Be a smart buyer

IF you are thinking of purchasing a property either as a forever home or as a holiday paradise, take time, espe cially with a second hand property, to consider all of the pros and cons.

You need to be certain that there is a proper title to the land so that there is no unwelcome surprise further down the line if it was built without permission.

In the past, there have been some prob lems with this in Axarquia but although it has very much been resolved, it is im perative that you ensure that you are assured that the title to the property is correct in order to save heartache in the future.

If it’s part of an urbanisation, find out early what your monthly or annual community charge is going to be and whether it’s managed by fellow residents or is out- sourced to a professional company. In the UK we tend to have properties surveyed either in order to obtain a mortgage or to ensure that the property we have fallen in love with is generally considered sound and won’t fall down around us.

For some reason, people don’t appear to be quite so worried about surveys in Spain but there are good surveyors around, so you need to consider whether Spain should be any different than at home.

Next think about glazing, air conditioning and heating as some properties can get very hot in the summer and chilly in the winter and you want to ensure that you are comfortable.

Nowadays so many of us are environmentally conscious so perhaps look into the possible cost of solar panels to save electricity charges.