Friday 18 November 2011

Spain's hidden treasures

While I was out and about viewing a property last night I came across this lovely Ermita - nestled right in the hills down a lovely track!

The views were absolutely breathtaking!

Friday 4 November 2011

I was walking on the beach one day...

I was walking along the beach yesterday, just before the rain started, and had to take a picture of this property.

It made me think what a great place it would be, to sit on the decking right on the beach.



Later in the afternoon, I was asked to list a four bedroom property in the centre of Las Lagunas, Fuengirola,  a real family home which I absolutely love.

The property is well laid out, with a modern kitchen, and lounge with views of the pool area and garden, and four good sized bedrooms and four bathrooms. 

The garden runs around 3 sides of the house, and is arranged in an easy to manage fashion.

This property is ideally located for shops, bars, schools, leisure facilities, and a popular theatre in the Spanish locality of Las Lagunas. 

Fuengirola centre is only 5 minutes away, and the beaches can be reached within 15 minutes walk

Wednesday 26 October 2011

Some days are just plain old busy at property quest international

I viewed 2 front line beach apartments in Fuengirola this morning.  

Both have exceptional views of the bay of Fuengirola, and the mediterranian, and both have recently been renovated. More information on these later!  
Although if you are looking for a beach front apartment visit our web page at http://www.property-quest-international.com which gives you excellent choice if you're looking for Spanish property.

The best part of my day by far yesterday, was visiting a country property half way between Alhaurin el Grande and Coin.  this place was a real find.  The silence was addictive, the views beautiful, and the villa just delighful!


This 2 storey German designed villa is on the market for 850,000 euro. 

It is not just the wonderful layout of this light and spacious villa that attracts me, or the way that each room has a large picture window, with amazing views.  It isn´t even just the pool area, with bbq, and shaded dining created by the grape vines and bougainvillea.  

It is the feel.


You know how some places just give you a great gut feeling?  Well this is just one of those places.  


25000m2 of land surrounds this villa.  10,000m2 of which are urban, where the villa is located, and 15,000m2 are rustic.  The land drops away down the valley to a flat stream area; in fact the whole finca has large flat terraced areas, with a good quality firm track across most of the land.  

The views are of the Alhaurin mountain, and also towards Pizarra.  In the winter, the snow capped mountains of the Sierra Nevada mountain range dominate the view.  What a pleasure it must be sitting in the lounge with the log burner roaring, and the snow capped mountains as the view!

Olives, almonds, oranges, grapes are just a few of the fruits found on this land, and while I was visiting the local goat herd wandered across the bottom part of the land.  


A neighbouring property offers Bed & Breakfast and I don´t think it would be out of the question for the new owner to look at something similar.

A good road takes you from the coast at Fuengirola to the property in 20 minutes or from the international airport at Malaga in 25 minutes.  In fact you can leave this villa and be in the centre of Marbella in 25 minutes and it´s just a 5 minute drive to Alhaurin, or a 7 minute walk to the nearest bar/restaurant.


This property neighbours onto 8000m2 of rustic land, which is not designed to be built on, and at the bottom of the valley another neighbour has a small riding stable. 


There is a well located near the stream, but the house has its own 75,000 litre water deposit which is linked to mains water.  


This 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom villa has the potential to change the layout slightly on the lower level to create more bathroom space and bedrooms.  And by simply building a wall across the garage area, another living space can be created.

Well worth a look.

Monday 24 October 2011

A road worth driving along...

Driving along the N340 leaving Fuengirola and heading towards Benalmadena Costa, you will find some amazing views.

The coastline is dominated by small bays and coves, with secluded beach bars scattered along the beaches.


Last week I came across a stunning uber-modern apartment with a large 53 square meter south facing sunny marble terrace, partly covered to also offer shade for outside eating, with beautiful views over a communal swimming pool and the sea as a wonderful backdrop.

Located in a quite road but within walking distance of the very popular Benalmadena pueblo village with its many shops, restaurants, bars, buses, taxi´s etc. it´s only a short bus/taxi journey to the award winning Benalmadena Marina with more fabulous facilities, restaurants bars, clubs for all the family.

The apartment has a hallway, a spacious and bright lounge with large windows and double opening patio doors to the amazing marble terrace area. There is a modern fitted kitchen with door and window on one side, and which opens to the lounge giving the fantastic pool and sea views.

There are two double bedrooms with a modern bathroom and a separate modern shower-room.

The apartment has a private underground parking space and there are communal parking areas as well.

This spacious ground floor apartment feels more like a top quality penthouse in its design and finish especially looking out from the lounge area over the large sunny marble terrace with pool and sea views.

It has to be viewed to be fully appreciated.

Thursday 20 October 2011

THE WEATHER IS GOOD FOR BUYING A PROPERTY ON THE COSTA DEL SOL SPAIN

We are now heading towards the end of October and the weather is holding out nicely.  People are still filling the beaches and swimming in their pools.  The sun is shining.  It is such a great feeling to have such lovely days at this time of the year.  Holiday makers are still arriving, and home owners are enjoying long weekend breaks.

Two of the properties I listed yesterday are really worth an extra mention.

Just 40 minutes from the international airport of Malaga is the traditional Spanish 'Pueblo Blanco' of Alora,  and what a gem it is.

My client is selling a dream location for relocation reasons.  37,000m2 of land with 2 independent Villas each with its own pool.

What an opportunity to set up a rural tourism project, or just to find some peace.

Not least because although this property is only 5 minutes drive from the busy town of Alora, it certainly is peaceful and the views of the Spanish countryside are outstanding.




There couldn’t be more of a different side to life than when I later found myself in a brand new duplex apartment right near the Mediterranean.  It’s a new build, with the added benefit of the reduction to 4% IVA when purchasing before the end of December 2011.


Travelling around the Costa del Sol looking at Spanish property like these really makes me feel that the Costa del Sol is the perfect place to be, not just in terms of weather, but also diversity of location, culture and quality of life.

Friday 14 October 2011

The Costa Del Sol isn’t just the golden beaches of the Mediterranean coastline, or the Miles of sea front promenades.

The Costa Del Sol is also white washed pueblo villages and mountainous scenery.

Spain has taken advantage of the European grants available for renovating the road network over recent years, which now means that the inland areas of Spain are so much more accessible. There was a time when you had to think either countryside or beach holidays. Now you can easily do both. Owning a second home in the countryside of the Costa Del Sol couldn’t be easier.

I took a drive over to Alora on Friday to show a rural hotel to a client who had flown in from Norway. My client got a real feel of inland Spain when the local goat herder crossed the road in front of our car with his herd of 100+ goats.  Imagine the sound of all those goat bells!

The rural hotel in Alora is right on the slow train line, from Malaga to Madrid. Throughout the year the Alora station attracts hundreds of visitors every week. The hotel is in a prime position, right across the court yard from the station. Alora’s train station is just outside the town itself, and a regular bus service picks up outside the hotel to take tourists up to the town.

This hotel is a real gem. Fully renovated, and with all licences in place to open the doors on a 100+ seat restaurant and bar, and 8 studio apartment letting rooms. The opportunities for the property are vast.

Upstairs on the first floor are 8 fantastically decorated studios. They each have a private entrance and a view over the valley and mountains. The studios will all come to the new owner fully furnished and ready to take rental guests.

The 2nd floor is now the living accommodation of the owners. It is light and spacious, with a very large incredibly decorated lounge/ living area, with a modern kitchen area and wet room. There is a double bedroom on this floor, and an exit onto a large chill-out terrace. If you buy this property, you can decide whether you keep the large relaxation Jacuzzi for yourself, or make it available to the guests. The views, locations and quality of this property would be major factors in helping you to make this a great success.




Thursday 13 October 2011

Waking up on the Costa Del Sol

...it doesn’t get any better than this.


October, and the weather is still outstanding.  27 degrees, people swimming in their pools, on the beach, and playing with the kids in the Mediterranean!

With the increase in the number of economy airlines using the international airport at Malaga, the Costa Del Sol has become much more accessible for short weekend breaks.  And with such accessibility, the Costa Del Sol has retained its popularity with property owners all over the world.

Beach front properties are a real find, especially apartments that are right on the beach, with a good, well run community.

I came across this property a few days ago. It really does tick all the boxes; fantastic views, light and airy rooms, lift access, and centrally located between Fuengirola and Benalmàdena. 

Great price too.

The Costa del Sol is moving forward

The major of Marbella, Angeles Munoz has signed an agreement which can only give huge positivity to the town of Marbella.  While Angles Munoz was in a meeting in Qatar, he met with Nest Investments Ltd, and it has been agreed that an international Business school will be established in the town.  Munoz is on a tour of the Arabian Gulf in a bid to attract tourism and investors to Marbella.  He will also visit Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Kuwait.   This is positive news for the Costa del Sol, and the property industry as a whole, and will give massive positivity to anyone looking to purchase villas and apartments in or around Marbella.

Further down the coast  Fuengirola is being given a face lift.  The area surrounding the Fuengirola Bull ring will get a make-over this month.  There will be new shops, offices and parking.  The work is expected to be finished within 10 months.  This is good news to all the apartment owners in Fuengirola.

The expansion of Malaga International airport continues, and the Spanish low-cost airline Vueling is adding 29,000 seats to its current services, with increased flight on the Malaga-Bilbao and Malaga- Barcelona routes.  The summer property rental markets will benefit greatly from this additional service.

Property News 10th October 2011

TNS conducted a study throughout Spain to see if, after more than three years of economic crisis, the recession and the bursting of the housing bubble, the habits of the Spanish have changed when it comes to housing – and the findings are clear.

84.3% of Spaniards continue to be in favour of owning a property.  Only among young people has renting increased.

The study showed figures representing a strong demand for houses that will be purchased as soon as access to credit improves.

Figures also show that the number of home owners will continue to increase.

64.9% of respondents felt that a house is the best legacy you can leave.

46% of Spanish claim to have paid in full the house where they live and 79% reported having applied for a mortgage at some time to finance the purchase of a property.

Therefore, despite the crisis, the Spanish still prefer to buy.

61% of Spanish live in the same province where they work and 62.5% in the same municipality.

73% travel less than 50 kilometres (return journey) to go to their workplace, and 58.8% admitted 
not ever having changed their place of residence for work.

When asked whether they would change their place of residence for work, 28% say 'No'. The remaining 72% might be willing to do so within Spain and only 29.4% of those would even consider moving away from Spain.

And to buy your own home, what is your ideal dream home? Does it differ much from those families have nowadays? When defining the characteristics of their ideal home, the Spanish are very clear: a house of 120 square metres with parking, storage room and garden. And while they wish for that ideal house, the actual average floor size is 96 square metres with a bathroom, and has neither a garage nor storage room as a general rule. The average Spanish home has three bedrooms, although a large proportion (42%) would ideally have four bedrooms.

As for the location, 39.8% of Spanish prefer small or medium-sized cities. Developments are chosen as the second option (21.1%), followed by rural areas (16.8%) and large cities (16.4%).

Friday 7 October 2011

SPANISH PROPERTY DAILY

Fuengirola: some have described this popular holiday seaside town as the heart of the Costa Del Sol!  Fuengirola has under gone some major beautification work over recent years, making it a very attractive prospect to purchase property here.



An amazing transformation project is now under way on the banks of the Rio Fuengirola.  This whole area, has changed dramatically.  Miramar shopping centre built on waste ground, is now a very popular commercial area, and the near by Rio Fuengirola is the next renovaton project.  From the mouth of the river, passing the Castle of Fuengirola, and inland for a km and a half, the town hall are making major changes.

This will be a great out door leasure area for all ages.  Table tennis, exercise stations and childrens play areas are already in place.  A cycle path will connect the river area up to the 6 km sea front pedestrian path.
If you own a sea front property, or are looking to buy - you can be secure in the fact that you have purchased in a forward thinking community.