Bridie55

Husband and I..now spend 3 months in winter and 6 weeks from mid Sept in Almunecar. We rent a nice apartment. We love it, but although we would like to stay longer are always concerned about the hassles of moving here permanently because of our age 72 and 61.

not2old

Age as well as any health issues, including the ability to keep on travelling play a big factor in your decision.

Suppose you could buy a place for €100,000, include all of the running & operating costs & issues.

Why would you do that?

Would it or wouldn't it be better to keep the €100,000 at home, then holiday as you wish, where you want, when you want to?


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lyric030250

If I was in the position again, knowing what I know now, I would NEVER EVER consider buying in Spain. I would rent for a couple of visits or more, totalling less than 183 days per year and retain my home in the UK.
Too late for me/us we are stuck here as we have lost so much on property that we could not afford to buy property in the South of England. We are from the North and would not go back there ever.

Bridie55

Yes I think that's probably the right move. But all the time we stay here we like it more.

not2old

knowing what you know & given what the OP posted - what would you estimate the basic good, decent accommodation costs would be for two trips - one of 3 months, the other of 6 weeks (exclude flight cost)?

And any other factors why a senior should not buy in Spain?

not2old

Holidaying is totally different than living in a place year round.

See if anyone jumps in on this that have stayed or moved back home for their different reasons

Bridie55

We sold our family home in the UK over 10 years ago and rent now. We have moved 3 times, our choice. Renting in Spain is cheaper than SE England and I love the property we rent in Spain. I just like the lifestyle and warmer (although not so much this year) than England

not2old

Are you considering the move to Spain because of the lower cost of living & would you buy in Spain or rent if you were to live in Spain year round?

Have you factored in healthcare costs & issues living in Spain?

Bridie55

Not really considered anything other than we would not buy. What made me post was a Dutch couple who are now longterm renting in the apartment next to ours. They have completely left Holland are a bit older than us and it just got me thinking as to why?

not2old

Good luck with your decision

What do you reckon the cost per month would be for accommodations only part of living in Spain doing a 12 month rolling lease/rental - all in, including utilities, insurance, TV, Internet, telephone & anything else?

I wonder if your Dutch neighbour couple go back & forth to the Netherlands or some place else (travelling) on a regular basis?


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chicaescocesa

Really interesting especially lyrics post about not selling up in U.K. We have already decided we will just rent abroad and either keep our UK house or sell it to buy more buy-to-lets. Money is probably safer in U.K.and don't want stuck with a property we can't sell. Not sure if this is 'right' or not but that's our initial thoughts. We are in a completely different age bracket though.

Bridie55

I understand not wanting to live 'up north' I'm originally from Merseyside. We live in sunny Folkestone and it is very much on the 'up' with some of the cheapest rents in the SE. We like being by the sea and it is definitely warmer and drier than other parts of UK but still not Spain. It does mean we pay 2 lots of rent which we can afford at the moment and our rent in Spain is 600€ per month which includes water etc but not electricity.We have been told the rental is quite high but it is a nice apartment in a gated development.

lyric030250

I would keep in the UK and rent it out. Always somewhere to return to and a bit of income.
We are 9 years down the road having retired at 58. We had a holiday apartment which we retired to. The plan was to get a house and sell the apartment. 5 years later, having bought and renovated a house, the apartment finally sold. We lost 30,000€ on the sale and it cost a further 20,000€ in CGT.
7 years on and circumstances change we are now wanting to downsize and have only one floor, due to Senior Management's health. Current valuations mean we will barely break even on eventual sale, and then there are the taxes on a purchase.
This is not the place to own, unfortunately SM will not rent.
Round here 600 pcm would rent a palace.

mikelincs

Given their ages, as one is of UK retirement age then they both would be able to register for Spanish healthcare and get the same as Spanish pensioners. You should be able to get a better deal for longer term rentals thn short term.

chopera

Need to take into account inheritance laws in Spain as well