Wheres agood place abroad to buy a two bed flat, ideally near a sandy beach with a bit of life?was thinking palma or Barcelona but know of anywhere similar but cheaper

[RobertaBeckett]

Any ideas where would you look

I like Cyprus alot but flights sure add up there

would love to know as well - my idea is a greek island somewhere 😁

I would definitely not buy in Palma. There is a lot of anti British feeling in Mallorca due to the huge pressure of housing/accommodation and you'd face active hostility there. I lived there for a year and it is very unpleasant. It was a major part of why I left.

Alicante

I don't have an answer for you, but you may get more useful advice from others if you let us know your actual budget, and also is this a holiday home or full time home (and do you have a plan for visas)?

Surely your budget matters a lot. Can't imagine Barcelona would be cheap.

Holiday home/investment bur more for fun and enjoyment

Near sandy beach, 2 bedroom min, not much work to do

Price wise ideally low as possible, max 250k

Maybe max 300k

Quite rightly there will be hostility when people are buying up homes that people could live in for a holiday place or ‘investment’. Just go to a hotel!

I think if you are concerned about the price of flights to Cyprus, I'm not sure if you have thought this through properly!

Anyway, where have you been that you thought, Oh My I'd love to own a place here.... There must be some places you are thinking of. Then those who know about those places might be able to chip in their tuppence worth.

I'm sure you have thoroughly researched the costs associated with buying abroad like property transfer taxes, lawyers, searches, and sometimes agents fees. Then the ongoing property taxes, community charges, utilities, cleaning, insurance, and so on. Plus the fact that squatting in vacant properties is rampant in certain countries and it is nigh on impossible to get the squatters out!

But I'm sure you already have factored these things in and are happy to do the purchase.

For shorter flights it's Portugal or Spain, and maybe the coast around Perpignan or Arcachon in France. Italy, Sicily, well really all the usual spots!

Ask chatGPT - came up with some superb recommendations for me!

Well with Cyprus, its a bit you hot in july August
Want to be able to go for extended periods of time so say, a month in summer then again in may and maybe easter
Then as kids get older spend more and more time there
It's also health related too, health problems that improve under better weather

I think you need to think about practical factors like do you need to work, what are the tax implications, what's life like in different countries for foreigners, what languages do you speak (or are willing to learn), how often will you go, how will you get there, will you let it out and if so what are the legal requirements and going rates in different places...

it is expensive & complex to buy in another country. and your money will all be tied up in one location - what will happen if the flat needs major maintenance, or if you need to sell but the market isn't good?

if you are able to avoid the school holidays, you could get a much cheaper 3 month rental in a nice place. and then if something doesn't work out, you can pick a different rental or do something else.

Exactly this!

Can I ask do you have a non-British passport ?

Lol yes. Does OP know about Brexit. Has she got an EU passport ? Guess she could live in Ireland.

We also have Italian passports so no worries there

It’s not just the price of the property though, there are going to be local taxes to pay, upkeep, and also rules around renting out property owned by non-residents in some places. Think how many weeks away you could get in different rentals in a variety of places for your £250K, although at the moment if you are British, that’s limited in Europe anyway.

Ah OK - at least that makes things easier.

I do agree a good months rental would be a good way to really test the areas of interest
it’s really just identifying what areas we are interested in and what the prices are
it wouldn’t be let out to others
it will be for elderly extended holidays not working

If you have Italian passports, why not buy in Italy? There are almost deserted towns where the properties are going cheaply to encourage people to repopulate them.

Ex holiday home abroad owner here

Don’t do this. Just spend the money on other people’s two bed fiats or even a hotel. It will become a millstone and a money pit all in one go. Local laws may change to make your ownership more expensive. If you earn any income from it you will be taxed at your marginal rate. Maintenance issues are difficult to resolve from afar, and expensive (locals will take advantage of you)

Again, don’t do this .

Algarve, cheap COL compared to a lot of Europe, lovely long warm seasons and tonnes of cheap flights to Faro

Come to Donegal! Some beaches here to rival any in the Med, temp has been in the 20s for past few weeks (not always this hot though!). Loads to do and see, fab bars and restaurants and easy to fly in to either Derry or Donegal airports (you'd need to rent a car though).
Locals are known for their warm welcomes too.

Sorry, I'm no good at clicky links but a few examples of what your budget would get below:

https://www.propertypal.com/driftwood-cottage-ballyara-killybegs/1014696/photo-2

https://www.propertypal.com/3-drumhill-portsalon/1014164/photo-42

https://www.daft.ie/for-sale/detached-house-magherabane-linsfort-buncrana-co-donegal/5677750

https://www.daft.ie/for-sale/house-coastal-view-luddan-buncrana-buncrana-co-donegal/6092024

https://www.daft.ie/for-sale/bungalow--cnoc-na-ros-ardagh-ballyliffin-co-donegal/6033062

One thing I'm not a huge fan of the beaches, however planning on visiting the puglia region very soon do this could be good