Deliver a guaranteed rental income

The key issue in this brief meant I would target only the most prime locations with the highest rental potential. Therefore, I would be focusing on beachside or a prime golf course on the west side of Marbella, between the town itself and Guadalmina, with a particular focus on the town of San Pedro de Alcántara, something of a hidden jewel of the Costa del Sol. However, it also meant that a sea view was unlikely unless a compromise was made on the requirement to be walking distance to the beach and other amenities. To get the sea view would mean going a few kms back into the hills as the land closest to the sea in this area is flat, pancake flat. Doing that means a car is essential for everything. So, compromise time had arrived and the requirement for a sea view lost out, walking to lots of stuff preferred.

When discussing the brief I made it very clear that the shortlist for viewing would probably be very short indeed, and such was the competition for what my client wanted he had to be willing to jump on a plane at very short notice.  

I started my research in November 2019, by which time the market had been in growth for several years. High demand and lack of supply of quality property in the most prime locations had pushed prices higher and meant there was competition for the best properties. I looked at the area of Nueva Andalucía, otherwise known as Golf Valley, as in the lower part it is possible to walk to lots of great restaurants, bars and shops just behind Puerto Banús in about 10 minutes and the beach in 20. In the case of beachside San Pedro, although I thought it was the location that ticked all the boxes on the criteria list, I expected to really struggle to find anything. 

However, there’s an element of luck in many searches, just being in the right place at the right time.  Fortunately for our client I run almost daily along the San Pedro promenade when I am in the area and one Friday evening I spotted a private For Sale sign on a house about 200m back from the sea and 500m from the town. It would be impossible to find a house with better ‘walking to’ options; shops, bars, restaurants, Puerto Banús, etc., or with better rental potential. It was too dark to make out the telephone number so I took the same route during the next day and made an appointment to view it on the following Monday morning.  The asking price had already been reduced from its original €1,8m and although it was still above budget the seller was in a big hole and it was time to stop digging. However, there was interest from a couple from Madrid who had driven down over the weekend for a second viewing. In fact they were parked outside waiting for me to finish my inspection.

So no time to lose and no time for a written report. I was on the phone to my client immediately, he flew out the next day and we viewed on the Wednesday morning with a second viewing on Thursday afternoon. We made a cheeky offer which was rejected but negotiations were successfully concluded over the holidays, completion set for February 2020.