Vale do Milho - Good location to buy?

[Brian117]

I am considering purchase of a 3 bed villa on Vale do Milho for family use. I am familiar with the Carvoeiro area, but not so much VDM, so any views from local residents would be very much appreciated.
In particular I'm thinking of possible security issues, service charges, and general standard of maintenance of the area.

Any comments, good or bad, are most welcome. This will be our dream come true, so I really need to get it right!

Many thanks

Brian

[Braken]

Try Vale d'Oliveiras 100% better.

Next to Gramacho Golf Course

[Brian117]

Thanks Braken.
I checked out Vale d'Oliveiras, but could only find 2 bed apartments, so not really suitable.
Certainly not overwhelming support for Vale do Milho at the moment though. Wonder why?

[carolyn]

Hi Brian. We bought a villa on VDM about 20 years ago and have not regretted it. We rent it during the summer and visit several times during winter. We like the area and have had no issues with security. The area is well maintained - the roads were re surfaced a couple of years ago and MEO have put in fast broadband (200Mb). We don't pay any service charges as our villa is standalone -so not sure what you are referring to there.

[Ellie 2]

I can ditto the last response from Carolyn. We reluctantly sold our villa in Vale de Milho just last November after 22 very happy years. Like Carolyn, ours was a three bed stand alone villa so no condominium charges. We used it for about four months throughout each year plus our family at other times. Due to times of absence we always has a year round gardener, pool man, maid and our Agent who saw to all things for us. In the last years the roads were made up, lighting where we had no lighting before, road sweeping, refuse collection, the area has a good reputation and has increased in value a great deal especially in the last few years. It tends to be more residential or holiday homes but used by the families. It is quiet and a walk to the top of restaurant hill will take a younger person about 20 mins or a much quicker run. As we got older the walk got longer about 25 mins. We only sold due to ill health but will return and rent an apartment. I wish you luck in your search. There is much to see and enjoy. Best of luck.

[Brian117]

Thank you so much Carolyn and Ellie. This is just the kind of feedback I was hoping for. In particular it's good to hear about security as we intend to use the property as a family holiday home and not rental, so there will be periods of absence through the year. I'll see how the viewing goes, but I may well come back to you Ellie for more information on the agents, as we will need the same services, and personal recommendation would be really valuable.

[Ellie 2]

You are very welcome Brian 117. Pm me if you want any more info.

[DaveF]

Hi Brian,

We have a town house in VDM which we bought in 2018 and love it. We had been holidaying in the area for several years but couldn't find the right balance of peacefulness but closeness to town and bars etc. - until we found VDM! There area has been really smartened up and now is a pleasure to walk around. There are plenty of restaurants nearby, you have several near Rocha Brava and many dotted around once you know where to find them.

Should also mention the wonderful beach at Centianes which has a great bar/restaurant and boat trips in the summer season.

Walk into town takes us 25 mins (to top of restaurant hill) and we usually take a taxi back for around €4.

We rented our property for a few years, but now it is exclusively for family use and we have not had any security issues so far. There are some new developments around and they seem to be selling well, so the demand is there.

Summary, if you want bars, restaurants a plenty and lots of activity VDM is not for you, but if you want a peaceful low-key area close to town VDM might just be for you.

[Brian117]

Thanks Dave, it's good to hear more positive comments on VDM. We're due out in the next few weeks, so even more enthusiastic about looking around the area, and viewing some properties.