A place in the sun - Page 3

Many many times we see “Bargains” on that show. They don’t show the surroundings ,mess, or let you hear the barking dogs,or whatever puts the “would be lol” potential buyer off .you sometimes hear the road,when they can’t stop that but  It’s just TV not to be taken seriously at all. Maybe they should show “Slums in the sun “ maybe more interesting lol.   There are plenty 

I didn't realize that I was making Mr Cleese famous . . . . ! [ I never met him, but would love to meet him].

Hello Matthew,

I am the lady in question, Maureen, and I thank you for your honest appraisal.  As you pointed out, I was not going to be swayed by the presenters or anyone connected with the company.  At the time of filming I had decided to rent regardless of my final decision to enable me to look at different areas and weigh up the pros and cons.  In the end I have rented a three bedroomed apartment on the sea front in Garrucha and love it.  I have no intention of selling my house in England and "putting all my eggs in one basket".  My family are currently living there and looking after it and I still have my own bedroom for when I visit.

Appearing on the programme was interesting and enabled me to look at property and areas which I may not have been aware of.  I have decided to continue to rent which I can afford out of my monthly income and use my "nest egg" which both me and my husband worked hard to accrue, for emergencies, repairs on my 200 year old cottage in England and to top up my income if required.

Regards,

Maureen

1. Good on Ya! Maureen. I hope you enjoy Garrucha over the winter months. It's a good place to set a base. I bet you're already learning Spanish. Your get-up-and-go attitude is encouraging and positive. 

2. If you take a trip over to Mojacar Playa on the Baraza bus I'd advise you to alight at Hotel Indalo (not to be mistaken for Pueblo Indalo Hotel). Walk to the scrubland across the road and walk the cliff towards Macenas Playa. I reckon you'll enjoy it. If you have time go to the Tower in the distance where you can climb up a cross between a stairs and a ladder for more magnificent scenery. There are tangent walks from the cliff-walk too. Use walking shoes and bring some drinking water in a back-pack.

3. Koi at the roundabout at Parque Commercial (Mojacar Playa) is a good place to meet people. With your new found fame I reckon people will wish to talk to you. If you see a cocky Paddy lording it, that could be me. Koi also provide some nice breakfast with free tapas. 

4. Bella Vista is a restaurant where you'll certainly shine. Food is great, service excellent, atmosphere fabulous. You'll make some friends there too.

5. I hope you enjoy the whole area. Every day is an adventure. You can read your mind away while thinking positively and have enough sunshine to be the envy of anybody facing into a winter in the UK or Ireland. The whole area will make you relax so you will have no relaxation worries knowing your can retreat to the UK if necessary (although unlikely). 

Thank you for your suggestions Matthew.  I have walked over the mountain to Macena Playa but I haven't been up the tower. I will try it.

I'm enjoying living in Garrucha and although I don't have a car, am enjoying exploring. 

Take care Matthew and who knows,  we may bump into each other sometime.

Maureen 

My husband and I filmed in the Mojacar area in March this year with a place in the sun. The whole experience was excellent the staff were lovely and really looked after us. We were shown 4 properties which I suspect will be edited to look like they were really nice and "ticked" all our boxes. However the reality was the surrounding properties were run down, barking dogs and one property had huge cracks running down the building. 

The final property was on Valle de Este and was a beautiful 2 bed modern new build apartment. We were told that the bank would accept £105,000 and duly put an offer in for this amount. The estate agent contacted us several weeks later and told us our offer had been rejected so we increased it to £110,000. We were told this had also been rejected and the bank were looking for £140,000 !!! 

I have seen the same apartments for sale for £165,000 recently. 

Not sure what happened on this occasion but it appears that there were either some crossed wires or someone was not being truthful with us. 

Having said that we had a great time which was all paid for by the production company so we can't really complain. 

Exactly what I’ve been saying.  They never show the surroundings lol. 

It wouldn't make good television if they were to show a bad area but when you are actually there, you can see with your own eyes.  No-one should consider buying in any area without checking it out first, perhaps rent there for a while to experience the pros and cons before making a decision.  It's common sense.

I can't understand why the programme is being pilloried on this site.  As already mentioned, the production crew were really lovely and looked after us.  The company paid for everything therefore for us it was a win win situation as they showed us areas and properties that we had not seen.  In their words, they weren't there to sell property, they were there to make a show!  As already mentioned, it's up to whoever is thinking of buying to go in with their eyes wide open and be realistic. After all, it is their hard earned money that they're thinking of spending.

Maureen

I agree Maureen it was hard work and no holiday but it was a great experience and I would definitely do it again. We were just very disappointed that the property we wanted appeared to increase in price by £50 k. 

Having said that it was probably a blessing in disguise as we would not have been able to use it this year anyway. 

I wouldn’t think that anyone going to spend their hard earned money and change their lives would arrive straight off the bus and buy lol.That’s what makes the show “Entertaining”. 😁. waiting to hear the comments they make lol.  We looked all over from Tarragona,to Estepona for five years before settling on The most perfect place.    We built our holiday house 18 years ago in Serena.   I am only commenting on the things people watching often think.  They see the beautiful property and wonder why these people don’t buy that property. Of course ,  it’s only entertainment. 😎