Dutch Paul

I am originally from the UK but I`ve been living here in The Netherlands for a little over 7 years.
Sadly, the last couple of years I`ve found that I`m no longer enjoying life here mainly due to the sudden rise in the cost of living recently. I am looking at moving on, possibly to Spain, in the near future.
I have my own house here, which if sold and the mortgage settled, would leave me with around Eur20,000 plus another Eur20,000 in savings.
I am a metalworker/welder by trade but can turn my hand to almost anything manual(bricklaying,woodwork,plastering,gardening,l abouring etc.)
I have seen on the TV about people buying run-down property in the middle of nowhere in Spain for Eur15-25,000 - are these sort of properties actually available?
I really like the idea of isolation and only venturing into civilisation when neccessary(work etc)
Language should only be a problem in the beginning as I don`t speak any Spanish - but afterall I picked up Dutch relatively quickly.
What are the rough costs of living(rates etc) living a semi self-sufficient life in the sticks in Spain? I would rather spend my time and energy growing/rearing my own food etc than working for someone else, losing a large percentage of my hard-earned to tax etc.
I really like the idea of a BIG change in my life as at the moment it just seems that I work to pay my way and don`t seem to have anything left at the end of the month. I have a good job at the moment - I`ve been with the same company for over 6 years but just don`t seem to be getting anywhere.
If I`m going to do this I have to do it now, another 5 years I will be 40. I have no family ties,kids etc so now is the time.

Is this possible - or just a pipedream?

I would appreciate any views on the subject

Paul

sibsie

I think the best way to do it is rent out your place and come over to Spain for a while to get a feel for it.

The dirt cheap places are usually dirt cheap for a reason and Spain is a nightmare for building licences, land laws etc., You'd have to do a lot of research.

Dutch Paul

Thanks for the reply Sibsie

I hadn`t really considered renting out my house as I wanted to make a clean break from here. But it does make sense financially. I have a relatively low mortgage so if it was rented out most of the time it would create a small income.
I am certain that I read somewhere recently that planning permission to build in Spain was realitively easy away from the cities/tourist areas??
How much roughly do rates/council tax(or Spanish equivalent) cost there?

sibsie

No it's a nightmare. New laws have been brought out to stop foreigners snapping up rural land and forcing the locals out. In lots of cases you have to maintain the original use of the land and planning permission is tough to get. You'd have to speak to a good local Spanish lawyer and totally disregard what the estate agents tell you.

The local tax is SUMA and varies from region to region. Mine is around €300 a year but I pay a community charge of €800 as well. However it works out, it's a hell of a lot cheaper than council tax in England.

Dutch Paul

I seem to think I read it on an estate agent`s website!!!

Total local tax of Eur1100 - that`s almost 3 times what I pay here in Holland (but I do pay 42% income tax

sibsie

Bear in mind that I pay the additional €800 because I live on an urbanisation. Off Urbs you don't pay that.

Really watch the agents here. And I say that having worked for one when I first arrived. I left on ethical grounds. The stunts they pull are dreadful.

Mercedes

Hi there, agree with Sibsie, watch the Real Estate Agents, remember most are on commission which falls between 5% and in some cases I´ve heard 12%. If you can get direct to the owner, do so, one to get back at those nasty RE is to go and do some viewing with a different name and then go direct to the owner you may be able to negotiate better.

I know DG is having some fun and games with her Telephone so also make sure you can get one before purchasing alternatively you can go Satelite, more expensive but something to think about. If you can get hold of a finca with land, orchards etc, and its own well, you save some money also and you can always sell the fruit also. Get hold of some spanish local newspapers you often see prices of property cheaper than in the "Foreign" papers. Also to make sure you aren´t paying over the odds talk to a Bank Manager also, even if you are not going to get a mortgage, "pretend" you will be as they do their own valuations and will only lend on so much. A friend wanted to buy a finca and do it up and the Bank would only lend the value of the finca no more than what the finca was worth. Over 20 years old they consider them "old" which can be viewed as negative.

Most essential is to get a a laywer that is not linked in any way to a Real Estate agent, best way is to find one through recommendations and then mention the name to a few independent people if they are any good, they should be known.

Best of luck on your new adventure.

Hope this helps a bit.
Mercedes.

Dutch Paul

Thanks everybody for the advice so far.
I have an estate agent coming round on Monday to value my house to sell/rent.
When I have some figures then I can look into it further.