Villa Florencia

Malaysia or Spain?

We recently accepted a reservation for our self-catering apartment from a British couple currently living in Malaysia with their three sons. They were thinking about purchasing a property in the area, and wanted to spend some time not only viewing the house that they had in mind, but also getting a feel for the area generally.

The house was not intended to be a full-time move from Malaysia, since that is where employment obligations currently lie, but they were thinking that it would be a good opportunity to purchase a family home that could be used increasingly in the future as their lifestyle changes.

Carmel and Fergus arrived with two of their sons (the middle one remaining in Malaysia), and immediately felt at home with us. Although they were staying in our self-catering apartment, they also made frequent use of our evening meal service, which they found particularly convenient as Carmel is vegetarian – a preference not always catered for as readily in Spanish restaurants as it is in the UK. The house that they had in mind for their big move did indeed turn out to be very much to their taste, although they took no final decision during their week here regarding a definite purchase.

The Spanish property market is in a constant state of change at the moment, and they wanted to be certain that the asking price was a fair and reasonable one in the current climate. They met with a lawyer and arranged for a professional valuation to be carried out in the near future, and any final purchasing decision will be made in the light of the reliable professional advice that they have enlisted. For the rest of their time with us they took the opportunity to acquaint themselves with the area in general – or in Fergus’s case to re-acquaint himself.

He had in fact spent some time here approximately twenty years ago as a geology student examining the rock formations in the region, but soon realised that many changes had taken place in the intervening time. However, his verdict was that the changes were good ones, and that this part of the Costa Blanca still retained its charm and character, whilst having benefited from huge improvements to the overall infrastructure.

The rest of the family were soon won over by the delights of the La Safor region and the beauty of the mountains and the greenery of the orchards in the valleys between, as well as by all the amenities that Gandia itself has to offer. They will almost certainly be returning to us – probably in October – and by then no doubt they will have much more information available to them to make a balanced decision about the particular house that they had seen.

Whatever their decision, however, they felt that this part of the country could well be the place they choose to buy a family home for their long-term future. We certainly look forward to welcoming them back at Gandia Casa Rural in the autumn, if not before!