If you think buying a home in England takes far too long, you are not alone. But sometimes famously bureaucratic Spain can throw up surprises, including how quickly it is possible to get this done.
House hunters Geraldine and Tim from Warwick have been pleasantly surprised. The couple had fallen in love with Nerja, the beach town on the eastern edge of the Costa del Sol that has suddenly become quite fashionable again. “I always wanted a home abroad and Nerja always looked busy and buzzy,” says Geraldine, a recruitment consultant.
The couple, who were living in the pub owned by Tim at the time, had been together for five years and looked to Spain to buy their first property together. In November 2023, they flew out to Spain to meet A Place in the Sun’s Sara Damergi to find a three-bedroom home with their £180k budget.
The show ended not with an offer of a very different kind. Whilst sitting in Nerja and deciding it was the place for them, Tim proposed to Geraldine – but they did not fall in love with the properties.
“We had such a wonderful time filming, and it made us realise we really did want to be in Nerja but that we’d need to up our budget to find what we needed,” says Tim, who’s since sold the pub and now working in IT. “The crew did a great job at finding what there was on sale for £180k-220k - but we needed to find more wiggle room.”
And they did not hang around. “We finished the filming on the Friday morning and were flying back Tuesday so we picked up a hire car and hit every single estate agent in Nerja,” says Tim. “We looked at four properties on Friday afternoon, one on Saturday morning, another on Monday morning and put in offer on one.”
The couple found a three-bedroom, two-bath home on an urbanisation 15 minutes’ walk to Burriana Beach that had been owned by a Parisian. “Its décor was from 40 years ago but it had been kept in immaculate condition,” says Geraldine. South-facing, with terraces front and back, it was ideal. All three bedrooms were doubles, perfect for guests.” The couple have four adult children between them.
Even better, the French family of the late owner were happy to quickly accept an offer of £220k - £30k less than the asking price. But things had to happen very quickly if they were to seal the deal before their flight on Tuesday morning. To sign the reservation contract they needed to find a lawyer – which they did in Nerja.
“The lawyer told us not to worry, they’d go and get it signed off by the Mayor whilst we went and had a coffee and by 10.15 that had been done. I know Spain is famed for its Mañana attitude, but this was incredibly efficient,” says Tim.
After returning home with a holiday home and an engagement, the couple got the keys within two months and report that there were no nasty surprises, despite the hasty purchase. “We’ve spent every day we have available here,” says Geraldine, who is in her mid-fifties, like Tim.
“We will update it in time but haven’t done much at all to it – it’s been so nice just enjoying the sun when we are out here.”
They have also no worries about made to feel unwelcome in Spain after last summer’s demonstrations. “Tourism is very important to Nerja and we’ve been made to feel totally welcome by everyone we’ve met,” says Tim.
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