A Place in The Sun's Top 10 Golf Resorts

[totallyproperty]

Hi All. The July edition of A Place in The Sun has just released their top 50 Golf Resort investments. (Thanks DeeDee1 for pointing it out on the Nicklaus - IBAR Golf thread). I'm not sure of the methodology used to rank these investments but they do quote the number one reason as "gorgeous properties"...I have inserted a clipping below and thought it would be nice to run a poll to see if we agree with their top ten golf resorts.

[deedee1]

Hi all,

Your welcome TP,

Like you said would be interesting to know what and how they ranked the developments i.e based on surveys, market research, enquiries etc???

See ya D

[The Soup Dragon]

The list may have been put together in haste. It is noticeable that the top ten ranking is also in price order. Serves little use other than to make us aware of developments we may not have have known of.

[Investy]

Meaningless.

Mmmmm, golf resort in Bulgaria with a freezing winter, no marina, no own beach or a 12 month season mega resort in Morocco just a hop from Spain with 3 18 championship courses, 6km beach, mega marina, 500 luxury shops, 1.6million palm trees, best sports facilities in the Med, helipads, 2 western supermarkets, swimming laggoons (and pools), mmmmmmmmm

I wonder which of those 2 will generate the best rental return accross a year?

[avion99]

I am interested in investment in Morocco. What is potential as compared to spain. Could good developer contact me.

[deedee1]

Hi all,

I understand your points noted but I have bought in IBAR and you should look at the Golf Club Ibar - Welcome site first then make up your mind!

It has spectacular mountain views all around the development, close to borovets ski resort and is an up-market development with full sports,spar and entertainment facilities, 40 mins from sofia and consist mainly of private villas!

Also it is a members resort and their guests only!

But at the end of the day its about preferances- we wanted a golf property as well as a ski one and something near another european capital city so this ticked all our boxes!

I looked at the ones on the coast but decided as a skiier myself that ibar was better for us !

See ya D

[The Soup Dragon]

Avion99. Opinion is divided on the Spain vs Morocco. I’ve invested in Morocco, but will try give a balanced view. If you are looking at Med coast then there is little to chose in terms of flight times, flight costs (anticipated for Morocco) and climate. Morocco offers a more exotic location, but then it isn’t the mature market that Spain is. It also has the Islamic element which is a risk too far for some. Prices in the costas have been falling for some time with over supply. People selling their holiday homes here have had real problems. I’ve heard of cases dropping their asking price by 30%+ due to having no interest in first year of property being on the market! If your preference lies with Spain I’d hold fire for now to see where the resale market is going. Morocco doesn’t suffer from the same oversupply, but it is worth remembering that only a fraction of the beach property planned to be released has come to the market. For instance, only 2 of the Plan Azzur resorts, designed to increase tourism X fold by 2010, have had prices released to date.

As for a good agent to contact, it is worth speaking to a number then making your decision based on who you you feel you could deal with and who you think will be most helpful.

Deedee1. Of the popular ski and beach resorts this is probably the one I’d most like to holiday in. (I like to hack my way round the golf course and climb mountains. This was the best resort for holiday rental beyond ski season.) I was giving it consideration before prices were released over a year ago*. Good to see it is coming along nicely and the villas don’t feel too closely grouped.

*I preferred Sofia, but went cold on Bulgaria. I didn’t like what appeared to be oversupply in the popular resorts, so started to focus on Sofia. There were some offers at the time I should have gone with – I’m sure you’ll know the ones. 100% Buy To Let mortgages with 10% rental guarantee (foreign professionals lined up for the rentals.) The prices seemed dear compared to other similar property in the area and you had little control over where your villa would be located, so I dropped out. Turned out to be a mistake!

[mike123]

i own a property in the lighthouse golf resort, in Balchik, but it is in Bulgria, NOT EGYPT.

I believe they made a mistake

I dont like egypt at all.

[jdmat1]

Praia del Rey on the Silver Coast has just been voted European Golf Resort for 2007. This has been established 10 years - but is still being built on.
The place is stunning and within a localised hotspot. There are 3 new courses being built within 5 minutes of Praia del Rey - one of which will be truly spectacular. Faleisa del Rey will be the Number 1 course in Europe within 5 years! Views to die for and run by PDR.
These polls are quite meaningless and as Soup Dragon points out - they are in descending price order.

[seannie1]

and so for the results of the bulgarian jury.can i say that i presume that these results are considered while excluding the golf course quality issue, in this poll for best GOLF resort, compiled using medium other than GOLF.Perhaps there were extra points if your resort was in a country begining in B and again if followed by U etc etc and a fifty point bonus if you had the accessability credentials of a dark corner.