Regrets ???
 

Hi everyone, I'm always on this forum reading and trying to learn from everyone in the hope that one day we can follow our dream and sample life in Spain.

Over the many months of reading this forum and trying to learn as much as possible regards life in Spain from the web, I have found that although the typical dream is to own a nice property, possibly with its own swimming pool/gardens etc I personally now have serious doubts over buying and am considering long term rental may be the better option.

I have many reasons for now thinking this way which got me thinking of starting a new thread and asking what decisions people made in their lives with regards moving to Spain and what they regret, what they are glad they did and what would they change if they could turn back time ??

Hopefully hear from you all soon.

Re: Regrets ???
 

Everybody will have a different reason and a different approach. For some a permanent move with renting makes sense, while others might just spend half the year in Spain, or go when it suits. Are you retired, or do you need to work? I'm not retired and only have property in Spain (holiday home), but I certainly have no regrets buying. Everyone spends money differently and it depends what you can afford and expect. I'm not making any money with the property, it's only for personal use and I'm well aware that the value could drop. Others might buy a car or spend money on expensive holidays, so it's just personal choice. While it is always recommended to rent before buying, I certainly prefer having my own place. Renting is great for flexibility, but you have no guarantee you can always call the place home.

Re: Regrets ???
 

Hi Moses,

I am 7 years from retirement, play a lot of very average golf as a hobby and until recently was very interested in buying a small holiday home in Spain to use for family holidays and golf trips with friends and family. Having looked into this I believe the amount of time, effort, money and worry this would have cost me, it simply wasn't worth it and It was easier to simply book worry free holidays.

However the wife and I still do want to, at some point in our lives, sample life abroad and our plan now is to spend our holidays until retirement trying to find that somewhere we feel we could live and upon retiring book a number of 2-3 month rentals to sample it. Part of me doesn't want it to be a roaring success simply because having read this forum for a while the thought of buying a property seems riddled with worry and stress.

To be honest though I started this thread for peoples thoughts/regrets etc on not only buying or renting but on every aspect of moving to Spain. What regrets they have now they have moved, what they would do differently and would they turn back time ??

Thanks

Re: Regrets ???
 

We purchased off plan and were very happy with the purchase. It is very nice to own my own property, we have no regrets but … for some it can be a very expensive mistake. If you choose the wrong location / neighbours / etc and who can predict that our circumstances will not change in ten years?

I would suggest you are wise to rent. That is what I would do if and when I had to do it again, I would rent an unfurnished property ……..

Re: Regrets ???
 

Hola, I am one of the lucky ones; back in 2002, my kids paid £63,000 for my three bed bungalow in its own plot. If they sell it at today’s prices, then they should get more than that given the current exchange rate. And that is the crux of the problem; anyone buying today could lose a packet if the rate of exchange goes up to say £1 = 1.50€

Given what was paid I think “Yes I would do it all again” but if I had paid say £200,000 then “No I wouldn’t do it all again”. Not that £63,500 is pocket money but my thinking was that if I lived for another ten years, then the price would be about the same as renting, but with the advantage of getting something back. Life is what you make it so having “made it” here, I would have made it wherever I retired.

So no regrets; I have made my bed and will now lie in it but to be brutally honest, I gave it a year after which I “went and sat on a mountain top and contemplated my navel”. My conclusion was simply that moving wouldn’t really be any answer; you would be just running away rather than stay and make it work.

Davexf

Re: Regrets ???
 

Some people decide to have 3 kids, others buy a sports car for pleasure and then others spend thousands on holidays every year. Do they regret it? You can question everything and all you can do is decide what's best for you personally. Ideally I'd probably split time between Ireland and Spain once retired and since I'm earning €, exchange rates don't affect me personally (good point from Dxf). If I don't fancy Spain anymore, I'd just sell.

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With the benefit of nearly 20 Spanish years hindsight:

Would not have bought off-plan on a large development - made to assumptions everything would be perfect. I would advise try and find a ready-built mature area.

I would have made more of an effort to really learn adequate Spanish during the first year (I got a bit sidetracked by blue skies and cheap beer!)

Apart from that I have had many great experiences and met a lot of good friends and have no real regrets about my decision to live in Spain. Yes, there have been ups and downs but hey they occur wherever you live.

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Please don't think I'm trying to suggest purchasing property in Spain is a bad idea. Far from it in fact as one day I may take the plunge myself if the time is right. This thread was not particularly about purchasing property but sometimes good lessons can be learned by listening to experienced people and simply asking them, now they have experience in living in Spain, what they would do differently ?, what they are glad they did ?, glad they moved to a certain location ?, glad they found work ?, glad they returned to the UK ?? etc etc.

I'm just after peoples experiences really as I'm very interested in how moving abroad worked out for people and also someone may mention something regards moving I never even considered.

Thanks

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Ha Ha, Easily done I guess !?!?!

Re: Regrets ???
 

I get your point, but most people are only focused on the area they live now and will never know if another location would have worked out better (same for us). I've often heard people on this forum moan about Catalonia and they say that you have to speak Catalan, although they've never lived there. I've actually noticed the opposite and if you're willing to speak a few words of Spanish and greet people with a nice bon dia, most will happily help. Especially along the coast, nearly everyone speaks English these days, but you have to at least try a few words in Spanish. The biggest challenge will always be language and again just depends on the person. Some avoid it by moving to a British community, others just find different ways to communicate or might use a gestor. Especially with Google and other apps, it's not that hard to translate things but it's more time consuming. Luckily we only visit now and usually drive down with our own car, so don't have to worry about things such as car insurance and phone bills.

Re: Regrets ???
 

If you want to play golf & possibly have a swimming pool, then you're doubtless looking at somewhere near the Med. I am retired, my wife is from here (Basque country) & so our position is different from a couple who are both British. Eg, I am included in the health service here & pay nothing for it. No regrets coming to retire here for various reasons:
* quality of life; generally the Spanish work to live, whilst the British now live to work
* so much to see & explore the different areas of Spain
* public transport much cheaper than UK
* our handicapped child has a much better quality of life here
* you can keep in touch with the British media via satellite links or similar. We have internet radio & I listen most days to something on Radio 4!
* road infrastructure is very good; road signs & Spanish driving is however what I'd classify as "could do better".

However, not everything is rosy:
* any assets world-wide are liable for Spanish tax if you are permanently resident here (183days+)
* being near so many "Brits" isn't for everybody; one week in Mijas in our friend's chalet near Fuengirola is more than enough for us. After a couple of "full English breakfasts" in "Sid & Dot's bar" the novelty wears off!
* Language can be a barrier; get learning Spanish now, because at least you'll have a reason for doing so.
* Don't ever give up your UK bank account. Once closed, you cannot easily open another one.
* Being a native English speaker can open doors in the job market if need be, though it's not everybody's cup of tea. Unemployment generally is higher than in many other EU countries, & especially in provinces along the Med.
* At some stage you'll need the help of a 'gestor' or solicitor. There are many sharks even in that field (though I do not speak from experience).

Definitely rent first. Everybody here will tell you that. I reckon you'd need a joint monthly retirement income of around €2000 give or take to enjoy your life here.

Best wishes.

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Golf is your main / only hobby?
You might want to focus your location to an area close to a great club, i.e. rather than a great course.
Course nearest me is well maintained but boring. More importantly the social club is lively with a good restaurant and regular organised trips to many other courses.

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Having visited Mijas and played many of its superb golf courses I fully agree with you regards Fuengirola. No thank you..LOL

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Eh ?!?!?!?

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Regrets? I've had a few. But then again, too few to mention.

Sorry :getcoat:

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And now i'm on my bike of that i'm certain , and more much more of this i'm sure it's curtains
Sorry:getcoat:

Re: Regrets ???
 

As one of the "younger" members of the forum, I can give you my point of view :

Let your kids finish their education if you have any. Let them learn a trade or get a qualification before they come to Spain. There is no "bar work" or "easy" jobs for us as foreigners to get here. Have them learn Spanish before they come over. Dont move to the middle of nowhere if you want the kids to have a life. If they are old enough, get them driving before they come over here.

If your kids are 0-10 years, move whenever you like, the earlier the better.

If you are going to retire here and have no kids, it can be great, but the same caveats apply - learn some spanish.. dont expect do do everything here that you used to do there - there are "clubs" and "groups" in the more "expat" areas, but elsewhere you will be lonely.

If you need to work to survive, make sure you have enough money in the bank not to need to - think 10k per person per year, at least.

Not everything is rosy / peachy.. leave the rose coloured spectacles in the history books, and realise that every single person here, regardless of who or where they are, will try to rip you off, and will chat sh*t. Until someone actually turns up, believe nothing that anyone says. Your fellow brits will be the worst.

Being a "long term" renter (5+ years) remember that the owners just want the money. If something breaks, its very rare that they will turn up after 3 or 4 calls / messages etc, and then they will say its your fault. On "rent day", they will be at the door at 08.00 wanting cash in their sweaty little hands. Renting is not cheap. A "decent" house within 40 min of the coast will be around €1000 a month. Further Inland is alot cheaper, but if you are coming for the beach / golf life you will soon get sick of driving for an hour to get anywhere.

Dont get me wrong, I will probably be ridiculed for saying all this, I will probably be disagreed with. They will be right, there are some nice people around.. but they are rare and will probably vanish as fast as they showed up.

I would say "save for your own retirement / rainy day" - put at least 5% of your income aside, in a jar etc for when you need it - you never know when things can become unstuck.

Remember things are not as cheap in Spain as everyone thinks, and cheap things are normally chinesium and will break after the first use. Decent tools and household items can be expensive, but worth it.

If you are happy to spend all your time with your partner, or wandering around town having a coffee nodding to the locals and laughing and saying si si si when you havent got a clue what anyones saying, you´ll fit right in. It soon gets tiresome tho - believe nobody when they say "ohh yes i´m intergrated well into the society and i have lots of spanish friends etc etc".. and then they go shopping in a carrefour hypermarket and the only word of spanish that they say all week is "no gracias" when they are asked if they need a carrier bag...


Dont believe what anyone says, go into things with your eyes wide open, ask lots of questions.. have some long holidays here to see if you like it first.

Re: Regrets ???
 

I think your reply is very good and informative and will give people an excellent view of live in spain well done.I agree with most of what you say ,i was very interested in the children part. :goodpost:

Re: Regrets ???
 

Thank you so much for taking the time to post this.

I was always a firm believer that reality was never going to be how it looks in the dream and so thank you for confirming this. The more I research and the more I speak to the wife about this I think we are going to do exactly as you say when we retire and take some long holidays. Who knows which way we will decide after that but at least we will fully understand how it feels to live there when not in holiday mode.

One final question to you.....If your still young, can you see yourself staying or is moving back to the UK a possibility ??

Thanks again.

Re: Regrets ???
 

I live on a remote Canary Island, my relatives lived on the Iberian peninsular and seemed to associate with many from their country of birth. I thought about such an existence, but having arrived in this archipelago, from the Caribbean, in 1962, the magnetic pull of the islands was too strong, and once I was able I disposed of my business and chattels I settled here.

Many here are like me, immigrants, mainly from the Caribbean or South America, my neighbours are Venezuelan and Cuban, the man mending the road is from Ecuador, a doctor I know is from Cordoba in Argentina. Few maybe seven or eight are from the British Isles, the English language is rarely used and rarely spoken.

The climate is kind, the people are friendly, the young are polite and still show respect to their elders. I have had so far no regrets about moving here, like most of the other immigrants I applied for, and was granted nationality.

So here I will stay.

Re: Regrets ???
 

oh dont get me wrong, there are people and familes that 'make it work' and live here like they would of done in the uk.. But many people feel isolated and lonely and 'seperated' from life. They sit inside their houses watching their english tv only going out to go to dinner or to go shopping in a big supermarket, or to drive an hour to play golf on their own all day..

the times when anyone could come here, have a great time drinking cheap beer, driving around in their english car however they want and generally 'living the high life' have gone. The beer is still cheap, but the 'recklessness' or the 'village life' is gone, consumed by the multi-cultralism / modernisation of the country which is technically what everyone wants or needs but doesnt enjoy because it 'ruins' the illusion that they have that is shown on every tv program and film in the uk.

There is more unemployment here in spain than the uk. There are more people living under the poverty line. There are more people on benefits here than ever. It is not paradise unless you come here with an income from elsewhere and can afford to live in the way that you are accustomed to.

to answer your question, would i go back to the uk.. Ive no idea what 'the uk' is now. I havent been there for years. Ten years ago i used to be in the uk one week of every month, just for fun, to see friends etc.

if i could go back in time i would never of come to spain in the first place.

We have what we have, and we grow and make the most of it. If i could go back to my house in the uk, as it was when we left in 1999 then i would.move tomorrow.

to answer to the curiosity, im 38. Ive been here since i was 17 in 1999. And no, i didnt finish my a-levels. We as a family have struggled, survived, but never really lived. We as a family have never claimed unemployment, we have survived with what we had.

Welcome to spain as a 'working class' family.

Re: Regrets ???
 

Thats interesting, that no english is spoken.. A far cry from fuengerola / andalucia costas in general. The young here are .. Not polite, but are rude and loud.

Probably the difference between 'brit' kids and 'south american'.

we as a company, until last year, employed solely south american workers - we have found that they 'get on with it' more than the spanish counterparts. This year it seems there are more romanians applying.

Re: Regrets ???
 

Re: Regrets ???
 

i meant no 'anger' or 'animosity' towards anyone, its just my opinion and i believe that everyone is entitiled to that - everyones point of view helps.your decisions

Re: Regrets ???
 

I didn't see it that way at all and all your points were all very good. I just think in this case the OP is overthinking. As far as I know, is that he was dreaming about a holiday home and now comparing full time living with holidays. Regardless of buying or renting, life for a pensioner spending a few months in the sun will be very different to the life of a young couple with kids and no job. Normally it's the other way around on this forum and the young couple with kids and no job believes they can live the life of a pensioner in Spain.

Re: Regrets ???
 

We haven't moved yet but have spent the last 15 years visiting the area we ended up buying in. Although we purchased something totally different from our original plan.
I suppose we are lucky in that we have family and friends of said family living in the same area. so we have an already built social network (and no they are not all Brits)

Im looking forward to a simpler life, cooking fresh food and enjoying the different culture and lifestyle in Spain. Ok I will still have beans for breakfast and chips etc, but we live near the coast here in the Uk and enjoy fresh fish and I expect that to continue.

The first thing we are going to do is enrol in Spainish lessons and try to speak some at home (we already try to now)
Then we are going to do a bit of travelling around to see some of the different cities (Her in the Uk I drive over 1000miles a week for my job and have seen i reckon 65% of the Uk)

The one thing we won't be doing is treating it like a never ending holiday. I rarely drink now and don't tend to do on holiday either, I like walking, painting, working on my car. Once in spain I will not be working so I will have lots more time for the things I enjoy. I might even try to finish the book I started writing years ago..

I don't believe anyone should just up and go anywhere. The programmes on TV show a rose tinted view. How can people dream of moving to Australia when they have never even been there (I have and its not somewhere I would move to)

Re: Regrets ???
 

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Some very good posts here. Thank you all.

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I don't know the answer, but I wonder how many people that move to Spain do so because in the UK they have such feelings and such a life (see the red text just above). Better weather, new surroundings and a fresh start might make all the difference for some people.

Re: Regrets ???
 

Well, I'm glad that hasn't happened here. Sounds awful.

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2k is more than enough. a rental property is around 1000 a month, 250 a week to live on and you´ll be living like royalty. If you buy a house the mortgage payments will be around 550-600.