura - do not take your keys without one.

Habitation Certificate - again, do not buy without.

Debts - if a property has debts you inherit them. If you buy 2nd hand make sure that your lawyer gets a cert to say that all debts have been paid.

There are lots of ups and downs but lots of people love their life or holiday home in Spain. A small bit of research brings many benefits later.

Good Luck

When we first visited Calpe in 1980 we stayed beach front at the bottom of the Gabriel Miro, in those days it was a case of spot the Brit. The Germans even outnumbered the Spanish and totally dominated the south cliff, the restaurants and bars were geared up for them, there was a German owned grill near the church where their mixed grill could have fed two, or more. Standards were high, prices returned good value for money, the place was classy, now it's turning into a mini Benidorm, I mention this because you don't always end up with what you start off with, so take great care, all that I am certain of is that a traditional Spanish village will not turn into a mini Benidorm.

Cartagena has improved immeasurably.  We stayed at a central hotel Cartagonava 10 years ago and found it ghastly, the hotel was fine, but a lot of the central area was a large building site.  But now it's transformed and is an extremely attractive city with lots going on and great for shopping .  It's the kind of place where it would be great to rent for a month, perhaps just out of season, but not sure I would want to buy there - too far to drive to a beach for a start.

I thought that Tteed's post was helpful, but it made me realise that you would have to write a book to include all the places and of course it depends on what you are looking for, your budget, etc.  If someone could produce a flowchart that would be great, but impossible as these things are subjective.