The dream of owning a second home in a foreign country
Many people dream of moving to a hot climate when they retire and maybe some of the luckier ones dream of buying a property before they retire to use as a holiday home for themselves and their friends and family.
The question is…is Tenerife the right place for you? There are many places in the world with sunny and warm climates, but rarely do they have such a climate as the Canary Islands with sun almost all year round. The fact is that NASA have said that the islands have the most median temperature of any place in the world, throughout the year. Often referred to as the Islands of eternal spring, Tenerife, the largest of the Canary Islands, is certainly one of the more popular places for buying a second home or retiring.
“…Tenerife is certainly a popular place to retire”
As I mentioned earlier, there are many places that can be considered for second and retirement homes, but some of those countries, although offering sunny summers and maybe warmer than the UK winters, may have other problems. Turkey, Greece, Portugal and Egypt to name a few all have their own problems, some with their governments, some with religious groups and others with instability in their financial systems and this could put potential buyers off. At least with Tenerife, it’s part of Spain, close to the equator – hence the good weather and reasonably stable with regard to its financial system and government.
Much has been said in the past about the lack of culture here in the Canary Islands, not least Tenerife. With accusations wrongly stating that the island is mainly aimed at the 18 – 25 year old party scene, but for those of us lucky enough to have spent any time here realise that this is not wholly true.
Of course there are areas of the island that are aimed at this group, just as there are in the UK or any other country you care to think of, but just as there are areas set aside for late nights and party fun, there are also many places of culture here both modern and historical, Santa Cruz, Icod de Los and Puerto de La Cruz in the north and yes horror of horrors even in the south such as Adeje and Arona.
“Lack of culture in Tenerife…”
Many of my clients that have retired here have found a home from home community, some within the generally British populated resorts such as Golf del Sur and Amarilla Golf as well as in the more internationally frequented Los Cristianos and Costa Adeje and there are those that have settled in the smaller mainly Spanish inhabited villages and all have settled in well. Those of my clients that have bought second homes to use for holidays and longer stays have always settled in well, although these clients tend to buy in the more traditional resorts, rarely buying holiday homes in the hills and small villages but opting more for apartments or villas that are easy to lock up and leave until the next of their list of friends and family come over to use it.
“Tenerife has loads to offer everyone…”
Tenerife has loads to offer those who want to buy property here, events and experiences are on offer to all ages, families, couples, singles and budgets for tourists and residents. With an increase in tourists to the Canary Islands over the last 9 months of 11.4%, the largest increase of visitors in the whole of Spain, just goes to show that Tenerife and the Islands as a whole is doing something right.
So, the question of whether or not Tenerife is for you, is obviously not a clear cut case. Tenerife probably isn’t everyone’s cup of tea and may not be the right place for you, there are always going to be the cases where people just don’t feel right but it’s safe, stable, only 4 – 5 hours from most European airports and still within the financial reach of a lot of people, whether for a holiday or to buy a property.
