My family and I are considering the purchase of a property in CE. We are Spanish expats based in Belgium and before we were based in the UK.

In CE, the prices are very good and there is plenty of offer available. I am wondering if you could provide some recommendations about the different developments in the area. Particularly, we have liked a Marina Esuri duplex (70k +ITP) and townhouses in oasis parque(80k + ITP). Also it could be ok Vista Esuri, Las Encinas and La Colina.

The agent has told me that the properties are sold as they are, so no guarantee can be expected from the bank and also as the developers are bankrupt any problem is likely not to be solved. That's why I will be very interested in your views.

The other thing i would like to ask is about activities for kids (I have three kids aged 10, 7 and 2). Vacations in family are great but they are even greater if you can count on organised activities where you can send the kids to meet new friends of their age.

Given the number of British expats, I suppose most activities will be in English. For us that would be great as our kids have a decent english level and it will be a way of improving while they play.

Thanks in advance

Hi, welcome to the site.

It was very interesting to read your post and I hope some of my comments will be of help.

We live in a duplex on Marina Esuri and we find it perfect for us. There are quite a few empty but I'm not sure whether they belong to Banks or individuals.

I'm not sure that there are any organised activities for children on Esuri and I would also say that most of the children that live here are Spanish as a majority of the Brits here are retired. There is however a Childrens Golf Academy in the Summer, run by the Club Pro and its bi-lingual. Regards Bryony

Thanks for the quick response.

Given that you own a duplex in M.Esuri, may I take the opportunity to ask about the quality of the construction. I am particularly worried about getting damps while being away.

Also could you please give me an idea of the cost derived from the community charges and the EUC.

The agent has offered me one duplex from a bank in Manzana 2. The price looked to me very good (a bit more than 70k plus tax) and we are almost decided to go for it.

As said in my post, we are Spaniards but for us the international community of CE is really a plus.

Thanks again

I bought a 3bed duplex in manzana just over a year ago. It was from the bank hence a significantly reduced price that previous market value. One thing to keep in mind is that you will have to install Aircon. The properties have been vacant for some time, we found the initial duplex we were considering to be damp free. The one we actually purchased did have one area of dampness but we knew it could be resolved, the aspect of the apartment was the deciding factor. In the summer months many Spanish from Seville use there apartments here and especially in August, there is no need for organised activities except a bycycle, roller blades etc as there are plenty of children about and it is a quite safe gated area in general. Happy house hunting.

Lloyd. Thanks for the tips.

I will most probably fly in about 10 days to make some visits and take a decision. My main worry is that in 30 mins seeing a house is hard to point out hidden defects. That is why I was asking about the general quality of the contstruction. Have you found/ do you know if neighbours are facing problems?

When you refer to aspect of the appartment, please, could you be a bit more specific. I thought that the duplex were all the same with the sole difference of the views and if they were facing south, north....

For the AirCon, yes I count on installing one. My experience is that insulation in the buildings in the coast tends to be quite poor. However I hoped that Huelva was a bit milder than other parts of Spain (I am from Madrid).

Thanks again

We selected the end of a block and direct line of sight with the pool and combined with sun as u rightly outlined. We are over on 17 th April for a few days so if u need a better view of the apartments your welcome to view ours to give yourself a better idea of its potential. I got the Aircon done locally so u can see that work also.
Regards.

Thanks for the offering but I will only have some days off in the first week of April.

From your words I infere that you are in general happy with the development and the construction quality.

We have a ground floor apartment in Marina Esuri - for 6 years now. We have had no complaints about the building structure, although we did have a small amount of damp after the very wet winter, but it was easily cured and treated. We were second owners so all the snagging had been complete before we bought. I have seen other posts on this forum over the years about the airconditioning ducting in some of the apartments - particularly duplexes - and some people have had secondary aircon fitted for the upstairs - but I'm sure if you use a local aircon fitter then they will be familiar with the buildings and any issues. Make sure you get aircon which warms as well as cools as in can get chilly in winter! I do know that some of the tiling on the duplex balconies have sometimes not been sealed well and water gets under the tiles and can penetrate the properties below - something to look out for (and to insure against). There are some posts on the forum about retiling the balconies on the thread (although some time ago I think). Perhaps other owners might be able to help more. Marina Esuri was one of the first developments completed and is so more mature and populated than some of the later developments. It can be quiet in the winter months but is lively and friendly during the summer.

In general build quality is average for Spain, the fuse board Trip switch switches needed upgrading and we changed over to bottled gas, disconnected the gas mains. You will be required to upgrade ur gas mains pipe work because ur a new customer and the standards have changed since original build. Existing customers are getting some upgrades by the gas companies to my knowledge, I could be mistaken. U can check out a previous thread about gas conversion.
Many regards.

Hi we have had our duplex for 7yrs now and have lived in it permanently for 5 and apart from having the boiler checked we have not been told anything about having the pipes upgraded. Bryony

Thanks everybody for the information. I am planing a visit next week. I will let you know if we finally buy.

We have a place on Las Colinas. There are no complaints about the build quality and we haven't had any damp problems. There are very few permanent residents and I think we are probably the only British people in the entire complex. Most seem to be second homes for Spanish people, and it is very popular with people from Seville who come down for the weekend. It can be quiet during the week but gets busier at the weekends, especially in the summer. There are quite a few children around too. We love it.
Kath

Thanks again for all the comments. We are pretty much decided, however the only thing that is making us doubt is the risk associated to the financial difficulties of the golf course. I have been reading another post and it looks Fadesa still owns the course but it it's unclear if they are going to maintain it or sell it. I really hope they sell it to a company whose core activity is running golf courses and are able to promote it adequately and make good profit out of it in the medium term.

Luis