Ask most people why they bought a holiday home where they did and they’ll generally say “well we enjoyed going on holiday there for so many years…” – whilst a few more will say they fell in love with a location watching A Place in the Sun (yes – really).
But Paul Hunter from Ipswich had an eminently practical approach to deciding where in Spain to buy – he looked at the choice of flights from his nearest airport, Stansted. With many international airlines routes still reduced since they ground to a halt during Covid, this is an especially sensible thing to check when choosing a location for regular breaks.
“I’d been going to Spain for years … and saw that there were low-cost flights to Alicante [Ryanair and Jet2] so decided it needed to be somewhere near there,” says Paul, 45, who works in IT and enjoys golf. “I’d heard about the golf resorts in Murcia and these were less than an hour’s drive from Alicante airport. I began to look closely at La Torre resort where I knew I might find something within our budget of £150,000.”
Built nearly two decades ago, Le Torre Golf Resort was the second of six golf resorts with courses designed by Jack Nicklaus built in Murcia by the developer Polaris World. The resorts were hit hard by the global economic crash of 2008 and the owner struggled financially, prices dropped and Polaris World filed for bankruptcy in 2017.
Yet La Torre has bounced back to be a popular resort and is home to a DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel and two-bedroom apartments are now typically for €90,000-plus, with properties going up to around €300,000 for a three-bedroom villa.
Paul started looking at property listings on aplaceinthesun.com and came across some from Spain Property Specialists. “After receiving a reply to an enquiry within 10 minutes I’d arranged to fly out and look at some properties with Zoe Doran [of the agents] in October,” says Paul. “Initially I thought I was looking for a townhouse with two or three bedrooms but Zoe made me realise that perhaps as a lock-and-go home, I might not need so much space. After looking at seven properties I looked at a two-bedroom apartment instead.”
He fell in love with a bank repossession. “It was a bit of a state as it hadn’t been lived in for months while but the L-shaped balcony was great, with views over the golf course and orchards. I got it for €77,000 (£65k). The resort is quiet but vibrant – with some restaurants re-opening after Covid – and a long way from the busy resorts like Benidorm.”
The purchase process was relatively quick and easy and he’s been out three times since, a couple of times with his (golfing) brother, with whom he’s split the cost of the apartment. He’ll also visit with his 17-year-old son and his girlfriend. “It’s very easy to come out for a weekend’s golf.”
Ironically after focusing on Alicante airport he’s found there’s an easier route: it’s only 14 minutes’ drive from his door to Murcia International Airport at Corvera. Assuming that there are plenty of flights from Stansted to Murcia, that is? “Yes, Ryanair flies twice a day to Murcia [from Stansted] so I use that route all the time now.”
