House new or old - Introduce yourselves in Torrevieja - Torrevieja forum - Costa Blanca forum in the Alicante province of Spain
Airport Service Taxi Mil Palmeras  Torre de la Horadada
Espana Dream Properties
Jennifer Cunningham Insurances SL
Car Key Solutions
AA Free English TV
Blacktower Financial Management
Costa Blanca Building Specialists
James Spanish School
Gran Alacant Insurances
Gentlevan Removals
Expat Services
ASSSA Insurance
Thy Will Be Done
interior building work

Join the Torrevieja forum

Join the Torrevieja forumMy name's Alex and this is my website all about Torrevieja in Spain. Register now for free to talk about Introduce yourselves in Torrevieja and much more!

House new or old - Page 2

Nicklyes

Posted: Mon May 30, 2022 10:28pm

Nicklyes

Original Poster

Posts: 10

3 helpful points

Location: Torrevieja

Joined: 30 May 2022

Posted: Mon May 30, 2022 10:28pm

GrahamLynn wrote on Mon May 30, 2022 10:13pm:

Agree with you that in some areas the houses look dated, but in other areas they look good. My villa is 18 years old and not one if the houses nearby look dated. I’m five minutes by car inland from Guardamar and even though the town/beach area is busy in the summer, we don’t have the traffic ...

...jams that they have in Torrevieja and Orihuela Costa. 

However most of the new builds are white and with the amount of red rain we have over here, they very often look awful streaked with mud or just look dirty very quickly. 

So times though it’s the fault if the council not keeping the areas tidy  -road repairs, gardening etc that then reflects on the way you “see” the property. 

Enjoy your house hun 

Lynn

Thanks very much for your advice 

That’s good advice about the rain I’ll keep that in mind 

Ye we want to be slightly inland but no more than 30mins from the coast 

Cheers n

Nicklyes

Posted: Mon May 30, 2022 10:33pm

Nicklyes

Original Poster

Posts: 10

3 helpful points

Location: Torrevieja

Joined: 30 May 2022

Posted: Mon May 30, 2022 10:33pm

Mate wrote on Mon May 30, 2022 10:26pm:

1-3 years old houses . 

That is poor work

Mate

Posted: Mon May 30, 2022 10:42pm

Posts: 141

39 helpful points

Location: Alicante City

Joined: 13 Nov 2021

Posted: Mon May 30, 2022 10:42pm

Nicklyes wrote on Mon May 30, 2022 9:59pm:

Hi Matt

Thanks very much for the advice 

I’m in the building industry over here and I agree houses are thrown up nowadays 

I suppose something a little older and tired 

Is it expensive to get it modernised like kitchen bathroom’s ect


cheers nick

It’s really up to you . What is your taste . I did kitchen for 30k , and I have done kitchen for 5 k as well . Bathroom :  tile 20 euro / sqm , shower tray 300-500 euros , shower door couple of hundreds as well , toilet is  cheap , cabinet , mirror , couple of hundreds euro. Costly is when you want to relocate water pipes , drain ect . 

I wish you to find your dream home Nick .
When ever  in the future you like to have a estimate , feel free to contact me . 

All the best  

Matt 

Nicklyes

Posted: Mon May 30, 2022 10:49pm

Nicklyes

Original Poster

Posts: 10

3 helpful points

Location: Torrevieja

Joined: 30 May 2022

Posted: Mon May 30, 2022 10:49pm

Mate wrote on Mon May 30, 2022 10:42pm:

It’s really up to you . What is your taste . I did kitchen for 30k , and I have done kitchen for 5 k as well . Bathroom :  tile 20 euro / sqm , shower tray 300-500 euros , shower door couple of hundreds as well , toilet is  cheap , cabinet , mirror , couple of hundreds euro. Costly is...

... when you want to relocate water pipes , drain ect . 

I wish you to find your dream home Nick .
When ever  in the future you like to have a estimate , feel free to contact me . 

All the best  

Matt 

Thanks very Matt

Yes I will definitely be intouch if we go down that route 

Thanks very much for all your advice 

C

Kelvin1960

Posted: Mon May 30, 2022 10:54pm

Kelvin1960

Super helpful member

Posts: 1488

1767 helpful points

Joined: 5 Mar 2017

Posted: Mon May 30, 2022 10:54pm

Mate wrote on Mon May 30, 2022 10:18pm:

I agree Kelvin . Sorry to hear your situation. 

BUT . If you know little bit about construction, you know that , houses from 1990 will eats up money.

Witch you have to calculate with your budget. 

Not everyone have to know about construction, but worth the money to bring architect who can tell you , if it’s worth it or no . ( it cost couple of hundreds of euros )  

I can show you 10 houses in Cabo roigh ( built after 2000) under 150k, 2 floor,3 bath , beautiful yard ,terrace , solarium, community pool , golf 3 minutes away , bars  is up half a block , English supermarket as well . And he still have 100k  make it as he’s taste . 

Long story short, I’m Agree and disagree with you . 

All the best Kelvin 

Regards 

Matt 

We had a pre-purchase survey, so no huge surprises, but beware of old houses ....

Advertisement - posts continue below

Paolo51

Posted: Tue May 31, 2022 7:32am

Paolo51

Very helpful member

Posts: 512

533 helpful points

Location: Orihuela

Joined: 10 Nov 2017

Posted: Tue May 31, 2022 7:32am

Whatever you buy new or older be prepared to throw a lot of money at it for a lot of years, I have found that houses in Spain need constant repairs year in year out and non stop maintenance. 

Moving to Spain was like moving back in time to the 70s in the UK with damp and mold in uninsulated homes, at least newer houses in Spain seem to have a bit of insulation now.

Nicklyes

Posted: Tue May 31, 2022 7:54am

Nicklyes

Original Poster

Posts: 10

3 helpful points

Location: Torrevieja

Joined: 30 May 2022

Posted: Tue May 31, 2022 7:54am

Paolo51 wrote on Tue May 31, 2022 7:32am:

Whatever you buy new or older be prepared to throw a lot of money at it for a lot of years, I have found that houses in Spain need constant repairs year in year out and non stop maintenance. 

Moving to Spain was like moving back in time to the 70s in the UK with damp and mold in uninsulated homes, at least newer houses in Spain seem to have a bit of insulation now....

...

Thanks very much for your advice 

I’ll take that on board 

I would love to build my own but not being there to monitor it corners would probably be cut

Ch

Manus

Posted: Tue May 31, 2022 11:52am

Posts: 49

44 helpful points

Location: Benijofar

Joined: 4 Nov 2020

Posted: Tue May 31, 2022 11:52am

Nicklyes wrote on Mon May 30, 2022 7:16pm:

Hi me and the wife want a holiday place for now with the hope in 3 years time to spend more time once semi retired

My question new property or something within 10 years old budget £250,000 and is there any tips and advise

Kind regards nick

Hola Nick,

I retired to Spain last March and, whilst planning my move, I had an sort of "entry-level" perception of the "Cube like" new build etc. To cut a long story short, I purchased a 2018 built New Build in Benijofar and I love it!  I especially love the bathrooms and the overall finish seems perfect to me. My personal opinion - obviously!

Good luck with the decision making process!

Manus

P.S. Sitting in my terrace presently with a perfect view of a distant crane (on the edge of the urbanisation) ................... I'll miss it when it's gone!!

Cheryl

Posted: Tue May 31, 2022 12:59pm

Cheryl

Legendary helpful member

Posts: 2973

3533 helpful points

Location: Albatera

Joined: 8 Jun 2017

Posted: Tue May 31, 2022 12:59pm

GrahamLynn wrote on Mon May 30, 2022 10:13pm:

Agree with you that in some areas the houses look dated, but in other areas they look good. My villa is 18 years old and not one if the houses nearby look dated. I’m five minutes by car inland from Guardamar and even though the town/beach area is busy in the summer, we don’t have the traffic ...

...jams that they have in Torrevieja and Orihuela Costa. 

However most of the new builds are white and with the amount of red rain we have over here, they very often look awful streaked with mud or just look dirty very quickly. 

So times though it’s the fault if the council not keeping the areas tidy  -road repairs, gardening etc that then reflects on the way you “see” the property. 

Enjoy your house hun 

Lynn

Hello Lynn, I agree with you, El Raso always looks lovely and so is the Med Bar, well worth the trip for us.

Villamartin, purely in my opinion, has grown too large, with all sorts of architectural styles and suffers from a lack of investment from Orihuela City who lap up the money from the Costa to spend in the city. From other posts it seems the Plaza is going downhill.

There are just so many differences from UK properties here, the structure, electrics, plumbing, waste, insulation and heating (or lack of) and a plethora of flat roofs which are often far too hot to sit out on in high summer and prone to leaks with the torrential rain we get here at times, not to mention the flash flooding. 

New houses seem to have larger windows as demanded by northern Europeans who find traditional Spanish houses too dark. There is a reason for small windows, just look at all the shuttered windows in occupied properties, they keep out the sun. We have all our windows open permanently (with rejas and mozzie nets) from about April to early October but shutters are kept down until the sun has moved away from them.

Your best bet is probably to buy from someone who has been living here permanently as there is more likelihood that they have made changes and dealt with problems as they have cropped up, not always the case, I accept.

Before you even consider buying anything you should visit in the quieter months, or at least those months when you are likely to travel over within the 90/180 day rule as some bars may close down and it may get a bit too quiet for you. Equally if you are ever likely to visit in August when it can get very busy indeed. The N332 coast road is infamous for traffic jams but even so, Playa Flamenca is very popular.

If you will be keeping a car here then you won't have any problems apart from making sure you are able to get the ITV done before it runs out, but if relying on public transport or taxis, the airport bus to Torrevieja is not much use for some late or early flights and taxis fares will add up for multiple visits. Murcia Corvera airport is very limited for public transport and has been non existent for many months and could possibly stop again outside of high season.

In your position I wouldn't even make contact with an estate agent yet. With a car I would just drive around different areas, stopping at local bars etc to get a feel for places. If you are not always going to have a car then do as another member says they did, get timetables from Torrevieja bus station and travel on all the routes. 

As and when you do find something, on a second viewing make sure you ask for everything to be turned on; does the air conditioning heat and cool, does the water heater work, do taps actually work and drain away, the pressure in showers, look in the fuse box, what does it look like? Ours had the RCD in the box but it had actually been disconnected because the wiring was so bad (scorching where bare wires were hidden above the ceilings etc) that the system kept tripping, solution? Remove the warning signal! We bought a renovation project so had budgeted.

You have a really good budget, just don't be too eager to spend it. Never give a deposit to an estate agent and find your own independent abogado. https://www.solicitorsinspain.com/articles/why-independent-spanish-lawyer-important#:~:text=Their%20purpose%20is%20to%20ensure,laundering%20rules%20and%20other%20regulations.

Don't be afraid to ask as many questions on here as you like. I wish you all the best, we love it here.

GrahamLynn

Posted: Tue May 31, 2022 1:40pm

GrahamLynn

Legendary helpful member

Posts: 2500

2357 helpful points

Location: El Raso

Joined: 9 Jul 2017

Posted: Tue May 31, 2022 1:40pm

Solid advice from Cheryl 

Lynn

Ps They’re busy with a Spanish TV crew filming in the Med Bar between 4-6 pm today.

Sign up for free or login to reply to this topic

Want to reply to this topic? Login or register for free to post your message:

Find more Introduce yourselves topics from a particular area:


Register for free!

Login to your account

Airport Service Taxi Mil Palmeras  Torre de la Horadada
Espana Dream Properties
Jennifer Cunningham Insurances SL
Car Key Solutions
AA Free English TV
Blacktower Financial Management
Costa Blanca Building Specialists
James Spanish School
Gran Alacant Insurances
Gentlevan Removals
Expat Services
ASSSA Insurance
Thy Will Be Done
interior building work
Advertise your business here
Advertise your property
Help with my computer