Hi Chris, Many thanks for your reply. I totally understand what you are saying as we previously have always long term rented for the exact reasons. although it was in La Cala de Mijas.
Our first rental was a fantastic apartment but up a large hill, when we moved into it we had a very sunny balcony, but later in the year when it was colder, the sun was only on it for about an hour in the morning, also the residents were very snobby and complained alot.
Our second apartment looked beautiful, good pool, great residents in the ideal position, on the flat, 5 mins walk to town & beach but there were so many problems with it. Yes we had the sun all day, all year on the balcony, but that was about it. The air conditioning/heating was only not powerful enough for the size of the apartment, it suffered from damp & mould in the winter as the balcony was sloping the wrong way so water did not run off. The electrics blew when you where using more than a few items. Dodgy builders don't come into it. None of this apparent on viewing. If I could have moved my first apartment to the second urb, I would have been very happy.
I will not make the same mistake twice I hope so am planning to come out for a few weeks, to look around different areas & urb and will probably rent long term again, but as you say with the prices of these apartments, it looks tempting. Karen