La Zagaleta Villas For Sale: July 2010

We first encountered this property when it was used for a contemporary Chinese art exhibition, on a fresh December evening. The sweeping driveway is the first memorable feature, then the great granite waterfall that continously trickles away opposite your front door.

When you enter, the modern clean lines are immediately evident, coupled with the high ceilings and huge windows, looking straight out across the decked pool area. The property has open plan living, but each area is separated in a discrete manner.

When you walk into the lounge and look back towards the front door, you can see a mezzanine walkway, inkeeping with the contemporary feel of the property. Facing the pool, to the left you have the dining area, with an ultra modern fireplace marking out the space clearly.

Taking the staircase to the upper level of the property and then viewing the master bedroom, you start to appreciate just what a high quality finish this house has. The master bathroom, has a stand alone bath and the shower room could fit 10 people in it!

All the guest bedrooms have a great deal of size and the bathrooms all have a high-end feel to them. This La Zagaleta contemporary villa for sale has 6 bedrooms and 6 bathrooms, distributed over 1,344 m2. The plot the house is situated on covers some 6,886 m2.

As it was nightime when we attended this exhibition, as you looked out to the decked pool area, the LED lighting changed colour underwater, it almost reminded me of looking at the swimming pool in the Delano Hotel in Miami. If you enjoy contemporary architecture and clean, modern design then this is one of the best examples of its kind within the La Zagaleta estate.

There has just been a price reduction on this four bedroom house in La Zagaleta . The property has more of a rustic feel to it, with internal living space of 380 m2. The great thing about this house is it has great flow to it, particularly from the lounge area through to the pool. There is over 100m2 of terracing available, the majority of it covered, enabling you to take a break from the hot Costa Del Sol sunshine.

Marble flooring throughout and a fully installed sound system throughout the property represents good value for money. There are stunning mountain/countryside views from the lounge and pool area. Based on a private plot of 3,852 m2, you can swim year round, due to the heated pool.

Now offered for sale at €3,000,000.

Following on from the contemporary flavour of the last property featured on my blog, this property is a total departure. For those of you who are traditionalists and love the rustic charms of Andalucian Cortijo style houses, this property really delivers.

The house has deep coloured terracotta tiling throughout and each room has a particularly rustic ambience to it. A major feature this house has is its, mature garden area, complete with a non-symetrical pool. The house has both pool and mountain views, all with complete privacy.

The house is on a plot of 7,468m2 and it has a substantial inside dimensions, with 7,468m2. There is also 198m2 of terracing to the property. Some of the other features this house has includes, a home cinema, a wine cellar and a gymnasium. The villa has a large garage and also independent staff quarters.

To view more images and perhaps register your interest in the La Zagaleta property , please follow the link.

This property in La Zagaleta is a bit different, particularly the pool area. As you can see from the images it flows directly under the living area, to make things interesting, there are glass tiles in the lounge area that allow you to see the ripples from the pool, creating a really nice effect.

The property has great countryside and golf views, so from the infinity pool, you really do feel like you are floating amidst the Andalucian countryside, this can be enjoyed year round as the pool is heated. The plot covers some 5000M2 and you have a total of 1000m2 in internal living space.

The house has an almost contemporary Balinese feel to it and everthing about the home screams out real high qualities. You have full control, even if you are not present via the Domotic system. Perhaps when you land in Malaga you want to get the air-con on to make the house nice and cool upon your arrival, well as soon as you can operate your mobile you can dial in and get your villa just the way you want it!

There is also a guest apartment in this property and also a wine cellar. The master suite has a great terrace area (pictured above), giving it a real high end boutique feel. This La Zagaleta property for sale is definitely a little quirky, but does stand out from the crowd, if you like contemporary houses, but feel that some can be a little too clinical this for you. The property, although modern feels very homely indeed.

The luxury and high end property market has shown much more resilience than most other property classes, but this is of course relative, given the general financial uncertainty globally. There has been an elevation in the number of enquiries over the past month, however all of them have one thing in common; they are looking for a deal, and in some cases a steal.

As an agent specialising in the La Zagaleta estate, I do feel honesty regarding the current state of the market is the best policy. I would describe that sales within the estate are slow and the problem we are encountering is the dis-parity in what buyers want to pay and what vendors feel happy accepting. An obvious statement, but absolutely accurate in this case.

The truth of the situation is that the majority of sellers within the La Zagaleta just don´t see the need to accept hugely discounted offers, successful people within their own right many are willing to hold out for the figure they have in mind. This is not estate agent rhetoric but something that happens to be a plain truth in the current market.

There are, however some exceptions so if you are interested in a very small number of houses, that owners are keen to sell, therefore giving what I would regard as a favourable discount, please email me directly on carlene@firstpropertychoice.com and after evaluating your specific needs, I will give you the relevant details should they match your brief.

Its actually the reverse of what my title says, most reputable agents seem to give a far more accurate picture of how the market is compared to the Ministry of Housing´s fairytale figures. Interestingly, should some of the bigger developers or constructors have some spare cash lying around, there has probably not been a better time to acquire cheap land, materials and labour. Unfortunately though, there have been a massive array of casualities within this sector, details produced by the Fundación Colegio Libre de Eméritos Universitarios, point to 170,000 companies closing business within the construction sector, to quote in percentage terms that's nearly a quarter of the sector!

On a positive note, there does seem to be a steady upward trend in actual house price sales according to the Institute of National statistics, lets hope this tragectory is maintained for the rest of 2010. I am, to be blunt finding it hard to find anything other reliable information that points to anything else positive at this stage, I certainly won´t mention the results of the Stress Testing details of European banks, released today, well not until my next post.

The holiday rental market in the Costa Del Sol region of Spain is alive and kicking, many agents who used to only sell property have now turned their hands to rentals to keep them going, since the downturn took hold. Given the current marketplace many vendors who previously wouldn´t have considered renting their property have changed their minds and welcome any additional income. The issue for the would be renter is - How do I compete with so many properties up for rental?

Some Ideas to Help You Stand Out

Why not target your property towards a specific niche holiday maker? Lets say you offer a stay in your La Zagaleta villa with a racing package at the Ascari Motor Resort, advertise this through commonly known enthusiast channels. Your ad will stand out within that forum rather than melt into the background of one of the holiday rental sites, featuring hundreds of properties.

What about a specialist cookery holiday, hire in a reputable chef to do a few lessons and also pepper the stay with reservations at the best restaurants the area has to offer, again target your market through the relevant channels. Wine tasting/vineyards etc. is another popular one.

No Floral Patterned Sofas

This is almost too obvious, but let me tell you, it is an often overlooked issue. I´m sure there are some very tasteful floral sofas out there, but don´t think cutting corners with second hand dated furniture will get you repeat visits/referrals. Quality all the way at this level is essential!

Get Referrals

Offer happy renters a referral program, whether its a discount on their next vist or something worth it to them. Referrals are the best clients and also the cheapest to acquire!

Think About What Demographic Your Property Will Appeal To Most

Is your house contemporary chic or rustic Andalucian? It is important to give some serious consideration as to who would be interested in renting and then target your marketing through the most appropriate channel. Find out about your renters likes and dislikes, use your contacts to deliver something special that will add to their holiday, such as getting them on guest list somewhere special etc. Understanding your renters will lead to repeat bookings and yet more referrals.

I travelled up to Los Flamingos in Estepona this afternoon as it has been a little while since I have been to the area. I had seen some great looking contemporary villas for sale within the area and wanted to see how the urbanization looked, to try and put the prices of these houses into context.

Lets say I got a shock when I got there.

There is a lot of work going on there currently and there are many houses in the process of being built. What surprised me is the volume of these villas that are offered for sale. Incredible really, as there are some great looking houses up there, but when buyers have so much to choose from, the prices that many vendors require will be hard to achieve. It strikes me that are lot of the houses being constructed are to be sold rather than for the end user, and because of the levels of oversupply it concerns me that the people building are going to struggle to cover their construction costs.

The golf course in Los Flamingos is, of course excellent and the Villa Padierna hotel now managed by the Ritz-Carlton Group still looks the part. However on the other side, where all these villas are on the market, the area seems to lack cohesion, perhaps when much of the construction is completed I will get a better sense of how it fits together. Even so, I do think at the higher level of property market within Los Flamingos, buyers will struggle to get the privacy they want from their property because of the density of build.

One thing that does interest me is that there seems to be a gap in the market here for contemporary villas priced at between €2,000,000 and €3,000,000. Strangely, this niche seems  to have been largely overlooked by developers in the Costa Del Sol.

Flamingos does have a couple that fit this criteria, a little tip there for you!

This La Zagaleta property is located on a very private plot of land that has very clear sea views, there are also excellent vistas of both the mountains and La Zagaleta golf course. The house is only a short distance from the Club House and all of the amenities. 

The beautiful gardens within this property have been concepualized by Gerald Huggan and has been maintained by his company ever since. The property was Designed by Helge Sypereck ( a winner of the German Urbanism prize) and was built in 1998 with the of the architects Baldrich & Tobal. 

This is a five Bedrooms, five Bathroom property with a total internal area of 716 m², Terracing of 176 m², situated on a very large plot of 13529 m².

There are lots of good features including  solar powered heating system, a charming courtyard and also a guest house. There is also the possibilty of making this property bigger, as there is such a low build density on the plot. There have been some example plans for such an extension and they can been seen when viewing, if required.

Please click on this link to register your interest in this La Zagaleta property for sale.

This villa property has 5 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms and is distributed across nearly 1000m2. The kitchen/dining area has good space and layout, making it ideal for entertaining or communal family cooking sessions. As my title says, this is an extremely bright house, as the above pictures convey pretty well.

This La Zagaleta House is on a plot of land covering 4,400M2 that is largely flat in nature so, therefore has a bigger feel. A high quality of marble has been used throughout and the property benefits from underfloor heating and air-conditioning.

In order to fully capitalize on the views from the living area, the house is actually "upside down" this is definitely a sensible approach, as you do have good vistas.There is a house within your peripheral vision, however some clever planting will help you maintain a good level of privacy.

The property in equipped with a lift, a gymnasium and a room that has been fully prepared for a complete home cinema system.