Many of us dream of owning a home in the sun either as a second property or as a permanent residence. While the Spanish property market continues to stay strong there are many pitfalls that need to be avoided. By doing some in depth research and speaking to professionals will ensure that when you do decide to make the commitment to buying property on the Costa Blanca you get it right.
For me personally I made more than one trip over to the Costa Blanca on cheap holiday vacations which provided me with the time to do some research into locations and into the types of property that were on offer. You do not have to go on an inspection tour to do this. You can simply complete an online questionnaire on one of the specialist web sites for Costa Blanca property.
Once they have all your details (especially your budget) then they will gladly show you around some of the places that may be of interest to you for a couple of days while you are on vacation. You may find that this is less stress free than the more organized inspection tours that have a set itinerary in place for the 3-5 days during your visit.
Although the inspection tours are good value and a great way to see the area and get a real feel for the developments and locations that are available I always found them very stressful. So much so that I found that viewing properties for between 8-12 hours in a day was information overload. By the end of the day I had forgotten what I had viewed earlier in the day.
By the end of a 3-5 day inspection trip your brain is full to capacity with the Costa Blanca property market and you are extremely vulnerable to making a rash decision just because your mind is not relaxed enough to take into account the bigger picture. Not that there is any hard sell on these inspection trips, far from it. I found every agent that assisted me completely at ease. They are more concerned with ensuring that they are showing you the exact type and location of properties. Then they hope that the builds and developments will virtually sell themselves.
Never feel pressured to making any decision unless you are 100% sure it is the right one to make for you. It is better to take your time when looking at properties and make simple notes as you go. Then you can revisit the ones that took your interest. If you need to return home without making any decision then so be it. You can always come back on a cheap holiday later once you have had the change to reflect on everything you have seen.
This is the way I prefer to research the property market. I spend one or two days with an agent while the rest of my time I am driving around suitable locations talking to as many people as possible connected to the Costa Blanca property market. I always bring my deposit cheque just incase I see that special property, you know the one, the one you dream about before you make the trip to the Costa Blanca.