# holiday home



## pusscat (Oct 15, 2015)

Hi all, Im new to this site, just found it today.

My husband are buying a holiday home in the Costa del Sol, it will be just used for a few weeks a year by us and family and may be rented out depending on how much we pay for it!

What are your favourite areas???, we want walking distance to beach, bars restaurants etc and in 5 years time when my husband retires, we will be using it for the winter months, so need somewhere that doesn't go dead in Nov to Feb.

I love the white pretty Spanish look and a port is interesting but not essential. My husband loves golf, I love the sun! so a good beach would be great, we are both 50 and still young enough to enjoy a good night out!

Our budget is up to £250,000 and we are coming out in January for a week to search.

Thank you in advance for any replies


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## Leper (May 12, 2010)

A week to decide where you will spend £250KSterling - couple of phrases come to hand - lamb to the slaughter - a fool and his money . . . - but, at least you have the sense to come on here first.

You're probably screaming at your laptop screen now and about to exit . . . but wait! - I am about to do you what probably will be the favour of your life . . . 

Ask any Paddy, Brit,Spaniard . . . what happens when the Purchasers arrive and you will be informed that they leave their brains back in the airport. 

My Advice (and ignore if you want to blow a quarter of a million sterling) a week seeking property that will suit you to way too little unless you are lucky and won the Lottery. The urbanisation, road, street, district, resort, town, village etc all will tell their own story. You could buy the most beautiful villa and find that building across the dried up river is a water treatment plant and the smell from February to October is dreadful. And the noise, from 11.00pm to 10.00am is more than you can endure. The real estate agent will not inform you of anything that would put you off the sale.

Come to Spain as off season as you can. Spend six weeks at a time renting in several locations and believe me you will find the location and property of your dreams. You might even decide not to buy and perhaps renting is a cheaper and better bet! Turn your adventure into fun and ensure you are not fooled. Give yourself at least a year of "recce" - it will pay dividends, I kid you not.


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## amespana (Nov 10, 2009)

Great advice.


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## pusscat (Oct 15, 2015)

Thank you for your kind words of advice! Ill be sure to take my mint sauce lol
Let me explain....this 'lamb' is actually a tough old East End bird who has been round the block a few times, no lottery win, but lots of hard work and careful saving to get out of my council house. 
Moving 8 times, always increasing value to properties and finally downsizing here to have a 2 bed here and one in the sun 
Believe me when I say that there isn't a salesman in the world who can sweet talk me into buying anything that I haven't researched, inspected with a magnifying glass, bartered and sought out the best deal on! 
I will be looking for more than a week, Jan is just the first trip and will happily go back as many times as needed.
Lastly, though your advice was excellent Im afraid you didn't actually answer my question! 
So I would still like to hear from ex-pats their favourite areas


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

pusscat said:


> Thank you for your kind words of advice! Ill be sure to take my mint sauce lol
> Let me explain....this 'lamb' is actually a tough old East End bird who has been round the block a few times, no lottery win, but lots of hard work and careful saving to get out of my council house.
> Moving 8 times, always increasing value to properties and finally downsizing here to have a 2 bed here and one in the sun
> Believe me when I say that there isn't a salesman in the world who can sweet talk me into buying anything that I haven't researched, inspected with a magnifying glass, bartered and sought out the best deal on!
> ...


:welcome:

look no further  

Portada - Portal Turístico de Xàbia - Ayuntamiento de Xàbia


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## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

We love most of the area east of Malaga as far as Maro or La Heradura. Loads to do and great beaches, restaurants and bars etc - not that we get to do the latter two so much with a five year old. Good towns to check out are Chilches, Rincon de la Victoria, Torre del Mar, Lagos, Torrox, Nerja and Maro. This part of the CDS is so far removed from the other side of Malaga and will certainly fulfil your wish for whitewashed villages etc, but then, so many parts of Spain will do just that!!


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## Rabbitcat (Aug 31, 2014)

You're a lucky sod Thrax. I loved Frigiliana earlier this year. Beautiful place, great atmosphere- smashing place to live.

Indeed I heard that Frigilianians often invite outsiders to stay there for free ( including flight) just to proudly show them around their beautiful town............ I am an outsider


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## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

Rabbitcat said:


> You're a lucky sod Thrax. I loved Frigiliana earlier this year. Beautiful place, great atmosphere- smashing place to live.
> 
> Indeed I heard that Frigilianians often invite outsiders to stay there for free ( including flight) just to proudly show them around their beautiful town............ I am an outsider


I'd love to help but sadly we are counted as living in Torrox because the boundary between Torrox, where we live, and Friggers is just five metres away... But we have many friends who live in Friggers so I'll pass on your details...


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## Rabbitcat (Aug 31, 2014)

Bah!! Foiled by 5 bloody metres!!!!


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## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

Rabbitcat said:


> Bah!! Foiled by 5 bloody metres!!!!


Sometimes, life is just too tough....


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

Yep, Frigiliana/Nerja would be my choice if I wanted to live on the CDS.

But we chose the CDL (Costa de la Luz) and have no regrets whatsoever. Apart from anything else, you get twice as much house for your money.

We found and bought our house on a five-day trip, ten years ago. We had a very well-defined checklist before we came, with three columns for all our different requirements: essential, desirable and nice-to-have. That meant we didn't waste time looking at places that had more ticks in the nice-to-have column than the essential column. We found our perfect house on day 2, a combination of good luck and good planning!


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## Leper (May 12, 2010)

We live in Mojacar Playa (Costa Almeria). It is a town divided equally between expats and Spaniards. There is demand for rentals there especially in summer and the off season is not bad either. It is low rise and most of the Brit expats there have "escaped" the high rises of other costas. So, I am biased and if you are the tough "bird" you said you were Mojacar Playa is a place to consider.


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## pusscat (Oct 15, 2015)

Thank you for your suggestions, I had a lovely time exploring them on my computer and look forward to seeing them when I visit


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