Posted: Tue May 19, 2020 10:42am
Good morning Billy. Would you mind giving us a bit of insight into how much you already know about Las Filipinas and the southern Costa Blanca as a whole please?
You say the houses look nice, is this from personal visits or the internet?
I only ask because we didn't know much about the area at all and spent many, many hours trawling through property on the internet and made a long list, most of which we didn't even bother going through the door to when we actually came to view. The villa we bought we had actually looked at online and written off but it is our dream house.
Have you thought about how you and your guests would get to the property? It is a fair way from both Murcia and Alicante airports and taxis will not be cheap.
https://www.rome2rio.com/map/Alicante-Airport-ALC/03189-Res-Las-Filipinas-Alicante-Spain
There is a company called Benniconnect who do transfers and are often recommended on here but I have no personal experience of them.
It seems to be a fair way from the beach but there may be buses, I don't know.
https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Playa+La+Zenia,+Orihuela/Filipinas,+03189,+Alicante/@37.9340453,-0.7645555,4697m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0xd6306508e3f99b9:0x901c1a85e48eaac4!2m2!1d-0.7222545!2d37.9238056!1m5!1m1!1s0xd63086693624573:0xae38569e7db4b702!2m2!1d-0.7685455!2d37.9400135!3e2
For a holiday home the same as a permanent home I would recommend coming over for some longer stays and really getting to know the areas because in school holidays things can change significantly. Once you have whittled down the area only then start looking for a particular property because buying and selling in Spain is expensive, doubly so if you get it wrong first time.
A few things I have picked up from the forum to be watchful for:
Solariums that are too hot to be on in the summer months and leak in the rain.
Paper thin walls where you can have a conversation with your neighbours without raising your voice.
Inconsiderate neighbours (as everywhere).
Dogs left for days on end, barking 24/7.
Heating in the colder months.
Damp and mould in properties closed up for long periods.
Not having a key holder when something goes wrong.
Parking at property and near the beach.
Keeping a car in Spain with annual parking contracts at the airport.
Lack of buses.
Problems with the community (Rules, regs, getting problems sorted etc)
High standing charges for water and electric.
Spanish bank charges.
Non resident tax (not high but could be increasing post-Brexit).
High cost of second hand cars here.
Flash flooding.
I hope forum members living in or close to Las Filipinas will give you their viewpoints over the next few days.