House renovation.

Are you looking for a dream home but your expectations exceed your budget?

Have you got a long wish list and expensive taste but limited budget?

So why not just find a house that needs some work and do improvements you’d like to make. You can have the quality you want and still be able to afford it.

One of the nice aspects about buying a repossessed house is that the purchase is not contingent on the temperature of the real estate market -- whether hot, cold or neutral -- any time is a good time to buy it. Especially if you buy house for less than everything else around it. The advantages are obvious:

·         Lower sales price

·         Less competition (not everybody wants a fixer upper)

·         Potential for resale profit

·         Gain repair knowledge, which will help you to properly maintain the home

·         Personal satisfaction when the projects are completed

Remember, if you make a purchase offer at the right price, you make money the day you close. Because the time to think about selling is the day that you buy, even if you have no immediate plans to sell. 

The perfect repossessed house is the one that everybody wants when fixed up but few can see past its imperfections to buy. The peeling paint, sagging ceiling or worn carpet are correctable features that turn off many home buyers. They can't see past the disarray. Most first time home buyers want to buy a home in pristine condition, one that is turnkey and ready to occupy.

What to Look For in a Fixer Upper Home:

·         Location.

Always pick the worst house on a good street, rather than a good house on a bad street. You can fix the house, you can’t do anything about the neighbourhood.

·         Layout.

If the home is chopped up with a bad layout, realize that it can be expensive or impractical to move walls. The layout should flow.

·         Condition.

Consider your expertise and whether you want to tackle a home that requires a major renovation to make it habitable. Minor cosmetic improvements are typically less costly and easier on your budget.

A repossessed house is not going to be staged for you, so you have to think creatively. You will have to overlook wallpaper and ugly light fixtures. You have to imagine that house without the heavy curtains and all the stuff. You have to be able to walk into an awful-looking house and visualize what it could be like with new paint and wallpaper and a few key renovations. It’s all about looking for the opportunities when inspecting a potential buy.

 

 

Polo - the game of kings

Polo is a team sport played on horseback. The objective is to score a goal against opposing team. Players score by driving a small white plastic or wooden ball into the opposing team’s goal using a long-handled mallet. A polo match last about one and one-half hours and is divided into timed periods called chukkers. Each chukker is 7 minutes long.

Polo is arguably the oldest recorded team sport in known history, with the first matches being played in Persia over 2500 years ago. Initially thought to have been created by competing tribes of Central Asia, it was quickly taken up as a training method for the King’s elite cavalry. These matches could resemble a battle with up to 100 men to a side. As mounted armies swept back and forth across this part of the world, conquering and re-conquering, polo was adopted as the most noble of past times by the Kings and Emperors, Shahs and Sultans, Khans and Caliphs of the ancient Persians, Arabs, Mughals, Mongols and Chinese. It was for this reason it became known across the lands as “the game of kings”.

British officers themselves re-invented the game in 1862 after seeing a horsemanship exhibition in Manipur, India. The sport was introduced into England in 1869, and seven years later, sportsman James Gordon Bennett imported it to the United States. After 1886, English and American teams occasionally met for the International Polo Challenge Club. Polo was on several Olympic games schedules, but was last an Olympic sport in 1936.

Polo continues, as it has done for so long, to represent the pinnacle of sport, and reaffirms the special bond between horse and rider. The feeling of many of its players is epitomized by a famous verse inscribed on a stone tablet next to a polo ground in Gilgit, Pakistan: “Let others play at other things. The king of games is still the game of kings.”

As a rough, disorganized, warlike spectacle polo has evolved into a highly refined, sophisticated sport, combining all the excitement of horse racing, hockey and soccer. Polo is played now all over the planet and over 50 countries worldwide are involved in the game. The dominant nations are Argentina, the USA and Britain, each of which has a thriving polo scene and industry. Other polo hotspots include New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Dubai and Spain.

One of the most prestigious resorts in Europe is Santa Maria Polo Club located in Sotogrande (San Roque – Cadiz – Spain). Polo first appeared in the region in 1965, with the construction of the area’s first polo field. Today, Santa Maria Polo Club has grown into one of the most important and prestigious polo clubs in the world. Currently, the club has nine polo fields, and a number of exercise tracks, boxes, etc... And due to its location and climate, it is without a doubt and incomparable spot to play polo. The Summer Polo Tournament is undoubtedly the most elite sport event in Spain, and one of the most exclusive in the world.

Contrary to popular belief, most polo games are cheap to watch. Entry to Cowdray Park for its biggest day, the Gold Cup final, costs under £20 per person in advance. Many smaller clubs around the world don’t charge entry at all. Most polo clubs are open for public viewing on weekends. You can enjoy a polo match played by some of the greatest athletes in the world right  rom the sidelines. Just bring a blanket or beach chair. Polo clubs allow spectators to bring food and drinks. So pack a picnic lunch of items that will travel well for an afternoon sporting event. Polo is an outdoor sport, so dress according to the weather. You really can’t be over or under dressed. Spectators at a polo match wear everything from jeans to high fashion.

It is customary at polo match to invite the public onto the field at half time to tread in the divots kicked up by the horses. Divot stomping is a long standing tradition. Spectators wander all over the field stomping down the torn up turf. It’s fun and you can meet great people just wandering the field. Even at high goal tournaments the players often walk divots to keep limber at the half, and often they take breaks or change ponies close to the stands. Many times you can say hello to the best athletes in the world. Just remember not to be too distracting, these are athletes who need to get back to work.

Source:

www.wikipedia.org

www.poloatthepoint.com

http://www.sportpolo.com

http://www.argentinapolo.com/

http://www.visitcostadelsol.com/

 

Selected attraction on Costa del Sol

Have a look at the list of the most excited attractions on the Costa del Sol and choose one for yourself!

1. Monte Aventura Andalucia Ecotours
    website

    Qualified drivers with extensive knowledge about the region offer sightseeing jeep tours. A great        way to explore Andalucia.

2. Rangers Safari Tours - Private Tours

    website
    Large selection of self drive guided buggy to explore Spanish country side and see the most               spectacular scenery.

3. Teleferico Benalmadena

    website
    It's a spectacular trip to the top of Mount Calamorro in comfortable and modern cable car.

5.  Parque Multiaventura Castillo Sohail

     website
     Zip line ride and water attractions.

7. Caves at Nerja

website
If you need a break from the heat.

Real Club Valderrama to host Open de España 2016

European Tour

Open de Espana (Spanish Open) is part of the European Tour and its one of the oldest tournaments in continental Europe. This year, for the first time, it will be staged in the legendary Andalucian venue – Real Club Valderrama.

Tournament whose history stretches all the way back to its first playing in Madrid in 1912 has seen some of golf’s greatest names get their hands on the trophy. Former champions include: Arnold Palmer, Seve Ballesteros, Bernhard Langer and Nick Faldo.

Sergio Garcia

It will be the first tournament of the 2016 season to be played on European soil as well as the support of the Royal Spanish Golf Federation and Real Club Valderrama. It also has the full backing of Sergio Garcia, the 11 times European Tour champion and five times Ryder Cup winner, who will assume the role of competition host. He also has taken a key role in the organising of his home event. A prize pot of €2 milion will be on offer.

Real Club Valderrama

Real Club Valderrama has a great history of hosting fantastic tournaments, including the Ryder Cup. It is one of the best courses not just in Europe but in the entire world and one which has a rich history within the game.

The venue will host the opening tournament of the European season from April 14-17. A full range of tickets are available to buy from www.tickets.europeantour.com including Any One Day Tickets from Thursday to Sunday which cost €15 per day if purchased before the week of the event and €20 per day if purchased during the tournament week.

Manilva - one of the nicest towns on the Costa del Sol

Manilva is situated about half way between Gibraltar and Marbella. It is set in perfect location, close enough to the Coast’s busier tourist centres, but far enough from the throng of the holiday resorts.

Within the municipality of Manilva there are several communities. The white village of Manilva itself is located a few kilometres inland from the little fishing village on the coast known as Sabinillas. To the west of Sabinillas there is a quiet yachting marina called Puerto Duquesa with its surrounding residential area and golf courses. To the west again is another small fishing hamlet called Castillo de la Duquesa after the castle still found there. West along the coast there are various housing developments as far as Punta Chullera.

Once a typical Spanish fishing village, the Manilva of today has grown into a vibrant town full of restaurants, bars and shops. It has a predominately Spanish population with an ever expanding expat which both live and work side by side very well.

Weather here is beautiful with over 300 days of sun a year. Any time of year is good for visiting this area. Manilva provides something for everyone, from those that enjoy relaxing on the beach to others that prefer exploring Andalucia’s rich landscapes, flora and fauna.

The award winning (blue flag) beaches stretch for miles and miles. They are ranging from the low cliffs and rocky coves in Punta Chullera to the wide sandy beaches that are spread around the fishing village of Castillo, the Marina at Puerto de la Duquesa and Sabinillas.

The essence in this distinction is that the area retains a vast amount of unspoiled natural scenery and authentic local character: acres of vineyards, verdant countryside and rolling hills.

The attractive promenades encircling the port of Duquesa offer a variety of international restaurants with a vast choice of eating and drinking options including French, Italian, Chinese, Indian, Thai and, of course, Spanish with its fresh, local seafood and tapas. The cuisine of the area is typically Mediterranean: simple and healthy, with ample use of olive oil and fresh fish and seafood. 

Puerto de la Duquesa really is the Costa del Sol’s best-kept secret. This beautiful marina is a peaceful place with the perfect combination of Mediterranean light, recreational boating and the traditional sight of small fishing boats setting out each morning. You can find here numerous activities such as scuba diving, jet boat rides, dolphin watching, and of course deep sea fishing.

In Sabinillas every Friday and Sunday takes place a large local market. It has a great selection of goods on offer: fresh vegetables and fruits, herbs and plants, colourful ceramics, Spanish linen, cheap clothing and shoes, jewellery and much, much more.

Also festivals and fiestas are abundant throughout the course of a year. The most extravagant of these is San Juan which takes place on the 23^rd June and attracts many visitors as the light from the numerous bonfires illuminate the sky of the shortest night of the year thus signalling the arrival of the summer solstice. A huge firework display and many rituals also take place on the beach.

One of Manilva's oldest attractions is the Hedionda Roman baths. Dating from 1st century BC it is rumoured that the mighty Julius Ceaser himself regularly took to the waters and cured himself of skin complaint, during his time as acting governer in Southern Spain.

The bathing structure itself consists of a small chamber with steps under an archway and tunnel which leads into much larger inner chamber. The water here is quite high in sulphur turning the waters a milky white colour. Sulphur can be great for skin complaints so it is worth to plunging into the murky health-giving waters of the baths.

If you are feeling full of energy you can walk from the site all the way to the hilltop village of Casares. You will find some lovely scenery along the way as well as some interesting examples of Roman masonry and an old but recently restored single arch aqueduct which examples of both Roman design and Moorish restoration.

Manilva is excellently situated as a base from which to explore all that Andalucia has to offer, from its picturesque White Towns and Villages nestling in the region's mountains, to its historic cities such as Seville, Malaga, Granada and Cordoba. The municipality is also just short hop across the Strait of Gibraltar from continental Africa, namely Ceuta and Morocco.