Episode 06: Erik who purchased in Javea, Alicante

Intro

Welcome to the Kyero.com Spanish Property podcast where we interview real people who recently purchased a home in Spain.

They tell us what worked, what didn’t and what they’d do differently next time.

I’m Beth Davison and today I’m speaking with Erik, originally from Holland, who purchased a chalet in Javea, Alicante.

Just wait until you hear about how Erik dealt with the challenges of refurbishment, along with his top tips about finding the best people to help your purchase run smoothly.

Erik worked with estate agent Villas Leon Javea to find his dream home in Spain.

Check out the show notes at kyero.com/podcast to find links and resources mentioned in this episode.

Body of Transcription

Beth: If you wouldn’t mind just introducing yourself, and letting me know what type of property you bought and where it was, and what you do, that would be great, thank you.

Erik: OK, I bought a property in Javea, Spain. My name is Erik and I’m from Holland.

Beth: Lovely, OK, so, how long have you had the property?

Erik: Like two years now…

Beth: OK, so, quite a little while. So, why did you decide on Spain?

Erik: It’s an area which was known to us by friends, so we’d visited the area before and we liked it very well.

Beth: OK. Did you know what type of house you were looking for; did you already have an idea in mind?

Erik: Rustic, good view, and a lot of… we have 3,000 square metres of land around the house which was one of the things we were looking for.

Beth: Wow, OK, why so much land? What were you hoping to do with it?

Erik: To be there and not to have too many neighbours.

Beth: OK, good, seclusion.

Erik: Yeah.

Beth: Very nice. So, when you go, what kind of trips do you do? How long do you go for?

Erik: We normally go around Easter, then there’s a small holiday in Holland during springtime, and we’re often there during Christmas and New Year.

Beth: Oh lovely, so you are going quite soon?

Erik: Yup, yup, we’re going like three or four times a year.

Beth: Very good. OK, awesome.

What is the house like? Can you describe it, how many bedrooms, and the type of building it is?

Erik: We’ve got four bedrooms, nice kitchen, living room, dining room – 160 square metres, very nice. I have a very nice view and a big pool – six and twelve metres.

Beth: Lovely, that sounds great, and the perfect place to escape to over the winter. Is it warmer there than it is in Holland over Christmas?

Erik: (laugh) Yup, yup, that’s the question. It’s like, “Is water wet?” Yes it is.

Beth: Yes, OK, good, we’re certain of that.

When the whole process started, and you began looking for your house, what kind of research did you do?

Erik: Not a lot, not a lot frankly speaking. We were looking a bit around, and we were introduced to this property, and we fell in love with the property and that’s where it started.

Beth: Was that the only one that you viewed?

Erik: No, it was the first one that we viewed and all the others later on, we saw, were not as good as the first one that we saw.

Beth: OK, that sounds nice and easy.

Erik: Yup, yup, yup.

Beth: And what was your agent like?

Erik: Great, she understood what I was looking for. So, that is why the first property she showed was that good.

Beth: Yeah because they just listened to you and knew what you wanted.

Erik: Yup, yup.

Beth: Did you go in with an exact budget?

Erik: No.

Beth: So you told her a vague area, or you were just were literally were going to see what you saw.

Erik: We were looking at what was on the market.

Beth: OK, so you had complete flexibility?

Erik: Not complete, huh? That sounds like it could be a million (laugh). No, no, we had a sort of… it can’t be over, I believe we said, 350,000.

Beth: OK, because of that do you think that made the whole process easier? Did you find it quite easy?

Erik: Yeah, we were lucky that we found it right away.

Beth: Fantastic. Did you find it challenging buying in Spain?

It’s different for UK buyers because there are very different laws in Spain and there are different currencies. Obviously, coming from Holland, there was going to be some overlap on that. Was it difficult?

Erik: Even there, we were introduced to a very good lawyer and that made us feel very comfortable.

Beth: And I think it’s important.

Erik: That’s very important. So, he dealt with a lot of things where we were unfamiliar. They were, then, in contact with a very good bookkeeper, and you have a sort of a full network.

Beth: Yeah. So, was this all through your agent? Did they put you in touch with the lawyer and bookkeeper and everything else?

Erik: Yup, she did.

Beth: Great, so, which part did you find the most challenging?

Erik: After we bought the property there was a lot to do on the property. There was a lot of refurbishing. That is a hard thing to do in Spain. Like, mañana is never mañana. That was incredibly hard having workers there, on time, with the products we bought, that was the hardest thing, I believe.

Beth: Yeah, OK, and how is your Spanish?

Erik: So, so, or hardly.

Beth: OK

Erik: But, I did good enough to understand what I want to know.

Beth: Yeah, fair enough.

What advice would you give your family and friends if they were going to do the same thing as you?

Erik: I would never, ever buy without a lawyer, like we were helped. He helped us a lot. I think he took away a lot of the stressful situations, like, there was another claim from somebody who thought it was their land, and you can all pass it on to him and say, “OK,” (in this case it was Raúl), “Raúl, this, this, and this is going on, how do you think about it? What do we need to do?”

Beth: Right and you trusted him?

Erik: Yup, yup, yup.

Beth: Brilliant, I think that is really, really important.

Do you have family and friends coming to visit, by the way?

Erik: Yup, we do.

Beth: When your family and friends come and visit how many people, what types of holidays are they, what sort of stuff do you do?

Erik: It depends on who is coming with us, but, if it’s like family we would just spend our time there, go to the beach, have lovely dinners, be there as a holiday.

Beth: Yeah, totally, and Spanish culture, do you like Spanish culture?

Erik: We had not enough time to really absorb that.

Beth: OK, fair enough.

Erik: But we love to be in Spain. We love to go to the restaurants, but that’s not the culture is it? No, it’s not really the culture. No, there would be much more to develop or to look for or to search for. No, we didn’t do that yet.

Beth: Fair enough. So, for you, what is a typical day like in Spain when you’re at your house?

Erik: Wake up, have breakfast, have a swim, go into the city and have lunch, and come back and enjoy the house and the company of family that we have.

Beth: It sounds very relaxed and perfect. I think that’s pretty much all of my questions, unless there’s anything that stands out to you, from the whole process, that we haven’t talked about.

Erik: Nope, nope, thanks.

Beth: Alright, brilliant, thank you so much for being involved on the call.

Erik: Wonderful, Thanks.

Beth: Great, cheers, Erik. Bye.

Erik: Bye bye.

Outtro

Thank you for listening and thanks to Erik for sharing his experiences and Villas Leon Javea for their help to make this episode possible.

I particularly liked the sound of the privacy Erik found amongst his 3,000 square metres, and clearly, you should never underestimate the importance of a good lawyer.

You can search this agent’s properties and more on Kyero.com.

Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast so you never miss an episode.

This podcast is produced by Kyero.com, and our mission is to connect you with estate agents and properties throughout Spain. Whether your dream home is a rustic farmhouse surrounded by olive groves or a lock-up-and-leave apartment on the sea front, you'll find everything that you need at Kyero.com.
If you've enjoyed this episode we'd really appreciate your five star rating on iTunes. It helps us reach and connect more people with their dream home in Spain, and, whenever you're ready, here are four ways we can help you:

• Ask a question by emailing [email protected]. We'll try and answer them all in an upcoming Q&A episode
• Get a location guide by emailing [email protected]. We'll reply with the latest data and information on the areas you're interested in
• Calculate your budget, simply visit Kyero.com, enter two numbers, and you're done
• Be our guest, if you've already purchased your home in Spain we would love for you to share your story on the podcast, just email [email protected] and we'll take it from there

Tune in next week when I speak with Phil from Redditch, Worcestershire

Along with his wife Vickie, he purchased a Villa in Pinoso, Murcia, and I can’t wait to tell you all about how they built their property from scratch, not only amongst the almond groves, but also well placed for wine trails.

I’m Beth Davison and you’ve been listening to the Kyero.com Spanish property podcast. I’ll see you next week!