Building a Villa in Spain as a Foreigner: One Client's Honest Account

Chris describes himself as a cautious Brit. He had never built a house in the UK, had never bought off-plan, and had spent years reading the horror stories about foreigners losing money on Spanish property in the early 2000s. The idea of building a villa in Spain, in a country where he did not speak the language and had no experience of the construction process, seemed like exactly the kind of thing a sensible person would not do.

He is now standing on a flat plot in Bel Air, about 20 minutes west of Marbella, watching the execution project reach completion and waiting to break ground.

His wife Cath, whose grandparents moved to the Costa del Sol decades ago, had always wanted to build here. Chris came around gradually. What follows is what that journey actually looked like.

Why Buying an Existing Property Stopped Making Sense

The Dixons started where most people in their position start: looking at existing villas. Their budget was in the region of one to one and a half million euros. They looked at around 30 to 40 properties. They put in offers on three or four. Some fell through. They were gazumped. One vendor turned out to be unreliable enough to walk away from entirely.

What they kept finding were villas built in the 1980s and 90s. Not structurally problematic, but needing full refurbishment: floors, bathrooms, kitchens, windows, the lot. That is a reasonable amount of work on a house you have paid a significant sum for. The numbers started adding up. By the time you factor in purchase price plus a comprehensive renovation, you can find yourself at one point seven million, or closer to two million, for something that is still not exactly what you wanted.

At that point, building a villa in Spain starts to look like a different kind of proposition.

The Mountain Plot That Taught Them Something Important

Their first serious exploration of building took them to Montemayor, in the mountains above Marbella. It is easy to understand the appeal. The panoramic views of the Mediterranean from elevated plots up there are genuinely extraordinary. Land prices are lower than on the coast. On paper, it looks like excellent value but you need to check you’re buying land in Spain safely and with caution.

What the spreadsheet reveals, once you start to work through it, is that the topography changes the calculation entirely. A steep slope requires either excavating a platform or building one on stilts, or both. Chris’s number: around half a million euros before a single wall of the villa goes up. “You can buy the land a lot cheaper up there, but you’re probably into half a million euros to build a concrete platform before you can even put a house on top of that.”

They stepped back, thought it through more carefully and eventually re-engaged. This time the search focused on flatter land with services already connected at the boundary. The plot they found in Bel Air ticked both boxes.

What Due Diligence Actually Looked Like

Before committing to the Bel Air plot, Chris wanted certainty on a specific set of questions. Could they legally build what they had in mind? Were the cost estimates realistic? What were the planning regulations for that particular piece of land?

We ran a full geotechnical survey before any money changed hands. We provided a development appraisal spreadsheet covering every line of cost: build, taxes, professional fees, landscaping, unexpected contingencies. We checked the planning regulations with the relevant municipality. We helped with the negotiation on the land price.

“You gave us that level of confidence that we needed on the construction and the local law type stuff,” Chris said. The legal side, the title and conveyancing, was handled separately by a Spanish lawyer with English-language capability. The two streams of advice, architectural and legal, running in parallel rather than conflated.

The spreadsheet became a recurring reference point as the project developed. Two to three hundred line items, updated as the design progressed and the cost estimates became more precise. Chris, who works with costs professionally, appreciated the rigour: “Anyone can get carried away. Cost control is the big thing.”

What They Are Building

A four-bedroom villa on a 1,200 square metre plot. Basement included, which was a specific ask from Chris: “I wanted my man cave.” Pool to the front, driveway entry from the rear. Cath has been the design lead, sending images, working with the architect Domingo on finishes, exploring ideas. Chris has been watching the costs and getting increasingly excited as the project moves from spreadsheet to physical reality.

“As we’re moving through this process, I’m getting more and more excited every time I come here and it’s starting to turn into reality.”

The target is to be in within 18 months. The gin and tonic on the terrace has been mentioned more than once.

The Advice Chris Would Give Someone Starting Out

He had three things to say to anyone considering building a villa in Spain for the first time.

Do your homework first. There is a lot of information available and it is worth absorbing it before engaging anyone. Talk to multiple companies. Understand the process before you commit to a partner.

Find people you trust. In the Marbella area alone, there are reportedly around 1,500 estate agents. Not all of them are who they present themselves to be. The people you choose to work with matter enormously. Chris’s measure of trust was partly built by spending a day looking at land, and another day being shown completed and in-progress projects, meeting the building crews and seeing the quality of the finished work firsthand.

Expect pre-sales work before payment is due. One of the things Chris found surprising, and that eventually made him want to formalise the relationship, was the amount of serious work that happened before a contract was signed. “A lot of people are very quick to take your money in return for not giving much.” The opposite experience was what built the confidence to proceed.

A Useful Tool If You Are at the Early Stages

If you are considering building a villa in Spain and want to understand the costs before you have started any design work, there is a free cost calculator on the Eco Vida Homes website. It will give you a working figure for your brief and your budget. The link is in the video description.

You can also watch the full conversation with Chris on our YouTube channel. He covers the plot evaluation process, the Montemayor lesson, the design brief and what he would do differently if he were starting again.

Seeing It for Yourself

You can watch the full video interview with Chris on our YouTube channel.

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