The ideal property brief

Thankfully over the years, Noll Sotogrande has improved its online presence. The hard work and investment required are being rewarded with higher google ranking, and consequently, ever-increasing requests for properties, both to buy and to rent.

Like most things in life, the more you put in the more you can take out. This applies to enquiries for a property. The better you can describe what you are looking for, the better will be your property brief and the better we can respond. Enquiries that ask for more information without detailing exactly what it is are difficult to reply to with any detail. For this reason, I thought it could be useful to spell out some of the key criteria that would be very helpful to us to better serve our clients.

Ideally knowing an applicant’s “Must Have”, “Nice to Have” and what may be any “Deal Breakers” is a minimum information required to best serve an enquiry. Ideally, this property brief would possess some of the following:

Location

Most of the properties we sell are in Sotogrande. However, if as an applicant you know the resort it would be helpful to know where your preferred location may be. Some people will only want the Kings and Queens area of the resort, whilst others value views and will insist on a property with sea views where La Reserva de Sotogrande may be a better option for magnificent and unobstructed sea views. Pinning down where you would ideally want to be within Sotogrande is very helpful.

Orientation and Views

How the sun impacts a property may also be important. Some people prefer the morning sun (east outlook, and others afternoon sun with west outlook). Some will only use the property in the summer, others all year round, thus winter sun is important, and a southerly aspect is key. Remember the sun can be very hot in Sotogrande, so an element of shade is always required in the summer. Wind direction is forgotten many times. Sotogrande is by the sea and close to where two oceans meet and there are some windy days.

Property type and style

This is obvious for your property brief, are you looking for an apartment? an individual villa with a garden and pool? a penthouse with a roof terrace, a semi-detached townhouse, or a new build? or resale? a contemporary build? or traditional Andalusia style?

If an apartment ➡️ must you have a concierge? Good common areas and facilities like a gym? a reception? pools? storage areas? Etc

If a Villa ➡️ we would need to know the number of bedrooms, rough internal built size, minimum terracing (Covered /Uncovered), and plot size.

Is a garage needed, and for how many vehicles? Swimming pool, chlorine, salt water/ outdoor, indoor / Lap pool, or just a plunge pool.

Heating and A/C ➡️ Type… underfloor, radiator, air? or possibility to install new.

Energy type ➡️ electric, gas, heat pump, solar panels, photovoltaic…

Annual Property taxes ➡️ IBI (property tax)

Community fees ➡️ Any other taxes and charges

Of course, the most important is an indicative budget ➡️ How much are you willing to spend, including purchase costs and taxes?

The more information you can provide, in respect your needs and wants, the better we can serve you and get your property search off to a good start. A property brief will never be perfect, and providing the perfect property is always a challenge. We have all come across the term “compromise” so the idea is to try minimise compromise and find a property which best meets your requirements.

So if you are looking for the house of your dreams and now you know exactly how you want it to be, give me a call and I will help you!

Charles.