[snowsports1]

hi are considering buying a villa in Javea, Balcon Al Mar, this is intended as a holiday villa, to spend probably 4 months per year. we have a 10 and 12 year old kids. we have spent several short trips there and love the place already but we are not sure if the Balcon Al Mar region is best for us? we have looked at villas / apartments walking distance from Arenal beach but we decided it was better a short drive away for us. any advice about the region would be much appreciated.

 

[xabiaxica]

hi are considering buying a villa in Javea, Balcon Al Mar, this is intended as a holiday villa, to spend probably 4 months per year. we have a 10 and 12 year old kids. we have spent several short trips there and love the place already but we are not sure if the Balcon Al Mar region is best for us? we have looked at villas / apartments walking distance from Arenal beach but we decided it was better a short drive away for us. any advice about the region would be much appreciated.

:welcome:

For a holiday home, if you're going to be on the Cabo La Nao, Balcón al Mar is, IMO, the place to be.

If you're tossing up between that & an apartment within walking distance of the beach, you might like to think about the pros & cons , & expense, of garden (& pool?) maintenance for a place you're not living in all year round. Also security. Crime is on the whole very low in Jávea, but an empty property on a deserted urb is more likely to be burgled than an apartment in a community.

Another thing I'd consider with kids of that age, is that in a few years time they'll want to be going off on their own & you'll just be a taxi service......

Have you looked away from the touristy Arenal? There are some good communities with pools near the port & the town as well. Some have townhouses as well as apartments.

 

[Horlics]

hi are considering buying a villa in Javea, Balcon Al Mar, this is intended as a holiday villa, to spend probably 4 months per year. we have a 10 and 12 year old kids. we have spent several short trips there and love the place already but we are not sure if the Balcon Al Mar region is best for us? we have looked at villas / apartments walking distance from Arenal beach but we decided it was better a short drive away for us. any advice about the region would be much appreciated.

Do you mean a holiday villa that you'll spend 4 months of the year in during the summer season, or one you'll rent out at peak times and visit when not being used?

It really depends what you are looking for. If you want to to go beyond the holiday experience (loafing around a pool), then Balcon and surrounding areas are not ideal. That short drive is long enough to mean you need a car for everything. Every single time you step off your land, you'll be driving somewhere.

 

[snowsports1]

hi and thanks for the quick reply, the view, space and privacy is important to us and we have never been apartment / town house people although we did view a few just to make sure. our main concern is we get there and find out its a horrible area (which were sure its not!) and we should have been in different area. my family does like relaxing by the pool and i will be working from home. driving doesnt concern me too much but parking in javea is a concern. i assume calling/getting a taxi will be pretty easy?

 

[snowsports1]

we arent planning on renting it by the way, we would want to go out there sometimes at short notice as and when work allows.

 

[xabiaxica]

hi and thanks for the quick reply, the view, space and privacy is important to us and we have never been apartment / town house people although we did view a few just to make sure. our main concern is we get there and find out its a horrible area (which were sure its not!) and we should have been in different area. my family does like relaxing by the pool and i will be working from home. driving doesnt concern me too much but parking in javea is a concern. i assume calling/getting a taxi will be pretty easy?

I don't drive, & live in the port, (you couldn't pay me to live near the Arenal) so I use taxis a fair bit. There's one taxi company which all the legal taxis are linked to, & they all also have private numbers should you find a favourite!

I live here, so it's a bit different - but when we came here we wanted the space & privacy - but as the kids grew we realised that convenience was more important. For holidays that isn't such an issue of course.

I now have an apartment in a noisy part of the port & I love it! One daughter has moved away & the other will eventually, so I certainly won't need much space soon, just for me & the cats. I do still have a sea view though - & I'm about 20 paces from the beach.

 

[Horlics]

hi and thanks for the quick reply, the view, space and privacy is important to us and we have never been apartment / town house people although we did view a few just to make sure. our main concern is we get there and find out its a horrible area (which were sure its not!) and we should have been in different area. my family does like relaxing by the pool and i will be working from home. driving doesnt concern me too much but parking in javea is a concern. i assume calling/getting a taxi will be pretty easy?

It's certainly not a horrible area and you'll find beautiful homes there which will provide you with peace and quiet. If you look for a villa get something modern that's been well built to avoid issues with damp and cold that many people will tell you is a problem with older properties in Spain (and some new ones!).

The view up there is nice in many directions, apart from toward Cumbre del Sol which has been ruined by some gruesome looking construction.

The only area of Javea where parking is difficult is the port. The old town has two large underground car parks and just back from the Arenal there's plenty of surface parking, although that may now change due to the amount of construction that's going on.

The other good area for views (although countryside not sea) is the lower hills of Montgó, although villa prices on there tend to be at least 25% higher than Balcon. That reflects the fact that you can reach Javea and Jesus Pobre in 5 minutes rather than the 20 it takes from Balcon.

 

[Horlics]

Just to add.....

About buying. The extremely well trodden path is people who buy a villa up there and then later decide they need to get nearer to amenities. In the apartment block I live in there are two residents who own villas on Balcon and rent them out long-term, and use the money to rent down here near civilisation. Villas up there can be hard to shift.

Given that, could you look at taking a late season month-long rental to see how you like that area? Or maybe a winter let for 6 months so you can get out a few times and experience life out of season up there when the pool's too cold to use? I imagine if you're spending a few hundred K on a villa it won't only be used in the summer, so you might want to consider testing the area first.

 

[snowsports1]

villas are selling now, we missed out on a few until we found this one. does anyone have experience with this lawyer CFX center financer xabia?

 

[snowsports1]

why would the pool be colder in balcon?

 

[Horlics]

villas are selling now, we missed out on a few until we found this one. does anyone have experience with this lawyer CFX center financer xabia?

I use CFX - very happy with them.

 

[Horlics]

villas are selling now, we missed out on a few until we found this one. does anyone have experience with this lawyer CFX center financer xabia?

Villas at sensible prices are selling, plenty at prices closer to what their owners paid for them aren't.

 

[Horlics]

why would the pool be colder in balcon?

I meant experience a bit of winter villa living when the pools are too cold to use. I didn't mean to suggest that pools in Balcon are colder than elsewhere.

That said, nip up to the lighthouse and read the tourist info board that explains the reason why a lot of the trees and plants are horizontal - the winds. Balcon is certainly not the warmest place in Javea. I was up there in March one evening and the difference between there and the port was 5 degrees.