San Miguel de Salinas.

[Ashley]

Hi All,

Was wondering if anyone else has bought on La Canada near to San Miguel. Due to be ready in 18 months. Was hoping to visit late summer but understand that nothing has been started yet so no point. As I keep hearing about urbanisations being targeted near Torrevieja I have been trying to find out what nationalities are buying there and if the area is a trouble spot.
Thought it was well placed for golfers if we didn't use it all the time as not able to move to Spain for a while yet.
Any information at all would be welcome as most posts about Torre are worrying although I am sure lots of you are happy in the area? We chose a plot near to the pool but wonder now if this was wise.
Also it had a view from the cliff over the lake and trees. Hoping this would help if we had to sell at anytime.

Unfortunately rental properties are two a penny and after you've paid for cleaning, servicing and then the tax it hardly seems worth the agravation. As with cars, renters are not as careful with your things as you would be so damage occurs.
As far as being near the pool we bought as far away as possible. Lovely to hear every one enjoying themselves in the Summer particularly the holidaymakers - not so funny at two and three in the morning. Each unto their own!

[Ashley]

Renting property and Crime on the Costas

Hi There,

Thanks for reply. We have rented out a house in UK for 12 years to same family and just sold it in three weeks to finance Spanish property.
The idea was one to live in and a rental income to help the finance.
Are three bed. two bath villas also two a penny and what about renting to a family long term as we did in UK?
We were assured that there were not many villas to rent in the area when we bought. Thought being near the pool was an added attraction if we advertised it to rent out to uk holidaymakers not for us to live in.
Still would like to hear from anyone else who is buying on the same site?
TV Trevor Macdonald is doing a Crime on the Costsa 7.30 Monday evening on ITV. Hope it is not as devastating as the Death of a Dream article in June!

[wigint]

Talking of renting I agree there is a glut of properties for rent in the area, everyone has the idea of holiday use, rental income and eventually moving out to Spain to live. We rented our villa in the peak months and the web site we used had about 50 properties in 2000 and now its over 400! The bookings dwindled by last year and we sold in February due mainly to the crime wave which was not overstated in theTrevor McDonald programme last night.

I believe long term rent for properties is low and of course you can't enjoy it for yourself when you fell like it. A friend rents a 2 bed flat for no more than 80 euros a week. Add the risk normally associated with long term rental (the wheels turn much more slowly in Spain than in UK if you have to get someone out and rules very much more balanced towards the renter than in UK. When we did holiday rentals in the summer we had lots of problems, things breaking down (mainly TV system), water supply intermittent (we had to return part of the rent in some cases because of this) and the biggest problem is noise. Our tennants continually set off the burglar alarm and upset the neighbours such that they turned over in bed if they heard it (and thats not what you want in that area with the high crime rate) and wear and tear (people sitting on your furniture with sun oil on). Also I was charged 70 euros per clean for a small villa and what with the power and water bills (we had a hot tub in the garden and both bills were very high) we did no more than cover the costs of running the villa. Amnyway, we are out of it now and much happier as our dream turned into a nightmare I'm afraid to say.

I also think that property prices have peaked due to the market being saturated its not such as good an investment as it was a few years ago.

Sorry to be such bearers of bad news but people must see both sides.

[Gentleone]

I think renting is a bit of a lottery, certainly the more you put in the more you get! We tend to rent to friends and family and have not had any problems. The people renting the Villa pay for the clean, we also spent a few quid setting up a web site? As you say each to their own.

[Doc]

Personally I only rent to direct family. The only exception to this being the retired couple that house-sit for me in the UK when I'm in Spain. I trade them a week for a week and they normally spend the whole of October in sunny Spain. Let's face it, if I can trust them with my house in the UK, I can trust them with my apartment in Spain.

I've seen the results of anonymous owners with websites renting to all and sundry - upset neighbours, properties left in an appalling state, damage, bad feeling in the community etc. This obviously doesn't apply to everyone, but it's a shame when it happens.

Chris.