We have owned our holiday home, a 2 bedroom house on the Costa Blanca for 3 years. We bought it off plan for £100,000, but exchange rates went against us, and with various taxes and expenses the end price was nearer £130,000. We bought on a gated community with 2 pools and tennis courts. The community charges have been a constant problem, mainly because other residents from many countries haven't paid. We pay 1200E/year, but this year due to rising debts have had to pay more. The company dealing with the gardeners, poolmen and water and electricity bills are now under investigation by the Spanish police and no work has been done on site for a month.
Our running costs for this year should be about 2000E. We have yet to pay any taxes, - the costs are for community charges, gas, electricity, water, rates and refuse charges which are paid separately. We have heard about a wealth tax, but on enquiry we were told by the council that you have to be very wealthy to pay it. Let's hope so! We've only used the house for 8 weeks this year, so that works out quite a lot for each stay. Luckily, house prices have increased a lot since we bought it and it is probably worth £170,000 now. Even though we're not using the house, and the water, gas and electricity is turned off, we still pay a charge every few months. Hope this is of help to you. Good luck, Eileen

Community charges vary greatly depending on the area and facilities available. For instance I pay 140 Euro a year for my first line property in a community of about 35 houses. This covers street cleaning, general maintenance, lighting and communal satellite TV.
There are many nightmare stories about living on urbanizations. An over zealous President can really make your life a misery by enforcing silly rules and regulations. Unfortunately it is usually the very petty people that are attracted to this unpaid 'position'.
The rules enforced in and around communal swimming pools sometimes have to be seen to be believed!
When you buy a property the Solicitor that you use will usually appoint himself as your 'tax consultant'. He will charge you a yearly fee (mine charges about 150 Euro), for sorting out your annual fiscal taxes (from memory, I think mine were about 500 Euro last year).
If you use an estate agent when buying, they will often recommend you to an insurance company. My advice is to shop around and always read the (very) small print. 'All Risks' insurance is not available in Spain, so valuable items are not covered under your home insurance if stolen outside the home. Loss and theft is often not covered unless there is a degree of violence (in the street) or damage to your property (forcible entry to your home). Invest in a very good alarm, and always change your locks when you first buy, as there will be dozens of sets of keys knocking around estate agents, builders, neighbors, etc.
Utility prices have been creeping up over the last few years. I rent out another property on a full time basis and the bills for electricity and water average about 25 Euro (per utility) a month.

50 sq. meters is not a large area of living space. With 2 bedrooms I would imagine that it would be very cramped, which is probably reflected in the asking price.

A worthwhile renovation project would depend on buying a project at a realistic price, and having the work done as economically as possible.
This is a generalization based on my own experiences:-
British builders are good, but want to charge British prices.
Spanish builders are unreliable.
Russian builders are cheap, reliable and hardworking.
As with anything, ask around and go on recommendations.

I can't offer advice on mortgages .Sorry.

Not sure if you are thinking of a new build or restoration from your post or if you just haven#'t made up your mind. What's your top budget? I have bought a small 55 sqm bungalow which cost just under £70,000 all in with furniture pack (new build) so 35,000 euros plus land sounds about right as I assume the 35,000 euros is just for the basic shell. Good luck

Thanks for the comments

We have only a small budget of max £50K we just want a foot on the ladder and a home from home. We will be buying a renovation project or small plot and look at this cheap build offer

Flights booked so we will see what we find. I am just interested in any comments as possible as thsi is a new thing for us

I will look out for any Russian builders should we require them

We will be based in land and I am currently trying to learn some Spanish. I look a bit daft at traffic lights I hope people assume I am hand free on a mobile

Be VERY careful before you buy a plot of land in andalucia. There are many new building restricitions and some people who thought they had building licences now don't have one. Do a lot of research.

I reiterate Jacky's view, be verycareful buying land. I live in Galicia, but i would imagine (by the corruption both in Andalucia and Galicia) that the rules are similar. All land is zoned and you can only buld a house on land that has been zoned as such. I would imagine that in popular touristy areas there are lots of foreigners unaware of the rules who have a prime piece of mountain that they would like to get rid of.

We have only a small budget of max £50K we just want a foot on the ladder and a home from home.

I know you don't want to rent out your property, but it might be worth considering, given the quote above from your previous post.

£50K would give you a good deposit on a larger property needing no restoration work and you could supplement the mortgage by renting out.

This will still afford you the availability of a holiday home, as you simply block off the dates you wish to use for yourself and rent out the remainder.

As for leaving clothes there, you can lock off one section of a wardrobe where you can store clothes for your own use.

I wish to live in Spain myself when I retire so, "a foot on the ladder", was my main aim when I first bought a property there.

However, by taking a part mortgage (at very attractive rates in Spain) and letting out, I have been able to start off on a much higher rung of that ladder.

By buying a new-build property, I also avoided many of the potential pitfalls already mentioned by others here. No worries about planning permission, rogue traders/cowboy builders, pre-exisitng debts on the property & etc.

If you wish to ask me any specific questions on the "buying to rent" aspect, please get in touch and I'll reply with any help or advice I can offer.

JJ.

Hi,

We bought a casa de campo (small country house) near Antequera - we were told we could not extend the footprint of the house, but by making the single storey parts two storey, and by creating terraces at both levels (they don't count !), we were able to make the house bigger without falling foul of the town hall. The builder is German and very good, he has a hard-working team of Spanish workers (unusual, I know, but true !). He's not desperately cheap, but I consider him to be reasonable, especally for the quality of the work. The 'project manager' was something else tho - I would NOT recommend him to anyone ! Far better to use the German builder's Spanish wife (who speaks Spanish, German & English !), who is very helpful & has good contacts. Send me a Private Message for names if you're interested.

We have been told that because we are in the campo (less than 1km from the village tho ), we do no have to pay anything to the Town Hall - I have asked for this in writing, cos I can't quite believe it.

DONT part with any money - if you need to put a 3000 euro deposit on a house you want to buy, make sure the lawyer will keep it under their control until the paperwork is checked out - many old country properties are not legally registered. Sometimes this is simple to rectify, but others it is nigh impossible, in which case the vendor may refuse to give the deposit back & you can't get it even if you take them to court, because the house isn't legal and therefore can't have a charge registered against it !! (This is the voice of experience talking !)

We are very pleased with the finished product (or hopefully finished by Christmas !) - the 'nightmare' bit was only down to the 'project manager' who didn't !! We plan to rent, as we gather we will be taxed as tho we have even if we haven't (if you follow me ), but I must say my instinct was the same as yours !

Feel free to PM me if you'd like any more info - or even photos of the work !!

Good luck
Chris

if you are buying in costa del sol (we have in Benal)we had a lawyer in Fuengarola ,Lawyers of spain,they were ex and the sec was born in england even tho of spanish origin,so it was of great help as Rosa her name explained in more easier terms of the meanings of everything to us encluding the Wills part of property,if you want their email addy i would be only to glad to give it

Anyone bought in Moraira cost blanca?

We are wondering about a purchase there, and interested in views about property market and whether there is much rental demand

thank you

It would be good to hear if the original poster has actually bought or not

they have bought. Have a look here

Regarding the post by Elieen Koch. As a non resident you should be paying both income tax, on your deened rental income, and wealth tax on an annual basis. There is no allowance for non-residents, so although Spanish residents will not pay these taxes on their home, you wil. Talk to your solicitor or gestor. They will catch up with you when you sell, if you don't have receipts.