Looking for some advice on living in Altea/surrounding areas in which to buy a property in Altea (general tips on areas and pros/cons)

Hi,happy new year to you.

We have owned a prop in Albir for 10years.

We looked at Altea and surrounding areas.

We were told that Altea la Vuella could be a problem with slight earth tremors,the couple 

of villas we looked at did have cracks in the structure.

My brother in law rented a villa on the Altea Hills complex with the view to buy there.

The views he loved but the one downside was he had to drive everywhere from the house,because of how steep the area was.

My advice for what’s it’s worth is be near the front were walking is easy and your close to bars etc.

Hope this helps ,

Regards Jo

Altea is lovely, apart from the pebbly beach, take a look at Calpe two lovely sandy beaches and long and wide, which attracts families.

Val, firstly you will likely get many replies with passionate please about how great 'their' area is, which is good in some ways. I have found the best method is to go and hand out for a few days in the area you have interest in. As for the cars and driving, i'm not sure how you won't be driving to most places, off to Leroy Merlin, the larger retail in Benidorm or Denis, groceries etc. Living on the water front in an apartment seems nice, and maybe is in winter when its quiet, but after a few seasons i have changed my mind completely on living in town along one of the water fronts, to me its like being in a zoo and your the one people have come to see. Altea Hills is quiet, great views, but many are 2nd homes so neighbors are usually gone and in season many rent out so strangers are coming and going each week with a larger holiday crown mindset. Decide if you want to have a car and drive, then many small villages will work, or if you want to be in the mix and go through the high season pain. Both can be good but depends on your preferences. 

Thanks Jo

I think you may be the very helpful Jo who sent me a spreadsheet last year?!

Yes, looking also at Albir as we also like it and interesting re the tremors in Altea la Vuella and Altea Hills (not a fan of the latter, having driven around the other day :-(

But many thanks for taking the time to answer.

Val 

Hi Bruce

Many thanks for taking the time to respond. We certainly don't want to live on the front, as can see how that would possibly become quite weary over time, so have been driving around the area looking at other possibilities, slightly outwith the town, like Polop, La Nucia, Mascarat and Altea Hills and La Vuella. Will keep looking and hopefully we'll find the right place for us.

Best

Val 

Thanks - we're going there this weekend for a proper look around :-)

Val 

When we bought our “holiday” home I asked the estate agent if I could walk to a supermarket. He said “do you do that at home?” Fair point so we bought in Mascarat. We absolutely love it as a holiday home but if I lived there I would want to be in Altea la Vella for a village feel or on the outskirts of Altea for a town feel. Altea hills has lovely views but is too remote for me and I have great views anyway. We are very close to Greenwich Marina so we can walk to restaurants and bars. I agree with another respondent everyone will promote their area so I feel mine is objective in that I love Mascarat (Altea Dorada) for a vacation home but if I made a permanent move I reckon I would narrowly favour Altea La Vella. I wouldnt worry about the earthquakes. There have been houses there for centuries active areas with many small quakes are much more predictable. Dont think thats really an issue. Hope this helps but the whole area is beautiful you wont go far wrong.

Many thanks for responding and appreciate the comments made. We took some time out to drive along to Mascarat as we had seen some really nice properties there. Greenwich Village lovely and would be great for a few "locals" which we would like to have within walking distance. However, as you point out, it was just a little bit too far out for us. We do like Altea la Vuella as it ticks a lot of boxes for us and walkable from Altea it we wanted "a bit more" of an evening.

We'll keep looking and will register with a couple of estate agents to keep us in the loop for any suitable properties.

Thanks again,

Val 

Hi Val, out of curiosity did any of the areas you have looked at in January strike a cord with you? The one thing most don't mention but was important to me was the security, but when there and while being away. Spain has too many favorable policies for squatters and real or not the  Altea Hills security gives me piece of mind. It's gated, people are stopped and electronically followed when in the subdivision. Some might not like that , but i do and have NEVER heard of any squatting, thefts etc. You are less than 5 minutes to a few nice beach areas, get a fantastic view and less than 10 minutes from town. Just came back last week and was reminded, for us, it was the right choice. Biggest drawback is the empty houses of holiday home owners or wealthy people who use their properties only on occasion throughout the year.