Mallorca, Ibiza and house purchases?
Nov 13th, 2004, 03:18 AM
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Mallorca, Ibiza and house purchases?
We are considering traveling to either Ibiza or Mallorca either over christmas or the first week in March. We are thinking about buying a house to both rent & spend time in over the holidays. I would be interested in peoples views on both islands, which they would prefer for living, vacationing, etc.. In addition, which part of each island would be suitable for family living, away from major tourist resorts. Thanks for your adive in advance. Jan
Nov 13th, 2004, 07:07 AM
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I would very strongly suggest you spend a couple of vacations anywhere before thinking about making such a significant commitment as buying a house there - unless you have half a million or so in disposable cash hanging around with nothing to do for the next several years (or however long it would take to extricate yourself from a bad purchase).
Nov 13th, 2004, 08:01 AM
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As beautiful as Ibiza and Mallorca are, and as wonderful as the climate is, personally, they would be the last places I would look to investing in property where I would live, even for part of the year. Both are great off-season, but tend to be overrun by a mass of younger tourist during the spring break and all summer long, especially poor Ibiza.
Nov 13th, 2004, 10:50 AM
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Robert,
Thanks for your input. My DH was the one who crafted the message and what he neglected to mention is that we are expat Americans living in Europe, so what we need is an interested location with a climate we like and easy access either by car or by budget airlines. We would be spending some vacation time there, but we also have interest in renting it out when we are not visiting. We have friends who love Mallorca and they have managed to find some areas that are not over run by young, 20 something party animals. (NTTAWWT!) Unfortunately, sometimes the budget airline access and the party scene go hand in hand. I have many more concerns with that on Ibiza. One of the places we were looking at very seriously was the Algarve. We bumped that from out list b/c the budget airline access is not what we wanted (at least yet). They have a major party scene but usually around Albufiera, not on the western portion. We are wondering if Mallorca and ibiza has the same type of set up, party area one part of the island and relaxed, artsy, family area in another! Perhaps that is hoping for too much!
We would be spending some time there prior to purchase but there are so many places to look...we need to narrow it down!
Cheers,
Jan
Thanks for your input. My DH was the one who crafted the message and what he neglected to mention is that we are expat Americans living in Europe, so what we need is an interested location with a climate we like and easy access either by car or by budget airlines. We would be spending some vacation time there, but we also have interest in renting it out when we are not visiting. We have friends who love Mallorca and they have managed to find some areas that are not over run by young, 20 something party animals. (NTTAWWT!) Unfortunately, sometimes the budget airline access and the party scene go hand in hand. I have many more concerns with that on Ibiza. One of the places we were looking at very seriously was the Algarve. We bumped that from out list b/c the budget airline access is not what we wanted (at least yet). They have a major party scene but usually around Albufiera, not on the western portion. We are wondering if Mallorca and ibiza has the same type of set up, party area one part of the island and relaxed, artsy, family area in another! Perhaps that is hoping for too much!
We would be spending some time there prior to purchase but there are so many places to look...we need to narrow it down!
Cheers,
Jan
Nov 13th, 2004, 11:47 AM
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In that case, then Mallorca would be the better choice of the two because it's larger and has a more traditional family atmosphere. I have an old friend whose family has lived on Mallorca since before the civil war and would never leave. We also have a client who's friends have lived there for more then twenty years and love it, year around.
Another place you might want to consider, not in the Med, is the Pays Basque region around Biarritz. It's less crowded, the weather can be spectacular from spring through fall and it has everything you'd want in a great place to live, very rural, but still quite busy, and you're only a short distance from San Sebastian-Donostia. The resort beach around Biarritz was rated as one of the top 10 in Europe by Condé Nast a couple of years ago. There is still some very reasonably priced houses in the area, as well as some of the best food and wine available anywhere in Europe. Alain Ducasse just opened a new restaurant in Bidarray, which may give you some idea of the level of interest in this area.
Another place you might want to consider, not in the Med, is the Pays Basque region around Biarritz. It's less crowded, the weather can be spectacular from spring through fall and it has everything you'd want in a great place to live, very rural, but still quite busy, and you're only a short distance from San Sebastian-Donostia. The resort beach around Biarritz was rated as one of the top 10 in Europe by Condé Nast a couple of years ago. There is still some very reasonably priced houses in the area, as well as some of the best food and wine available anywhere in Europe. Alain Ducasse just opened a new restaurant in Bidarray, which may give you some idea of the level of interest in this area.
Nov 19th, 2004, 08:43 AM
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Robert, thanks again. We found a great deal to Mallorca over the holidays so we are going to go check it out.
Thanks also for your suggestions on the Basque region. I hadn't considered around Biarritz. We have been to the Arcachon area and didn't find it suited our tastes but farther south definitely sounds interesting. You do know that you are just muddying the waters further, don't you?
So many places to consider...how can one narrow it down?
Cheers,
Jan
Thanks also for your suggestions on the Basque region. I hadn't considered around Biarritz. We have been to the Arcachon area and didn't find it suited our tastes but farther south definitely sounds interesting. You do know that you are just muddying the waters further, don't you?
So many places to consider...how can one narrow it down?
Cheers,
Jan
Nov 19th, 2004, 01:00 PM
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I'm glad you found a place to check out. For me it's the culture, the people, food and wine. Climate comes next. It also helps that area's like the Basque coast have fewer foreigners, at least for now, then other parts of Spain and France, which helps it maintain it's unique personality.
