Throughout my adult life the majority of major decisions have been made on ‘gut feeling’. First, I have to make the decision, whether it is right or not is then confirmed by how I feel inside knowing the decision I have made.
When we decided to move to Spain, it felt right. It has felt right at every stage so far. The decision to reserve a property at San Juan de los Terreros felt right. We had now decided on the house we would buy and paid our reservation fee. We had all the plans to take home with us and we had put the pin into the site plan in the site office to say this was ours. We now knew where we would be living in Spain – we had reserved a plot on Calas Del Pinar. It wasn’t built yet, but at least we had moved one step forward. http://www.tarletonproperty.com/property/id/20009
To celebrate, we walked down onto the promenade and had coffee sitting outside a bar in the autumn sunshine, listening to the waves rippling onto the beach and visualising life here. Wonderful!
It was now time to head back towards Murcia and leave Almeria behind us, but we would be back next month.
Once we were back in Murcia we decided we would go back and have a further look around the houses at Los Alcazares, and to take some photos so we had something to refer to when we were back home.
Having done this, Dan suggested we go back to the Fish Restaurant and eat a celebratory meal there. It was Monday and so it was unlikely to be busy. We drove up and sure enough there were plenty of parking spaces free.
With great promise of great seafood we got out of the car and walked over to the restaurant door …… only to find it was closed on Mondays! It would seem we are not to eat here on this trip.
Instead, we went out to Roda Golf course. We had played Roda last time we were in Murcia and it is a lovely course. The club house is only small at the moment, but it did serve good food, we had eaten there when we played so we had a good meal over looking the 18th green, watching to see how many would take the courageous shot over the water to the green and how many would play safe. Neither Dan or Russell are golfers so some of the enjoyment we got from eating there was lost on them, but it was a nice place to spend a couple of hours before heading off to the airport.
And the Fish Restaurant – well, we would be back – and now know not to try Sundays or Mondays.
Sunday 30 December 2007
Thursday 27 December 2007
To buy or not to buy?
Monday morning dawned, yet another sunny day with beautiful views across the golf course, I can certainly get used to this in October.
We arrived in San Juan and Dan took us for a drive around the perimeter of the development. As yet, we weren’t allowed on site due to the level of construction taking place. The first few phases were well on the way to being built. The road around part of the development is already done so we were able to get quite close. There is also a nice park area with lots of trees planted, a new area for the weekly market and we could see where the school and sports facilities are going to be.
Next stop was the sales office so we could look at the plans, the layout of the development, look at the prices, the availability and start to chat over how it was beginning to look to us.
We looked at a few plans and decided we would be interested in a 3 bed semi, which would have a roof terrace and a balcony from each of the upstairs bedrooms. We looked at the full plan of the house and the available plots, at the model of the site and the list of items included in the price. We both liked what we were seeing and decided to have a wander outside to talk about it, just the 2 of us. Although there was no show house for us to view we had seen the houses at Los Alcazares that were built by the same developer and were happy with the build standard. We really loved the place and the location of the house was perfect for us. Walking distance to the beach, the golf course, the local shops plenty of places to walk the dog, and the house had all the outside living we had been looking for.
We decided we would ‘go for it!’
We arrived in San Juan and Dan took us for a drive around the perimeter of the development. As yet, we weren’t allowed on site due to the level of construction taking place. The first few phases were well on the way to being built. The road around part of the development is already done so we were able to get quite close. There is also a nice park area with lots of trees planted, a new area for the weekly market and we could see where the school and sports facilities are going to be.
Next stop was the sales office so we could look at the plans, the layout of the development, look at the prices, the availability and start to chat over how it was beginning to look to us.
We looked at a few plans and decided we would be interested in a 3 bed semi, which would have a roof terrace and a balcony from each of the upstairs bedrooms. We looked at the full plan of the house and the available plots, at the model of the site and the list of items included in the price. We both liked what we were seeing and decided to have a wander outside to talk about it, just the 2 of us. Although there was no show house for us to view we had seen the houses at Los Alcazares that were built by the same developer and were happy with the build standard. We really loved the place and the location of the house was perfect for us. Walking distance to the beach, the golf course, the local shops plenty of places to walk the dog, and the house had all the outside living we had been looking for.
We decided we would ‘go for it!’
Wednesday 26 December 2007
Dinner for 2!
The Valle del Este hotel has a commercial complex at the side with a couple of bars, restaurants and a few shops and we decided to eat in one of the restaurants there and meet up with Russell and Dan later. We had all the brochures from the various properties we had seen over the last 2 days and also a map of the area so we could familiarise ourselves with where they all were relative to the coast, airports and larger towns, oh, and golf courses!We went through each one and were able to quickly discount a few, either because the property wasn’t right for us or the place wasn’t. We both agreed that we wanted to be in Almeria rather than Murcia and we both really liked San Juan. We decided that we would visit the site office on Monday when they were open and take a look at the development in more detail. If it didn’t fit the bill, we would be back in a month so it wasn’t too much of a worry, but we both liked the houses by the same developer that we had seen at Los Alcazares and the area was perfect for us. We would be able to take the dog for walks along the coast, be close to golf courses and in walking distance for local shopping, a weekly market in walking distance and only 10 minutes drive to a large town. This was definitely sounding like a place to (semi-) retire to.By the way, the restaurant was fabulous, we thoroughly enjoyed the food and Neil got really involved with his crab, lobster and other types of seafood on the menu – cutlery not needed, hands are much more effective.So, we decided we would go back to San Juan and have a further look around, visit the site office, look at the site plans and see how we felt then. We would then decide what our next step would be.Off we went to let Russell and Dan know how we wanted to spend Monday, before we flew back to the UK on Monday evening.
The Fish Restaurant – Part 1.
It was getting reasonably late on a very warm Sunday afternoon and Dan said he had a fabulous restaurant that he wanted to take us to that did great fish. We knew as soon as we arrived that it was going to be busy as there was no where to park at the front, and we ended up somewhere round the back. The restaurant is rather on the large side and obviously very good as there wasn’t a table available and at least an hour wait. So, we were not going to be eating there today! Still, we would be in the area tomorrow, we’ll have dinner there tomorrow before we fly home.
It still left us in need of somewhere to eat and just across the road was a lovely square with a little café so we sat outside in the square and drank in the atmosphere; a cold beer, a good sandwich and a few chips and we were happy travellers.
We had now finished our viewings in Murcia and headed back towards Almeria. The change in landscapes is quite dramatic and we both preferred the landscape of Almeria, but liked the houses at Los Alcazares. Neil really liked the house at Arboleas, I really liked the villa on the golf course but none of them were ticking enough boxes. One more place to visit and then we would have some talking to do. We already had a second trip planned for early November so if we didn’t find a place on this visit, it wasn’t too concerning.
We sat back to relax as Dan began the long drive back to Almeria, it had been quite nice to be chauffeured around and it had all been very relaxed although it was obvious that Dan had put a lot of thought into the planning of our viewing trip and with all the comments I had read on the internet about the pressure put on you during a trip, I was pleasantly surprised how informal and relaxed our weekend had been.
We passed Aquilas and crossed into Almeria. The first place you reach is San Juan de los Terreros, a small coastal town. Dan drove us up to the castle where we got a good view across the bay, the beach and the development that he had brought us to see. Now, you don’t like to let on too much too early, but both Neil and I immediately liked the place and wanted a look around.
The development was being built by the same builder that had built the houses at Los Alcazares, so that seemed a good start. We went down to have a look around the area; we had a walk along the new promenade, went out to a couple of coves, and drove along the front. We had a drive around the perimeter of the development and around the new golf course that is being built. The site office had closed for the day so we were unable to have a look at the plans but if we decided that this was somewhere we were interested in we could call back the following day before travelling back to the airport, as our flight wasn’t until the evening.
So, we had now seen all the areas and properties that Dan had planned for us and we now needed time to decide how we wanted to spend Monday. Whether there were any properties we wanted a second look at, whether there were any areas we wanted to go back to or indeed any areas we wanted to see for the first time. Russell suggested that Neil and I should have dinner alone that evening so we could discuss what we wanted to do without any pressure from them.
So, dinner for 2 it is…….
It still left us in need of somewhere to eat and just across the road was a lovely square with a little café so we sat outside in the square and drank in the atmosphere; a cold beer, a good sandwich and a few chips and we were happy travellers.
We had now finished our viewings in Murcia and headed back towards Almeria. The change in landscapes is quite dramatic and we both preferred the landscape of Almeria, but liked the houses at Los Alcazares. Neil really liked the house at Arboleas, I really liked the villa on the golf course but none of them were ticking enough boxes. One more place to visit and then we would have some talking to do. We already had a second trip planned for early November so if we didn’t find a place on this visit, it wasn’t too concerning.
We sat back to relax as Dan began the long drive back to Almeria, it had been quite nice to be chauffeured around and it had all been very relaxed although it was obvious that Dan had put a lot of thought into the planning of our viewing trip and with all the comments I had read on the internet about the pressure put on you during a trip, I was pleasantly surprised how informal and relaxed our weekend had been.
We passed Aquilas and crossed into Almeria. The first place you reach is San Juan de los Terreros, a small coastal town. Dan drove us up to the castle where we got a good view across the bay, the beach and the development that he had brought us to see. Now, you don’t like to let on too much too early, but both Neil and I immediately liked the place and wanted a look around.
The development was being built by the same builder that had built the houses at Los Alcazares, so that seemed a good start. We went down to have a look around the area; we had a walk along the new promenade, went out to a couple of coves, and drove along the front. We had a drive around the perimeter of the development and around the new golf course that is being built. The site office had closed for the day so we were unable to have a look at the plans but if we decided that this was somewhere we were interested in we could call back the following day before travelling back to the airport, as our flight wasn’t until the evening.
So, we had now seen all the areas and properties that Dan had planned for us and we now needed time to decide how we wanted to spend Monday. Whether there were any properties we wanted a second look at, whether there were any areas we wanted to go back to or indeed any areas we wanted to see for the first time. Russell suggested that Neil and I should have dinner alone that evening so we could discuss what we wanted to do without any pressure from them.
So, dinner for 2 it is…….
Saturday 1 December 2007
Inspection Trip! Day 2.
Sunday morning saw us up early and off on the drive back up to Murcia. On today’s agenda was a development of multi-coloured houses, a development at San Cayetano of villas, quads and apartments, this would be our first chance to see what a quad house looks like. It would also give us an opportunity to compare the Murcia landscape with that of Almeria and try and decide where we wanted to live. Dan had told us that one of the developments we would be visiting were also building another development that we would visit towards the end of the day. We arrived at our first destination where we were viewing a couple of key ready houses, a 2 bed and a 3 bed – one slight problem, we arrived half an hour before the office opened for us to get the keys, bearing in mind it was Sunday and things started a little later than the day before. Next to the office was a small, very quiet square, with trees casting shadows to protect from the warmth of the sun. Dan suggested a coffee while we waited. Well, remember my comment about when we arrived and how the hotel they had arranged for us definitely made a good impression, well this was definitely at the opposite end of the scale. Whilst the coffee was perfectly drinkable, it wasn’t exactly Starbucks! But sitting in a Spanish square in the autumn sunshine was extremely relaxing and definitely felt good!
Anyway, coffee over, keys collected we went to look around the multi-coloured houses at Los Alcazares. We looked around the 2 bed first and immediately liked the feel of the place, it had some great features and had terraces outside the bedrooms which is a definite plus for us and it had a roof terrace –another box was getting ticked. We then went across the road and after trying to get into the wrong house we entered a house that I immediately started to visualise our furniture in. It was lovely inside and had lots of outside living space. It had an unusual, but very attractive courtyard out the back that concerned me little as we were planning to have a dog, and so our own perimeter was preferable, but we both liked the house a lot.
We then went off to have a look at San Cayetano, again a great development but we decided that the style of the villas and quads didn’t suit what we were looking for, the apartments however would make a great investment place for holiday letting. It was so convenient for the airport, coast and golf. One for the future maybe.
We then had a trip to the new United Golf Resort at La Tercia, no we weren’t going to be buying there, but we did get to see the development, the crazy driving range which will be over a lake where the floating balls are brought back on a wave machine – and definitely a lottery win would see us on this development. What a place! We will definitely be playing golf there when it’s ready.
Ok, next – 1st instalment of the Fish Restaurant!
Anyway, coffee over, keys collected we went to look around the multi-coloured houses at Los Alcazares. We looked around the 2 bed first and immediately liked the feel of the place, it had some great features and had terraces outside the bedrooms which is a definite plus for us and it had a roof terrace –another box was getting ticked. We then went across the road and after trying to get into the wrong house we entered a house that I immediately started to visualise our furniture in. It was lovely inside and had lots of outside living space. It had an unusual, but very attractive courtyard out the back that concerned me little as we were planning to have a dog, and so our own perimeter was preferable, but we both liked the house a lot.
We then went off to have a look at San Cayetano, again a great development but we decided that the style of the villas and quads didn’t suit what we were looking for, the apartments however would make a great investment place for holiday letting. It was so convenient for the airport, coast and golf. One for the future maybe.
We then had a trip to the new United Golf Resort at La Tercia, no we weren’t going to be buying there, but we did get to see the development, the crazy driving range which will be over a lake where the floating balls are brought back on a wave machine – and definitely a lottery win would see us on this development. What a place! We will definitely be playing golf there when it’s ready.
Ok, next – 1st instalment of the Fish Restaurant!
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