Thinking of buying at Mazarron Country Club

Hi myself and my husband are considering buying on this urbanisation. Can anyone currently living there please give me an honest opinion of this place. I have read so many contradicting reports I'm now totally confused.  Would prefer not to have to rent as a holiday let but depending on running costs may have to. Is there anyone there that covers property management? are electricity and water charges high? is there local pool maintenance? The plan would be to retire there and this investment is so important to us, its a lot of money to risk making a mistake. Any advice gratefully accepted. Any recommendations for lawyers agents etc or indeed any advice who to steer clear of,

Kind regards

Katy

Hi you are asking a lot of questions,so I will try and answer them for you ,first of all the so called Country club is a very quite urbanization the only bad points are that the urbanization has know shopping ,and you will need a car due to being out in the middle of nowhere ,with know pubs or clubs or entertainment,  it does have a very small community swimming pool /community center as far as the cost of living is concerned you will find Spain more expensive due to the lack of competition and choice , standing charge's on electric and water is more expensive/water is on a meter this will work expensive if you have a pool ,the only things you will find slightly cheaper are the likes of alcohol an cigarettes and council tax but then again all the council do for the IBI council tax to you, is empty you community bins .

I don't know this particular urbanisation but I see windtalker is still coming out with disinformation.

Spain is definitely not more expensive. OK, due to the recent pound crash, things will have got a bit more expensive but my total fuel (electric, gas) is still cheaper than UK. Water charges are also a lot less. In UK my water bill was about £35 a month for 10 months (£350 a year) and here they are around €240 a year. Electric and gas comes to about €100 a month which, when home last, I sorted out my mother's bills and she was paying a bit more than that.

Council tax (IBI in Spain) is about the same per year here as per month in UK so I like the "slightly" cheaper, same as alcohol and cigarettes which are just over a third of UK prices. And windtalker must live in a peculiar place. Far from the only thing the council does for IBI is empty your community bins, they do rather a lot but emptying bins is paid for through your water charges. 

There is a community forum on here for Mazarron Country Club and you might get some answers there by clicking the link

Mazarron Country Club

Anybody else like to comment.😕 ,I did say standing charges on electric and water meters are more expensiv,e it is up to you if you want to sit under a candle lite or worst still ,don't wash in the name of economizing to save money alcohol and cigarettes are only about 20% cheaper .

20 Silk Cut UK £9.78 or €11.54    20 Silk Cut Spain €4,80 or £4.06

50g Golden Virginia tobacco UK £19.32 or €22,80  50g Golden Virginia Spain €8.98 or £7.60

70 cl bottle Rioja Red Campo Viejo UK £7.50 or €8.85   Spain €3 or £2.56

Ltr Tesco own brand vodka UK £14.50 or €17.11  Ltr Carrefour own brand vodka Spain €5.90 or £5

4 pack Amstel 50cl UK £4  4 pack Amstel (Consum Spain) €2.52 or £2.13

70 cl bottle Conde Noble white wine Lidl UK £3.99 or €4.70  same bottle Lidl Spain 95 cents or 80p

And all this since the pound took a nosedive after the 23rd June.

Now, about this 20% difference............

I would suggest you do a google on a "place in the sun" and there was a programme on BBC as well (sorry cannot remember the name - could be "a place on the continent"). MCC as far as I know came out somewhat neutral. It originally had problems with the developers but as far as I am aware matters have been taken up by residents and any legal or service type issues were squared away. I do not own a property there but on the coast. Depends on what you are looking for inland versus coast, the trade off being the purchase price. You will have to drive for shops.

All I would say is Costa Calida as a whole is good place especially in the winter. Forget July/August as it gets too hot most of us and very busy into the port. Todays good news is that a 4 star hotel is to be opened in the port in 2017 which can only add to property values.

Final advice. Take your time. Look around. Go with many agents. Think about finance. Study running costs. Research, google and research again. Our service charges are only around 40 Euros a month and includes pool and garden maintenance. Don't be put off about standing charges.

If you get that far I can recommend good solicitors.

I hope you find your dream, we did!

Saludos

Juan

This message was last edited by juansheetisplenty on 12/07/2016.

This message was last edited by juansheetisplenty on 12/07/2016.

 Bobaol How about adding travel costs to your list Train/bus fares are far cheaper in Spain and far more comfortable and punctual than the UK Petrol/diesel is cheaper as are car servicing costs 

However ,windtalker is right if you are not living here permanently about the electric and water. The problem is two different companies operate it, one to provide it and one to charge for the water. So, yes, if you were only a visitor you would still pay a lot without using anything. My water bill when I'm not here, for example, is about 50 euro a quarter. When we are here it only comes to about 63 euro a quarter. Same with electric, my bill says 65% is cost of providing it and taxes and only 35% is for the actual electrickery used. Mind, now that we have gone over to smart meters, the electric cost has reduced considerably. From over 200 every 2 months down to between 140 and 160 every two months. It is now charged on a rate for the day and a rate for the hour of the day it is used.

Buses for me in UK would be free but they are here as well (in Torrevieja) if you are a permanent resident on the padron. Obviously things are going up here comparing it with UK prices due to the pound dropping rather drastically. Now going up due to some confidence in Mrs May and hopefully will improve. The difference in my pension in November and this month was over 300 euro but, of course me being me, the pension was payable when the rate was at its lowest. 

Our council also does some rather good things like maintaining the roads, they've just built a lovely park with kiddies playground and landscaped the area. They built an "eco-park" but run out of money by enclosing it in the world's most expensive fence but, hopefully, will become another good area. For the princely sum of €232 a year I reckon we get good value out of them. Oh, and they are also very helpful with things like healthcare and padron etc. Night classes in things like Spanish language, Spanish culture, photography, drawing classes and so on. 

Still, I digress, I reckon the OP should contact people who actually live on the club to find out what life is like there and costs. 

Thank you all for your contributions. All advice and info gratefully accepted.

Katy

Our first place was on Country club. The post below was in reply to a post about buying in Murcia but may be of some help to you.

https://www.eyeonspain.com/forums/posts-long-22059p0onddk-.htm

Ted

but I see windtalker is still coming out with disinformation.

Quite right Bobaol, he is, I do not understand why people post information that is pure guesswork.  I was there last summer with some friends.  It's an irregular shape with palm trees in the middle, but no one in his right mind could call it small.  It's large and beautiful.  We were at a function and had dinner sat round it, very pleasant.

Windtaker's comment about electricity and water costs costs have got to be wrong too, the parameters are set by the regional government.  You might want to clarify where your information comes from Windtaker - have you actually been there?  How can you call the community pool "very small"?  It's the largest I've seen in the area!

I've seen Mazarron Country Club featured on Homes in the Sun, or similar format, 3 times in the last couple of years and it had a reasonable write up each time.  I forget the order, but there was a couple very much into darts (!) who ended up buying a farm small holding near Las Palas.  A couple who were keen on Scuba diving who chose Los Alcazares, near San Javier.  The third was a recently divorced lady who chose Mazarron Country Club and now actually lives close to the people I know.

My friends call it "sleepytown" it certainly won't suit everyone, but it has a strong community and there are lots of social functions and trips and breaks in cities - they went to Seville a month or so ago.  The group cost was a lot cheaper.  They have bingo and quiz nights - good if you like that sort of thing - horses for courses.

Acer do you even know the standing charge's for water and electric ,l am talking about the standing charges ONLY without using any water or electric .l know exactly l have owned a Villa on Camposol for 10 years  so come on let us all know ,l have two friends that have villas on the country club and l have never heard them referring to the urbanization as sleepy town .The country club as l said has a small community center with a pool with no shopping facilities or bars or clubs ,its ideal if you don't like to socialist or want very quite life .l just came back from Spain onTuesday ,l visit camposol every 6 weeks  throughout the year so please don't tell me that the food shopping is cheaper in Spain as I said the only thing that is cheaper in Spain is cigarette's and alcohol ,now I don't want to embarrass my self by posting a list of Price's of food like my tin of bean's is cheaper than yours but I challenge( Boababble ) to do a like for like from Asda UK up against Consum spain ,I will start the ball rolling Asda Smirnoff Vodka 1ltr £12.incidentally that the price that l paid in the so called duty free at Alicante airport last Tuesday. And let's not forget the price of metered water and electric up against what you would pay in the UK .

Cost of living in Spain is 22.04% lower than in United Kingdom (aggregate data for all cities, rent is not taken into account). Rent in Spain is 40.99% lower than in United Kingdom (average data for all cities).

Numbeo.com....Has a comparison price list, correct at July 2016.

OK, you challenge me then. Funnily enough, online it shows the £12 for a bottle of Smirnoff in Asda is for a 70cl bottle, a 1L one is £16. And anyone buying at Alicante airport (it's not duty free, by the way, unless you are going outside of Europe) needs their head examined as they are more expensive than anywhere else. A 1L of Smirnoff at our Gama is €12 which, again with the crappy pound, works out at a tenner.I've been going back to UK regulary this year (every 4 or 5 weeks) due to a family illness and find the prices shocking. Pick and choose what you want but good quality food (not rubbishy tins of beans, Patak's curry in a jar or 20% added water bacon) is cheaper here despite the pound going down. or those living here the utility prices are cheaper throughout the year. 

And I note that Asda back bacon is £6.37 a kilo. Again, our local Gama has Danish back bacon at €7 a kilo or under £6 a kilo. If you only shop in British type stores for all that exotic, imported British stuff (like baked beans which no-one else in the world buys) then it will be expensive. 

Not going into all this again because it's pointless. You will pick all the cheap, rubbishy stuff in Asda UK to try and prove a point. I could pick loads of stuff that are cheaper but, again, pointless. You keep making up things to prove your point (like the Vodka) if it makes you feel happy.

But, going onto stuff we can't avoid:

Council tax UK (3 bed semi in S Wales) is £1,576 a year or €1,890. IBI for my 3 bed semi in Spain is €232 a year or £193. OK, I pay community charges on top for an area with 5 swimming pools, communal gardens, street lights that work and cleaning service of €548 a year or £456. Add them together and it is still way lower than UK and I get far more facilities.

Electric. My bills over the last year have come to around £820. My water charges have been £210 so just over £1,000 a year. Sorting out my Mum's bills and they have come to about that for the electric and gas only, adding the water bills of over £300 a year increases it a lot.

No, I'm afraid you won't convince me it's cheaper in UK. 

So I was robbed blind when me and the wife sat down for a burger and chips and two pints of lagger we questiond the bill €19.50 approx £18. Same thing any pub in my town £12  ,a pint of fosters on Camposol €2.40 in Oscers bar the cheapest on the urbanization  pub in my town maximum £2.30 in my local it's £2.00  granted IBI is cheeper but what do you get for it( Nada) not even a stret cleaner or Street lights l pay €450  and roads are better suited to a 4x4 you still haven't said how much the standing charge is for the water and electricity without using any incidentally the crappy pound is what you are living off.

Windtaker - are you waiting a call from Theresa?   A true polical response, you ducked the question and bang on about something irrelevant.

You said earlier the communal pool at Mazarron Country Club is "very small".  I asked if you had actually ever been there.  You seem a bit uncertain, this might help jog your memory...http://www.mccmurcia.com/public_pool.html

It's a lovely facility - why do you say otherwise?

You realise that £2 is actually €2.40, don't you? Not so long ago it would have been £1,80 but that is what I meant about the crappy pound. And if you paid that much for 2 burgers and 2 pints then it's obvious you have very little choice in your area. A pint and a burger and chips with salad in any of the restaurants in our main street is €5.75. A bit like saying the 2 burgers and 2 coffees that cost me £14 at Birmingham airport was a rip off but I realise that's not typical. The chili con carne with rice and salad, large glass of rose wine, half rack of ribs with chips and salad plus a pint at €13 including tip we had up our local last Saturday is, however, typical.

If you don't have street lights and cleaners then obviously your area is being run very badly. Don't make out this is the same everywhere. We have street cleaners every day, both the sweeping machines and a little guy with a broom. And the roads (outside the urb) are well maintained and kept up. If you have chosen to live in an area where this doesn't happen then that's hardly our fault.

And you must live in a very cheap area if you get a pint for two quid. Nearer 3 quid in the pub near me in UK A large glass of wine and a pint costs me €4.10 in the pub up the road. £6.50 in the pub near me in UK. 

Standing charges for electric and water is the way it works in Spain. It doesn't bother me as I live here and pay less for the actual service and amount used so it balances out. 

Just one tip, why not sell up and get a holiday home at Porthcawl? You could get your baked beans and Patak's curry cheaper there and you'd only pay for the electric you use. Mind you, the roads are just as crappy and pot-holed plus your council tax would be 3 or 4 times as much.

Ah, well. 

Baz 1946 do you believe the comparison site your reading  so what you are saying is it will cost yo £50  in the UK and £27 in Spain for the sam food shop now the guy that told you that must have been a estate agent it takes a lot of believing. Acer my swimming pool is 12 mtrs x 5mtrs for personal use the massive that you referred to at the country club is for public use and is only marginally bigger put it this way anymore than 5 in the pool at same time and it is crowded (bobaaaable ) I SEE YOU HAVE BURNT THE UNION JACK  WELL LET ME TELL YOU EVERYTHING I HAVE GOT WAS EARNED IN GREAT BRITAIN AND I AM ALSO PROUD OF THAT FACT NOT LIKE SOME ON HEAR THAT DO NOTHING OTHHER THAN RUN GREAT BRITAIN DOWN ,(BUT ONLY AFTER THEY HAVE CHECKED THE EXCHANGE RATES.) I think you have just told me to go love myself ,in a roundabout way ,l suppose that what you get when you are are a realistic poster so have a nice day ,l off to work now.

Baz 1946 do you believe the comparison site your reading  so what you are saying is it will cost yo £50  in the UK and £27 in Spain for the sam food shop now the guy that told you that must have been a estate agent it takes a lot of believing.

Windtalker, no I don't believer the site 100%, I do know things are a lot cheaper in Spain then the UK that I could prove every time I visit, Mrs B does the main food shopping in Spain, I am not very good when it comes to food and such prices. We eat out a lot, some meals out cost about 5-6€ each and the same might be £9-10 in the UK, one place we go to is 3 courses, wine, coffee, top quality food each person 18.00€ this same meal and service in the UK I know would be in excess of £40-50 each.

I bought a couple of shower jackets to keep in the car from Aldi in Spain for 6.50€ the very same jacket in the UK Aldi was £12.99.

Windtalker, no one told me anything about the website, I just clicked 'living costs Spain to the UK' and that came up, thought it might be of some interest...Thats all.

Baz1946 next time you are in the UK try the Witherspoon's pub chain their everywhere any two meals of the menu day or night £6.99 for two a pint of beer £2.00 all the other pub chains are the more or less the same .