Buying
property in Manilva
Tom Provan
Doing your homework is the
most important preparation for anyone thinking about buying property
- proper preparation will mean that you will buy what you want
and need.
Always remember that your
estate agent is not in business to do you a favour. He/she is
in business to sell property and make commission and commission
in Spain is much higher than it is in the UK.
The
choice facing you
The Manilva area has a wonderful selection of property available
to suit all tastes and budgets. The range includes apartments,
townhouses and villas - on urbanizations or in the villages, independent
villas and fincas (farmhouses) should you want to move further
inland. The prices range upwards from €100,000 for a modest
apartment to €1.0m or more for a large villa.
The
first step
Set a budget and if you should require a mortgage, find out how
much you can afford to borrow. With the way the world financial
centres are moving you should also take into account what your
situation would be if mortgage interest rates should rise. Could
you still afford the mortgage? The mortgage you need could be
from your bank in the UK, from a Spanish bank or if these routes
fail, you could consult a mortgage broker.
Remember that you will also
have to allow 10% more than the agreed purchase price to cover
legal and other fees. Having a clear idea of your budget will
mean that you will only look at properties you can actually afford
and potentially avoid disappointment
Choosing a property
The next step is to decide what you want within that budget.
The first rule in all property
purchase is position, position and position and nowhere is that
more important than here.
If you want a view you must
look very carefully at the surroundings of any property you visit.
Could the view change? If there is empty land close by it could
be built on. Ignore the agent who tries to tell you that nothing
can be built on the land since there is no planning permission.
Planning permission never seems to be a problem for the developer
on the Costa del Sol.
Too many people have already
fallen victim to the loss of the view they thought they were buying
because they originally bought with wide open space around their
property - space which did not belong to them.
Many buyers are seduced by
the thought of beach front property. OK the view will never change
but the Mediterranean is not always the placid blue sea of the
holiday brochures. Storms do happen and there have been many instances
of storm damage from the sea. That wonderful new beach front apartment
may have an underground car park which to all intents and purposes
is a great big hole in the sand below sea level. Will it stay
dry? How is it drained? Remember your days on the beach building
sand castles. You only need to dig down a few inches to reach
damp sand.
Is there a dried up river
bed near your chosen property? It may not always be dried up and
there could be a flash flood if there is a lot of rain or even
a lot of melting snow in the mountains. Some of the “dried
up” river beds in this area have had water 8 feet deep racing
through them in the past.
Resale
or new?
Personally I would always buy resale. You know what you are buying
and you can talk to future neighbours in order to find out what
it is like to actually live there. You know if there are any potential
structural problems which have occurred in the past. You can also
ask the neighbours if there are problems with noise transmission
and you also know what the urbanization fees are. You can also
find out if the area in which you want to buy is residential all
year round or primarily a holiday development. Holiday developments
can be very noisy in the summer and very dead in the winter.
Buying new can be attractive.
You will be buying state of the art modern kitchens and bathrooms
but remember always that replacing tired kitchens and bathrooms
is not expensive in Spain. New build should be guaranteed for
10 years! That is the sales premise but it may not work out that
way. Should the builders go bust there is no one to sue if things
go wrong. Most of the horror stories which are reported are about
new build properties. Construction methods in Spain are not the
same as construction methods back in the old country.
Almost without exception you
will get more space for your money in resale property.
Be firm
with the agent
It is your money which is being spent so if you want to see resale
property insist on being shown resales. You might be told that
good resale properties sell very quickly so it is better to see
the new properties since you do not have to rush into a decision
today. This is rubbish - good new property also sells quickly.
Insist on being shown the
type of property which you want to see and make your decision
based on your needs and not on pressurised sales pitches. If you
want to buy new go to an estate agent who specialises in new property.
If you want to buy resale property find an agent who mainly deals
with this type of property.
Above all do your homework
and ask the agent the right questions. If you can you should also
ask your potential neighbours the same questions.
1 What are the development plans around your chosen property?
2 If the property is on an urbanization, what is the annual charge?
3 Is the area residential 12 months of the year or a holiday area?
4 Have there been any problems with quality of construction?
Resist the subsidised or even
free inspection trip to view property in Spain. A classic rule
of marketing is that there is no such thing as a free lunch. Should
you follow this route you will be subjected to intense pressure
to buy because that is the only way that the agent can earn commission
and therefore pay for your trip or for future trips made by others.
Take
independent advice
Always appoint your own lawyer either locally in Manilva or in
the UK. You need someone who is acting for you and your future
interests to avoid long term problems. Should you decide to buy
new property you should never use the lawyer who is acting for
the developer since his/her first loyalty must be to the person
who ultimately is paying the highest fee.
Tom
Provan lives in Manilva and is the author of “Gone to Spain”
published by How to Books and available from the English_Bookshop
in Sabinillas, from bookshops in the UK or on the Internet.
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