Buying in Fuente de Piedra?

Hello,

I've seen oh so many ads on Idealista on what appear to be suspiciously bargain house prices in Fuente de Piedra (Malaga province, less than 70,000 EUR). Is this accurate? The town seems nice, and most properties around this number seem to require very little work. As an outsider considering buying one, I just find it strange and a bit suspicious.

Would love some comments on this, the prices, anyone else's experience owning a place in Fuente de Piedra, etc.

We are thinking of this as a house for quiet holidays and eventually going there and retiring, and also to serve as a permanent "base" for us (my wife and I are international teachers)

It sounds to me that you are reading and looking at glossy pictures on the net.. personally if I was you I would book a couple of weeks holiday in your choice of location first just to test the water ...with a view to renting first then if you like it maybe think about buying ..life in a Spanish village does not suit everyone ... firstly you will need to speak Spanish fluently and be extremely patient with the way Spanish people live around you and be prepared to live with very few amenities that we take for granted... finally it is not uncommon to see property in Spanish villages for extremely low prices and when you have owned a property in Spain for the last 16 years like myself on the Costa's it doesn't take you long to realize why this type of property is  what you call cheap so think twice and part with your money once.

Thanks for the input. Spanish is actually my first language (although I am not Spanish), so language is not a problem for me. I would love to know what kind of amenities you find lacking in a village like Fuente de Piedra. I would imagine of course that going to a hospital, for example, probably requires a trip to the nearest city, but other than that?

Any input on Fuente de Piedra as such?

We do plan to maybe visit a couple of locations in the summer, but at least narrowing the search down to which locations to visit would be ideal for us. We are talking about a budget of maybe 120K USD, and although it does not have to be on a town by the beach, being close to it (1 hour) would be ideal, as well as being close to an actual city. Would love a house, but could be an apartment if the place is better. So far we are thinking Fuente de Piedra, Malaga (apartment on the outskirts), maybe Alicante or "nearby" towns...

The last time I visited Fuente de Piedra (to see the flamingos) several years ago, I noticed a cluster of new build houses on the outskirts that appeared to have been finished quite a while before, and mostly standing empty, presumably unsold. This was not uncommon, of course, post 2008. The town itself to me seems much like any other similar sized rural town in Andalucia: pretty much deserted, and baking hot in the summer. Young people generally leave such towns as soon as they can, and as a result the demand for property is not great, so I think the prices you've seen are not unusual. I would also consider how easy it would be to sell on in the future though.

None of this is to say that living somewhere like this has no benefits, and although it certainly wouldn't appeal to me, there's no reason why it might not suit you. Go ahead and visit, ideally staying a few nights in Fuente itself, to get a bit of a feel. And come back to let us know how you get on.

Good luck!

Thanks. Yes, many of the houses I have seen via Idealista are probably the same ones you mention, which pretty much seem like they were built and abandoned.... I can't help but think this might be an opportunity but the skeptic in me feels there's a reason why they stand there unsold ;)

Listen to the skeptic ;-) But go check it out for yourself if you can anyway, otherwise there'll always be that nagging question....

I live in the next village to Fuente de Piedra and the houses there really can be that cheap. The village itself has shops/bars/restaurants and you are only a short drive to other smallish towns plus the city of Antequera where you will find bigger supermarkets, banks and so on. The area in general is very agricultural, with lots of olive trees, vineyards, nuts and so on grown.

The locals are very friendly and accepting of 'foreigners', in fact Fuente provide free Spanish lessons to incomers who can't speak the language. It is a very traditional and Spanish way of life. The shops/businesses close at 2pm for their siesta then open again about 5-6pm. They love their fiesta's.

Come spend a week in the area and have a look at Mollina and Humilladera too. It's a very laid back lifestyle. Some folk love it, some hate it.

Thanks for the information!

Yes, we will try to travel and take a look at some point this year!