Beware of Bargains

Buyer Beware!

If you are thinking of buying a property abroad, then read this tale of warning. Two friends of mine, Brian and Malcolm wanted to purchase a property in Spain to open a Guest House / Bed & Breakfast establishment for Gay Naturists. They wanted something by the sea, near the airport and obviously very secluded for obvious reasons. A neighbour of theirs in England had a friend who she knew wanted to sell a villa in Spain, so she gave the lads his number. After a quick phone call, Simon called round to see them.

Simon explained that he had bought the property several years previously so that he and his wife could have a holiday home. He was halfway through renovating the property when his marriage ended in divorce and he lost all interest in the Spanish property. He showed Brian and Malcolm a photograph of the villa. The villa looked in good repair and they were told that it had 7 bedrooms, 2 reception rooms, kitchen, bathroom, courtyard and stables. It was on a hill with sea views and was therefore not overlooked; and there was also 2 acres of land nearby with parking available for cars and caravans. It all seemed too good to be true and Simon only wanted £10,000 for it!

Brian and Malcolm already owned a timeshare apartment near Malaga on the Costa del Sol and Simon's villa was only a "1/2 hour drive" from Malaga Airport. So armed with a hand drawn map of how to find the villa, on their next visit to Malaga they were all set to look for the business of their dreams.

Once in Spain, Brian and Malcolm set off to find the villa in their hire car. 11/2 hours! later, a few wrong turns and several "heated debates", they eventually found the turnoff for the villa. They parked the car and set off on foot, only because the road, or should I say dirt track didn't look too promising and they didn't want to damage the hire car. With Simon's map in hand they followed it to the letter. Eventually after 20 minutes of walking, the road came to a dead end in bushes. Brian and Malcolm retraced their steps to the point of origin and decided that perhaps Simon had forgotten to draw in the first road, so they took the second road. 10 minutes later they were back at "base" again. Malcolm was getting very tired, hot and fed up by this time, however, Brian said that he could see a house over in the distance with a car in front of it with what looked like an English registration on it, perhaps the owners could help them. Not a hope, the owners were out! Finally they spotted another house halfway up a steep hill with a single road clinging to the hillside. They decided to climb this to ask for directions. Worn out and extremely hot and irritable, they eventually arrived at the house and knocked on the door. It was answered, and to their extreme delight, by a woman who spoke with a Scottish accent.

The woman and her husband listened in sympathy to Brian and Malcolm's story and after a very welcoming drink and something to eat, Jean said that she knew where the villa was, pointing to a small blob on the neighbouring hillside, but it was a long walk and she would drive them there in her 4x4. After 10 minutes of hair-raising bends on the hillside and one or two 3-point turns on the edge of the road, they found their dream villa.

The villa had indeed vistas of the sea, however, it was similar to those displayed in the television series Fawlty Towers, it was there, just on the horizon. It certainly wasn't overlooked, however their neighbour, an elderly gent of about 90, was practically attached to the villa. He was in fact using the "villa", for want of a better word, for keeping his sheep and goats in. On inspection of the villa, it turned out to be a ruin; total neglect for the past 5 years had taken its toll. There was no roof, the second floor didn't have one and most of the internal walls had crumbled. There was no electricity, water or gas and no foul waste facilities. The acre of land was, so they were told, being used by other farmers, it was the norm seemingly.

The courtyard couldn't be found, neither were the car and caravan parking facilities. "They may have been washed away in the recent storms" Jean said. She added, "The local roads need rebuilding every year, due to heavy rain in winter!" Brian and Malcolm both decided that although the wooden front door was quite nice, the rest of the ruin was a little disappointing.

Brian and Malcolm didn't say a lot on the way back to their timeshare, the atmosphere was very subdued. On their return to the UK, they declined Simon's kind offer and decided that they would reconsider their options.

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