Moving to Andalucia
 

Hi

We are a family of four moving down to the Malaga area in two months. We are looking at villas to rent however we are not sure whether to take all of our furniture down and rent unfurnished or go the other way and store all of our furniture in the UK and rent a furnished property. We don't want to come back so I can't see the point leaving anything here.

Just wondered what other people generally did when first moving down?

Thanks

Re: Moving to Andalucia
 

Take as much as you can.

Vacuum cleaner, tumble drier, dishwasher, the lot. Things many people would leave.

Dont leave your beds behind cos they make you feel at home.

You would be surprised at the replacement cost also

Bring it all.

Re: Moving to Andalucia
 

We didnt bring any furniture and rented furnished. Most of the properties we looked at were furnished, as was the one we chose. There have been one or two bits we've bought since arriving, like outside seating, a dining table and chairs for indoors and some other bits and bobs. But the thought of bringing all our stuff over and then maybe having to store it seemed expenisve and stressful to us, especially as, as I say, most rental properties seem to be furnished - they even had micorwaves, dishwashers, toasters, kettles....!

Jo xx

Re: Moving to Andalucia
 

I go with Jo on this, most rentals have everything you need.
Also UK furniture doen`t fit the Spanish style houses usually.

Re: Moving to Andalucia
 

Yes as jojojo.. says, many of the places to rent come furnished. However, we brought our furniture because for us it would make us feel like the place was permanent and ours, rather than we are just lodging in someone elses house.

It cost us a couple of grand to get it moved over though so you have to budget for that although I hear people hire vans for much cheaper, but you'll need the time and effort.

Plus some of the furniture in the rental places can be old and nasty.

If you want to rent unfurnished then just tell the landlord or rental agency to move their furniture out. It is definitely a renters market at the moment!

Re: Moving to Andalucia
 

Only if he's planning on living in the middle of the pueblo :)

The villas have been built since the 70s here, the rooms will be at least as big as British rooms

Re: Moving to Andalucia
 

:rofl: What I meant was it doesn`t look right, you just need beds and a good set of garden stuff and a tray for your snacks and drinks.
Apart from in the last 4 months. ;);)

Re: Moving to Andalucia
 

well it really depends. are you looking to "start a fresh" ?

look at the quality of your furniture? if it would of been replaced soon, then leave it / sell it. you can get alot of stuff here at the moment because alot of people are going back.

why are you coming over ? make sure you have work lined up or a big savings account, theres not alot here at the mo.

Re: Moving to Andalucia
 

ok got yer

True, you do need different furniture for the climate

Re: Moving to Andalucia
 

I don't think we are looking to start afresh it's more a case of looking for the least hassle. Most of the stuff is quite new so it would be shame to lose money on it. We are okay for 12 to 18 months without work but I have some contacts with companies down there where I hope to find work. Also I can work from home. We reeeeeally dont want to come back to the UK so we will just be doing our best to make it work.

I think, and I might change my mind twice in the next five minutes, that I will ship the whole job lot out there and we can get rid of what we don't need later.

Thx.

Re: Moving to Andalucia
 

it cost us 3k to ship it all to malaga, with us doing the too-ing and fro-ing at both ends - hiring vans and the such.

good luck, and remember we are all here if you need any questions answered.

Re: Moving to Andalucia
 

If you feel like that then take it all.

Speaking from experience.

Re: Moving to Andalucia
 

I think then if we have a removal co. bring everything down we will take a ferry from Portsmouth to Santander/Bilbao and drive through Spain.

We will have a dog and cat so any experience of getting pets down would be helpful.

Would we fly them down separately or drive them down with us?

Re: Moving to Andalucia
 

We flew our dogs

Jo xxx

Re: Moving to Andalucia
 

I can't imagine the cat being very happy in the car all the way down to spain. I will look into flights for them both. Thx