Thinking of buying an apartment

Speaking as an American, anywhere in Alicante is safe relative to most cities in the US. You may be able to get a small apartment or an older apartment in a good area for that price. Generally, the area of 400 viviendas, Juan XXIII, and virgen de remedio are less desirable. Pretty much any area in the city will have good restaurants and supermarkets within walking distance, but in my opinion, it is better to live as close as possible to he city center near the port. I live in San Anton, within walking distance of the central market, las cigarreras, the ADDA, city hall, the teatro principal, port, MARQ, etc. Bus and tram service is good and can get you anywhere in the city. Desirable neighborhoods are San Anton, El pla de buen repos, mercado, Carolinas altas, carolinas bajas, san blas, san fernando, el raval roig, santa cruz (very nice area but lacking a close supermarket), altozano, campoamor. San Juan playa is also a nice area. The map in the following site is helpful:

http://www.alicantevivo.org/2007/10/pla … rrios.html

The outlying neighborhoods are a bit of a busride from the city center, and from my point of view less desirable for that reason. Alicante has a lot of tourism and the downtown area can be noisy late at night in tourist season, so that may be a consideration.

Many thanks for your helpful reply, will certainly look at the places you suggested.
Are there any other tips that you think I may need to know?

I haven't purchased a property myself so i cant help on that matter. You should work through a reputable realtor that has experience with selling properties to foreigners. My wife recently purchased a garage and used a notary. Notaries here do a lot of the functions that lawyers do.

Notaries are actually specially-trained lawyers, not like a notary in the US. The notary that handles the transaction is normally NOT your own personal lawyer and they do not represent you as a buyer, so my advice is that you hire your own lawyer.

A good lawyer will represent you and your interests. They don't bargain on the price for you, but they can check the property, ensure that it's properly recorded in the city hall records, that it doesn't have any outstanding debts, etc.

I used Martin Hayes at Swam Partners in Valencia for a purchase. Very smart guy and terrific lawyer. His firm also handled getting all of the utilities transferred over and set up in our name and so forth.

Papa I believe most buyers whose properties subsequently were threatened with demolition had lawyers whom they no doubt thought were ‘good' and were protecting their interests.   

Unfortunately they were mislead