Apartments are available in many different guises from Studios to luxury penthouses or duplexes. When purchasing an apartment and working out your finances and monthly outgoings it is important to consider the community charges. These charges are normally minimal and cover the costs for the upkeep of the communal areas, pool and repainting. Most apartments come with parking or garage spaces and are often available with store rooms. Apartments with sea views, large terraces or roof top solariums will be a lot more expensive than those without. A penthouse apartment is basically an apartment on the top floor and often has a roof top solarium and better views. A duplex is an apartment that is on two levels, like a townhouse, but contained within a block with other dwellings above or below. Because of the rental potential, coastal apartments are quite expensive unless you look at individual older apartments without pools or gardens.

Villas take many shapes and forms as they do back in the UK. Generally speaking a villa here in Spain is a grand independent house. The land included is any where between 400m2 and 2000m2 normally having the benefit of your own private pool, fruit trees, flowerbeds, various terraces, and ample garage space. Villas are normally sited just out of town with good road access, street lighting, mains water and drainage. You can expect a good quality of construction which is easily reformed ( due to method of building ) to leave many options open to you as to layout and design. Villas tend to be brighter as the windows are larger than a typical townhouse and patio doors are more commonly installed. Internally you can expect entrance hall, lounge, dining room, kitchen, utility room, main bathroom. The number of bedrooms is anywhere from 2 to 6 with the master usually having ensuite facilities. Villas are best suited to those who prefer a quality lifestyle, barbeques by the pool with the independence and privacy afforded by the extra space.

Townhouses are the typical homes in rural Spanish villages, with whitewashed exterior, ornate doors, window shutters and red tiled roofs, preferred by locals for their proximity to services. Generally, a townhouse, or adosado, is a terraced home with direct access to the street. You could expect a typical layout to consist of : on the ground floor, vestibule, lounge, bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom. In some cases a wash house and patio or small garden. On the first floor accommodation would normally consist of a further arrangement of bedrooms. In some cases a roof terrace is an additional feature usually giving panoramic views over the surrounding area. A townhouse is an ideal home for those who want to be close to all amenities,such as health centers, shops, restaurants, bars and public transport and be a part of the typically friendly Spanish way of life. There is no better induction into enjoying the Andalucian lifestyle than being where the locals want to be.

As in most cases across the globe land comes at a price. Depending whether the land is urban or rustic determines whether or not it can be built on. In most cases if a plot of land is Urban (ie. in a town or village) then building permission will not be a problem. The percentage of build size for property to land in some cases can be 60 or 70 percent. Urban land is always more expensive per m2 than rustic. If the land is not urban and is effectively Rustic then it is a lot more involved. In this case it is often possible to build on 10,000 m2 if the land is classed as wet land. If it is classed as dry land the you may need a minimum of 25,000 m2. In any case it is our policy to check with the town hall or the Junta de Andalucia prior to handing your deposit over to the owner.

There are ruins and there are RUINS. Before entering into buying any property that we class as a ruin it is important to consider the following points :-

Is the ruin and the land registered?
Is there water and electric connected?
If not, what will it cost to have these connected?
Does the ruin need to be cleared in order to rebuild or can it be renovated?
Will it be cheaper to start from scratch?
What is your time scale?

We can assist with obtaining quotes to build or renovate your property from English and Spanish constructors. We have Architects, Surveyors and professional legal advisors to ensure that everything is under control.

A finca would have originally been a small dwelling used by farm workers tend the land and to harvest the crops. These properties are normally in need of some restoration although a lot of this is superficial. In a lot of cases they will have a kitchen and bathroom that may be accessible from the patio and not the house. A Cortijo is similar in characteristics but normally on a grander scale and along the lines of we would know as a farmhouse. With both of these types of property it is normal to expect some land. Because of the similarities in these types of properties we have grouped them together as Fincas.