casa del sol

Just to say we bought over 5 years ago and we have no regrets whatsoever. We did not buy to rent it out, or to try to make money, just to enjoy everything Spain has to offer. What we have is small and beautiful and did not cost us a fortune, a perfect bolt hole in the sun.

Mitzyboy

We bought to rent out three years ago, but ended up moving here to live instead ......... funny how things work out.

Happy with the decision so far, but it has been stressful at times

Eve

We bought our little piece of Spain 5 years ago just for our use, wouldn't like to think of strangers sleeping in my beds! Yuk! We hope to move out eventually but for now it is home from home, I get there as often as poss about 3 months of the year. I have just returned from the summer there and was joined by OH for the last 3 weeks. I savour every moment there, feel part of the community and feel one hundred per cent happy even when there alone.
Luv Eve
xx

costablancaAnna

We bought our place 3 years ago , next month.We loved the garden and thought we would learn to love the house .But that hasnt happened , its strangely laid out and quite small.And now it looks like the outer kitchen wall is falling down
I love living in Spain , but I want to buy a nicer place and then I hope I will be even happier
Anna

scampicat

We bought a little white house in a pueblo blanco in the mountains four years ago. We love our house and have never regretted buying it.

We live in it permanently at the moment but if/when we return to the UK for any length of time, then it will be available for rental. However, it will be no problem if there are no takers.

Rosemary

Chose our area very carefully. Bought a townhouse which needed decorating but have ripped out and renewed so much that it should be called renovating.

Never planned to rent out the place at all. Decided that we would use it for holidays from 2003 to 2010 and decorate a room on each holiday. OH was due to retire in 2010 hence the date but his work was moved to India so he retired early and we moved here in 2006.

No regrets on our choice of town, the street or the area around us. Have slightly regretted taking on the work involved in doing the house up but think that this has also allowed us to retire more gradually as we do not work too many hours on the house so probably like changing to part-time in the UK.

Rosemary

Bri and Katee

My only regret was to buy our home with two acres of garden (old vineyard) We wanted a large area to plant when we fully retire, totally forgetting about maintenence whilst back in the UK!!

Now each time we go out it is sad to see grass and weeds 3-4 feet tall, we clear as much as possible on our visits, but you just know 6-7 weeks later its going to be as bad again.


Anyone with a cheap small Kubota type trator in the Pinosa/Abanilla area?

Lionda

We bought off-plan on an urbanisation and to be perfectly honest - it's like little Britain! We are outside the town of Castalla and spend as much time as possible in the town which is predominantly Spanish. Our villa is lovely but we came to Spain to be in Spain and hope to move in the near future nearer to town. I would not recommend buying off-plan, wish we had rented first and looked around - as I keep advising everyone to do! Hubby thought renting would be dead money but believe me - it's better than buying in a place which doesn't turn out to be quite what you expected.

Saying that - we love being in Spain and it really is more relaxed than being in England. We don't regret moving here.

montgomail

Always wanted a bolt hole in Spain since I visited Nerja in 1978. Although, at the time, I was more in love with Ayo the local lad done good. It was him and his mates who discovered the caves close to Nerja which now attract thousands of tourists every year. He was a very handsome man of about thirty with a bar on the Burriana Beach and is still well known in that area for his paella making skills.

Havent been to Nerja for some years and no longer wish to, but I still love Spain and have no regrets about buying an apartment on a small urb in Denia. If I did it all again, I would probably buy on an established urbanisation as I hate the sterile look of new blocks and also buy furniture in UK and transport it over.

Lynn R

We bought our old town house 4.5 years ago, initally to use for holidays with the intention of moving out permanently when we retired. We did most of the major renovation jobs (nothing structural, things like renewing the kitchen and bathrooms, renovating the outside patio etc) one job each year and had the work done whilst we were back in the UK so we didn have to spend our holidays surrounded by building mess.

We didn't rent the house out whilst we weren't there.

Thanks to increased house prices in the UK and an inheritance from my OH's father we were able to sell up and move over permanently some years earlier than we had planned, and it's great. No regrets about our choice of house or town at all.

Mercedes

I rented first in little Britain and didn't like it. I saw my house advertised in a spanish paper and went and viewed it. Put a deposit straight away and 2 weeks later moved in. Was slightly stressful initially as I had problems with phones since they didn't have one in and my lawyer got them to put one in as part of the sale. However, even telephonica didn't seem to know where the connection box was when it was playing up everytime it rained. So for 3 months, my comms were not so great. After a couple of enthusiastic guys went up and down a few poles, on a treasure hunt it was found and now any problems I know where to take them, but they are few and far between now, apart from when my Barclonian neighbour's builders cut the lines twice in 2 weeks. Apart from those hic-cups I'm lucky that I have fantastic spanish neighbours, directly by me, who called their friend when my water pump packed up and he pops in now and then to make sure I'm okay if he hasn't seen me and helps me sort out any other problems that I'm not too sure about. My other neighbours who moved in from Barcelona are also great now, although not initially as they dug up my drive and forgot to tell me until I had a mountain of dirt to get over!!, as well as cutting my telephone lines On top of that my other neighbour opened a disco last year, but thankfully it was closed down and I believe they haven't paid their rent so are being evicted. So I think neighbours can make a big difference to whether you are happy in your home or not. Apart from the odd mishaps and annoyances spread over 4 years, luckily only short lived and on the whole more positive than negative.

I'm in an ideal location, rural, but only 5 minutes from beach, town and shops and can see the sea from all points of the house and land. I don't have to buy fruit as I have a variety of fruit trees (figs, mangos, lemons, oranges, tangerines, peaches, pears, avacado, pears, lychees, grapes). I had to spend about 20 grand on the house in getting it to how I want it as the previous owner seemed to have not quite finished things. So I've enjoyed renovating it, apart from having some builders that nearly got buried in the concrete foundations!.

I don't think it matters where you are in the world, there will always be trial and tribulations at times, but apart from when your'e going through them, it has mostly been positive. I also now have 2 houses in UK, but this is "home" to me and life would be boring if it was perfect all the time...

In conclusion to date, no regrets on living in my house for 4 years at xmas.

Pam Sarky

I feel exactly the same as you and would never buy off plan again (especially in little britain like we have done).

jdr

Careful, some do venture to other threads now, you might get banished to the shed .

Pam Sarky