Its been a while (as Sleeping Beauty might have said upon awakening) since my last blogging journal to be found at http://www.louis-fes.blogspot.com/ finished. And why might that be I can sense you thinking? Well good question and it deserves a good answer, doesn't it? It would easy to blame it on the Crisis of 2007 so lets do that then, its all the fault of that pesky, uninvited, unwanted and unloved Crisis. It put doubt and fear into the hearts of intrepid gung ho investors and houseowners everywhere and I was no exception. Before the actual Crash I was reclining on the terrace of my 5 storey manse in the heart of the Fes medina ( thats in Morocco for all you failed Geography buffs) surveying the vast expanse of crumbling rooftops with perky satellite dishes and listening to the raucous call to prayer that interrupted my train of thought (five times a day).
My train of thought stopped at stations called Worry, Doubt and Nervous before derailing at Despair. I had spent two fulsome years in Morocco buying into the frenzy of excitement that Fes offered as a unreal alternative to the real world. A strange vibrant culture, seductive and scintillating smells and intoxicating history were only three of the things that had lured me to this juncture. The main other was a cheap crumbling palatial building in the heart of the Medina that had my name on it. Not literally you understand but you get my drift. It called to me on first viewing, or so it seemed, Save me, Save me and so it was that I saved that crumbling artefact and in return was rewarded after a year of renovation with a quite marvellous home. Friends and family visited, interesting guests turned up to all marvel at the house and its environs but for myself doubts were creeping in.
There had been a shift in sentiment in Fes. The hordes of cash rich Brits had dried up. Ryanair had cut the flights. House prices had spiralled out of control. The locals had started getting greedy. Estate agents sales dipped alarmingly. Donkeys dropped even more doo-doo in the maze of alleyways. The natives were getting restless..as I sat on the terrace and pondered the situation. It was April 2008.
The Crash had not happened but I felt its imminent arrival. It was a chill wind that got under my skin. It felt uncomfortable in many ways. My intuition said get out of the situation, you are not happy so SELL. All my money plus some from an old friend had been invested in the house, Dar Mernissi, and one wrong move I felt could leave me trapped here in this quixotic, mad world. To cut a long story short I did sell, realising a more than adequate return on my original investment and flush with euros returned to my old stomping grounds in Spain. Cash rich but asset poor I hunkered down for the winter in the beautiful hilltop Moorish town of Vejer de la Frontera on the Costa da Luz in Cadiz province. With access to Sky TV I watched with increasing alarm as the events of Sept 2007 evolved. Crash, Bang, Wallop, Panic, Collapse. But then we had a new black President suely he could save us. He couldn't. It got worse.
I determined to sit out the winter and wait for normalcy to return. It didnt. Everything had changed in large, small, subtle and unsubtle ways. I waited. I waited some more. I wanted to buy property, after all I still had my brick addiction it would not go away, but where in the world was safe to buy. Could it be Portugal, off I went on numerous scouting trips, no not yet my sixth sense said. Could it be America, I googled and researched Rochester NY, Detroit, Florida all cheap and cheeful but could be even more so at a future date. And what about England, now dont get me started. That greedy little island full of liar loans and frenzied consumers and rapacious bankers had got itself into one enormous pickle and I didnt relish (sorry) the thought of getting myself trapped in NE territory in the near future.
I looked closer to home, Spain, and for all its problems with unemployment and the overbuild on the Costas the bargains were just starting to trickle through. More research was needed. Much more. I became addicted to the internet searching daily for areas that seemed viable after all I had my hard earned euros in place here, a good bank and a more than friendly bank manager ( he was a good friend) so most of the formula was in place. I just needed to find an up and coming area at the right price that ticked all investment boxes. It needed to be inland with not-too-developed coast, potential for improvement. Huelva seemed interesting and a couple of trips there up and down the Guadiana river and around Ayamonte were promising but no bargains presented themselves. Then one area started ticking boxes as regards location and price.....Almeria. I vaguely knew the area but it warranted further inspection....to the internet, Batman!!
No comments:
Post a Comment