“I couldn’t afford a buy to let in Sheffield so chose Murcia”
Seeking a popular holiday destination to buy a rental investment, Miranda Tempest ended up in Murcia, southeast Spain. With an average property price of £240,000 in her home town of Sheffield, the Early Years teacher, knew her £110,000 budget would go much further in Spain.
“I looked into prices in the Canaries, Greek Islands and also Portugal after watching episodes of A Place in the Sun but then settled on Spain,” says Miranda, 61, a grandmother. “I knew little about buying a place abroad so my partner Russell bought tickets to A Place in the Sun Live in Manchester so we could do some research.”
At the property show she met Sun Lawyers, A Place in the Sun Currency and also many agents. “I was going into it completely blind but I felt reassured by the reputation of the brand when meeting companies,” she says. “I listened to seminars and Jasmine talking about buying abroad.” She headed out to Spain with Arena Property Solutions after deciding on Murcia: “It’s a popular and developing area, reached by lots of flights to two different airports [Alicante and Murcia] and it’s got the coast but it’s also affordable.”
Miranda also honed down her search to golf resorts, realising they would be a great bet for year-round returns, compared to a more seasonal coastal resort. Fifteen properties and three golf resorts later, she bought a two-bedroom apartment on Hacienda Riquelme, within her budget – two-bed properties start from around €89,000.
The resort, near Sucina, was built by the developer Polaris World in 2007 with a course designed by Jack Nicklaus, one of half a dozen resorts in the area. It was hit hard by the financial crash of 2008 but now such resorts have bounced back and are popular holiday destinations.
It is known as a spacious and well-designed resort, and Miranda liked the layout of properties around the course. “I had never been to a golf resort but like the fact it was peaceful and also that the properties didn’t seem on top of each other. It seems clean and well-managed.” She completed in May – within two months of her visit to the show in Manchester.
Having already sorted out furniture, the apartment is almost ‘rentals ready’ – in fact it had been a rental – and she is applying for her tourist licence. She hopes to charge €65 per night during low season, and €85 for high season.
These rates should cover her running costs and hopefully a bit more. She will pay €300 per year for Premier Properties, her estate agent, to be a keyholder. “I am going to see how it goes for rentals, and Russell and I will use it if there are any spare days, but the priority is paying guests,” she adds. “Income will be a pension top-up but I also hope it might go up in value.” Properties prices in Murcia have gone up 12 per cent in the last year – it is now one of the best-performing Spanish regions.
She is also learning to play golf. “Russell is a golfer and says it’s a great course.” Let’s hope it’s a great all-round investment too.
Read more:
- Why now is a good time to purchase property abroad
- How to move to Spain: a simple step-by-step guide
- The SIX biggest myths about moving to Spain post Brexit
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