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S1gh View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Topic: Would you buy?
    Posted: 06/February/2016 at 23:11
Really in two minds what to do??

As a working couple in our late 40's who visit Albufeira 3 to 5 times a year, sometimes for a week sometimes for a weekend who plan to spend a LOT more time there when we eventually stop working, would YOU buy a property now or just use hotels and private rents?

If we did buy we would not want to rent out.

Just your ideas for advice please.

Thank you.
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cubsur View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07/February/2016 at 10:11
I think it's a good time to buy. Prices are low and there are plenty of properties available at all prices, but the exchange rate fluctuations need to be watched.
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DICEYUK View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07/February/2016 at 10:59
Based on our own experience it has to be buy.
Bought our 1 bed apartment 14 years ago & have never regretted it for a minute.
We've never let it out & only used it for weekends & holidays until we retired 6 years ago.
Now we spend up to 5 months a year here.
Running costs, if you don't use it much, are not expensive - about £1.5k a year in our case.
So if you only spend your holidays here then you're no worse off than going on a couple of package holidays.
Obviously the longer you come over for then the running costs go up but if you stay for long periods the extra cost here is more than covered by what you save from not being at home.

I hate how peopleï compare Frank Zappa to God. I mean, he's cool and great and nice and everything, but he's no Zappa.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07/February/2016 at 13:53
Property prices are recovering strongly, if you are buying in Sterling the rate is still pretty good. I bought mine in 2006 and have had plenty of use. Just got back from three weeks over Christmas and New Year, if I had paid hotel/apartment rates it would have cost me over a thousand to stay. It is nice having your own place as you tend to "live" there as opposed to holidaying. We stay in during the week and cook and eat in the Apartment as opposed to going out every night like on holiday and go out at weekends. The cost of living is quite cheap, if you stick to a diet of chicken, fish, wine and beer Tongue I am 10 minutes walk from the square and beach of Albufeira so I don't need a car if I don't want one. I tend to find however, off season car hire is quite cheap and usually hire one which enables me to visit other beautiful beaches like Gale, Sao Rafael etc or pop over to Algarve shopping etc. I feel owning a property is an excellent excuse for returning over and over. On the downside you will have running costs, usual bills, property tax, condo fees perhaps, maintenance, repairs, decor and furnishings to consider, hope this helps  Thumbs Up
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07/February/2016 at 14:22
Agree with all the above, buy.
We did and have not regretted it for a second, it's our second home, we don't rent either, just get there as often as we can and with retirement looking imminent ( thank gawd) we're looking forward to spending more time there.
Andrew
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07/February/2016 at 15:28
Agree with all the above, we bought our apartment in 2006 best thing we ever did, one day we will move permanently but until then we have lots of weekends and week long holidays.
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S1gh View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07/February/2016 at 20:00
Thank you for your advice, always good to hear from people who actually have experience 👍
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10/February/2016 at 19:37
Definitely buy...we bought our house in 2007 ...we,and many friends and relatives,have had a lot of holidays there. Now we are retired we are there more often and for longer ...it's our home.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11/February/2016 at 13:09
Bought in 2011, best thing we ever did. Instead of shelling out €1,000 two or three times a year for a week in a villa. We go over every month from March to October for anything from 3 days to 2 weeks. Still have to work and have last lad in secondary school so can't stretch to longer breaks at the moment, looking forward to staying longer over the next few years. Made friends in Albufeira, its our second home. Go on, bite the bullet.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11/February/2016 at 15:53
Yes best thing we've done is buy now we're both retired we go over whenever we want except July and August as too busy for us
And you meet other owners / friends which is great .
Portprincess
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11/February/2016 at 19:05
Definitely buy - we are very glad we did.
Make sure you get independent legal advisor though rather than one proposed by agent. If you take the same care as you would when buying in UK the you will be pleased .
Good luck
Richard
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11/February/2016 at 21:35
100% in favour at the moment, not a balanced argument but obviously everyone is really happy they bought.
Thank you everybody
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11/February/2016 at 22:16
A note on renting out.
As I said earlier we don't do it, although while we were working we did let friends, friends of friends and work colleagues use it for a very modest fee - enough to cover electricity, gas & water used.
Rule of thumb - if you think you know someone and think you can trust them while they're over here then you probably don't know them that well & you probably can't trust them.
Despite explicit requests & instructions, that were all part of the extremely cheap deal, the apartment was mostly left like a tip with things broken, rotten stuff in the fridge and marks on walls etc etc
All of which took us a couple of days to sort out everytime we came back.
If you're going to buy then keep it for your own use only.
Otherwise you will be forever worrying as to what's going on & who has done what to your second home.
Unless the potential income is needed to help fund a purchase then renting it out is just not worth all the hassle.
You can leave all your personal stuff here, leave your clothes, you don't have worry about packing or putting your stuff away before you go home or unpacking when you arrive.
More importantly when you arrive at the property you'll find it exactly how you left it and and exactly how you like it.
That way you start your holiday immediately you walk through the door & not two days after you've arrived.
I hate how peopleï compare Frank Zappa to God. I mean, he's cool and great and nice and everything, but he's no Zappa.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11/February/2016 at 23:01
Well said
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 12/February/2016 at 10:07
Totally agree with Dicey, we rented out our place for the first year we had it to people we knew, again for a very small fee. Our problem was, it was so popular we couldn't get into it ourselves when we wanted to, we had to book ourselves in, totally defeating the purpose of being able to pop over whenever. And I do love travelling with nothing more than a handbag to carry! Maybe not a balanced view S1gh but most people on this forum love Albufeira.
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