allicat001

Hi there

Just a few words of warning for you.

When it comes to renting with dogs it all depends on the kind of dog. I have a small york terrier never had any problems renting until I met my partner who has 2 dobermanns. Normally people are fine about small dogs not to happy about big ones, espetially if you are renting from English owners.

I live nr torrevieja in the costa blanca in this area most owners are english are most are experiencing the joy of negative equity, so it really is a renters market as noone call sell anything. Most houses on my street are for sale and have been for the last 3 years. I have a few friends who are estate agents and they don´t think the market is going to get any better for at least 5 years so not a goood time to considder buying a property either.

As for work in the building trade over here again not very good at the moment my Partner fits AC and knows alot of of people in dif trades that he works with and most are very quiet even the spannish firms are struggling now all because of the credit crisis in the UK. I would not recomend buying any business here for the next few years at least things are getting very tight for all of us here. Best to wait out the storm over there then rethink your situation in a few years.

Sorry to be so doom and gloom but better you know now, than when it is to late.

donnam

Hi, thanks for the advice, things don't sound good do they! was hoping to start looking for a property but not sure what to do now! and with that programme 'holiday homes from hell' doesn't help either. all seems like gloom and doom, no wonder there is alot of house bargains to be had!
Donna

andyrich666

Donna be confident, go and rent a place for a while, the house prices will drop in the meantime and you will get the chance to see if you like it, if not nothing major lost.

I wish I could be in your position

allicat001

Sorry to put a downer on things don´t want to disuade you entirely.

Things are great here if you don´t have to earn a living but it is so tuff here at the moment some weeks we struggle to buy milk never mind pay bills.

We have been here for 6 years now so any savings we had have all gone so we have to rely on earnings.

As I said before earning anything in the building trade is hard at the moment.

So many of our friends have gone home, lots have had their home reposessed and gone back to claim benefits.

Please seriously asses your situation before you move if you can live here and earn else where then do that otherwise wait a few years till the market picks up.

Mitzyboy

where are you allicat?

allicat001

Nr Torrevieja

Mitzyboy

Ahhhhhh.
Theres a lot of Brits there? Shouldn't it be easier to get work for a builder? Or are there a lot of builders also?

Chepas

Moving to Spain is a big move for sure. Too many people think they can just arrive with little funds to survive. My advice for what its worth is have enough money to live for 2 years without working. If you planning to buy a business just ask yourself why its being sold, of course some people are genuine and are selling for a good reason but in my experience there are many people who would love to have all your hard earned money, no difference to the UK so beware. What ever you do make very sure you have a licence to do it, the correct licence too!. Dont believe what an agent tells you make sure you see for yourself, check with the town hall yourself if needed. With regard to speeking Spanish, yes you need the basics for sure but however much you learn is never enough for them sometimes, just do your best and show willing. Now I dont want you to be put off as its a great move but keep your eyes wide open. Hope you do really well, good luck

allicat001

There are alot of builders alot of new build houses most of them empty.

There have been 5 estate agents in the area go bust in the last month.

It is going downhill fast here.

It may be better in other ares but it is not good around here.

There are to many English I think, this is all a result of UK Credit Crisis

andyrich666

My mate is in Quesada, he used to earn easy grand a week, maybe even that a day in the UK bulding and roofing, but went to Spain struggled for a year but now, for sure he is back doing what he does best and I think he does make a good crust and does not even try to get the work, Im sure he could do better, but maybe he does not want to.

Quesada is nr Torrevieja

Mitzyboy

Well i think theres a danger that the economy down there has relied on foreigners to a great extent, hence when the foreigners aren't there or buying any more the whole industry faces collapse.

Here, the main industry seems to be agriculture, although the building industry is obviously a major factor. Therefore I've noticed no difference to what things are like when we came here .... also of course theres not such a huge amount of brits here

donnam

what do you mean andy 'that you wish you were in my position?' but thanks for the advice i am weighing up all the advice given to me and hope to take my time and try not to make too many mistakes but everything is a learning curve!

andyrich666

I wish I had a house to sell thats all, ha ha ha ha,

lcortez

Id say rent for a year as house prices are widely predicted to crash in Spain in a way similar to the USA,(ie more severely than Uk),and you will DEF lose money if you buy now.
Also you may not like it in Spain,and want to return to the UK at some point

andyrich666

Do you think it could ever get like the eastern block and greece Turkey, some parts of france where nice places built and left to rot and look awful with no community as everyone leaves and goes back home and its a ghost town or do you think it will survive ??

what happens if the economy is a right pain and everyone is forced back to the UK to claim beneifts.

Ghost towns are horrible, ive seen communities break up before and its can turn a whole tourist area into massive decline