Back for Good.
 

We're not the long-haul expats that usually frequent this part of the forum, but just to say that after eight years in Spain (mostly full-time) we have now hopefully sold our house and are returning permanently to the UK.

We will be buying, with our son, a two-bedroom flat and he will live there with his girlfriend, and we will reclaim our marital home, where they have been living with a lodger.

So.... a three-way move on the go!

Just hope now that the sale goes through OK.

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Best of luck with the move. I hope it goes smoothly for you! :)

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Thanks for your good wishes.

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Maybe not so long haul but still a big evolution for you after 8 years. Best wishes.

What has decided you to move back from lovely Spain?

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Thanks for the good wishes. It was never intended to be a permanent move and now that the Spanish economy is in the state it is in, we thought if we did not sell our house now, that we never would.

Didn't expect to get a buyer so quickly, and the sale could still fall through, but hope all goes well!

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Well done on getting a sale I hope it all runs smoothly for you. Best of luck.
Good to see some property sales are being made here.

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Our buyer has not yet been granted his mortgage, so it could still all fall through,but keeping positive!

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UPDATE: 12 November 2011

Our house sale is still going through (we have had to update all the paperwork which is why it is taking so long), and our lawyer hopes to complete the sale in January.

Watch this space!!

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Wow they really drag things out in Spain don't they :lol:

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Where in the Midlands are you moving back to?

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:fingerscrossed: hope there are no hitches and all goes as planned. Good luck with the move we don't regret moving back although we have some happy memories of our time in Spain and met some really lovely people, still good to be back home though and renewing old friendships :)

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Sunny Wolverhampton.

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There are hitches but hopefully they can be sorted. We too will remember Spain with fondness.

Thanks for your good wishes.

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We don't regret moving back and were in Spain 15 years and have Spanish relatives. We feel relieved to have sold and got our money out. I do have many good memories though and am still in touch with people living there. I know quite a few who are desperate to sell.

Lots of things wrong with the UK too but at least I know we are treated as equals. Great to see more of family too:D

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Sailing from Bilbao to Portsmouth on Cap Finisterre on December 10th. :)

House sale still has not gone through, but paperwork is now complete and lawyer is hoping for completion of the sale in January.

Let's hope the Euro lasts until then and that the Bank don't withdraw our buyer's mortgage offer.:eek:

Whatever happens, we are returning on the 10th. :thumbsup: If the worst comes to the worst, we'll have a holiday home.

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Do you mind telling me how you moved your money over?

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Really interested to know how you fare once back in the UK. We are currently living in France and have been here for nearly 8 years. We are really wanting to sell up but no one is even looking at the moment. Our main reasons for wanting to leave is more about education (kids are doing well but haven't embraced French life at all). The French are very rigid in their learning - you are not encouraged to be creative or individual, so when everyone laughed at George Bush for saying the French don't have a word for 'entrepreneur', I actually can see what he means!
Miss family and friends. I miss being understood, miss having a laugh and a joke.
So ready to go back to the cold and wet weather and cultural stuff like decent museums and theatre - even if I don't go, at least it's available to us!

Good luck with your move.

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I will keep the thread updated. We will be back in Wolverhampton on Sunday 11th December (the house sale still has not completed but hopefully will in January).

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As it is now the 11th December, can I be the first to welcome you back to the UK.

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Thanks, we arrived in dark, grey and rainy Wolverhampton about an hour ago :)

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:thumbsup: Aren't you good you came to let us know your home right away. :lol:

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We're getting on with our new life and to that end have applied to two home/petsitting agencies and are awaiting interviews.

Still enjoying it and know it was he right thing to do.

Spanish house sale has still not completed, but we're hoping for this month sometime.

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Good luck with that. Someone that stayed with us paid a pet sitter £300 per week, I was amazed, but a great idea if you can get the work.

We've just spent Xmas and New Year in the UK and had a lovely time and struck by how friendly people are. We took time to chat to shop owners and market stall holders - and they want to speak! We went for walks and people said hello. Even my 14 yr old was struck by how people have a banter in the shops - something she's not seen here in France.
We know it won't always be easy, but without the language barrier it will certainly help!

More than ever we want to move back, so fingers crossed that the euro stays put until we've sold.

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The house completion is taking ages.:blink:

I hope it happens quickly now. :fingerscrossed:

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We get £175 for ten days dog-sitting, but it depends how many animals you have , this was for three dogs. I suppose if there is a horse or something then it would be more. Then to the client there are the agency fees on top, so that would come to about £300.

As for the euro, we have everything crossed too! There is still a chance that the bank will change their minds about our buyer's mortgage!

I hope you can get back quickly.

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The delay is due to the fact that our deeds did not reflect what was actually there (very common in Spain, no-one bothers to update them). We were told they were OK when we bought it. But our buyer is having a mortgage, so the bank wanted accurate 'papers' befoore lending, it then fell to us to have the deeds updated to reflect the new size. We have not extended in any way, but it is still our responsibility to update the deeds. We have had to have new deeds redrawn and approved by the College of Architects and a Notary. This is Spain so everything grinds along very slowly. Then there is a twenty working day waiting period in case anyone objects. This period has now hopefully finished so the lawyer can press ahead with the completion of the sale. It has taken about five months and cost 7.5k euros.:eek:

So let's hope all is well and that our buyer can still have his mortgage. he has been very patient!

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I thought France was bad enough with all the red tape, but I had heard that Spain was having loads of problems with land grab and all that, so maybe you are getting off lightly - money for old rope though for the lawyers.

Pet and house idea sounds good. Not a bad way to spend your day. I guess it can get busy leading up to the summer months and presumably you could do more than one lot of animals/houses over the same period. I hadn't realised there was a demand, but the person that stayed said it was big business where people don't want to use the kennels. I have to say the people who looked after our cats when we were back in the UK for 14 days got a tin of fudge and some cheese and crackers! lol

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You can't do more than one job at a time - you live in the person's house and do not leave it for longer than three hours at one time. The whole point is to have someone living in the house (for security) and being with the animals (so they have company and continuity). It's not just popping in to walk the dog and water the plants.:)

I suppose it's the same as baby-sitting really - you wouldn't just pop in occasionally to feed the baby and make sure they were OK.:rofl:

However, cats, dogs, small rodents, house plants, fish, even reptiles....bring them on, I will enjoy looking after them. But PLEASE never ask me to babysit!:eek:

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House sale due tocomplete on April 25th.:fingerscrossed: :):thumbsup:

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:fingerscrossed::fingerscrossed::fingerscrossed::t humbsup:

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FINAL UPDATE:

Our house sale completed this afternoon.:thumbsup:

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At last !! :)

Congratulations.