Costa Blanca

Are you planning to venture a new home abroad? You better choose those countries which has the best location you ever wanted. It is a nice feeling if the location you are choosing has the captivating environment, with having fresh air, tranquil and very relaxing. Why not choose the location of Costa Blanca? This perfect very relaxing environment will show you panoramic like paradise. It has the best climate ever has, Costa Blanca is even the choice of civilization during the past centuries because of the perfect destination it has. Recently, Costa Blanca has been admired by many because of its weather condition, fascinating views which include the remains of the folks living here during the past centuries and more. Tourists with different cultures rushed in coming here as their vacation site, there are even a thousands of them decided to land here and make their whole life living here.

You can choose venturing your own property in Denia which is the gateway of Costa Blanca. There are several hot properties offered in Denia, and you will love it because the location it belonged is amongst the scenic landscape inclining calmly to the Mediterranean which is from the Montgo Mountain. The town that surely suits your taste because it has a blend of past as well as bustling vibrant present; you can recognize in this town that it has wide range of fine-sand beaches and some alluring stony coves. Aside from that you can feel the friendly weather that it has with 19 degree C over the year; your trip would always be going to their pristine beaches. Perhaps you would not want the idea of venturing a house here; instead you just wanted to rent for their townhouses. Well, that would never be a problem; there are available townhouses in Costa Blanca which is very much affordable and good for your budgets. Such for example the Coin Townhouses, the price range is only 210 euro located particularly in Spain. The townhouses that they have catered four beds, two baths, with having 154 built size and 0 m2 plot size; most of the Coin Townhouses were very much accessible to the supermarket, shopping centers and more. By the way, these townhouses can also be bought and you can extend your own house if you want because it can be extended.

Perhaps you can stay in a villa; there are many villas available in Costa Blanca. As usual, villas in Costa Blanca is very much affordable; if you are looking for villas nearby the beaches, charming and full of life panoramic sceneries, you can choose living in the villas of Carib Playa Villas. Most of the amenities featured inside is very comfortable and relaxing and the ambiance it has is so cool which surely fits your needs. The Carib Playa Villas boasted of their available swimming pools, functional fireplace, and fully fitted kitchen, you can also view its surroundings by mounting on their roof terrace. And their swimming pools by the way are surrounded with alluring gardens which you will love the most. Before planning to venture your own property in Costa Blanca, make sure you arrange whatever documents needed.

THE article preceding this one is all about tips in choosing the right Costa Blanca property for you. Now let’s delve on the properties themselves. There’s a fully furnished villa in Benissa with a ranch full of horses. And the horses are for you too. So if you’re a horse enthusiast, then hit on this house. But as with all properties around the world, be sure to evaluate everything before closing the sale. Is there a hidden debt associated to the property? Is the property secure? Is it already furnished with an alarm system? Speaking of security, make sure too that you know your way around the nearest trauma hospital. Next, you must also know whether the area is prone to flooding or sits precariously in a low-lying position.

But you definitely have nothing to worry about this particular property in Benissa that I’m talking about since it is a very new one. It was constructed just recently in 2005. There’s a quite superb view of the Mediterranean to the east and the mountains of Alicante to the west. That’s the best of both worlds out there. The market in Benissa coupled with its fishing village also ensures that you’ll get fresh food every day. After all, it is the custom of the Spanish people not to eat their fish frozen. You can always wander out to the nearby fishing port in Benissa just in your pajamas and buy a couple of fish for your dinner, drive back to your manor and cook the fish with olive oil. Olive oil is after all the healthiest cooking oil in the planet. There you go, that’s the simple life of Benissa and you can have the mansion all by yourself for just 2,850 euros. This particular house is three levels high.

It has an outdoor barbecue area with a swimming pool definitely ideal for parties with your businessmen colleagues. You see, properties here in Costa Blanca like this particular one in Benissa are not just catered for tourists. They are also for the perusal of our foreign visitors like the many British expatriates who have called Costa Blanca their home right after their retirement. They want to live and bask in laziness all day long after decades of toiling. They don’t want to be disturbed. They want to spend the day staring at their newly-acquired horses or even riding in one. They want to spend the hours like a horse whisperer. They want to reap what they have toiled. This manor in Benissa is indeed ideal for couples like them. It has already two double bedrooms, enough if one has a guest like the owner’s son from probably back home in Britain who wants to spend the night or two at his parents’ new abode.

Properties like these are advertisements in themselves. If the owner’s son finds out how endearing, how priceless and how awesome his parents’ new place is, and then he will definitely be enticed to buy another mansion of his own in Costa Blanca. In fact, he may himself be the one who will encourage his wife to buy properties here in Costa Blanca and Benissa and live here for good.

BEFORE acquiring a property in Costa Blanca, there are lots of preparations you need to do. This is not frightening or anything like that, it’s just that buying or even renting a certain piece of real estate in Costa Blanca needs expenses and you don’t just like to waste around your money, do you? Costa Blanca is not really the official name of the place but is a 200 kilometer stretch of coastline in the province of Alicante in southern Spain along the Mediterranean. With that, Costa Blanca is expected to be filled with beaches and these beaches tend to be noisy throughout the summer especially at dawn with loud rock and techno music blaring in outdoor speakers of joints.

If you want to rent a condo unit near a beach resort, then make sure that you stuff your window with soundproof acoustics. However, there are condo units for rent that are already furnished so you may want to check them out too. During summer when the parties are over and during winter, all the tourists are gone except those British who have settled permanently here for retirement, dragging their wives and children along. Winters here in Costa Blanca tend to be cold with the Mediterranean breeze coming in from the east.

That’s why one needs to vacation first in the area for about a week during winter to get a feel of the place before deciding to buy a piece of it. And make sure that before you decide to buy a Costa Blanca property, you should check out several lots for sale before settling for one. Your real estate agent can help you out with this but don’t just rely on him. If you have the money, try to recruit a Spanish lawyer who is English-speaking and whom you can trust. A Spanish lawyer is adept in Costa Blanca real estate laws which are the good news because they are friendly to foreigners. All you need to pay are the annual income tax of your property and the monthly garbage collection tax. But don’t worry if you don’t have a lawyer with you, a realtor will do. Just make sure that the real estate broker that you’ve chosen to represent you in the negotiation is accredited by the Costa Blanca government. In this way, you can ensure that the realtor is not bogus and you will definitely be sure that you cannot be conned.

When you check out properties for sale, you must immediately ask for the evaluation report of that property. Don’t just settle for actual visual inspection. Heaven forbids, there are already ants lurking at the basement or attic in the property to be sold. The important document is really the updated assessment of the property which is done by the local Costa Blanca government or its private accredited equivalent. A visual inspection of the property is still needed though as the new owner would want to have a feel of the place. In this event, it is suggested that you must bring along your spouse, children or fiancée whichever the case may be.

When you are planning to go visit Spain, you might find the place awesome and tempting. Each of its view looks like paradise haven, most parts of Spain has various panoramic scenery which make the place unique and recognized as one of the tourists destination around the world. One of its lists considered as many tourists rushing in is the region of Costa Blanca. Costa Blanca is known to have the most pristine beaches all over the beach resorts. Its white sand and glittering clear water tempt every tourists to drench themselves and go swimming. Costa Blanca starts tempting tourists in the north part of Costa Blanca which is in Denia and Javea. This is the two wondrous village of Costa Blanca located exactly at the foundation of a mountain. While on the south area of Costa Blanca laid the Guardamar and Torrevieja which locate the astonishing cities like the Elche recognized as the palm tree capital of the world.

Another factor why Costa Blanca smells good for the tourists since it has a captivating weather temperature. Imagined that every day Costa Blanca caters at least 12 hours of sunshine in summer which obviously shine during the month of August? No wonder foreigners specially coming from the western part of the continent come rushing to this lovely place. With Costa Blanca’s largest city Alicante, you will surely enjoy your tour around here buying world class and unique souvenirs. By the way, the region of Costa Blanca is situated in South East Coast of Spain and it is distinguished as White Coastal. As mentioned earlier, it is composed mostly of white clear and long beaches. And it is very popular tourist’s destination because of its friendly environment and weather temperature. The Benidorm village of Costa Blanca is the most favored tourist’s area because it supplies admirable facilities and great beaches as well. Aside from that, Costa Blanca also has been appointed as the most culturally rich region along the country of Spain.

When you think you are enough of shopping and swimming, there is another place for you where you can surely enjoy yourself. Costa Blanca actually is dotted with various golfing field just nearby in their beaches. Top and standard golfing fields and country clubs aligned in this paradise like place. Or you can have one of their known sports which are the hiking, cycling, horse riding, carting or maybe sailing. Or else, try to mingle Spanish people in their vibrant lively nightlife that is open even until dawn. You can choose for yourself the best clubs, bars and disco pubs they have; and all will give you the satisfactory you need. If you want to have a try visit one of their popular clubs which is Benidorm, it offers longer services even until midnight. Or maybe hop yourself to their fined restaurants where you can locate anywhere in Costa Blanca. You will experience their best cuisine which mostly made of rice and seafood. Possibly the most well-liked dish they served is Paella, it is made up of rice and a variety of meats and seafood. Along with your trip to Spain, drop by in some part of Costa Blanca, and surely everything you do is enjoyable.

DISPENSING property in Britain these days have an added feature: security. Ever since the July 2005 London bombings, both domestic and foreign potential property buyers are particularly concerned of security in their own homes. Thus, real estate agents have included security as a feature in their portfolio when advertising properties for sale. This is however not cheap since there are lots of aspects to consider when you talk of installing a security system in your own home – the monthly billing to the alarm company, the sophisticated and expensive alarm system itself, the insurance, etc. But if you feel that this feature is too vain for you or you’re confident in entrusting your security directly to the heavens, then there’s still that good old-fashioned way in buying property.

The most prominent British real property buyer who’s very concerned of security in his own estate is none other than the outgoing British prime minister himself, Tony Blair. Blair will be moving somewhere in Connaught Square and his residence will be one of the most secure edifices in all of Britain. That is not surprising though considering that he’s one of the most outspoken people in going after terrorists all over the world. His new home will be considered the sweetest target as far as terrorism is concerned. Blair’s home is really expensive. He bought it three years ago to the tune of 3.65 million pounds. He will definitely be staying here in retirement unless he’ll accept George W. Bush’s offer to be the United States peace envoy in the Middle East. Of course, I’m pretty sure Mr. Blair is not just concerned about his security. The Connaught Square property is also home to Blair’s loving family. It is linked to another 800,000 pound property where the contents of the extremely complicated security system is not revealed.

All over Britain, this practice is replicated for the rich and famous. A 1.85 million pound two-bedroom flat is now pegged at 2.35 million pounds after a two-inch-thick bulletproof glass is installed. Another thing which is also in demand in Britain these days is access control card entry systems for every home. The so-called numberplate recognition is also popular among the affluent here. For a more expensive but more secure home, you can also dictate the security firm to customize your own manor with panic rooms and biometric entry systems. Elsewhere in some condominiums, renters or owners of a room are provided their own code if they enter the elevator towards the level where they live.

Speaking of panic rooms, I’ll tell you what it is made of because it’s quite interesting. Panic rooms are heavily fortified and this is its main feature. If you are really rich, you can have your panic room constructed with reinforcements made of steel, Kevlar or bullet-resistant fiberglass. The hinges of the doors themselves are shut tight with long screws. You’ll have a separate phone line and exhaust vent in your panic room. Panic rooms are equipped with the most basic of all necessities like packed food, water, first-aid kit, flashlight, toilet and gas mask.

GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT COSTA BLANCA

Costa Blanca means “white coast”. It is located near the Mediterranean coast in the Alicante province, running up to the borders of Murcia. There are two general scenic areas. When you go to the North you will find a row of mountains that stand guard next to the sea. The jagged cliffs look formidable and seem to protect this paradise, adding to the sense of being in a sanctuary. When you go to the South you’ll find a wide plain of sand patches, dotted by palm trees and salt deposits. These two areas surround the famous beaches of Costa Blanca.

Costa Blanca is also blessed with abundant fields of almond trees, fruit orchards, vineyards, and magnificent palm trees.

THE CLIMATE OF COSTA BLANCA

One of the reasons why people love living in Costa Blanca is the perfect climate. You will experience a very sunny yet mild climate where you get over 300 days of sunshine per year with a comfortable average temperature of about 18ºC.

In this climate people thrive. No wonder the World Health Organization declared Costa Blanca to be one of the healthiest areas of the world. There is little humidity, which is ideal for those who are afflicted by arthritis and other climatically influenced health problems. Others praise the miraculous healing powers of the salt flats at Torrevieja. One of the more popular tourist attractions, the mud near the waters has a high concentration of minerals.

THE LOCATION OF COSTA BLANCA

Alicante is found at the heart the coast that divies the Costa Blanca into two regions. Visitors can revel in the green foothills of the Sierra De Montgo, or explore the steep cliffs and pebbled coves found in south Denia. But on the long sandy beaches one can look at out the beautiful sea, relaxing in the shallow lagoon of Mar Menor or partake of the partymaking in the holiday town of. Dehesa de Campoamor. At the South stands La Manga which is a premium resort area with wide variety of sporting facilities. It is particularly famous for its golf and sailing. The region is also proud of its strong history and culture as seen in the many fiestas, or festivals, which number over 400 and are held throughout the year.

It’s important to get professional advice when buying property, whether it’s a brand new house or one that’s been previously owned. It’s not really “frugal” to scrimp on the services of a good solicitor or fiscal representative if you will have to pay for your mistakes down the road. Think of it as an investment in your peace of mind that at the end of the day everything will be in order.

Speculative building is very rare in Spain. This is where the owner builds the house and then looks for someone who is interested in buying it. It is more common for people to purchase a plot of land and then find a builder to construct the home. In fact many people will go through the process of finding a plot of land, buying it, hiring an architect and then finding a construction company to put it all together. Throughout this process either you or your legal counsel will work with all the authorities. The documents and legalities involved are not for the faint hearted and you will appreciate having a lawyer on your side.

However there are many instances when people will purchase a home “off the plan”. In this situation you will be shown a development by a builder (this is more likely an urbanization), invest in the plot of land and then be given a brochure of standard designs. From here you will choose the design of your home. In most of the cases you will be given staged payments. Usually the payments are divided as 20% downpayment, 20% once the roof is finished, 20% when the doors and window frames are finished, 20% when the building is finished, 10% when the exterior works (such as pool and patio) are finished, and the final 10% only after 6 or 12 months once you are convinced there are no (major) structural problems.

It is crucial that if you are purchasing the land and the building from the same developer, that you will insist that you have two contracts: one for the land and the other for the building. Get the title deed on the land before even finalizing the building contract. You should also be given a “termination guarantee”. This insurance policy will come in handy if the project falls through.

Buying a house in Costa Blanca isn’t very different from getting it anywhere else in the world, but there are a few details worth noting.

Real estate agents in Spain follow much stricter regulations than those in Britain. The government requires them to get a license, and they go through very thorough qualification tests. When hiring a real estate in Spain, ask to see their affiliations. One of the most common affiliations in the Costa Blanca region is the Agente de Propiedad Inmobiliaria (API). This will assure you that you are getting a capable and ethical real estate agent, minimizing your risk of being preyed on by independent rogue agents who want to take advantage of confused and inexperienced foreigners.

It’s common for people to hire both a British and a Spanish real estate agent, and then having the two coordinate with each other As long as the Spanish agent is legitimate, this is a valid way of navigating the real estate process, though you will have to factor in that both of them will have to be paid. It will be worked into the commission the seller has to agreed to pay the agent, and, naturally, this will affect the overall price of the property.

Once you have identified your dream house, you will need to finalize the price. Speak directly to the seller. If you enter negotiations with the estate agent, he may take a cut from the total amount before giving it to the seller. This is outside of the commission that he would get from the transaction. So this isn’t fair, in fact it’s swindling, and incredibly unfair to both you and the owner of the home.

If you hadn’t gotten a lawyer, you should do it at least for this last part of the sale. The moment you have agreed on a final price a lawyer must be part of all the steps of the process. This is where so many transactions go horribly wrong and a lawyer is there to protect your interests.

After all, you will already be giving money to the owner of the home. It is industry practice to pay 10% deposit to the vendor or his agent. Unlike Britain there is no clause of “subject to contract”. If you back out of the deal, you lose your deposit. If the owner backs out out, he not only returns your 10% but also pays you an additional 10%. These are just some of the clauses your lawyer can put to protect your money and your interests.

Many people find the process of selling a home to be very problematic and time consuming. It is not easier than buying a home (contrary to popular belief), but has different issues and concerns. Owners have to think about how to price the property, how to attract buyers, how to promote it and make it look good so it has curb appeal. And many of them feel that this is one case where they should get a real estate agent.

While you can in theory just stick a For Sale sign in front of your villa, you can’t expect to get a lot of inquiries. Even putting an ad in a newspaper won’t always generate a positive response. It is through a real estate agent—her contacts, her marketing network, her ability to contact clients from all over the world—that you can really get the kind of buyers that you are hoping for.

It’s important to choose the best real estate agent, someone with a good network, a solid set of ethics, a reasonable and clearly described commission scheme. It’s pointless to see every real estate agent in your area, since they’ll be talking to the same set of buyers but do consider getting different real estate agents from different towns.

Most agents will help you for every step of the selling process, from posting your ad to entertaining the customer and arranging the visits to your home. They will also advise you on requirements and the process of transferring the deed. Once this is completed you will be given a 10% deposit from your new buyer. They can pay you directly or give it to your lawyer or real estate agent for safekeeping. Remember once you sign the contract you can’t offer the homes to other buyers. If you back out of the deal you will return the deposit and incur a penalty of an additional 10%.

The property officially passes from your hands to theirs when you have the contracts signed at the notario. Begin the process of moving out of the home and having the utilities transferred. You should have a timetable for this which you and your buyer will agree on.

When you buy or sell property in Spain you will have to pay some taxes. This is just some of the kinds of fees you will encounter. Do factor this into your budget.

The seller will usually pay the capital gains tax and what is called plus valia. The buyer is responsible for notary fees, property register fees, and capital transfer tax.

If you are not a resident of Spain during the time of the sale, then you have to pay this tax in advance at the Tax Office.You have 30 days from the moment the contract is signed to complete this requirement.

The deposit is about 5% of the house’s declared value. If you don’t pay it the debt will be charged to the property at the Property Register. To avoid missed payments this amount is usually automatically subtracted from the the final sale price. The owner and the agent will normally get the receipt.

The Seller is then responsible for the capital gains declaration which must be paid within four months after the contract is signed. The tax rate is computed, and then if the amount is greater than the deposit, then he has to give the balance to the tax office. The tax office will give a refund if the tax paid is greater than the tax required. This refund may take anywhere from one to two years.

Capital gains tax is defined as the profit the seller made from the property. You subtract the previously declared value with the new value. If the house was bought before December 31 1994, you get a discount of 11.11% is allowed for ever year the Seller has owned the property since 1996 (except for the first 2 years). If the property was owned before 1985 and has been with the owner for 10 years he will get a full discount and will not have to pay tax.

Other fees include Transfer Tax, Notary´s fees, and Property Register fees. These are handled by the seller, as well as any renovations on the property since he purchased it. Do provide the VAT invoices.