How a Swiss Family Bought a Holiday Rental Home on the Costa Brava
A family from Zurich contacted us in February 2024.
Both in their fifties. Their own logistics business, children grown and moved out. They had been talking for years about buying something in southern Europe — not to live there permanently, but for themselves in summer and for rental income the rest of the time.
The Costa Brava came up through friends who had spent August there. “It’s not the Costa del Sol,” they said. “There are no crowds here.”
They started looking on their own. Three weeks later, they reached out through our website.
What They Were Looking For
The brief was clear.
A house. Three or four bedrooms. A garden. Parking. No more than ten minutes from the beach on foot. Good condition — no immediate major renovation required. Potential for short-term holiday rentals through Airbnb and Booking.com in summer.
Budget — up to €550,000, including all purchase costs.
One detail stood out: they already knew that in Catalonia, buying a resale property means budgeting around 10–11% on top of the purchase price for taxes and fees. This told us straight away that these were informed buyers who understood what they were getting into.
Neither of them spoke Spanish. First property purchase in Spain.
Why We Did Not Show Them the Properties They Found Themselves
Before speaking with us, they had already shortlisted several properties in Lloret de Mar. The prices worked. The photos looked good.
We did not show them straight away.
The first conversation lasted around forty minutes. We asked: how often do you plan to come yourselves? Which months? Who will manage the rental — you or a management company? How important is local infrastructure in winter?
What came out of that conversation: they wanted to come themselves in June and September. Rental management would be handed to a local company. In winter, the house would sit empty.
That was a different brief than it first appeared.
Lloret de Mar is a lively resort town with strong tourist infrastructure. But for a buyer who wants quiet when they visit in the shoulder season, and hands-off rental income in summer, there are better-suited areas. We suggested also looking at Blanes and the surrounding coastline — less tourist noise, comparable summer rental demand, and price per square metre running 10–15% lower for equivalent quality.
They agreed to broaden the search.
Three Viewings. Two Disappointments. One Right Property.
They flew in for three days in April. We showed them six properties across two areas.
First property — a house in Lloret de Mar, €510,000. Good condition, three bedrooms, small garden. She walked in and said immediately: “The neighbours are too close.” The house sat in a dense residential block. Fine for rental. Not right for their own use.
Second property — a house in Blanes, €480,000. Large plot, four bedrooms, views over the hills. Both liked it. We pulled the Nota Simple and found an unregistered extension — a terrace built without planning permission and not reflected in the property documents. The seller was not prepared to regularise this before the sale. We walked away.
Third property — a house in the Blanes area, €490,000. 175 m², four bedrooms, a garden with several olive trees, enclosed garage for two cars. Built in 2007, well maintained. Eight minutes on foot to the beach.
She walked through the rooms and said: “This is what we need.”
Two Deal Complications — and How We Resolved Them
The transaction did not go smoothly. There were two moments that could have stopped it.
Complication 1: the seller wanted to sign the Arras contract within two weeks, but the buyers did not have a NIE.
Without a Spanish foreigner identification number, no property transaction is possible. Our clients had not yet obtained one — they were still in the property search phase, and no one had anticipated the seller moving this quickly.
We brought in legal support, put together the full documentation package, and arranged NIE applications through power of attorney. The numbers came through in 11 days. The Arras was signed on the fifteenth day from the verbal agreement. The seller stayed.
Complication 2: the bank transfer was delayed.
Three days before the notary appointment, the bank requested additional confirmation of the source of funds — standard compliance procedure for an international transfer of this size. Most buyers find out about this too late.
We had flagged this risk in advance and recommended initiating the transfer at least seven working days before the signing date. Our clients did it five days out. The funds arrived the day before the appointment.
The notary went ahead on schedule.
The Result
The full process from first contact to keys took eleven weeks.
Purchase price — €490,000. Buying costs including ITP at 10%, notary and registration fees — approximately €54,700. Total cost of entry — €544,700. They came in just under budget.
In the first summer, the house was rented through a local management company for nine weeks. That was enough to cover most of the annual running costs — utilities, insurance, garden maintenance and the management company’s commission. In practical terms, the property started partially paying for itself in its first season.
They came out themselves in June and again at the end of September. September, they said, was better than expected — fewer people, still warm, everything open. They now plan to keep September for themselves and give July and August entirely to rental.
That flexibility is exactly the point of this kind of purchase. The house works as an asset when you are not there. And it remains your own place when you are.
In autumn, they sent a short message: “Everything is going to plan.”
If you are considering buying a home on the Costa Brava — for rental, for personal use, or both — start by browsing our current listings and reading our guide to buying property on the Costa Brava as a foreign buyer.
If you would like to discuss your situation directly, contact our team — we are based in Lloret de Mar and work with international buyers at every stage of the process.