Buying abroad – from nirvana to nightmares

Adrian Simpson knows about the pitfalls as well as the delights of property-buying abroad.

The A Place In The Sun: Winter Sun presenter faced agonies after his son Jasper, then just a baby, was taken seriously ill in Montenegro.

Adrian had just moved to the country with wife Amy and their 18-month-old daughter Kit when Jasper was struck down.

“We came back to the UK for his birth and returned there when he was eight weeks old,” Adrian told The Sunday Post.

“But just two weeks later he developed acute bronchiolitis and the doctors were quite worried about him. Amy had to stay at the hospital, which was 40 kilometres away, for several days.

“The care was amazing and the people were lovely, but it was very basic with rusty beds and holes in the sheets. It was tough. He cried a lot and it’s an indication of how touch-and-go it can be out in a place like that.”

The couple, who now have another daughter, Cecily, spent three years in the Balkans from 2006 before moving back to the UK.

“Our house is just by the sea and we got it for a tenth of what we’d have paid for a similar property in France. We still have it but now we rent it out to holidaymakers. The kids loved it there and we had some great times.”

Former Top Gear presenter Adrian got local builders in but he’s got his hands dirty on his many UK-based property ventures.

“I’ve done everything plumbing, re-wiring, new roofs, kitchens, bathrooms. You name it, I’ve done it!”

His long property experience and his time abroad made him the perfect candidate for the Channel 4 show. And Adrian admits he’s been able to pass on his know-how to some of those looking to take the plunge.

“Even if you’ve been there a million times on holiday, buying and living somewhere is a very different ball game,” he adds. “You don’t know how life-changing it is, from it being catastrophic one day to being the best thing you’ve ever done the next. A couple of those I met in the Caribbean were incredibly clued up. But there was definitely one I thought wouldn’t work out because they just hadn’t thought about it enough.”

A Place In The Sun: Winter Sun, weekdays, 2.10pm on Channel 4.