gail22

Hola Everybody
I've just stumbled on this site as I've been researching taking our cats with us to Spain for a year. We (me and my sister) are in the happy position of being able to take early retirement and are thinking about moving to the balmy climes of Spain instead of shivering through another Scottish summer! Yes, I DID say summer!
We're considering renting for a year through a company called Professional Business Support and wondered if any of you have heard of this company or used them? They are advertising 3 bed, 2 bath "quad" houses for 400 Euros a month which sounds eminently reasonable to us. But can anyone advise us what other monthly costs we might encounter? They say the utilities bills are normally paid by direct debit but they don't say how much they will be or what they cover. The property is near Alicante.
Any help or advice will be most appreciated

pwwm

I wish you luck with your venture, sorry as I dont live in that part I wont comment, just wanted to say welcome and have fun with your new life

gail22

Well, thanks for that - very much appreciated. We're really excited about the prospect and hope it all works out. What area are you in and are you loving it??

lynnxa

never heard of the company............as for utilities............it depends.........water cheaper than the UK, electricity I think is more expensive & gas I think about the same - & as in the UK it depends on how much you use

shop around for a rental property though - maybe come for a quick recce & look at lots while you're here - it's a renter's market atm so don't just rent 'off the internet' & be prepared to negotiate

we pay less now for a 5 bed house (with amazing shared facilities) than 8 years ago for a 3 bed apartment (with just a balcony) in the same area

missile

Precisely where? "Near Alicante" is a huge area. There are some very rough areas which you would do well to avoid. Prices depend primarily on location and to a lesser extent things like furnishings etc.

I would suggest, you could get a better deal for a long term rental. I would suggest a shorter term trial before commitment.

In July / August it can get oppresively hot when you are here 24/7 and you may long for Scottish summer.

I hope you enjoy.

Rosemary

As Concierges for the Spanish section of BE we would like to say hello and welcome.

BE is a very large expat website, so if you have problems finding your way around we have concierges who will try to direct you. The moderators for the Spanish forums are Mitzyboy and Fred James, moderators are there to ensure that the site runs smoothly within the rules of BE. Problems and complaints should always be addressed to a moderador who will look into the matter and deal with it efficiently and fairly. Our members who post in the Spain Forums are friendly and helpful with a wealth of knowledge of the issues of living in Spain. At the top of the page you will find a quirkily named thread called Free Beer which is full of important and useful information. Hope you enjoy your time participating in the forums.

Please let us know if you need any further help.

Rosemary and Graham

gill556

I live in the Alicante area although a few miles south of Alicante. My friend has just arrived to live here and brought her 2 cats (furniture arrives today). This time of the year you will have a large choice of rental property but I would like to suggest that you do a short term rental first while you look around and find somewhere you really like. Your neighbours will be very important to you and you need to know if there are barking dogs, screaming kids etc. which you don't always see during the day. Little things can become major issues when you are at home all day and I have several friends who have returned to the UK because of inconsiderate neighbours. It looks so nice to live next to a pool or overlooking a green area but believe me they can make your life a misery. Life is what you make it and I love living in Spain, we did a lot of research before we chose where we live but even so there were things we didn't take in to consideration. Some people choose a Spanish village, sounds lovely but in a lot of them you will have kids playing football and riding motorbikes until 2.00am and the Spanish are very noisy and don't seem to hear noise themselves. You might fancy the country but then again you have to think of transport, internet and more important access to emergency services. An urbanisation is not for everyone as we don't all live by the same rules, however you will have a choice of friends usually of mixed nationalities, there may be those that you don't really want to mix with but there will also be plenty who will also be there to help you. Spain is a lovely country but has it's own problems, life has its ups and downs wherever you live but the sunshine and relaxed way of life are superb.

HBG

There are thousands of 'quad' houses available for rent to the south of Alicante at the price quoted by the OP. It would be better to travel to the area and personally inspect what is available rather than use the internet sites, many of which are run by bandits trying to con people, the horror stories are reported all over the place.

There will be even more available over the next year or so as the Spanish recession worsens, which it must. There are some good areas for renting those houses and some bad areas which are no better than the slums back home.

In a lot of cases they are for rent under dubious circumstances, where the owners have gone skint and returned to the UK, unable to fund their mortgages and hoping that the rents will pay their commitments. It's unlikely to work and the houses will eventually be repossessed by the banks, thousands have already been taken back by the banks and they can't sell them or rent them out for love or money.

I'm sorry to sound so negative, and there are beautiful houses available in great areas at very cheap rents from caring owners, but those are very much in the minority among a mountain of soul-destroying dross.

Knowing Scottish summers though, I would give it a go for a while, but with a return ticket and somewhere to return to.

pwwm

Hi Gail, yes we have been here for eight years and still loving it, we live in Abuñol a small town on the Costa Tropical, one hour from Almería and two hours from Málaga. we are stuated just 100ft up with views down the valley to the sea. The neughbours are all Spanish, though we are on the edge of the town we do get noise rising from the town at fiesta time and often Saturday night, but we are in their country, we dont complain re noise, just join in.

The Spanish have welcomed us with open arms, many friends amongst them, they have helped whilst OH was ill this year, they always want to know why I am away when I visit UK and have to show myself when back

Another poster has said gas is the same as UK, we pay 15€ 20c per butano bottle, same one in UK is more than double.

We find, certainly here where we are that it is far cheaper than UK, we live a much better quality of life on a small budget than we ever could in the UK. Ok we dont work, lucky to have taken early retirement, managed the money to last until pension time and onward.

As I posted in my first post, good luck, enjoy embrace the way of life, learn the language, alphabet will help you understand and pronounce more, dont be afraid of trying they will love you for it.

Feel free to pm if you wish

Pat , pwwm