Out and About -July-issue-

36 | OUT AND ABOUT COSTA BLANCA
Walsh’s Wisdom
Homes in Spain
Now and Then
Everything changes except the memories.
It was December 2000 when I took my
sons for an all-inclusive hotel holiday in
Benidorm. It was a chance choice as the travel
agent had offered three breaks in different
locations.
‘Oh, boy, this’ll do me’ I thought to myself
as whilst the UK suffered frozen pipes, I
avoided sunburn.
Sadly, I had no skills that were needed in
Spain. Then at that moment of reflection on
the beach, I read a news snippet that reported
the high number of Brits buying retirement or
second homes on the Spanish Riviera.
‘Eureka!’ I whispered. ‘These buyers speak
my language and I can sell.’
Arriving back in Blighty, I immediately
picked up a copy of Homes Abroad magazine.
By the day’s end, my artfully modified
CV was on its way to several property
sellers. Quick as a flash, Justo Quesada’s
housebuilding company got back to me.
I was invited to attend the Properties
Abroad event at Birmingham’s National
Exhibition Centre (NEC). Talk about hitting
the ground running. Such were the high
numbers of eager buyers overwhelming the
stands I was told on arrival to ‘just get on with
it’.
Goodness, I couldn’t even pronounce Los
Alcazares or even Torrevieja. But I made a
good fist of it and was taken on and not once
WALSH’S WISDOM
did I look back.
Over the following years I set my stall out at
hotels and exhibition centres all over Britain.
I don’t think I was a gifted entrepreneur for
during that time selling properties in Spain
was as easy as taking sweets off a kid.
Setting up my property’s abroad outlet
near Liverpool’s city centre, I employed two
staff and recall us arranging viewing trips
for potential clients. My clients were so well
qualified I was told my conversion rate was
better than any others.
In 2007 I ‘retired’ to Spain and taking up my
pen I made a reasonable living.
Recently, aware that interest in buying
homes in Spain was on the rebound, I
discovered how much the market had
changed. It seemed that high-end apartments
are now in vogue, perhaps because of their
easier maintenance. Otherwise, prices of villas
and standard apartments, quads and suchlike
seem more or less as they were.
Brexit hasn’t helped British buyers,
Covid-19 put the dampers on EU buyers and
sanctions drastically reduced the enormous
potential of the Russian goldfields. But there
is enormous optimism from developers and
sellers. The market is in the recovery position.
‘What killed the market in 2004 and will
the old ways of doing things return,’ I asked
a former colleague who stayed with the
profession through the good years and bad.
If you have a book or indeed any writing needs contact Michael by emailing him at keyboardcosmetics@gmail.com
Michael Walsh Heart to Heart Poetry, Amazon Books.
Email: keyboardcosmetics@gmail.com
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