There is a communal pool and garden and the property is five minutes’ walk to Sa Riera beach.All properties are through different agents but were located by The Property FindersTHE VERDICT”After meeting Rita we realised that our initial budget wouldn’t be enough. Agent’s details: This front-line, semi-detached villa has excellent sea views, a private garden with four large terraces, four bedrooms, three bathrooms, a large kitchen, open plan living/dining room with fireplace, plus a second reception room with fireplace, study and three-car garage. There are excellent sea views.Property three: Villa near Sa Riera beach Price: £266,000. Usually people have worked out their budget, which I always respect but this case was different. I then knew exactly what to look for; a house that was large enough to accommodate their friends, give them some privacy and within walking distance of the beach so that their teenage daughter would have some independence.”This, of course, changed the budget completely. Afterwards, however, having had a long, hard think about what they really wanted, Bob e-mailed me and the brief was completely different and very specific. Also, they talked about friends wanting to visit and of their need for privacy so it became clear the apartment idea would not work for them.”My strategy then was to take them on a whirlwind tour to see as wide a sample of property, location and price as possible to help them focus on where their priorities lay and what they could purchase for their original budget of £180,000.

This was a very unusual search, we looked at 12 properties in two days, so they were bombarded! But it was necessary so that they could get a much better understanding of location and budget.”I cover all of Catalonia and, when I discovered that the Watsons were about to head to Roses, my advice was ‘Don’t go!’ People who love Sa Tuna would not like Roses, which is much more densely populated They went home with their heads spinning. I could see from their house in the UK that an apartment in this part of Spain would not suit them as they tend to be very small. To the north of Barcelona it’s very industrial and then you come across places like Lloret de Mar, which is awful and not somewhere we would like to be at all. We are considering visiting a place called Roses, which has been recommended, but on our last trip we found a lovely little spot, a real Shirley Valentine-type of beach, at Sa Tuna near the medieval hilltop village of Begur.”I’m a busy businessman and, while I have many years of experience of buying property in the UK, I’ve absolutely none of buying abroad.

I really don’t have a lot of spare time to spend looking around, which is very frustrating.”THE ADVICE”After meeting Bob and Claire I quickly realised that they are not the ‘two-bedroom apartment’ type. It is like the Cornish coast, but with tavernas instead of smugglers’ inns. You are near Barcelona, ski resorts – another of our passions – and not too far from the French border.”We are looking for a holiday home as we don’t want to feel tied to a property, so we are thinking about buying a two-bedroom apartment, a little pied-?erre, and our budget is around £180,000. Our UK home is a 16th-century farmhouse so we’d like something at the other end of the spectrum as we don’t want to have to worry too much about maintenance.”We went on a house-hunting trip and flew into Barcelona and hired a car but it was very disappointing as we spent three days driving around and not finding anywhere we liked. This part of Spain is the perfect base to enjoy lots of other places from and it’s got a very nice climate. “Properties that are situated in small blocks often have greater letting potential then those on the large council estates,” he advises. “The target market for ex-council properties is among young professionals, so when purchasing a property you should look for a location that has good transport and leisure facilities nearby.”However, flats on large estates can also be a good buy if it is convenient for a large college.

“As a basic guide the larger the block the younger the tenants, until the property shifts from attracting young professionals to students,” Dickson says.. Bob and Claire Watson write: “We have really fallen in love with the Costa Brava, but we don’t know where we should buy or what. THE PROBLEM
Bob and Claire Watson write: “We have really fallen in love with the Costa Brava, but we don’t know where we should buy or what. “Buying an ex-council flat as a buy-to-let investment could prove a financially sound decision because they can be significantly cheaper than other purpose-built or conversion flats.”As ever, location is paramount. One owner had bought their flat for £11,000 a few years back and was confidently expecting the value to reach £250,000 as speculators moved in.Ian Dickson of Winkworth in Hammersmith says former local authority flats are often a better deal than new apartments.