Eddie and Yvonne buy a house in Playa Blanca

Now whilst it’s true that on some occasions things don’t go as smoothly as people had hoped they would when buying their overseas property, the reality is that 9 times out of 10 everything goes just the way it should, people have no problems and they end up with just what they wanted.
The only problem is that nobody rushes out to say “hey, some friends of mine just bought a property in another country and everything is perfect and they are completely happy!” Regardless of what you may have thought of the song, the sentiment behind Don Henley’s 1982 “Dirty Laundry” hit is spot on.
“I make my living off the evening news,
Just give me something-something I can use,
People love it when you lose,
They love dirty laundry”
I have witnessed first hand over the years how negative media attention can really scare people out of making decisions that otherwise they would be very happy to make. When you read this months case study then, the thing that you should realise is that ‘this is the norm’ and not ‘the exception to the rule’ when you deal with a reputable company like Hipoclub.
Our story begins four years ago when Yvonne and Eddie were still living in the UK. They were a typical family with both of them working hard in full time jobs, Eddie in the electrical trade and Yvonne in a solicitors office. They had a son Steven who was still in school and they felt, as many thousands of others do each and every day, that there must be a better way.
As Yvonne says “We had no real problems in our life, but we just felt we were really only existing, not living, we had very little quality of life”. So they started to talk about the prospect of selling up and moving abroad to find the quality of life that they craved. They had however, already decided on two absolutes; they would only consider the Canary Islands and they would do nothing until Steven had finished school.
As far as they were concerned the Canary Islands really was the only option. They had been coming to the Islands for over 20 years on holidays and knew that the life that they sought was to be found somewhere in the stunning volcanic landscape of Lanzarote. So, prior to a planned holiday to the Island that year, they searched the Internet to get some ideas of property and prices.
One of the developments that they came across during that first Internet ‘fishing’ session was a place called Carabela, Faro Park, so during their family break in Playa Blanca a few weeks later they decided to drop by and take a look around. And of course, having previously been fed on a diet of woe and negativity, it was with some trepidation that they ventured into the Hipoclub, the promoters offices.
Imagine their surprise then when what they found were not in fact horned devils waiting to separate them from hard earned money, but genuine, honest, friendly, helpful people. They sat down and had a nice relaxed chat about the development and the houses and the ins and outs of buying property in Lanzarote. This was followed by an equally relaxed inspection of the houses on site and the general area.
They were both very taken with the whole set up; the houses were fabulous quality, the location was excellent with lovely sea views and the staff were eager to help but never pushy. They explained that they would not consider buying until their son had finished his studies in the UK which would be another 2 years. This again was no problem to the Hipoclub staff who said they were welcome to pop back in whenever they wished, with no obligation.
So, fast forward almost 2 years; Steven has finished school, the dream that Yvonne and Eddie share is as clear and strong as ever, their property in the UK is on the market and they are back on holiday in Playa Blanca. They drop in again to the Hipoclub offices and are delighted to find the same approachable and helpful staff waiting for them.
Things have moved on in the intervening 2 years but they are delighted to see that everything they had been told previously about the development has come to fruition. They discuss their requirements with the Hipoclub team and are shown around the available villas that may be suitable.
They are shown in to one that appears to tick all the boxes; it’s detached with a large plot of around 700m2 and a build size of 133m2. It has 3 double bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a separate dining room and fully fitted kitchen plus a spacious lounge. There is a large private pool and from the balcony that Yvonne always wanted are simply fabulous views of the sea and Fuerteventura.
They were both impressed with the design, the layout and the build quality and the price was not only within budget but was very good value when compared against other property they had seen. But as Yvonne explains, these were not the most compelling reasons they decided on the spot to buy the house.
“Well to be honest it was strange, as we were walking around the house we both kept looking at each other and we both new exactly what the other one was thinking; ‘This is home’. And now it is!”
They placed a reservation deposit on their new home with the understanding that they could not proceed straight away as they had not yet sold their own property. This again ruffled no feathers with the Hipoclub team who throughout had remained nothing but relaxed thereby making the whole experience easy and enjoyable.
However on returning home from their holiday, they found that somebody had in fact placed an offer on their house and 2 months later the sale completed and they were free to start their new adventure. The time that things really started to dawn on them however that this was actually real was when they both had to resign from their jobs.
“I must admit that was a bit frightening. You work your whole life, every day, it’s such a big and important part of your life and to walk in and say ‘right, that’s me done, I’m off!’ well to be honest it was a bit nerve wracking”
But any nervousness felt at the time was brief and transient and was soon surpassed by the excitement of realising that after all these years they were so close now to fulfilling their dream and they wanted to ensure they enjoyed every part of it.
In that respect they even wanted to attend the signing at the Notary themselves and not just have their lawyer do it for them. As Yvonne explains even that was simple and painless “Again we were a bit nervous as we didn’t really know what to expect. We arrived at the Notary building with our lawyer and were shown in to his office. All the procedures were translated for us in to English then everybody signed the documents and that was it. We had a new home!”
Moving in was also a dream as the entire house was spotlessly clean, everything worked and nothing was missing. “If we ever needed anything from Hipoclub all we did was ask and they were there. They were truly wonderful and I would like to take this opportunity of thanking all the staff at Hipoclub, especially Dori, Else, Violeta and Eva”
So buying the property and moving in went according to plan but how has it actually been, living in their new home on their adopted Island for the last 2 years? Well yet again, the headline writers for a tabloid newspaper would be bitterly disappointed; they are all supremely happy. Steven has made lots of new friends and loves his new life and what of Yvonne and Eddie, does their new reality match the dream they shared?
Eddie takes up the story ”well to be honest our dream was quite simple really. What we wanted was a better quality of life, to be able to enjoy our time together away from the hustle and bustle and stresses and strains that we had been living under. And yes, that is exactly what we have now so I can say that we are definitely living our dream”
One of the other concerns shared by many people considering a move to live overseas is fitting in to a new social scene and making friends. Obviously this is very much down to the individual to decide the type of social scene that they would like in the same way that you would at home, so how have they found this aspect of their new life?
“That’s interesting actually and not really what I expected. When you are coming out here you tend to think that you are going to be on your own with no support network at all, but you soon realise that needn’t be the case for long.”
“The fact is that whilst there are obviously a great many locals that were born and raised here they are well used to new people arriving so are very accommodating. There are however a lot of others who have moved here from somewhere else so have gone through the same experience as us; they know what it’s like and are generally eager to help out, probably in the same way that someone helped them when they first arrived.”
So, how do they see the future now that they are settled in? Yvonne explains “Well we are certain that we made the right decision, we simply cannot see ourselves ever wanting to move back to the UK. We have the house now exactly as we want it and have designed and built ourselves a wonderful garden as that is our main hobby these days. To be honest we would quite like to start a little gardening business as it has become quite a passion now”
And finally any words for those who are thinking about following in your footsteps? “If you know it’s what you want why wouldn’t you do it? It’s a wonderful life out here but you do have to get off the fence in order to start living it. And as for Hipoclub, well I can recommend them without any hesitation what-so-ever!”

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