Who are the Irish holiday homeowners, where do they buy and how does it affect their lives? Kate McMorrow reports
'When I come over people welcome me back'
Hair stylist Glen Aland had owned his own hairdressing business in Majorca before coming to Ireland to work in Peter Mark's Grafton Street salon but missed the Mediterranean climate. He fell in love with Cyprus and the warmth of its people over the course of several holidays and dreamed of a second home on the Greek side of the island.
"I didn't want to buy in the Turkish part because property transactions can still run into difficulties," says Glen. "Ayia Napa is not over-developed - a nice small town still with a small friendly community where people recognise you. And everybody speaks English.
"A friend knew a builder and I looked at his new apartments. His work was fabulous but wasn't what I wanted and I wasn't going to compromise. Then the builder came back to say he knew someone selling a two-bedroom penthouse apartment (inset below) for €95,000 which might suit. When I walked out onto the huge rooftop terrace, I was sold there and then."
After this, everything was plain sailing. Glen left a deposit with a solicitor and gave him power of attorney to deal with the sale on his behalf. He also opened a local bank account and arranged for the builder to revamp the penthouse once the sale went through.
"I left a deposit and when I came back the apartment was transformed. For €20,000, he had put in new windows, tiled throughout, removed walls to open it out, new doors, bathrooms and kitchen, rewired and installed solar panels. And the apartment was spotlessly clean. He'd even left bread and coffee for us."
The penthouse was the top floor of a hotel before the Gulf War decimated the local tourist industry. High-rise buildings are rare, so sea views can be had from most areas. The weather is good year-round and you can have breakfast on the terrace in January. Glen furnished his rooftop pad with drought-loving cacti which will survive a good deal of watering neglect.
But the friendliness of the Cypriot people is the biggest bonus for Glen and his partner Nick.
"We came over the day the deal was closed with 10 friends and our agent took all of us out to dinner to celebrate. And I've been invited to a wedding. When I come over now, people stop on the street to welcome me back. Every time I go, it gets better and better."
Buying the apartment in Cyprus has had repercussions at home for Glen and Nick. Their Dublin house is on the market, they have put a deposit on a furnished showhouse in Lusk and they hope to pay off their mortgage. Already, looking to the future, Glen is buying a studio to lease out in Ayia Napa.
"We're talking of moving over there in a year or two, selling the penthouse and buying a house outside the town. Cyprus is so nice, it feels like home already."
'If I could make a living here, I'd go out permanently'
The notion of buying a place in France was John Droog's dream for years. Marie, his wife, just went along with it. Now she's delighted and spends as much time as she can in their second home in the Catalan region in the Pyrenees Orientales. They'd had no luck in their search around Béziers, further north in the Languedoc, but it "all gelled together" when they discovered the website of Bids in France, a Perpignan-based agency run by Limerick sisters Suzanne and Karen O'Reilly.
Like many overseas buyers, the Droogs ended up with something totally different from their initial dream.
"We wanted something by the sea and were shown a place in St Cyprien. For €120,000, it was the size of a mobile home. On a wet May day, we didn't like it. We had almost given up when we saw the apartment in Perpignan. It was so spacious and well located, we were hooked," says Marie, adding that the lack of outside space encouraged them to "make a point" of going out for the day.
The two-bedroom apartment near Perpignan University had a price tag of €124,000 which they bargained down to €116,500. It came fully furnished - a custom in this university city where letting potential is excellent. They pay around €750 in annual fees and park their French car quite safely - so far - in the street around the corner, though they plan to rent a garage space eventually. Friends and family come out often and the car gets great use.
"Our apartment is such a dream come true and just gets better and better. We can walk into town or drive 10 minutes to the beach. It takes one and a half hours up a winding mountain road to ski in the Pyrenees, so we stay at a cheap little hotel called Los Angeles when we go. We spent three weeks in January skiing and brought a few of the lads out for golf in the spring. We've just spent four weeks at the apartment and hope to go again in September.
"This is a very friendly part of France. If I could make a living here, I'd happily go out permanently. Definitely the best decision we've ever made," says John.
'We've overcome the fear of buying abroad'
Alvor, near Praia da Rocha in Portugal's Algarve region, was John and Sandra's choice of a place in the sun. It's a sleepy village, far enough away from the main tourist drag not to be associated with nightlife culture yet less than an hour from Faro airport, says John. They saw their apartment while on holiday last March and signed up there and then, the sort of impulse buy usually frowned upon but which worked for them.
"We have a three-year-old, Ciara, so a flight of two-and-a-half hours was the most we wanted. This was our fourth year going on holiday to Portugal, we loved the apartment and the area was ideal for Ciara - on the ground floor in a small secure complex opposite the harbour. So the last day of the holiday we put down a deposit," says John. They had fallen for a show apartment, the last one for sale on the block and with fantastic sea views. It was also fully furnished. The three-block complex has communal gardens with a pool and jacuzzi too.
Buying the Alvor apartment was a sound financial move for this family. The €175,000 they paid has since been bettered by the resale of two neighbouring apartments which sold for €215,000 and €225,000, so a tidy amount of equity has already built up.
They knew to budget for about 10 per cent on top of the price for various taxes and pay an annual tax of €1,000 plus €700 in fixed charges. It's a legal obligation in Portugal to apply for a tax number at the beginning of any property transaction.
John and Sandra made several trips to the Algarve since getting the keys, paying under €100 for out-of-season flights. "We spent three weeks in May getting the apartment ready to let out and we found a Portuguese lady to look after the maintenance and cleaning between tenants. Then we put it on a website [ www.property-rental.com] and six or seven people have taken it so far.
"We've no misgivings - we never meant the property to pay for itself and if we rent it out, it's a bonus. The capital appreciation helps. We've overcome the fear of buying abroad and we'll probably buy another property down the line.
Names have been changed
'Get to know the place and don't buy on a whim'
An interest in hill-walking and bird-watching persuaded Tony and Anne Culley to go house-hunting in Majorca. This Balearic island is one of the largest migrating routes in
western Europe and a regular holiday destination for the Culley family, so was the obvious choice when they decided to buy overseas.
They ultimately settled for a two-bedroom apartment (inset below) in a small port near Puerto Pollensa in the quieter north end of the island. Knowing the location was crucial, says Tony. "One piece of advice: get to know the place and don't buy on a whim or you'll end up selling it. We started off tapping into the internet, chose two or three agents and viewed 20 properties, ultimately settling on the first property we saw.
"The emotional response was very important. We're 30 seconds from the sea on the top floor of a really great, three-storey building. We bought it on January 3rd last year. The owners had lived in it full-time, so we got it furnished. January was an eye-opener, with temperatures in the 20s. The port is full of tourists in the summer and too hot, but still fantastic.
"We are on speaking terms with restaurant owners now but the notion
of integrating into a community geared for tourism is a tough act. We've just met a guy from Naas who has bought here so that's great."
Since Aer Lingus pulled the plug on direct flights to Palma, the family travel via Barcelona, renting a car each trip. Darragh (20) and Aodhnait (17) often join their parents and Aodhnait has been promised the apartment for herself and her friends after the Leaving Cert exam results.
"We have no regrets. The apartment cost €198,000 and we could have bought a villa on the Costa Blanca for that but it wasn't for us. It's a fantastic place," adds Tony.