Re: Brits going back to UK
 

We did think about selling UK home, but after serious thought we felt more secure with having a bolt hole in the UK. Yes we could have a bigger and better property in Spain but size is not everything, less can be more, and Spain is such a outside place, don't spend much time indoors, and if friends or family stay they can stay in the spare room or we can sleep on the sofa, no big deal. :)

Re: Brits going back to UK
 

[QUOTE=poollounger;4334719]I think it may have been me who made the last suggestion Helen. I would certainly advocate keeping a house in Britain and renting it out if you have a small mortgage, but the voids (periods without a tenant) can be draining. On average it costs me almost £700 to replace a tenant via an agency.

My View, I kept my house in the UK, and converted to HMO(House in Multiple occupation), effectively my three bed house became a 4 bed house, and it earns gross £1264 per month, the first year was an absolute sh**, but I have now learnt a lot, I have long term occupants with steady jobs, and for the last two years have had no change (albeit my tenants are Central EU Jobbers). I pay a ex work colleague who used to be in HR 7.5% of take after costs ( IE insurance, rates, etc etc), I have put in Card Elect and gas, and if there is a tenant change she gets one week rent as commision, for me it works out really well, this gives my wife her income, of approx £800 per month. Its been so good we are now considering buying a 2 bed flat for ourselves, as a bolt hole and gonna let it out to our son to look after,,

But the point of my note is that UK property market is a solid investment, if you have some hang on to it, maximise income from it,, remember its not your home anymore but an investment, The capital appreciation of the property will always be in line or above inflation, The income will be higher than you can rent in Spain, so rent in Spain,, why risk your bucks in a foreign country where there is a huge potential to be ripped off, The LRAU law could cost u a fortune, you cant trust some lawyers, you could end up with an illegal property or worse dont own what you thought bought et c etc etc,, you dont understand the system or language ,,well enough to make the same investment on same terms as you would in UK, There is a huge surplus of properties on the spanish housing market.. Logically, you wouldnt make a buy decision based upon what you see,,

and just to let you know I bought a property in Spain, with I thought my eyes open, but I have learnt so much in the last 4 years, I'm pretty sure I would not invest in Spain again, but would use the money in property in the UK and use the income to rent and live in Spain!!!!!!!!:thumbup:

Re: Brits going back to UK
 

Hi Gray C,

We live inland and pay 240 Euros a month for a 3 bedroomed house.
We've been here for 11 months now, and there's been no mention of a rent increase.
We had a "contract" for the initial 6 months, but now we've got a verbal agreement with the owner that we can continue here until we've built our own house - which could be another year.

I'm not suggesting that a verbal agreement would be advisable in all situations, but it seems to be working for us in this particular case.

I have no experience of living in other parts of Spain. I think we may be living in one of the cheapest places, so this rent amount may not be reflected in other parts of the country??

Sam.

Re: Brits going back to UK
 

We have considered Extremadura as a place to live around the Cáceres region. If we could find a property to rent for that amount we would definitely not sell our house in the UK until we were absolutely sure we had made the right decision.

Where do you live and how do you find life in this area of Spain?

Do you mind me asking; how do you make a living in this very rural area of Spain and do you speak Spanish?

Graham

Re: Brits going back to UK
 

We pay 300 Euros a month for a 3 bed flat including all bills elec and water, while we are renovating our house. We live in land about 40 mins from lovely beaches and 20 mins from the airport the area is very up and coming. We have good schools and medical facilities. We also have a fantastic road system that makes most of the costa de luz very accesable.
Spain is a lovely place to live and we have made lots of spanish friends.
My understanding of the language has gone from nil when i arrived to be able to hold my own in a conversation.
Good luck

Re: Brits going back to UK
 

Hi Graham,

I've sent you a PM - sorry, it got a bit late to reply last night! :)
Sam.

Re: Brits going back to UK
 

[QUOTE=Solarwhizz;4334819]I agree with most of what you say here, however the bit stating "The capital appreciation of the property will always be in line or above inflation" is not necesarily the case - many who bought in the last property goldrush (late 80's) did not experience this - inflation was up around 10%, interest rates at 15% and capital appreciation at -20% (i.e. depreciation).

What I am saying is that property and lettings has been an excellent growth & income vehicle over the past 10+ years, however it can stumble and has done in the past, especially when the fundamentals of affordability and return on investment diverge from long term trends, as they currently have done.

Re: Brits going back to UK
 

im a pensioner and would love to rent long term inland , with the state of the u.k. a man of my age would be a fool to live in blairs england where we have no rights. we are an endangered people there

Re: Brits going back to UK
 

This thread i have just read through and it made some good points..
Seems the argument about keeping your UK home or Selling it is one for debate !!

The arguments for keeping as a bolt hole ? I dont fully understand unless it sits empty ? If its empty then its deteriating getting damp or just costing money so not a great idea ...
If it has tenants you would not be able to simply bolt back as is suggested , as tenants have rights and contracts ..! Also what if you got the tenant from hell !! Could be a nightmare ?

The other problem is for the majority the only real money they have is the property .. To have the equity sat in the UK home , and then rent in Spain seems a option but only if its cheap to rent in Spain ? Where i am heading cheap rents dont exist ! Unless i want to live in a small apartment ? Now yes thats a option but i have never lived in them and the idea of no outside pool or garden the keeping the noise down or having noisy neighbours above below and both sides is scarey !!
Also the home must be that a home , comfy ,cozy ,private , safe, with freedom to barbecue on the patio, swim in private pool ,privacy ,etc,etc.

So buying and selling up in UK is the way for me ! Reasons are if i am to be totaly happy need a lovely place to Live in Spain , in the best location !

Having to accept just liveable housing in Spain is i feel going to make you less happy ? And for this reason if you then arent 100% happy with the town you live in !! then having to go back to a home you dont like will very quickly turn your dream into a nightmare ! If that makes sense ? (hopefully i have explained it well lol)

Should things go wrong and i need to bolt ? then a rental in Uk would be the way which is very easy to get . Then the Spain property could be resold or rented out if the market is poor for reselling ..
The argument does exist about investment values in UK and yes to a degree is valid but Spanish Homes in the right areas will also increase .. But most importantly is are you in this life to make profits ?or are we not indeed only passing through this life once ?
And unless your one of the type who want to make sure your kids turn out to be spoilt wealthy brats in the future whilst you scrimp and save for there benefit and live in the little apartment room type home ? So as to leave a fortune when you die , for them ?

Then what benefit to you is the fact that the Uk house is worth a Million when you are old ,crippled with arthritis, have that dodgy knee, deaf in one ear , Hips need replacing and so on :lol:

Unless you sell it and have a bloody good life :thumbsup: and sod the kids :rofl:

Re: Brits going back to UK
 

:regular_smile: Big pete,

You make some good points, but the reasons why we are keeping a home in the uk are, our son can live there for a reasonable rent as there is no way he can afford to buy his own home as prices are way over the top at the moment for first time buyers, he also wants to stay in the area, and we will always have a place to kip when we visit the family. Nobody knows what is around the corner we could love living in Spain today, but get home sick or really sick or various other circumstances could arise whereby we need/want to go back to the uk, we would still have a home there so the shock or upheaval would not be so great. We don't feel our home in Spain is just liveable, it is in the country and is in a quiet area. We don't want or need a swimming pool, we can use the village one if we need to cool down 2 euros all day.

Your point on house price values doesn't make sense. A home is not an investment it is a place to live, and to be truthful I for one would welcome a drop in house prices as I feel they are well over priced both in the UK, and Spain. If they dropped to what they were 10 years ago I would be pleased. The value is irrelevant to me as I have no intention of selling and maybe my son could then afford to buy his own place.:regular_smile:

Re: Brits going back to UK
 

Like the poster above, our son lives in our UK house, he is single and cannot afford a place of his own. So he looks after it for us, we always have a place to stay when we go back.

Our Spanish house is the same size as our UK one and is in a village, so we are not living in a tiny little apartment! We have a modest, but decent size, property in each country, both owned outright. The Spanish one has the best view!

However, each must do it their own way, so good luck to you.

Re: Brits going back to UK
 

So in your case it works , which is good but its definately one of them debateable things .. :) For me it wouldnt work as being honest this ones to damn big anyways (6 bedrooms) , so even if Spain didnt work i would move area and go to Devon near the sea, which is nice and buy a small little 2 bedroomed bungalow..:thumbup:

Re: Brits going back to UK
 

Yea but imagine the flash place you would have if you sold both ?? A superb Villa overlooking the sea ! Big pool ! Cabin Cruiser sitting in the marina for them fishing-sunbathing trips !
a tip ; rent the kid a bedsit :thumbup: make him self sufficient and you get all the dosh :lol:

Re: Brits going back to UK
 

Good for you, and best of luck:thumbup: Less can be more.;)

Re: Brits going back to UK
 

We don't need a flash place:D - There are only the two of us, we are retired and the place we have is big enough, it has three bedrooms and two bathrooms and a huge kitchen. No pool, but there is brilliant municipal pool with the best view in Spain. No garden but we have a roof terrrace, again with a terrific view.

We chose mountains over coast, this is what we prefer. We wanted a village house so that we could be in a Spanish community.

And in the UK we have a house in a city which makes a nice change from the rural living here.:D We are going for a month July-August.

So, we are happy with our set-up, we appreciate others would do it differently, but hey, it would be boring if we were all the same!

Have a good experience whatever you do:thumbsup: