twa

My wife and I are considering buying a house in Spain. We are retired in our 60s and live in Canada and will visit Spain from August 11-22 this year to look at real estate and find an area to rent next year to see where we might like to live. We are both avid golfers so living near a golf course where we could become members would be nice. We wanted to explore the Alicante and Malaga areas.

We would welcome recommendations for an honest English-speaking realtor we could connect with before we travel. We would also welcome any suggestions on areas to consider. It would be nice to live among other English-speaking expats. We would homes under 1MM Euros.

Please let us know any suggestions you might have for communities or realtors to consider. If someone can help us in our search, we would welcome connecting off forum for a conversation.

Cheers, Tom & Wilna

Moses2013

Don't play golf myself and not in the area you are searching, but you will find plenty of golf courses across Spain. Some people decide to buy property on the golf resort and that might be an option, although that limits you if you want to sell later on and you pay a premium. We have a holiday home not too far from PGA Catalunya and it does look stunning, but for the same money you can get a villa with sea-view compared to an apartment there. With that budget Engel and Völkers are probably a good bet, but like anywhere I wouldn't trust estate agents. Look on idealista and keep your options open.

EsuriJohn

Have you thought of widening your search to the West. We live on a golf course at Costa Esuri in Ayamonte. It is right on the border with the Portuguese border so you have one home and two countries. Within a 20 mile radius there are over 20 excellent courses. Within 5 miles is Monte Rei reputedly the best course on the Iberian peninsula. With a budget of 1m you could build a super villa overlooking our course or take your pick of a number of developed properties. An English speaking realtor who would ideally suit your purpose is Micheal Halligan of Liz living.
An extra plus we have found this year is that our high summer temps have hovered in the 32-35* range with just one day over 40*. Being on the Atlantic we do get cooling breezes which are very welcome. A niece who has just holiday’d in Marbella said it was 38-46* every day which made playing golf a chore. Most time was spent in the pool or the sea.

mikelincs

Costa Blanca South has a lot of golf courses, and they do appear to be popular, we did look at an apartment overlooking one but decided it wasn't for us, non golfers, they were NOY that much more expensive than others in the area.

Loafing Along

The Malaga area has about 60 golf courses within an hour's or so drive so plenty to choose from , you can narrow down your search by looking at areas such as Guadalmina / San Pedro. There are some wonderful properties on the coastal side of the main road and the golf course is superb as are las Brisas and Aloha Golf in Nueva Andalucia. Also. nearby is Los Naranjos Slightly further south there is El Parasio Golf which has a sizeable expat membership and a great golf society "Golf The Costa" that plays there and other courses. The society means you do not need to join a club and can get to play a good variety at very reasonable rates. The other side of Marbella you have La Cala, again sizeable expat population and some excellent courses nearby.Chapparal is one example, tough but very enjoyable. La Cala Golf offers 3 courses and has attractive properties but rather a haul for daily domestic tasks. You will also find a lot of Expats in Calahonda.
Top courses are Valderrama, Finca Cortesin and Sotogrande but both a long drive from Malaga and not such large expat communities as the areas previously mentioned, probably need to reside in Estopona.

Can't help with the real estate agency, as we bought over 10 years ago, but you should realise nearly all operate off the same one or two databases so when property searching they tend to "share" and you may find two agents turning up - your chosen agent plus the one who has it on their database.

jonboy

Hi TWA, You are doing the sensible thing in renting. Take your time and research well. Do not take a realtor's word on anything!

Best regards

spainrico

Lots of quality golf courses in the Alicante province which also offers good motorways, an international airport, high-speed train connections, diverse culture, English is widely spoken, good hospitals, great beaches, mountain villages, great climate and is home to thousands of Expats as well as welcoming Spaniards!

mikelincs

Don't forget, in Spain properties can be, and are, listed with multiple agencies, all with different prices. If you do pick a property, check whether it's cheaper through a different agent. When we sold we had the property with 5 different agents, including an on-line only agent, who did make the sale.

twa

Thank you. I am not sure we can get there this trip but we appreciate the thought and will look at the area.

Good to know that properties are listed with multiple realtors.