hi. we are retired, and while i would love to buy a property in southern spain, wifey thinks best to rent one for the obligatory 3 months, at least to tour the area....seems sensible. also seems sensible to do if for 3 winter months. we will be driving down as i dont fly, so will have a car with us for the duration. there are loads of sites that supposedly have places to rent, but how many are genuine??.
any recommendations would be much appreciated.
many thanx
tony

Why not try airbabndb. They do discounts for rentals of a month or more. You could spend a month or so one place and another. Month elsewhere. Just sear h their site with your requirements and budget.

Agree with bobd22 and either airbnb or Booking.com etc. Like you, I drive down but we have a place just across the French border which isn't as far away and not retired.
Taking your time and stopping on the way might make more sense and you get to explore different areas.

AirBnB, Vbro and Booking.com ..... Always best to listen to your wife. Be careful. If a property seems too cheap, there is always a reason . Remember to add circa 15% for taxes et al, to list prices when you look at buying.

It can get very cold during winter and some homes are not well insulated.

Have you considered hotels? If you ask, many will offer a discount for longer duration.

Agree with the AirBnB suggestion. We are currently renting an AirBnB for 1 month, doing what your wife is suggesting. Please please please listen to your wife.

We have been holidaying in Spain (more Barcelona area) for years and we always do the "what if we moved" talk. Well, as the hubby as can work from home we decided to do a month in Costa del Sol. We've been for a few short breaks before, pleasant enough and has a longer season than Catalonia. We choose this time of year because its not quite the season, so hoping to get a flavour of what its like to be here outside of summer. We've been here 10 days so far and guess what.. I want to go home

I'm quite surprised at myself, as I knew this wouldn't be like "being on hols", the weather wasn't going to be fabulous and the idea is that we're testing out what its like to live here, so during the week, we live as we would back home (no eating out, no going for a drink, etc). I was mentally prepared for this... I've moved countries before and I know how the little things are the ones that trip you up.

1. The weather has not been great. The first 3 days we ran the heat non stop and I was chilled to the bone (I'm a Canadian living in Ireland.. I don't usually need that much heat..)
2. Everything is costing a lot more than I thought it would (and I live in Dublin, where everything is expensive)
3. I really really dislike the supermarkets (I do appreciate there are supply chain issues at the moment)
4. Some of the Spanish products available in the shops are awful. I'm all for trying new things and not buying the "import" food but by g*d I'm heading to the local British shop in a bit to buy some instant Kenco because if I don't have a decent coffee soon I might end up in jail. (Normally I wouldn't fantasize about Kenco..)

I could go on, but you get my drift. We will try this experiment again, but I think we'll head back up to Catalonia. Maybe there's a reason we keep heading back to the same spot? Maybe living here doesn't suit us...

Do not forget that your 90 days starts the minute you enter the Schengen area so if you are taking 2-3 days to drive down and the same on the way back remember to factor this in plus any local requirements for winter tyres snow chains etc in the mountains ie Pyrennees

That's the thing and buying property in the wrong part of Spain can be a costly mistake too, especially if you sell up everything back home (less now with Brexit). We also looked at other parts, but then came back to Catalonia (Girona Province) and ended up buying land there. Also live in Ireland and don't find Spain to be that cheap anymore (apart from alcohol), we still drive to other parts of Spain for day trips although it is becoming less. Weather is another thing and a lot of people move to so called Southern Spain for better weather. Depending on location it can be more extreme in summer and just as wet/cold in winter (unless it's Almeria:-) and some parts are too crowded at certain times of the season. Covid has made a lot of people less sociable anyway and in one way I appreciate the space we have in our part of Ireland even more now, although I would prefer to be closer to the lakes. I must admit that even here the crowds annoy me now and compared to 10 years ago it's definitely busier. Property prices have gone up a lot in Spain too and it's not easy to find the right balance either. What I always find great in Ireland is that I can get a decent Latte at most petrol stations and food is another thing. Unfortunately a lot of the Spanish supermarkets sell poor quality meat and animal welfare isn't something people look at.

many thanx so far, lots of good polished and studious replies. only reason for southern spain is the bones need heat, not cold in winter... my mate has a place in ireland near the atlantic coast. while pretty
can be pretty dire weather, not and option alas, will look at air b&b but there are lots of reports of homes not being there when you arrive, has anyone any experience??

That's the point and Southern Spain is not automatically hot in winter and some places wetter and colder than the East. I only replied to KVP in relation to Ireland :-) and all I meant is that buying is not always great either. You might even find it better near Valencia, Tarragona, Alicante etc. and weather is weather. Even Spain can be unpredictable in winter, so by not buying you have more options.
And as you get older, long distance driving doesn't get easier.

Couple of points . Firstly re weather in southern Spain in winter. Yes it's not guaranteed sun but unless you are unlucky in a 3 month stay you will get many more nice days than bad. Temperatures drop rapidly at night and Spanish houses are colder inside than out during the winter. Coastal temperatures are milder generally. We spent a month renting at the coast this winter for that reason, mainly the weather was very nice, that was Feb to March. Booking.com only allow you to book for a month at a time. Airbnb allow longer rentals allow longer stays and a discount for a full month or more.

You are right and it was only in relation to buying. If you stick to the resorts along the coast, it's still going to be much better than back home. It gets more difficult when you buy inland and thought because it's South, it's never cold or wet. Even Vigo had 21C and sun on new year's day and in Gibraltar it was 15C. Valencia is usually fine too and mind you, even Lloret had 21C on christmas day. Stick to the coast and book week by week.

many thanx so far, all duly noted, especially the coastal bit, but starngely we reckon to buy, maybe 30 mins inland looks better value. of course i live in west yorks,so we are a hour from either coast here....
t

If you move inland it really depends type of property you buy. We live inland only about 15 or 20 mins inland. Our house is small village house. Unless you have lived in such property in the winter you have no idea how cold they an be. After sayNov Dec and the first heavy rain its as if the warmth you had in the house gets sucked out. It is only around now that they start to warm up again. Even though Dec to Apr it may be hot and sunny outside the old village houses remain bitterly cold inside. Hence you everyone sat outside. We spend much of the winter inside with gas fire on and throws over us to watch TV on an evening, I'm sure many will confirm this. You tell people back home and they don't believe you they've seen place in the sun. By the way I too originate from West Yorkshire and lived long time in both North Yorkshire and Northumberland so I know how bad winters there can be. I suggest if you are set on inland and possibly village house you try a winter rental in sort of property you hope to buy to see what it will be like. I didn't spend money for a month at the coast for nothing this year believe me. It was worth it.

Yep agree and its not just old houses that are bad.
We are in a newish flat (2004) and as usual with modern builds, its solid concrete. the only place bricks are used are on internal walls.
Ok the outer walls are about 300mm thick, but no insulation and unless you want to go to the expense of internal insulation well you just have to get used to the cold.
We have double glazing but the frames are metal and are screwed directly to the wall with no thermal break, so they get very cold and of course there are gaps. And the units only have about 3mm between the panes.
The wind whistles through them and at night we close the curtains and drop the shutters. These are just as bad as they are above the window and the box that holds them is both outside and in, so they get cold as well.

Today its warm and cloudy with a bit of wind (but we live in a tiny village 240m above sea level and its fairly open. Inside my weather station says 17c and outside its 20c.

My DD (before we migrated to Australia) use to stay in the Costa Blanca and further south for the whole of January and February and into March in hotel’s now my dad loved staying in very nice hotels but he also had long pockets lol so it must of been a reasonable way to stay for that length of time for my Dad to do that.. just another option to think of.