03 Oct 2019 10:24 PM:
Hi Burnpark,
Your idea is exactly what our plan was but hopefully you wont have the crash of 2008 that we had to deal with!!
However, having said that its imperative you cover ALL possibilities if you are not buying outright but mortgaging. We purchased off plan in 2004 put down a large deposit and also got a Spanish mortgage for the balance. Back then the price of a ground floor 2 bed 2 bath was around 225,000 Euros so these days you are getting a bargain as they have dropped through the floor and as far as I am aware have not recovered and dont look likely to in the near future. We hadnt originally planned on renting out but it soon became apparent we would have no choice, almost immediately the Eurobor started rising year on year until our mortgage payments had more than doubled to around £1000 per month, on top of this the value of our apartment was steadily decreasing. Along with extortionate community fees and various bills from the local council and general utilities the place was an absolute money pit.
To be fare our situation was worse case scenario and hopefully the economy is more stable (Brexit withstanding of course) but also your outlay is lower. What I am tryimng to say is that we thought we had crossed every T and dotted every i but we couldnt have been more wrong. After 10 years of sleepless nights we eventually managed to off load the apartment and the relief was amazing even after losing a lot of money along the way, every spare bit of cash we had was being transfered to Roda for one bill or another. We did manage to hoilday over there and use it ourselves mind you but even then the thought of what it was actually costing is on your mind.
Renting out is another time consuming past time, you have to be constantly on the ball updating website, repling to enquiries, dealing with managemnet company (some unscrupulous ones by the way) and evn after all this we found there was only about 3 months per year that were busy and I think we were ones that were doing quiute well at it. It may have changed now but I am not so sure, owners still barter with each other for busines I have noticed when renting recently. Once we had got rid we realised waht a luxury it was just to rent at Roda and have no connection other than that and also get a penthouse really cheaply, there are also some amazing long term rental offers.
We are know back to having 3 or 4 great holidays a year with no mither of our property in Roda hanging around our necks. We still visit Roda and get one of the great rental deals from owners direct so this does prove how much we like Roda, its still a lovely place and in our hearts even after our experience which says a lot for the complex and the area, but in our opinion it suits us now just to rent and have the chance to visit other places in the world as well. We still have plans to spend longer weeks/months at Roda when we retire next year but will definitely be renting only.
I hope this helps rather than just puts you off, it is only our experience and I am sure there are many people who own at Roda and are living the dream so good luck in whatever you decide.:-)
Community thread:
Thinking of buying
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