Hello colinneale,
I live in Sax and know this area well, as I have been here over two years, and love the town, you may like to look at this site of mine about Sax,

Sax Town

I write a newsletter for the Expats living in this area, I have found some of the best places to live here is either in the town or in the "Campo" I live just outside the town and have never had any problem with the local Spanish community both in or out of town, I have more Spanish friends then English as that is the way I want to live, dont get me wrong I have some super English friends, But when I moved to Spain I wanted to be surrounded by Spanish.

I lived and worked in Spain some 30 years ago (I did not speak Spanish then) and fell in love with this area of Spain, there is little crime here and the local Police are very friendly and a great help to all residents. Take a look at the site and email me with your comments about this little gold mine of a town.

We are about 40 mins from the coast line of Alicante, and 30 mins from the airport, we live in the vally of the Rio Vinalopo with stunning views, and great eating holes, we have a ladies group who go out each Friday on trips to local towns, the Gym, craft group, etc most of the ladies drive so there should be no problem getting out and about, the men seem to meet up as and when as there is no hard or fast rules we just phone each other up and gpo for a drink.

So ther is a little bit about the Expats that live here in this wonderful town of Sax. hope that has made the juices flow!!!

David SR

Thanks for the reply Countryboy.
The valley of Rio Vinalopo? when I did a search on Multimap it came up with about 16 places? Do you live in a village or can I assume that you live in the town of Sax.
I think we will be looking for rental property in & arround Sax.

Thanks again
Colin

I live just on the outskirts of Sax about a 10 mins walk I am in town often for bread milk etc. I love the place, we shall have to meet up and I will show you around... PM me for details

depending on the property price u have built on i hope u mean 90000 euros not not pouinds

Colin

I would be interested to know if you have had any feedback on the chances of living on £900 per month. We are in a similar position to you in that we would have approximately £70k to spend on a new property, if we keep our UK home and rent it out. Alternatively we invest the £70k and rent in Spain.

Taking into account investment income from the £70k (£290 per month) existing pension £550 per month, rental from UK property approx £550 per month I envisage that we would have approx £1390 per month to spend on rent and general living for 3, or approx £1100 if we buy with the £70k and do not rent a property. What we would get for £70k is debateable, so long as it is habitable with some land we do not mind a bit of a DIY project. I am not sure whether this is do-able as I am not sure how much the Spanish rental will cost us, so I would be looking for a part time job to top up our income (see my other message on this forum relating to looking after expat villas).

Your comments would be gratefully appreciated to help me and Colin with budget preparation.

What about the Costa Tropical, the property prices here are still very reasonable, there are some british families in this area and the beach is 5 minutes drive. The airport of Almeria can be reached in just under an hour. I know a good estate agent in this area and could give you their details...

We sold our property at home and made 90000 profit but we used three quarters of that and a small spanish mortgage of 55000 euros which costs 200 pounds a month the property which is new and is a bungalow with 4 beds 2 baths and cost 100000 pounds. Bearing in mind you have to put 10% roughly on top of that. In the long run it would be cheaper to buy as the over here is going up all the time, some friends of ours rent a 4 bed place and pay 575 euros a month. Also bearing in mind the cost of living is a lot cheaper over here. new cars are cheaper, incidently dont bother bringing youre car over its too much hassle, buy new over here they are cheaper than at home.vely youy could buy
Whilst looking over here in Almeria we looed at quite a few older properties some needed substancial work where as some needed none and they range from 70000-130000 euros and thats only a maximum of roughly 90 grand.

Any other questions dont hesitate to ask

Simon

We've settled in the Guadalhorce valley about 30 minutes from Malaga. Lovely peaceful area, close to facilities but far away enough to get that 'away from it all' feeling. Property prices still reasonable ( in some parts ! ) Been here 4 years, love it !

Colin.
we have rerecentlyoved to Malaga. in Alameda. with two young children have have found it to be a wowonderfullace..we have all the shops we need plplus school the village of Alameda is such a friendly place after only a few weWeeksere spspeakingo spSpanishnd all around me speaking no English..i felt at home. we are coming up to 12 months here now and i still feel the same.

PLEASE TELL ME HOW DO I FIND A DECENT LAWYER? SURELY YOU ONLY FIND OUT THEY ARE DODGY AFTER ITS TOO LATE? I am probably going to Spain next few days to buy property - the estate agent has their own lawyers but i am worried about that. If I am to find a Lawyer myself what is the spanish for Lawyer please? Many thanks in advance.

Mrs Teapot (too busy to have a cuppa right now!).

The Spanish term for lawyer is Abogado. In the United Kingdom a lawyer would be better known as a solicitor or in the case of the United States - an attorney.

Of course the best way is by recommendation - if you tell us where you are buying then maybe some locals can make some suggestions.

Regards

Mark

Where about in Spain are you going?