Your Spanish Holiday Home - How many of us dream of buying a holiday home in Spain? So much better than a hotel however luxurious, so much more reliable than renting for holidays never knowing if the place will be clean, whether the pictures told the whole story or is there a half built hotel or a pig farm just around the corner.

Too good to be true, no not really but you have to be carefull where and what you buy and from whom. If it is for holidays only or as many people do you are thinking of eventually retiring to the property you do not want something that will be a money pit. It has to be in good condition and secure, a maintenance contract is vital. Bearing in mind the property will be vacant for much of the time, isolated country houses are more demanding than for instance village or town houses, where neighbours will be able to look out for you.

If you are going to rent it out beware of the friendly Brit you meet in the bar who offers to look after the property and rent it out for you. You need professional help and you need to be secure if the furniture goes missing so probably will have the neighbour. If you are not there will you get your rent or will your friendly bar hop?

Let’s face it you wouldn’t give the keys to your first home to a man you hardly know. When you come to Spain do not leave your good judgement behind, bring it with you.

If rental income is something that will make the second home purchase possible for you, look for something that is different, there are tens of thousands of small apartments to let on the coast, the rental season is shorter than a daschund, for those of us that do not have regular clients.

Think about inland little white villages where you can buy property cheaply and the competition for rentals is less. Make your house special, include luxuries like satellite television.

Get good pictures taken, be professional about it. If you do it well, it may well turn out that you can buy a second property later and so on. You will need to look at the tax implications of this second income so get advice.

Do you want to build the house of your dreams?

With the help of a professional architect and an experienced builder, building the house of your dreams can be easy. But it will take a minimum of personal supervision to get the work done the way you really want it.

Finding Architects and Builders
A good architect is as important as a good builder.
To find an architect or/and a builder you can:
- surf on the internet;
- look in the yellow pages phone book;
- visit the local bars and ask for a trustworthy builder and architect;
- drive around and ask for the names and addresses of the architects and builders of the houses you like.

Choosing a Spanish Builder
When you have the architects plans ready, you can give them to several builders and ask for a quote (presupuesto). Do not forget to check on the quality of workmanship and the reputation for finishing on time. Some architects will propose a builder, but you can choose somebody else.

Using an English-speaking Agent
Look for a reputable agent who has satisfied clients. But do not sign any documents or powers of attorney without checking the contents with a lawyer. Some of the powers of attorney presented to the clients are too wide.

Spain is probably the best place in the world to do this as costs are lower than in the UK and the restrictions although tighter than before, are still less stringent than in Great Britain.

Spanish Building Costs
Building costs are less than in the UK with materials being up to two thirds less. Labour is around £50 a day for a skilled man if he is local the Brits tend to charge more which makes hiring a British jobbing builder a risky process. If you calculate around 8/900 euros a meter for work to be done including planning permissions but not taxes you will not be far wrong.

You will also need an Architect who will charge around 10% of the value of the project and will have to produce a mountain of paperwork. Starting with a basic project then a full project followed by a project of execution, each has to be approved by local and regional councils as well as the Architectural college, the council will then appoint a technician (perito) to check that your building has been built to the standards laid down. On top of this you will need a geotechnical survey to guarantee the stability of the ground and if you are very unlucky an ambiental study to make sure you will not disturb some lesser spotted newt or something (read ecologists).

Malaga province is by far the most difficult area to build from scratch. The amount of land required to build a single dwelling on differs from Council to Council , within the councils area land can be registered as Urban, urbanisable, irrigated rustic and dry rustic. Each zone has different rules and each real estate agent has different ethics, some don’t appear to have any. So if you are planning to build start by consulting a good local builder you can get a reliable second opinion before you commit to purchasing a plot. Granada and Jaen as newer areas recently discovered by us Brits planners are still flexible but again make sure before you buy.

Timescale
Beware of unrealistic timescales if a builder tells you your house will be ready in six months he is either an optimist or a liar. Nine months is achievable but uncommon depending on the size of the project and the builder / architect you have chosen. Ayear and a bit is about average although it’s a rare builder who tells the truth, part of the Spanish culture is that they do not like to say no. They love to please and firmly believe that bad news should be eaten in small portions. So get a good builder and be patient.

Now I know it sounds daunting but what I am really trying to tell you is not don’t build a house but do be carefull whom you do it with and where you do it.