Cortijo ho ho and hole!

My whistle stop tour to Almeria was a success, after viewing the old Cortijo twice I had plonked a deposit of 2000 euros down for an agreed price of 60000 euros and promptly driven straight back to Vejer. Arrived home at 2.30 am elated at once again being a property owner after over a year of searching and analysing various markets and countries. The old cortijo filled my objectives admirably. It was 2/3rds renovated with several rooms attached to the established building ripe for renovation as extra bedrooms, lounge bathroom etc. The price was most definitely right having been heavily reduced for quick sale down from 170000 to 135000 and then very drastically to 60000!

Now I could get my teeth into a winter project utilising those dormant creative urges. Jane, my other half, was surprised at the speed of the operation as when I left I had suggested I was just going for a look around but had come back after two days with a fait accompli. Now I needed to get a mortgage in place before the signing date which needed to be asap to satisfy the owner, based in England who was going through a divorce. Off I went to see friendly Bank Manager Christian in Chiclana who looked over the deeds and applied for a 38000 mortgage promptly. The answer came back from that within days and computer said No. Gulp. No problem said Christian we will apply personally to Seville office and as I was such a good client he was sure it would be no problem.

With the signing date arranged for the 3rd of Nov it left little time for the mortgage to be approved but I was determined to get the house so decided I would pay cash if necessary and then remortgage later. A slightly risky policy perhaps as if the mortgage failed to materialise I would be buying and renovating in cash and maybe leaving myself a bit short. Oh well in for a penny in for a pound. And so it was that after only a few weeks the next trip to Almeria was planned with Jane and I and Sadie the trusty Mercedes plus a big fat cheque in my pocket for the outstanding balance.

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