A day of viewings - Part1.

We had 3 agents to meet spaced out at 12 noon, 3.30 and 6.00pm. We were seeing a variety of properties from reformed properties that were builder finished but needed all the internal fittings, floorings and bathroom and kitchens putting in, to run-down farmhouses that needed renovating to fully finished properties.

We had arranged to meet the first agent at their office as the first property was only 10 minutes away. It was a small property off the Rambla.

A Rambla, here in Spain, is the term used for a dry river bed, of which there are many locally due to the lack of rain. The bottom of the river bed is used to access the properties built along the Rambla. For the majority of the year these are very dry and very dusty but in the wet season when we have the torrential rain they will channel the rainwater along the Rambla and off to wherever it goes. So, depending in where they are on the Rambla this may mean it's ok ..... or not.

As well as cars using the Rambla to get from A to B, so do the local goatherders (sorry for the poor quality photo - taken through the car windscreen as we hurtled down the Ramble behind our agent - white car on the right of the picture - I think she fnacied herself as a rally driver in her Audi A4).

The house itself was very nice, it needs finishing off but that's not a problem. It had lovely views and land with some olive trees and would have been lovely for the dogs BUT too close to the bottom of the Rambla with no other access and I was concerned about how wet and muddy it would be when it does rain, I don't want to be wading through water to get to my front door. Shame, but that's one down and one off the list.

Property 2 was an old farmhouse on a hill standing in a hectare of land planted with almond trees. This was in need of full renovation and about half an hour drive away from the first.

On the way we called off to see a new built villa that the agent had on the market. It was a lovely villa but the internal plan of rooms didn't work for me and it was above our budget, although the agent said they would take an offer (as we are finding on many new builds out here).

Having left town we drove out into the countryside. Now, a lot of the old farm houses are along unmade roads so we are getting used to a bit of off-roading, it's a good job we have a 4x4 to get to some of them.

Anyway, 10 minutes later we were driving along a dirt track at the side of a ravine to a large farmhouse set in a hectare of land. This was in need of total reform and would make a lovely
house when done.

The views were stunning from here across the plains onto the mountains,

but we think it would be a 6-12 month renovation project and we want to have somewhere that has part habitable within 3 months, so on that basis we decided this wasn't the one for us.

This should be the lounge but is

currently used for storing potatoes.

And this would make a lovely

indoor pool area.

By now we were running late for our next agent and we still had 4 properties to see - it was going to be a long day.