sconie

Hi all please bare with me on this one...
We are going to be mortgage free within eighteen months on our UK home and have always planned to buy a place in the sun to use as a holiday home for the family and for "snowbirding" over our dreadful long, dark, cold Scottish winters once we retire in approx 10 years.

Although we love the USA and have spent most of our family vacations there over the last twenty years, the expensive property and maintenance taxes, as well as the maximum six months we could spend there as UK citizens, means that we have decided to look elsewhere for a holiday home.

We chose southern Spain for it's warmer year long climate, lower annual taxes and running costs and less than three hour flight with good availability from Scotland direct.

Our present train of thought is to keep a UK home although we may downsize after retirement, as fail-safe security but spend several months in the US in long term lets and the majority of the remainder in Spain.

I would appreciate comments and advice from forum members on this idea, I hope that the financial and property turbulence in Spain will not overly effect this as we have no intention of working there, nor would we be relying on rental income as I will be mortgaging and paying for the property myself.

Many thanks.

stuboy

Could you not just as easy buy in the canaries and 'snowbird there'. It has a very similar climate to Florida over the winter period.

Countryboy1

Winter climate perhaps, but for sugary sand beaches and beautifully warm waters, Florida's gulf coast takes some beating. Plus better fish, meat & restaurants, better customer service. No contest really.

sconie

It's not just the climate, my good lady loves shopping in the US and we would like to tour the states, I also motorcycle a lot and I intend to tour more of Europe from our holiday home.

HBG

I too considered Florida against Spain, but the latter won by a short head. The limited stay in the US put me off as well, and Spain sounded more adventurous, and I looked forward to learning a foreign language.

I kept a base in the UK and I'm pleased I did considering the current state of the Spanish property market and the uncertainty concerning the exchange rate against the Euro, my income now more or less depending on the rate I get for my British pound.

And I've never seen an alligator in Spain, but nearly ran over several in Florida.

stuboy

Fair enough, perhaps you could holiday in the US during the worst of the winter months and consider a more northerly location in Spain. Southern Spain is great but it is after all a peninsula and you would have to travel a fairly long way to get up into main body of Europe (so to speak)

sconie

Thanks for the replies, good point about wintering in Florida, if we bought further north in Spain we might get more property for our money, I would also like to tackle Spanish, it will still come in handy in the US as there are many Spanish speakers there.

Hopefully the property market will have stabilised prior to our purchase .

steviedeluxe

Unless by further north you really meant Valencia and/or Murcia, I don't think you would get more property for your money. Better built and winter resistant, possibly. Property prices I believe are generally higher in the Basque country and in Catalunya, than in the south.

sconie

Yes I was meaning that I could also consider the Valencia and Murcia area, I would prefer a town house or country property rather than one of the many beach front condos, if necessary I am prepared to buy earlier if the right property crops up at the right price. Although I think there is still a way to go before Spanish property hits bottom.

Jerseygirl

Buying property in Florida for the winter months is something we have considered. The downside is...hurricanes and the cost of maintenance whilst you are not there (air con/pool and garden maintence/condo fees etc). Of course for a non US citizen...there is also the chance that US Immigration may not allow you to enter the US if they consider you are trying to make it your home. You could also have a problem with travel insurance once you get into your 60's and/or have any health problems...especially if you wish to stay more than a month or so. You will also need to buy a car and insure it.

Having a home in the UK is a great idea...but having multiple properties is very expensive. You also need someone who can keep an eye on the properties. Buildings/contents insurance could be a problem if the property is left empty for more than a month.

jonboy

Sconie,
I like your plan as you can invest in Spain for a property and travel the U.S as and when. I appreciate the advice from Jerseygirl re limitations/cost on length of insurance if you were to stay six months a year in the U.S. I have seen retirement places in Florida where the basic property/complex fees are in the region of £600 per month, but you do get golf fees thrown in.
The thing we have noticed about property is that it owns us, we do not own it! The result is that once bought we feel the need to see it often enough to feel we are getting value from it.
Perhaps we have not seen more of the world as we tend to go on repeat visits to our holiday place. OK, so perhaps one will never really be happy!
We wish you the best of luck with your plans

sconie

Jerseygirl...
Yep, after many years in vacations in Florida, we thought many times about buying a place, buteven at todays bargain prices, the taxes and running costs rule it out. I work at the Airport and with my work pattern I could spend one week every month in Spain without touching my holiday leave, so i would be certain to get use of it.

I knew a retired couple that worked for BA who retired to Florida, within the first year the wife developed a heart problem......wham...dreamup in smoke. So the healthcare in Spain makes more sense.

As I see it, we will continue to visit and stay in Florida regardless, so the question is do we do that from the UK or Spain, after a working life in Scotlands miserable weather my wife and I want sun, sun, sun.

Jonboy...
Your also correct, property does own us, but in the long run we have to take a gamble on how and where we retire too, currency fluctuations are a problem, but the biggest problem for me is the price of flights, the taxes on the flight to Florida are now £240 the same as a basic seat price, I can no longer justify paying over £3000 for flights to spend two weeks in Florida, I can only see me returning for long stay in the future.

stuboy

Over £3000 for flights alone? Unless you normally travel first/business class this seems high.

Nigeljay

I agree about renting in Florida. My wife and I love Florida but she tired of the long flights and I could never relax during the Hurricane season when we were back in the UK for worrying about our investment. With good cause mind, our place sustained 200,000 US dollars worth of damage from Charlie, Frances and the other hurricane whose name I forget. We couldn't sell for two years as it took that long to sort the insurance, find workmen and project managers and get the job done.

We've now got a place in Moraira and all I have to worry about is the Gota Fria and the Spanish economy.

By the way we will always keep our UK base.

sconie

Stuboy....
Sorry that's for four of us and flying economy with BA, the eco taxes are turning Florida and other long haul destinations into the old "once in a lifetime" holidays they used to be.

Nigeljay.....
Yep that sounds a familiar Florida story. I gave up on my Florida dream home years ago for all the reasons above, Like I say we will travel there until health reasons stop us, but for now we'll start looking harder at Spain to narrow down where and what we want.

Thanks to all again for your contributions, the only real negative so far seems to be the additional cost of running two properties and still having to pay for monthly rental whilst in Florida, but if we stayed in the UK permanently we would still be renting in Florida anyway, so the extra cost is really the Spanish home, and we benifit from year long sunshine and affordable flights that we can still readily use pre retirement.