Climbing the Spanish Property Ladder
1 November 2005
Whilst a whole cluster of newcomers are having their first foray into the overseas property market, bagging bargains everywhere from Bulgaria to Brazil, some pioneers in the more established markets such as France and Spain are already on the second or third rung of their holiday home property ladder. Two old-hands at the Spanish property market, Dan Eustance and John Fromson, share their latest upgrades…
Dan 39, and his partner Sally, from Richmond in Surrey, have enjoyed many a holiday in their apartment in La Manga on the Costa Calida during the past six years. However, when little Mia, now 20 months old, arrived on the scene, Dan started to think about upgrading to a large villa to accommodate the growing family. Dan begins, “The only place really considered on the Costa Calida was La Manga as it is a world famous, exclusive resort with outstanding facilities. We’ve made a sound investment here and are certain that the resort will continue to shine. Other developments on the Costa Calida really didn’t hold the same appeal for us and by-and-large life outside the resort gates isn’t that vibrant, so for us comprehensive on-site facilities were a must.”
Like all discerning 21st century house hunters, Dan was scouring the internet for investment opportunities when he came across Carrington Estates, a real estate agency specializing in the sale of plots on the Costa del Sol. His original ideas began to change and it soon became clear that actually the Costa del Sol, with its extensive infrastructure, could be the perfect place for the next family home, and furthermore, he could build the villa himself and save plenty of euros as a result. A few weeks later Dan took himself to the Costa del Sol to find out more.
Dan comments, “Paul Rossiter, the Managing Director of Carrington Estates, showed me around a number of projects including those in San Roque and Sotogrande. His local knowledge and vision of what the future held for the Costa del Sol property market was very impressive and I felt as though I had a good insight into the whole region. Monte Mayor Golf & Country Club, in the hills surrounding Benahavís, quickly emerged as the best all-round prospect. It was abundantly clear that Monte Mayor was outselling the competition and I could see why with its unspoilt countryside and excellent facilities including an established golf course and future luxury spa. It seemed to offer something for the whole family, an important consideration as Sally doesn’t ‘do’ golf! The project is still in the throes of development, but the potential for capital appreciation is obvious. As a member of Wentworth Club in leafy Surrey, the essential characteristics of Monte Mayor made me feel right at home, from the gated security to privacy and abundance of nature. However, I do feel that my handicap will need to improve before I can tackle the golf course here in a proficient manner!”
Dan and Sally soon settled on a frontline golf plot just short of 3,000m² for around 600,000 euros. The plot offers privacy and wonderful golf and sea views with potential for a significant return on their investment over the coming years.
Dan finishes, “I actually didn’t expect to build on the Costa del Sol for myself; I was originally just looking for investment opportunities. The fact that we liked the place so much made the investment decision that much easier and prompted us to make Monte Mayor our future home in Spain. The original decision to go for a bigger place on the Costa Calida is now history. We will build for ourselves here and end up with a great villa in a superb location for a lot less than it would have cost at La Manga. We are also considering further investment in the development since it seems to have such universal appeal to both investors and end-users.”
With the expert guidance of their bilingual project manager to whom they were referred by Carrington Estates, Dan and Sally are currently in the design phase of their project and will commence building their four bedroom, four bathroom Andalucian-style home in March 2006.
John Fromson, 60-something, from Godalming in Surrey, together with wife Maureen, has also done his rounds of the Iberian Peninsula when it comes to second homes. For 12 years they holidayed in the deluxe resort of Quinta do Lago, close to Faro on the Portuguese Algarve, and had the intention of building a home there. However, everything seemed to be getting more expensive from restaurants to bars to property, so they switched to the more affordable Costa Blanca instead. Having converted a derelict barn into a beautiful home in Harrogate in the UK, John was no stranger to self-build, so in 2001 he snapped up a plot in Moraira, in the north of Costa Blanca and built a substantial villa with sea views.
John picks up the story, “I’ve always liked golf and last time I checked, had a handicap of around nine, so wanted to keep up the pastime whilst holidaying in Spain. The local town hall of Moraira swore blind that golf courses would shortly be appearing in the area, but nothing seemed to be happening, certainly not quickly and I began to doubt whether I wanted to retire there. Also, I may be in my sixties, but I felt as though Costa Blanca was the waiting room for heaven and I fancied somewhere with a bit of get-up-and-go. As the doubts grew, I put the villa on the market in 2004 expecting at least six months for a sale to materialize and therefore at least six months thinking time to figure out the next step. Sod’s Law, in six days time the villa was sold, complete with furniture and my thinking time had vanished.”
As it happened, John and Maureen’s neighbours in Moraira had just moved away to Marbella and so they went down to stay with them and spent time speaking to several real estate agents as well as doing their own research on property from Málaga across to Almeria. Self-build continuously emerged as the best option in terms of cost and satisfying their needs and when they read an article on Carrington Estates, a specialist agent operating in this niche market, the Fromsons quickly got in touch and arranged to meet with the Managing Director, Paul Rossiter.
John continues, “I was immediately impressed with Paul’s knowledge of the local market and the fact that he knew self-build from top to bottom; from financing through to project management and construction. He was also coincidentally from Farnham, less than 15 miles from our home town of Godalming. Monte Mayor Golf & Country Club was the first project we looked at, although we had some initial reservations as the development sits at 300 metres above sea level and Maureen suffers from the occasional bout of vertigo. This was an obstacle that we hoped we could overcome as the views across the sea to Gibraltar and North Africa were simply stunning. After looking at half a dozen other projects along the length and breadth of the Costa del Sol, none of which compared, we hurried back to Monte Mayor and put a reservation deposit down on our favourite plot which fortunately was still available. Having done all the research we could, we are thrilled with our final decision and we are now proud owners of half an acre of land for which we paid 490.000 euros including a lifetime golf right of play for the family including use of the comprehensive on-site facilities such as tennis, gymnasium and spa.”
John and Maureen will begin construction of their four bedroom four bathroom villa in January 2006 and with the benefit of experience are more than relaxed about the task and aware of the costs involved. Initially they’ll spend around 50% of their time in Spain as John can maintain his job as a consultant to the pharmaceutical industry from wherever he can operate a PC and maybe in years to come they’ll retire to Spain full time.
John offers some advice to those contemplating a similar manoevure, “Buying a plot and building a villa is quite an involved process, so find a specialist and take their advice. Write a list of priorities and stick to them, if you want to be next to a golf course and enjoy sea views, then don’t give up until you get them, provided you’re being sensible of course. Set yourself a realistic budget otherwise you’ll treat your bank account like a bottomless pit and end up in dire straits. Finally, a bit of instinct can be a good thing, if you get on with the sales person, have a little something in common or just share their sense of humour, you may just be dealing with the right person.”
For plots within the Costa del Sol area please visit carrington-estates.com
