I want to buy an affordable holiday apartment

[Ineedsomesunny]

I have a small amount of cash (under £100k) and have always dreamed of having a holiday apartment somewhere warm in the winter months.

Where would you buy?

I know £100k isn’t much but a quick search shows plenty in Cape Verde for under £100. However the flights seem very expensive.

Tenerife apartments are a lot more expensive. But there are plenty of cheap flights…

Where else should I be looking?

Make sure an affordable airline flies there direct (like easyJet), and be sure that you can get out there for at least two months a year to make it viable. Don’t assume any rental income.

Do you have kids?

Finding a property is one thing, GETTING to it enough to make buying instead of renting, is quite another.

It could be that renting a studio flat there once a year for a month and keeping your money on deposit earning interest makes more financial sense than buying.

Will you be renting it out to? If not have a look at how much it will cost you a year in council tax, bills, maintenance fees if it's an apartment etc ....

Mainland Spain is probably a good bet, plenty of cheap flights into Malaga, Alicante etc. Look for places that are a bit further out from the airport or inland to get the cheapest property

If you look on Airbnb, a flat for the whole of February is £500 - £800 and zero anxiety.

Unless you can spend two or three months there every year, it’s cheaper to rent after you factor in the substantial costs.

(I speak from experience.)

(I mean February in Cape Verde.)

I can't believe anyone still thinks that getting a holiday home that you have to fly to is a good idea since the COVID travel bans. Not to mention the small matter of the climate crisis...

I’d go southern Portugal or southern Spain

We know people with houses in the south of france they bought for similar and completely renovated as they went along. Id want somewhere i could drive to.

Go for it, Spain is the obvious choice, short flights and plenty of flight options. Good luck OP.

Running costs can be £3000 p.a.. You could rent place for that and still keep your capital.

Thanks all.

I don’t think I’d rent it out. Possibly though.

Yes I agree needs to be easy to access, close to airport and budget airline flights that fly there frequently.

Im not so keen on mainland Spain as it isn’t warm enough in winter.

Don't forget to check about that rule about spending no more than 90 days out of 180 there (unless you have an EU passport).

Friends of ours bought a flat in Suffolk. The weather isn’t good but they could get there every weekend if they wanted to.

Do you really want to go to the same place every single time you go away?

I agree about putting the money on deposit and spending the interest on holiday rentals will probably be more cost effective and less hassle.

A lot of property that looks cheap is priced normally for the market it's in so isn't necessarily going to appreciate in value.

Now we are no longer in the EU, it isn't as easy any more. A friend of mine has an apartment in Tenerife and he and his wife used to spend the winter months living there. He said they can't do that any more.

I don't really understand why you wouldn't just rent an apartment any time you fancy going away, especially as you don't intend to rent it out. You'd have far more flexibility and variety, and a lot less stress.

Spain are looking to drop the 90 day rule, as they realise the economic effect the UK leaving the EU has impacted on local economies. I know a couple of people, one travels to Spain for 90days and other has taken early retirement and now has secured residency in the Canary Islands, so they aren’t subject to restriction. Wishing you all the very best OP. If I was in a position to do this
I would.

As for Spain looking to drop the 90 day rule, I wonder how feasible that will be? Other non EU countries like UK will want the same treatment. It's either free movement just for EU members or it's not. But of course the UK is special.

Anyway, I could buy abroad if I wanted to, but not a chance. The responsibility of it would kill me. Worry about it being vacant and squatters/burglars. Property and other taxes, insurance, maintenance, all that jazz. I have enough of that to deal with here.

The idea is lovely but the reality may not be.

I think that years ago people were attracted by the weather and cheaper prices to buy apartments abroad. Some places were sold as great value and with potential for growth but this growth never happened. I know in Spain a few years ago people found out their apartments could not be sold due either poor construction or they had no planning permission. Then some places stopped having direct flights so became hard and expensive to get to.

I personally think that if your buying abroad you need to buy in a good location and can afford to do this with out a mortgage. It needs to be near a main airport. I would also look into what the place is like off season because some places have very few visitors or places open from Nov till say March.
You also need the ability to be able to stay their for 2 to 3 months of the year without visa needs. You then have to consider the cost of up keep, insurance ect and what happens when your not their.

In your position I would not buy a cheap apartment abroad because I think you just afford a place in a not great area, you have ongoing costs and you could lose money when you sell.
Instead I would invest your money and have a nice holiday every year. A lot of places in the off season can have good value in long term apartment rentals in areas that are still busy.
You can still go and enjoy them without the cost, hassle and worry of your own apartment.

How old are you? Do you work ? How many weeks per year do you plan to spend there ? Will you be happy always going to the same place each year ? Don't forget there will be maintenance costs payable even when you aren't there.

Personally I would just invest the money and rent when I went away - if I really liked somewhere then I would return .

We are going to Spain for 4 weeks next February . For £100k we could do this for another 65 years - not that we will live that long !

I would spend that money on great holidays somewhere different each year. You have the additional expenses of a second home, the taxes of any income earned on it

Someone I know bought an apartment in Cape Verde and admits it was a terrible investment.
yeah Brits go but it’s a hotel centric sort of place. A bit shit otherwise- his words.

The stress of the added maintenance would put me off. Can you imagine jetting off to Spain, only to be faced with a mountain of jobs, cleaning and maintenance work both inside and out. We go on holidays to avoid this drudgery not double it.

I think I would only invest if I was spending at least half the year there, otherwise rent and leave the laundry and painting to someone else!

Just saw this on Twitter, @Ineedsomesunny - probably not great for winter sun, but certainly warmer/prettier than here, and on budget! (let's not talk about the drive from the nearest airport though...)

https://www.seloger.com/annonces/achat/maison/antignac-15/205515497.htm