Alicanteos

Figures presented in a report by by the Ceimigra Foundation, Bancaja and the Regional Immigration Department show that 70 per cent of properties in the Valencia region owned by foreigners are in the province of Alicante.

This latest data for 2007 indicates that foreign property sales in the province are worth €675m a quarter.

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Found via Homesworldwide

Alicante is getting four more hotels and 4,000 new homes, plus a remodelled stadium and new railway station.

British property buyers tend to ignore Alicante, which is a shame as the city is still very Spanish and has beautiful beaches and excellent shops - if you’re looking for a holiday home, the city is a place to consider. Several large projects to improve Alicante’s infrastructure are planned, and further property development is going in alongside them. The three main projects are the remodelling of the city’s football stadium plus the linking of the tram line to the city’s main railway station and the building of a convention centre.

The convention centre will have a major impact on the city’s run-down Sangueta district. Along with the centre, which will look directly out to sea, new homes will be built for the families who currently live there, along with new apartment blocks and three luxury hotels. At ground level there will be new commercial premises, creating room for shops, bars and restaurants. The fourth new hotel will be built, along with a massive shopping area, near the stadium. The tram station and rail station will be built underground, and the route will eventually go all the way to Alicante airport, making it even easier for tourists to reach the city.

Private residences with swimpools , sport area and green zone, in a 24,000 m2 zone.
Flats with 1, 2 or 3 bedrooms , fully equipped, the building is located near a golf school and Poniente Beach .

Price starts at 162,500 Euros
Superficies for flat starts at 60 m2 (one bedroom)
Availability in January 2008

More info at Grupo Mahersol

Lubasa inmobiliera has housing unit to offer in Denia, in place called Residencial Dénia Nature, the units are 2 – 3 bedrooms, I haven’t more information, check out http://www.lubasainmobiliaria.com/en/promociones/costa/denia.htm (page in english)

Residencial Nova Azahara in ALICANTE/ ORIHUELA COSTA.
Some new housing units avaible there with 2 – 3 bedrooms , 70 square meters , this is supefiece doesn’t include the space for the solarium, terrace and garden. Kitchen and bathroom are furnished, security door, alarms , air conditioning are installed. Starting price at 144,000 euros ,check out for more info http://www.torreurbe.com/promocion_detalles.php?IDpromocion=2&estado= (page in English)

Second hand house located in Javea (on the Urbanisation of La Mezquida in the Montañar), 3 bedrooms, 95 square meters, equipped bathroom, Communal garden or green zone and community swimpool, price : €420.000,00 euros
More info at: http://www.atrea.com/ATREA/public/UCAFichaOfertaBasica.jsp?codOferta=471266&marca_blanca=A3&pgFrom=1001

Technorati Tags: housing, units, denia, javea, alicante, bedroom, furnished, swimpool

Investors buy off-plan to make strong capital growth, the idea is to buy a property at a low price in a new development (groups of houses intended to form a community) and sell a few years later when the development is completed, when bars, shops and people are installed as a community in the development.
The Spanish coast is on high demand by off-plan investors and an increasing numbers of properties are sold off-plan to people looking for a holiday residence or a property to live, usually, the developers will keep a certain numbers of properties solely for the investors, they will be the first properties to be sold usually these properties can be re-sold before the development is completed to a make a plus values.
Buying in Spain is good investment when you consider the 121 % growth between 1997 and 2004. The Spanish property market is excepted to continue to growth but a slower rate during 2006, observers of the markets expect a growth lower than 10% for 2006. Buying as an investor in 2006 should be for medium and long term. According to Mark Stuckin from Spanish Property Insight :

If you are buying as an owner-occupier with a long-term approach (even if you only plan to use the property for holidays) and you have the finances to buy without taking excessive risks, then go ahead and buy. Over the medium to long-term Spanish property should be a sound investment as well as a property to use and enjoy

Like most investment buying off-plan should be carefully planned, there is many pitfalls to avoid and things to follow with caution. According to some experts penthouses and corner units, units with private garden are best investments choice.
You might only see the property on plan as it has to be built but be carefully one of the recurrent complaint is that the plan do not match the property, sometimes there is structural defects in the finished property.
You will have to be prepared to face such conditions make sure that the developer has procedures to deal with these issues.

5 advices to buy off-plan, from PropertyInSpain.Net

1 - Look for lower than market prices offered by the developer
2 – Look for high demand types of properties (penthouse, those with privates garden, etc…)
3 – Go see the home when the main structures is in place, you will be able to have idea of what the finished development will be like.
4 – As the developer sells more properties, the value of your property if you bought it earlier should increase, at this point you can have idea of possible Return On Investment.
5 – When the development is completed your property will have more value, you can sell it or wait that a community is installed to sell at a higher price.

Off-plan properties in holiday resorts with golf and beach are highly demanded. Area with shops, restaurants and nightlife are also things to consider. If possible check for the developer reputation. Ask the developer how many % of the development is reserved to investors if the level properties sold to investors is to high you will end up with a ghost town without a community of happy retired baby-boomers.

Technorati Tags: off-plan, property, Spanish coast, Spain, Spanish property market

Renting a flat or a house during the holiday can be a better deal than the hotel, especially if you are in family, in Alicante you can rent a 3 bedrooms townhouse for £350 €530 (at today change rate), 2 weeks during the summer at any hotels in Alicante will cost you much more than that.
The holiday renting market is regulated, if you follow some recommendations you can avoid bad surprises, consumer organizations are getting thousand of complaints each year, because people don’t know their rights and obligations.
The most common complaints are:

• The house is of a lower standard than advertised
• Blatant hygiene fault
• Lesser lodging capacity
• Electricity malfunctioning
• Distance from the beach not respected

The very first thing to do is to ask for a written description of the property you are interested to rent. This document must contains the description of the property, the exact location, renting period, description of installations and services included, price and taxes (VAT).
(more…)

The British consul in Alicante, has 150 active cases where people have been conned or have not complied with Spanish law. One of the most common pitfall in buying properties in Spain is to buy land that are owned by someone else than the seller or worse buy land where you can not built.

Did you know that if you want to buy land on the beach you need authorization from some authorities, the seller may not tell you that. They are regulation for rustic land and urban land, buying a plot in a rural area is particularly complicated process because it is up to you to make all the necessary controls. You have to go at the town hall and the Planning Department there you will find out all necessary information.

• Does the seller has the right to sell this land ? (They are more than 50,000 houses built illegally on the Costa del Sol)
• Boundaries mark of the plot.
• Risk of flood near river
• Check for future development in the area around the plot; such as of roads, train or others.
• Building Permission

Starting a new life in Spain can be yours if you carefully plan everything buying a house on the Costa Blanca is something that will demand all your attention.
Be prepared or prepare to fail, those words should be in your mind during the entire buying process, there is a guideline that is necessary to follow during that period :

Always ask for legal advice
Never rush thing out
Have a clear goal in mind, because it can condition a lot of thing. Do you want a house just for holiday that will be for rent during the rest of the year, do you want to live on the coast or inland, do you want to be near a golf course, do you want to be in the expat community or in the real Spain, do you plan to resale the house in the future. Once you have a clear goal in mind you can proceed to look for a room, the best advice is to go there for 6 months , then you will have a clear ideas of the place you want to live. Below is a list of place, you may want to consider in the province of Alicante on the Costa Blanca :

La marina, Elche/Elx, Alicante ciudad (San Juan, El Campello), Calpe , Denia , Javea/Xabea, Torrevieja, Altea, Benissa, Alcoy, Orihuela, Ondara, Benidorm , Villajosoya

Once you know, where you want to live, learn about the buying process and the people involved.

ALICANTE ANOCHECIENDO

Originally uploaded by esthal.

Avda. Salamanca

A cool picture of Alicante during the night.

Alcoy has 58,358 inhabitants and is distant of 54 km from Alicante, the town stand on the rivers Serpis, Riquer, Uxola, Molina and Benisaido.
Various points with impressive views serve as union between the different neighborhoods.
This town has Islamic origin but trace of a roman past are also present , Alcoy was reconquered by Jaime I, who repopulate the town with Catalan knights. A legend count that during the battle between the Moros (Spanish word for Moor; name given by Spanish to Muslim Filipinos) and Christians , St George did an appearance on the 23rd April 1276, sword in the air and deciding the Christian’s victory. Since then, each 23rd April , Alcoy celebrates its saint patron, St George during the celebration of Moros and Christians between the 22nd and 24th April.

The neighbors of Alcoy don’t live exclusively for the glorious past, Alcoy is an Eminently active place in the textile industry, in fact, ALcoy pioneered the market back in 1873, it was one of the first social revolution in Spain. Nowadays, Alcoy has paper factories, metal factories, according to 2002 stats , Alcoy counted a little bit more than 3900 companies. If you are interested to start a business in Alcoy, you may want to look at the CAMARA OFICIAL DE COMERCIO E INDUSTRIA DE ALCOY (C/ Sant Francesc, 10 - 03801 ALCOY). Alcoy is clearly an industrial area.

The Camil Visedo Molto museum of Archeology has valuable pieces of archeology found on that place many in the hills of Alcoy, some famous pieces include La dama del telar (symbol of the antiquity of the textil business in Alcoy). Near the museum of Archeology you can find another museum dedicated to the fiestas (el Museo de la fiesta o Festa en Valenciano ), there you can appreciated in a collection of clothes, photo shoots and objects related to the celebration of ‘Los moros y Cristanios’.
The Saint George’s church is built where he appeared in vision centuries ago, at first a temple in the XIII century , replaced by another in 1651 and later renovated in 1913 in neobynzantine style. From Alcoy the possibly for excursions are many the mountains and hills surrounding Alcoy are just waiting for you, the natural park of Carrascal de la Font Roja (Carrascal de La Font Roja is a mountain range topped with an true Levantine Mediterranean forest.) The Font Roja sanctuary is also a place to see only 10 km away from Alcoy. There you can enjoy a panoramic view of the whole area.
Another interesting natural park is La sierra de Mariola, one of the largest in the area of Valencia, in that sierra is the roots of the rivers Serpis and Vinalopo.
8 km away from Alcoy is Cocentaina the town that keep its medieval savour, very near that town is the castle of Penella recently renovated. In conclusion, Alcoy is an area for nature lover, peaceful and quiet in most any seasons.