Keiran

We are in the process of selling our house in south Wales and have decided we would like to try and make a new life in southern Spain. Ideally my wife and I want to be somewhere with other expats as well locals. We also have an 18 month old son, so maybe a public school with mix of native and English? Not sure we would be able to afford international/private!
After our house sale we will probably have £110000 pounds for the new house purchase and would also like to be within 1 hour of the coast. I know, quite specific!
Any suggestions on towns/villages. Or any guidance at all would be greatly appreciated.
Look forward to chatting
Keiran

rspltd

It would be helpful if you told us the level of your Spanish and how you propose to support yourselves in the future.

Rosemary

Hi and a warm welcome to the Spanish forum on BE. Myself and Fred James are the moderators for the Spanish forums whilst BEVS moderates Europe. Moderators are there to ensure that the site runs smoothly within the rules of BE. This is so that members gain the information that they are looking for and find their experiences on the forums to be friendly and worthwhile.

Problems and complaints should always be addressed to a moderator who will look into the matter and deal with it efficiently and fairly. Our members who post in the Spain Forums are usually friendly and helpful with a wealth of knowledge about the issues of living in Spain. I hope that you enjoy your time participating in the forums.

Please let me know if you need any further help.

Rosemary

Keiran

Hi, and thanks for reply.we are both self employed, my wife is qualified in child care. I am qualified in tree surgery/gardening. Buy both of us are keen to have a go at anything. As for Spanish, ours is very limited but both want to become fluent.we plan to set aside an amount of money to tied us over for the first 6 months till one of us can find work.
Thanks for taking the time to reply!

Maur-Ross

How about inland Murcia. Which provinces have you looked at in Andalucia for example?

Mark604

I'd suggest maybe not selling the house but renting it out. Use that money to rent somewhere in the area of Spain you decide to go to and wait it out six months to a year to see what happens.
The problem will be if you have no savings and you need the cash in the first place.

Otherwise you could be left wanting to leave to return to the UK and have a house in Spain that you can't sell or can, but for less than you bought it for. Unfortunately it's scenario more British expats are in than you'd think. They don't want to be in Spain any more but have no practical way to get back to the UK to live.

Many jump in at the deep end and love it and do well. It can be a courageous move and to be honest, I'd be optimistic and do it. But the advice is usually to not burn bridges and have a way back if the wheels come off.

olivefarmer

I would like to be optimistic but I won't be.

Renting is a good sound idea. Buying a house is dead easy. Selling is a problem as Spain is awash with good unsold properties as a result of the property crash.

Jobs are hard to come by as an expat even if you speak the (Spanish) language. There was a time when expats could make do by jobbing for other expats. Since the crash things have changed.

There are plenty of other threads on a similar vein on this and other forums. One thing you need to seriously sort out is your healthcare. If you are working you pay autonomos each and every month at a rate of say 280 euros regardless of how many hurs you worked that month. You do however then have healthcare cover for your dependents. If you are both working then you both pay.

You also need money set aside for contingencies. e.g. dental bills and unexpected bills like car repair. There are loads of threads about bring a car from the Uk and getting it Spanish registered.

the bottom line is research research research.

Keiran

Unfortunately we have no other option than sell our home our mortgage company wouldn't agree to us letting it out so selling is the only option.
We haven't made the decision lightly but looking at our options in UK which are pretty dismal especially in the areas we could afford to buy here when in Spain our money seems to be able to purchase a bigger and nicer property than it can here.
With our son being 18months it seems the best time to do it before he is in full time education.

The areas we have already looked at in andulicia are almeria (seems a few good properties inmour budget)
We also have looked is Valencia.
We aren't opposide to any of the Balearic islands if our money would stretch that far. Our plan is to be mortgage free to give us an easier lifestyle....... Hopefully!

Mark604

Well, you've got to live somewhere haven't you?
Might as well sell up and risk it. Though, as stated, it isn't the safe option and there are a lot of associated costs that don't become apparent until you look into it a lot more. It isn't easy and looking through other threads on here will help to give you an idea what 'extras' are needed like Mr Olivefarmer touches upon.

One thing though is whatever money you do make out of selling your house and after paying off the mortgage is, when you are looking in Spain don't discount long term rental to put a roof over your head either initially or more permanently. Many never buy anywhere but do rent all the time, it is more prevalent in Spain than in the UK.

This also gives you the flexibility to move as situations and preferences alter. It is easy to start off saying you would like to be inland, or say near the sea, or near a certain school or town/village - but until you really become familiar with an area/place, you can't really say if it will suit you in ten years time. Unfortunately, if you commit yourself to a property purchase I know and see many places that take years and years to sell so that the owner can move on.

Another option, if you do want to buy, is to only use a portion of your money to do so. Yes, you can often find better value often for a set amount in Spain, but consider only spending a limit of say 2/3rds of what you can afford and hunt around to see what you can get. At least then you'll have some spare cash to pay for any of those extras or to fall back on for when you realise you need to upgrade your electrics.

johnnyone

Before you do anything fully research where you wish to live as picking the wrong place can be an expensive mistake. Around 14% to buy and 6% to sell. Renting may make sense until you are sure. In addition house prices are likely to rise faster in the UK than Spain limiting your options if the move does not work out. eg you cannot get employment.
Have you considered the cost of social security etc.?
Search this forum as there are many threads that would provide information for you and help you to make a reasoned decision. Life is not always greener as they say.

chopera

Be careful about CGT on your UK house sale. If you sell it this year and become resident in Spain this year then you might be liable for CGT in Spain (unless you buy a property in Spain within a certain amount of time).

I also recommend renting out your UK property. If your mortgage company won't let you take out a BTL mortgage on your house then why not try a different mortgage company? Maybe one that specialises in BTL? If you are prepared to sell the house anyway then I can't see any issue here.

By all means try coming over to Spain for a year or two to see how you get on, but don't buy anywhere in Spain until you have found stable income, and are sure you won't need to return to the UK.