Hello and advice please?!

Hi,

We did pretty well exactly what you are wanting to do, about 18 months ago. We bought a 3 bed semi detached villa with pool on a small complex of 12 houses in the Ciudad Jardin area (about 15 minutes walk from the marina) and certainly do not regret our purchase. 

Our property was about 10 years old when we bought it but had sat empty (almost complete) for all of that time. The 12 houses were bought by a small builder who finished them off and sold them about 30% cheaper than the original expected asking price 10 years ago.

We use it for holidays and holiday let it successfully and like you hope to spend winters there eventually - although retirement is still some way off !

The area has a number of half finished developments which can appear somewhat unsightly but do not put guests off. They are being bought and finished off but this is a slow process. There is little doubt that the area is still in development but this is reflected by the prices.

There are some developments which have been occupied by the homeless but this is very different from in the UK - they are mostly families who cannot afford to live on their own island due to property prices,  are largely considerate and take reasonable care of their surroundings - the area is in no way unsafe. As the banks (who own all these developments) slowly get to grips with things they are evicting the people who live in these estates, completing them properly and selling them on.

The most important thing to sort out is the planning position. Most of these developments did not have official planning permission so it is important that you buy in an area which has subsequently been appropriately zoned and then retrospective planning permission (certainly in our case) was a formality.

At the end of the day its a personal choice if you go for a completed area (and pay the commensurate price) or take an informed risk and go with an area like Ciudad Jardin which is developing slowly from its hibernation.  

We did a huge amount of research and looked at over 40 properties in Playa Blanca before we bought ours. There really is a huge benefit in fully understanding the area, the buying process and having a good local solicitor. 

Good luck in your search .

Hi

Thanks very much for replying it's nice to get a response and very interesting! I will pm you later!

If your not sure dont buy

Good advice!

There are thousands of properties for sale in Spain . Look in other areas.

It's often hard to tell where the advice to buy in these areas is  coming from - Could be Estate Agents or those living in these areas and want to sell. Be careful!

Never feel rushed to buy - It's not worth it. Walk away and look elsewhere.

Remeber once you have purchased  you lock the door before you head back to your home its 2000 miles away and you need a really good friend to look after it  so choose in good area think about security cameras as they give you peace of mind when your not here good luck

We are just in the process of buying our villa after almost 12 months of searching and five visits. You will get a feel for the area you want to be in. We looked at a lot of other areas and must have viewed around 20 villas. We have a lovely lawyer. For us we are retiring over there and it’s very scary. We are a way off retirement in the UK yet but thought we would do it while we healthy enough. We’ve sold up completely here and living in rented until we complete. We’ve done lots of research though but know ther will be pitfalls that we aren’t prepared for. Good luck with your search

I found a good estate agent and a thorough solicitor who made me aware of any risks, concerns along the way. I am very happy with my purchase and will be back in Lanzarote tomorrow with my hubby to start furnishing. Very excited do your research and go for it. YOLO xxx

Happy to have a chat sometime if u ring my uk mobile it is sue 07890870696 

We have two villas in costa teguise but we spent quite a while looking at playa Blanca 

See 

www.sueyatesvillas.co.uk 

If you buy in PB can you stay there permanently 

Or does the 90 rule come into play

Because we where going to buy and retire out there but its the non lucrative visas and yearly income(savings)

 putting us off