Would You Buy a Spanish Villa With an Olive Grove for $200,000?
Two best friends from Texas set off to find a shared dream home in Spain on "World’s Bargain Dream Homes."
Best friends Suzanne and Brittnee struggle to find a happy medium between living in a modern condo near the sea or living in a remote cottage surrounded by olive trees on World's Bargain Dream Homes.
Texans Brittnee and Suzanne were both looking for a change of pace after realizing their stressful jobs were wearing them down. “We said, all right, let’s do it. Let's move to Spain and buy a house together,” Suzanne shares. The previous summer, the pair started putting their plan into action: learning Spanish and selling their homes and cars. Once they arrived, they enrolled in a Spanish immersion school and began living abroad on student visas. They eventually hope to receive more permanent digital nomad visas or even perhaps “a Spanish-husband visa,” jokes Suzanne.
To avoid big-city prices, Brittnee and Suzanne have set their sights on the Spanish town of Tarragona, which is located about 60 miles south of Barcelona along the Costa Daurada (Golden Coast). Here, their realtor, Dani, tells them, “The cost of living is about 25 percent cheaper than being in Barcelona.” Coincidentally, this is also true of Houston, where they are moving from. Still, the pair will need to find an affordable home that has at least two bedrooms and, ideally, two bathrooms. And, while Brittnee hopes to find something with a bit more of a cottage feel, Suzanne tells Dani, “I prefer a more modern or more new look.”
“So, who is going to be the person to compromise?” Dani jokes.
Besties Brittnee and Suzanne are hoping to affordably relocate to Spain by pooling their savings together.
The two women are hoping that by sharing the cost of living expenses, they can afford to buy something that fits their Spanish dreams. “Our budget is between $100,000 and $150,000, maybe up to $200,000 if it's perfect,” Brittnee tells Dani. While it could be hard to find many options in that budget in the United States, Dani has three options that she is excited to show her clients.
The exterior of the first apartment the BFFs see is modern and well-kept, giving a stellar first impression of what $155,000 buys you in Spain.
The first property Dani takes Brittnee and Suzanne to see is in an area called Miami Platja. This small, coastal town boasts seven miles of beautiful beaches, and turnkey, condo-style homes are plentiful here. She shows them a two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment located in a gated community with resort-like amenities such as a swimming pool and a golf course. “Super fancy,” Suzanne remarks as they arrive at the well-kept exterior of the building. Listed at just $155,000, the pair hopes that the inside is as impressive as the outside.
Inside, the condo appeals to at least one of the two women. “Oh wow, this is super nice,” Suzanne says of the first of the two spacious bedrooms.
“Yeah, this is definitely more your vibe, not as much my vibe,” Brittnee says of the minimalist, modern interior.
When they walk out on the balcony, both are equally blown away. “The view from here is dreamy,” Suzanne says.
The beautiful balcony overlooking the complex’s pool is a major selling point for this apartment.
“Yeah, I agree … this gives you really Spanish vibes,” Brittnee concedes.
While the apartment is move-in ready, Brittnee was picturing something a bit different. “I think a little bit more space, more of a garden,” she explains, not ready to compromise her vision of her Spanish dream home.
Dani drives the women farther south to the town of Camarles. Here, she shows them a home that, while priced at the top of their budget at $200,000, definitely has more of what Brittnee is looking for. Nearly eight acres of it, to be exact.
Brittnee is immediately drawn to the authentic Spanish cottage situated on nearly eight acres of land, but Suzanne is concerned that it's too remote.
“Oh, this is so cute,” Brittnee marvels as they arrive at the charming stone cottage. “I love it. It’s so Spanish.”
Outside on the spacious balcony, Brittnee and Suzanne take in the views of the land, which includes an entire olive grove. “It just feels so peaceful here,” Brittnee observes.
While Suzanne agrees, she is concerned about the maintenance. “What would we do with all of this land?”
Dani has an answer for that.
Not far from the cottage, Dani takes Suzanne and Brittnee to a neighboring property where the owners process their olive trees to make olive oil. While the idea of a live/work property has appeal, the ladies have no experience in processing olives, so they ask the farmers what it’s all about.
“I recommend this … because you're working outside in nature … and you don't have a boss to tell you what you have to do exactly. Life is good like this,” the neighbor says. While intriguing, Suzanne decides, “It's so rural. I want to be able to feel the chatter and hear the noise. I think that's important to me,” she says.
The third property Dani takes the duo to see is right in the middle of the action. Located in the beach town of La Pineda, this coastal community is a popular destination for local Spaniards on holiday thanks to its easy 90-minute drive from Barcelona.
The third property Suzanne and Brittnee see is also the smallest, but with an ideal location, it could be just the right fit for the friends.
The apartment is the smallest they’ve seen, at under 600 square feet. However, the two-minute drive to the beach means they have all the space they need, plus all of the amenities of a populated town just outside their doorstep. With a price tag of only $161,000, maybe this is the compromise they’re looking for?
In the end, unfortunately, this Goldilocks-style house hunt did not turn up anything that was “just right.”
“We couldn’t compromise on any of the homes that Dani showed us,” Suzanne says.
“Yeah, that’s one thing that we could agree on,” Brittnee jokes.
Optimistically, Suzanne adds, “We know there's a home out there for us, [we] just got to keep searching.”
