Looking for advice for buying holiday home in spain

Hi. I’m just looking for a bit of advice please. 

My wife and I are currently considering using some of our savings to buy a small holiday property in Spain. We don’t have lots and lots of money and we don’t want to saddle ourselves with a mortgage. We have 2 children (14 and 9) and are looking to spend around 50-60k Euro’s on a 2 bed apartment, hopefully no more than a 20 minute drive from the coast. We aren’t too concerned about any particular area but would like somewhere with a communal pool and not too far away from shops, bars and restaurants. We have seen a number of properties which seem to tick some of the above boxes but these are on golf resorts such as la tercia and Corvera resorts. Are places like this okay or should we avoid? 

Many help or suggestions would be very gratefully received - we are very nervous about buying a property we may lose our money on in the future. 

Many thanks

steve and lisa

This message was last edited by Stevehome1 on 09/07/2020.

We have a place on Las Terrazas de la Torre Golf Resort. Lovely place with excellent security. Do your research. Don't expect to make a profit, you are buying into a lifestyle. Good to be cautious, add about 14% of purchase price for costs & fees. Good luck.

Use your money to rent first. That way you can see what places you like, how they shape up in different seasons, if they are ghost towns off season and so on. If you don't like it, you can rent somewhere else next time.

Rental prices are very reasonable and there are plenty to choose from. If you buy, don't forget to add in the taxes which are terrible. 

We bought a "holiday" home over 20 years ago and loved the place so much we moved here permanently over 10 years ago. The cost of moving in Spain is very high with the fees and taxes so make sure you have the right place to begin with before you buy. 

Try different places, different areas, different communiities and check how much the community fees are. On golf resorts they can be very high so bear that in mind before committing. Something estate agents tend to gloss over.

Lots of great places, lots of great areas. Get an independent solicitor. When you rent you'll have somewhrere to stay while you're looking for your ideal place. 

Best of luck but don't rush into it.

‘’we are very nervous about buying a property we may lose our money on in the future.’’ 

That is always a possibility and part of the risk factor buying a property anywhere. Perhaps you should give this idea more thought.

Look into the ongoing costs, especially community fees. Some golf resorts can have quite high fees when compared to non golf urbanisations. Then you have the IBI (council tax) and basura (rubbish tax). The bi- onthly standing charge for the electric can be quite high, as can the standing charge for water. It all adds up.

Mark