usinspain

After seven happy years inland, Mr usinspain and I feel like a move to the coast. We would like to remain in Andalucia. We would like to be within walking distance of the beach, shops,restaurants, medical centre and a secondary school as the youngest has two more years of his secondary education left.
We are spanish speakers, so an area with a mix of local and expat residents would be good, but spanish only would be acceptable too. We would be looking to rent (cheap as possible) as realistically we have a slim to zero chance of selling our house right now.
We have visited many of the costal towns, but its difficult to get a feel of what day to day (and year round) living would be like. I would love to hear from any of you who are living on the coast. Good things and bad! Anything to help us with our decision. Any suggestions as to which town/city would be good too.

marqueemoon

Hi

I am sure you will get lots of suggstions, but I can only comment on Nerja which is where I live.

All of the facilities you say are important to you are here, and it is definitely a mix of Spanish and expats! It is generally a very quiet, relaxed and safe town. Obviously it gets busy at this time of year.

If you speak Spanish then there are plenty of opportunities to integrate into the community, with loads of organisations and festivals to take part in, and if you do that then it really is a friendly town.

Malaga and Almunecar are only 30 minutes drive away, and Granada is close too. The Sierra Nevada and the national parks are on our doorstep so variety is not a problem.

On the down side Nerja is struggling economically and jobs are nowhere to be found.

Rental prices start at about 350 for a 1 bed or cheap 2 bed and move upwards, although 450 should get you a decent 2 bed if you look around.

avocados

[QUOTE=usinspain;9546715]We would be looking to rent (cheap as possible) as realistically we have a slim to zero chance of selling our house right now.
QUOTE]

You can sell your house if you price it correctly. Knock 50% off the peak 2006 price to get the correct value, the price that someone is willing to pay right now. Simple.

The banks are literally throwing money at people, that can afford to pay it back. We are in this situation at the moment.

Cazzy1

We are thinking the same as you, although no children to consider now. We want to sell our large house and buy something smaller on the coast, then split our time between the UK and Spain, as we now have 2 grandchildren in the UK. It is a very hard time to sell and your price needs to be low, but bear in mind that you will also be able to buy something at a greatly reduced price. We are also considering renting on the coast, or maybe coming to an agreement with someone to pay bills and maintain their house and maybe pay a small amount of rent whilst they are trying to sell it, so that it always looks good for prospective buyers. I have a friend who does this and it works out well for her, and the owners, as when they visit she just goes back to her own house. They are really happy with the situation to as they can't sell it and can't get a paying tenant. They know the house is being looked after, and there is no expense for them.

bil

[QUOTE=avocados;9546913] Lucky old you! Hopefully you will be one of the next wave of property millionaires. Congratulations!

usinspain

Thanks Marqueemoon, Nerja is one town we have not yet looked at. It does sound as if it has a lot to offer. We´ll try and make it down this week-end. A quick look at the site you added did show some rentals, but quite expensive but I guess visiting estate agents in person would probably get us a better price.
Avocados, we do understand about selling cheap but in our case a 50% reduction wouldn´t really buy us a place on the coast due to the coast being more expensive than inland, even taking into account that prices have dropped there too. We can (just) afford the extra rent right now, if we can find somewhere cheap.
Which towns are you looking at Cazzy? We don´t really have the option of living here and in England but I think its a great idea. Your idea of house sitting sounds good too.
Please everyone else, add your bit if you live on the coast. It really is difficult to get a good idea with just visiting for a day or two.

jimenato

We lived in Estepona for 6 years before we moved inland and always liked it.It is big enough to have everything you need but the town itself is small enough not to feel impersonal. It is essentially a Spanish resort town but with a sizeable expat residential community and some tourists. It's good for all year living - quite busy in the summer months but remaining lively (in a nice way) in the winter as well - some places go completely dead. Well worth considering.

ETA It's best to arrange a rental privately if you can and avoid the estate agents.

Cazzy1

We are open to suggestions??? We do not have any commitments as such. We work for an estate agent, but due to the amount of KMs we travel it makes no difference where we live. I hope you find somewhere reasonable, you should do if you look privately as there will be no commission.

usinspain

Hi Jimenato, would you be able to tell why you left the coast? Feel free to ignore this if the reason is personal - I´m just trying to gather a bit more information. Although I could write a book about inland spain, I´m a bit in the dark about the best places to live on the coast......or even if its a good idea at all.
Many thanks

marqueemoon

A quick reply. The rentals on the site related to me are holiday lets and if you avoid the agencies there are good value places available long term.

Maybe we can swap if there are any jobs your way

usinspain

Oh thanks for that Marqueemoon. I´m afraid jobs are like hens teeth my way too! I was thinking of looking for rent signs in windows, although not too sure if the owners really do ask less than the agents.......
thanks for your help

jimenato

Personal reasons - nothing secret - just boring. If you need a reason - it's cheaper living inland - not the reason we moved but true nonetheless. I am happy living where I am but if I had an independent income for life I might think about moving back to Estepona.

usinspain

yes, Jimanato thanks for that. You do bring up a valid point. Is it much more expensive to live on the coast? Excluding housing, is it more to eat out, shop etc. I have noticed on my visits that restaurants seem to cost more although I have found that the brit owned places seem to offer better value than the spanish. Just my observation, others may tell me I´m wrong. Also if there are others here who have decided to move from the coast to inland, Id be pleased to hear from them too. Its a big thing for us to make this decision to move to the coast - and we really want to make the right one, not least because we have a child to consider too. Anyone with experiences of schools too? Especially schools with a big intake of non spanish chidren. Would you say this has caused any problems for the school or the non spanish children themselves? I have only experience of my child being the only English child his school has ever layed eyes on! His school is good, although ridged and somewhat old fashioned.

jimenato

It varies immensely from one town to the next. To be honest I've lived here for so long that I'm not really sure that it is any cheaper here actually. I know that drinking is more expensive in Estepona than it is here and I suspect eating too - but up the coast in Fuengirola and Benalmadena I am led to believe that there is so much competition that you can eat and drink out relatively cheaply.

Know nothing about schools - no kids.

usinspain

What about Málaga (the city) anyone know anything about living there?