Regrets?
 

It seems that we all (me included) love the bit of Spain where we have bought a home.
Is there anybody out there who actually regrets where they bought and why?

Re: Regrets?
 

Not me. I would still choose the same area/street. Unless it changed. We were fortunate to survive the ravages of the building boom re.views etc It was our 4th attempt at finding the right place though:lol:

Re: Regrets?
 

We love where we live. Surrounded by beautiful mountain scenery, minutes from fine white sand beaches with crystal clear azur waters. A kind of paradise, really. And we couldn't ask for nicer neighbours (unlike our previous experiences in Germany).

Only regret is making the assumption that we could expect same level of protection from fraudsters and blatent deliberate misrepresentation as we enjoyed in other countries, which continues to prove to be a costly mistake. Otherwise, I'd additionally characterise living here as "cheap" as well.

Re: Regrets?
 

No, have excellent neighbours and have made good friends in Mojacar Playa.

Re: Regrets?
 

I like the area we chose, and certainly wouldnt have changed that. I might have bought a slightly different type of house. This one was bought when we were intending to use it for holidays. I'd like a villa with a verandah running around it, and a patio door straight out of the bedroom to the pool terrace :D

Re: Regrets?
 

Regrets? Not sure. Still love the house and location, good neighbours, not too many issues with the ayuntamiento, all the minor stuff is minor stuff. Would we have chosen differently with the benefit of hindsight? Absolutely. Much closer to Malaga, flatter land. Not much else to change, really.

Re: Regrets?
 

For commercial reasons, I started in Estepona, then Mijas, then Benidorm, Denia and finally Torrevieja. The commercial reasons have all but disappeared to be replaced by part time and enjoyable hobbies.

This is not where we intended to stay at the completion of a long journey, but we've got used to it and seem to be stuck with it. Familiarity and a large circle of friends will probably see to that.

Daft really, but it was too cold to walk today, so we drove for around a mile or so. We did shopping, went to the bank, and stopped to think about lunch. The choice was confusing, places from all over the world, including Spanish ones. We chose fish and chips.

Stuck without regrets probably sums it up.

Re: Regrets?
 

None - although I only use my apartment for holidays. Still love the part of Denia that it's in and the fact that I can walk to lots of amenities; the town itself has just about everything you could need (imo).

Re: Regrets?
 

The only regret for me is that in my fitted kitchen we didn't think to put a dishwasher in while making changes, it's too late now without ripping it all apart. :(

As for the house and location we have no regrets at all, if we had to do it all again we would buy the same house in the same place!

Re: Regrets?
 

Denia has everything, we love it too.

Big enough for most kinds of shops or services you need, but small and compact enough to be walkable, real thriving international community but still distinctly Spanish, commercial activity due to the port, wonderful beaches...

Re: Regrets?
 

Where we lived in Spain was absolutely beautiful, very traditional and packed full of traditional farming methods and lovely friendly people, what travel agents call the 'real Spain'.

I don't actually regret moving there, we had a great eight years, and I'm glad we had the experience, it is something most people don't ever do and something we can never repeat. I particularly enjoyed renovating our 'wreck' in mini Grand Designs style :)

However, after a while I found it too quiet and remote and am now glad to be back in a UK city doing things I enjoy.

But I would not have missd my Spanish experience for the world. And we will enjoy going to Las Alpujarras for holidays.

Re: Regrets?
 

I dont regret coming back to Spain, although sometimes it is like I never really left, as I did spend a lot of time here, visiting etc.....And the strange thing is we see a lot of people that we knew in the UK, as they have holiday homes or parents living here full time.

Although I find the summers a bit too hot in Alicante,and can understand why people like to escape from the heat.

I prefer the Galician summers, and dare I say it summers in the UK at times.:)

Re: Regrets?
 

... unless you want to walk from Las Rotas to the end of Las Marinas. ;)

Re: Regrets?
 

hehe Montgomail my other half cycles that route regularly! Picturesque way to keep fit :-)

Re: Regrets?
 

No Regrets lovely neighbours and friends. only thing I miss is the family back in UK, but go three or four times a year with some coming here so keep family thermometer topped up. :thumbup:

Re: Regrets?
 

i certainly don't have regrets about not buying a home in spain. if i had bought when i arrived in spain 10 years ago, i would have a huge amount of negative equity by now!!

besides, there are so many nice places to live in this part of the world :)

Re: Regrets?
 

Where abouts are you living now Jackytoo?

Re: Regrets?
 

Well I am in Algorfa village , great best thing I ever done.Cheap living, healthly life style. great friends Spanish Engish German Russian,Scandanavian.
In saying this not very touristy as not a lot there but a few quality restaurants supermarket laundrete electric shop and ferritaria,few bars on the square 2 spanish 1 british. A few other tapas bars around Hosts a fab fiesta in July. Where Spanish and incomers mix comfortably and enjoy together.
We rarely see any lager louts here, Except for the odd summer renter
Quiet place but has everything you need to live.but is very central accessabile to beaches and sand dunes , by car ,not the business of Torre. With the joy of discovering inland spain also on your door step cant fault it.
Its smashing to visit the busy places around but heaven to retreat back to my casa heaven
One has to find what suits them I love this place :D
Only one regret wish I had more money to buy bigger place.

Re: Regrets?
 

Can I ask Johnnyone is there a reason for posing this particular question??????

Re: Regrets?
 

Out of interest.
Also when new posters looking to move to Spain come on the forum there is always plenty of advice about how careful you have to be.
Not everyone could get that right and I thought a few posts from people who have regretted their move may be useful and perhaps serve as a warning.
I just do not believe everyone has no regrets about their move.
I do think there are a number of rose tinted posters where all things best are Spanish and was looking for a bit of balance.
So far there has not been one post of regret, probably like asking a DM reader who they are voting for.

Re: Regrets?
 

A good post J1.

I have known many people who did things right, but still regretted the move, some regret it for what may seem trivial reasons, but to them not so.

The heat in the summer is often cited for this, I know someone who was a real sunworshipper when younger, but on moving to Spain found that she could not tolerate the summer sun, like she could 20 years ago.

There are plenty of posts on the OZ Canada, US sections of people regretting the move, after all the hoops those people had to jump through to be accepted in the first place, so it was usually well thought out, but they still have regrets.

Those posters seem to get a lot of sympathy from others who understand their feeling, and a lot agree with them, but due to all the planning and hard work to get there, they try to stick it out.

However if someone makes comment about Spain not being right for them (for whatever reason) they are shouted down as being negative, failing to intergrate, miserable, bad attitude etc. So I presume that they refrain from expressing thier view.

A distant relative of mine in the UK, regretted moving back to Spain after being their for 20 odd years, said the reason was "it was not England"

Re: Regrets?
 

You can have regrets about changing where you live, without being totally negative about a place. I've found it far harder to get work since coming back to England from Madrid, most things are quite expensive, and the old myth of English efficiency is sadly wide of the mark (try getting delayed for the umpteenth time on the Underground) but that doesn't mean everything is bad. At least there are lots of nice walks, parks etc here in London and plenty of well-publicised events that take place. And as mentioned in many threads, the heat of full summer can be hard to bear in Spain. There may be many more wet days but I quite like the English summer. I just need to find a cafe that serves cafe con hielo! :)

Re: Regrets?
 

Friends and ex neighbours of ours did exactly that, absolute sun worshipers, moved to Portugal, now can't stand July/August, it's unbearably hot even for them. Also sadly underestimated how cold it can get in winter, last time over here she said what she would give for her old central heating back! So if they ever sell, they're heading home, many thousands of pounds lighter. :frown: It's a bit like Sevilla, probably one of my favourite cities, but no way would I want to live there, well certainly not in the summer.

Re: Regrets?
 

:)

no regrets from us either! And we're glad we didnt move to a wholly english area, based on the hassle we have had with (some) other brits since moving to spain.

Re: Regrets?
 

I agree with that. I'm glad we didn't buy a place 12 years ago.

Re: Regrets?
 

And I just can't understand why some people refuse to believe that some of us here have NO REGRETS about our move, it's as if they would just love us all to be miserable and longing to return. :thumbdown:

Saying we have no regrets is not saying one place is better than another, it's just saying that after all the planning that goes into such a life changing experience some of us at least got it right!

Re: Regrets?
 

There are a lot of things people regret when they move anywhere new.....And moving abroad is no different, some regret buying when they did, others regret not buying when they should have, some regret not bringing furniture, winter clothes.

Others regret leaving people, jobs etc behind.

Regretting not being able to go to the places football matches they used to go.

People regret changing pounds to euros on a certain day, others regret not changing.

Life is one round of little regrets, that is what life is, but it does not make us unhappy if they are looked upon as minor irritations or just simply life.

And as long a the little regrets dont turn in to humungus regrets of the more important things, then the balance is fine.

Re: Regrets?
 

That's not what I meant. Although only a holiday home I have no regrets about buying our house.
I also have friends who have made the move with no regrets.
However I just do not believe that is the case with everyone and was interested in hearing other peoples experiences that they regretted.

Re: Regrets?
 

Careful planning certainly helps, but in some cases no amount of it seems to make a difference if the reality turns out to be different to how someone imagined life in Spain would be - I know a few people who have been in that situation, the latest being a neighbour who returned to the UK last week, leaving her husband behind. It's a pity, but we just have to acknowledge that sometimes we make changes to our lives that turn out not to have been for the best after all - has anyone ever changed their job for career advancement, maybe even relocating because of it, only to think after a few months "OMG, what have I done?".

Because life in Spain doesn't suit some people, that doesn't mean that it is, or will be, bad for everyone. You just can't be 100% sure in advance.

I don't regret moving to Spain, having bought a house here, or the particular house I bought. I do anticipate, though, that we will want to try to move after a few more years but that will be because we want to make some changes because of getting older, not because there's anything wrong with the house.