For a long time I had a dream: if only I could one day buy an apartment on the beach in sunny Andalusia.... By the end of last year I had gathered the money and the guts, and a phone call to Marita and Jan from Second Home Andalusia was the next step to discuss with them what it should look like and where it should be located. We sent some houses, places, thoughts back and forth, a wish list came up and in March I went to see an apartment with Martin.  

Two days before I was to fly back to the Netherlands, a viewing of an apartment at Torrox Beach Club was scheduled. This apartment had great sea views, but it did not meet my ideal picture: according to the new rental guidelines it could not be rented out via a platform, it lacked one bedroom ánd the large storage room was a huge mess: not finished, full of building materials and on top of that it could not become part of the property. In short, too many red flags. 

 
Sea view, or neighbor's laundry?
By now we had viewed very diverse properties : in locations right along the coast, next to the golf course (and the highway...) and in the maze of Torrox Pueblo. It did not make me happy and, to be honest, I was already convinced before leaving for Spain: a spacious three-bedroom apartment in Viña Malaga was going to be it. The viewing had already been cancelled twice, but fortunately Marita managed to arrange for me to see it the day before my return. Well, that was not to be! Between the Spaniards who live there all year round, overlooking their laundry and the smell of Brussels sprouts in your nose; it doesn't give you a vacation feeling. Despite the red flags, Torrox Beach Club now appeared in a different light. The view was still beautiful, but could the problems be solved? 
 
Seizure of storage room
After much thought and much discussion with Marita, Jan and Martin, I made an offer. After some wrangling, we came out with the seller and Second Home Andalusia's in-house lawyer Nacho of Lex Iuiris was able to get to work on his investigation. He discovered that the municipality of Torrox had seized the storage space. The seller had been renovating there while it was not allowed. It would go too far to write down the whole story, but in the end the sale went through at a lower price. I am confident that Nacho will resolve it with the municipality and that after some modifications the storage can be used. Not as a third bedroom, but just as storage. 

Honest advice
Because for a long time it remained unclear exactly what was going on and there were constantly new plot twists, it was a stressful process that I would not have dared to go through without Second Home Andalusia and house lawyer Nacho. After all, it's a different country with different rules that you just don't know. Marita and Jan's advice was always honest and they made it clear that I could still drop out at any time. I'm glad I didn't and that they took so much time to get to the bottom of everything.

Soon I will be staying in my own vacation apartment in Torrox Beach Club for the first time. Then I can start decorating it cozily and enjoy the great sea views, I am really looking forward to that! 

Annette Oudejans