
From Tourist to Local – How to Feel at Home in Spain
You’ve fallen in love with Spain – the sunshine, the lifestyle, the charm of its towns and cities. But what happens when the holiday ends and real life begins?
Retirees Ludo Immens and his wife Gina can’t wait to escape to their cosy villa in the pretty Valencian countryside, bought with the help of HomeEspaña during lockdown.
The Belgian couple got the keys to their rustic home in Montroy on 17th March 2021, after flying out a couple of days before to visit the property personally for the first time. It was thanks to HomeEspaña’s efforts doing live video tours that they were able to go ahead with the purchase while back home in Antwerp.
“We first made contact with HomeEspaña after finding the villa on the internet in January,” said Ludo. “They arranged to do a live video viewing of the property for us in February and then again in March. We made a decision to buy after that. It was advertised for €80,000 but we agreed a purchase price of €76,000. Together with our solicitor, HomeEspaña arranged everything for us. We are very happy with them and certainly would recommend them.”
The couple, who between them have seven children, believe their detached property was great value and illustrates how far your money stretches inland. It includes two bedrooms, a family bathroom, kitchen, living area and storage room. Outside they have a large garden with a private pool. The price included all the furniture.
Located on the edge of Real de Montroy, a village on the edge of the small farming town of Montroy, they are just 35 minutes’ drive from Valencia city and the airport, and 40 minutes from the Med and sandy beach at Cullera. The surrounding landscape is rolling vineyards and citrus groves.
“When we started looking at buying a second home in Spain, we decided we didn’t want to be in a resort on the coast,” said Ludo. “It gets too crowded for us and we prefer being inland, somewhere more peaceful with pretty natural scenery. We’re not beach people, but enjoy days out and visiting places.”
Ludo has been coming to Spain since 1979, holidaying in different Costas. He first came to the Costa Blanca with Gina around four years ago, when they decided it was the best spot for them to buy a holiday home. They won’t rent out their villa, instead keeping it for personal use only.
“We plan to visit several times in the year,” added Ludo. “But we’ll come during the cooler months, as summers get too hot for us! Right now we’re just excited about being able to travel back there and have flights booked for the end of this month (May 2021)!”
You’ve fallen in love with Spain – the sunshine, the lifestyle, the charm of its towns and cities. But what happens when the holiday ends and real life begins?
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