St George 1974

Hi again all!!

I recently posted a thread called "Moving to Spain???" of which I got an amazing response with some fantastic and incredibly helpful advice.
After a lot of research and talking through many long nights we came to the conclusion that the risk factor was too high to take a chance so we had decided to keep ourselves and our two kids firmly rooted to living in Colchester UK!!
However, out of the blue last week I received a phone call from a company in Benitachell, Spain offering me employment in the new year!
This has now thrown us back into the chaotic world of researching this and surrounding areas for rented properties, schools, etc.
In our last post we had mentioned that we were originally looking to move to the Bigastro area as that's where my wife had lived for 10 years previously and so knew the surrounding area very well as well as the "who's" and "Where's" regarding all the important information we needed to know.
So, once again I'm on the prowl for any information from you guys regarding the Benitachell area's, housing, schools (not private) house rental companies, area reputations, people. Basically I need to find out as much info as possible as we plan to fly there at the end of January for a months trial at my place of work, then see what happens from there.

All info and advice would be greatly appreciated 🙂

Thankyou

Wayne

Rosemary

Congratulations on the job offer and good luck with the next stage of your research.

Rosemary

St George 1974

Thankyou Rosemary 😊

bil8999

Hi St George

Benitachell, fantastic little place not far from Moraira where we have a 2nd home, we try to get out there every 6 weeks or so.
Schools I am told are very good.
Places to rent are in abundance and are very good for the price.

Where is the job on offer and doing what if you don't mind me asking.

Hope you enjoy your month works trial.

Regards Bill

St George 1974

Hey Bill!

Thanks for replying to my post, appreciate it.

From what I've read and the pictures I've seen Benitachell does look like a lovely little town so we're kinda excited here and looking forward to going there next month hopefully!!
We were looking at Moraira too but as we are looking to only rent to start I've had difficulty finding any long term lets in the area which is a shame as it was our first choice 🙁
Denia looks quite nice too but so far we have had the same problem finding long term rentals.
The job is with a glass company that's been established for a long time in the area. I'm a glasscutter by trade and have worked in the industry for a long time here in the UK. I never thought it would take us to Spain but hopefully it will! Depends on my 4 weeks trial, if I like the job and if they like me and off course if my family like living there!

Moses2013

Just make sure that the pay is decent and especially the working hours. You might be lucky with your profession, but too often you say congratulations to someone and then they find out the true salary.

St George 1974

I have asked all relevant questions and found out the hours, pay etc. It won't make me a wealthy man but the pay will more than suffice for what we need. We have the added benefit of savings too so providing the jobs ok WE should be ok 🙂

Will have to wait and see really but we are definitely ready to give it a go!

Ex-pat

Congratulations @ the job offer. Hope it works out for you. When looking for somewhere to rent, I would say, avoid the "Cumbre del Sol". The views are great but you will be a long way from shops etc. Maybe you should look at Teulada? Not too far but with more amenities.

St George 1974

Thankyou 🙂
Just hoping it works out!

I have had a quick glance at Teulada but not really spent much time looking so I'll have a more in depth look at the area, thankyou.

We're really ruled by availability of a property as we need long term rent, cost of rental as we have budgeted for around €700 max per month and state schools close by for our little girl who's 8 yrs old.

Thanks for your message! I'll go and "surf the net" for information right now on Teulada!!

bil8999

George

Thanks for your reply, agree with Ex Pat, Cumbre is a bit far out.

I am a joiner by trade and have built our place in Moraira using a number of trades, the pay and working hours appear to be ok to me, including the glass and window installers on the Benissa industrial estate on the way up to Teulada.

700 per month should get you a decent place to live.

Good luck, let me know how you get on.

Regards

Longlegpete

Teulada should have plenty of affordable accommodation, also take a look at Benissa town, a little further down the road again but there's not generally loads of traffic, as for schools they are generally regarded as good, the biggest problem i have heard people say is the teaching of valenciano, the norn is 2 hours English, 2 hours Castilian and 2 hours Valenciano per day, i have read in the paper that the newish goverment in Valencia are pushing for more Valenciano at the expense of Castilian, mad but apparently true, as outside the area it's a redundant language

St George 1974

Thanks Bill!

I definitely will, our paths might even cross in the future with some luck!

St George 1974

Hi Pete

I've not really delved into the political side of things in the area yet but that's some very important information you have given us there, thankyou. Our little girls education is our priority so we need to know these things and I shall look into it further.

I've just found a fantastic website from an English company (well I assume their English) called "Hamilton's of London" who deal with long term rentals in the area, have a few saved for future investigation!!

I would appreciate any advice on reliable letting agencies too 🙂 I know I'm asking a lot from you guys but I like to leave no stone unturned!

Wayne

Longlegpete

Hi Wayne
Hamiltons are English run and are quite well regarded in the area, they have 2 shops one in Moraira and one in Javea, both run by the same people, the area in general was not hit as hard as some in the crisis and things are definitely on the up and have been for a while now, you will find it harder and more expensive to find a place for year round rental on the coast as returns are good for the 3 1/2 months of the summer season

St George 1974

It's good to know that they are well respected in the area, thanks again Pete.

Yes we have started to realise what you say about coastal properties, however were not specifically looking to be close to the sea really, after all were hoping to be spending the rest of our lives living and working there, it's not going to be a holiday, well not until I retire anyway!
The only thing that would go in our favour I suppose is that whatever property we find we will be renting for what could be 36 months with no breaks in that at all (I understand that most expats return to their home countries for a few months of the year??) so we will be a consistent source of income for the landlord.
As long as we live in a nice area with a good school for my daughter and a few shops down the road to keep my wife happy and it's not a million miles from my works then I'll be a very happy man ☺️