Re: Would you move to Spain now?
 

Yes take onboard whats said in these posts, and RENT.
This will give you the freedom to move on, if you don't like an area.

Could you consider buying a bolthole in the UK? That could be rented out.

My SIL house in Mazarron took over 3 years to sell, they can at last get on with their life.

Re: Would you move to Spain now?
 

You really can’t ignore the ‘demolition’ stories, they are true and are getting worse, especially in Andalucia. With hindsight, I would now be renting, but it’s not the UK way, is it?

Renting in Spain is entirely different to the UK, it’s considered normal and respectable, and the tenant has proper rights in law. And you can rent anything, from small apartments to giant villas and fincas.

And if you do come unstuck with bad neighbours or leaking cesspits, you just move along to the next one.

The sums are easy to work out, property speculation is a thing of the past, so why bother to sell in the UK? They won’t demolish your house there, and if you want to sell, buy something cheaper here and live on the difference, then work out how long it is before you spend that money here, the prices overall are the same as in the UK.

Re: Would you move to Spain now?
 

If you like the idea of a detached property in the campo or on the outskirts of a town/city (like most British seem to go for) then yes, I would worry about illegality and demolitions. Otherwise you'll be fine.

In answer to the original question, yes I would move to Spain now. Nothing has changed for me...my motives now are the same as they were 8 years ago when I came here.

Re: Would you move to Spain now?
 

Well, as I say, I'm a country boy, and I really don't like living cheek by jowl with a whole lot of people. Naturally that colours my opinions.

One thing I would say is this. Nothing in life is without risk. What you have to do is to look at what you want, and then look at ways to reduce that risk until it falls into the acceptable range.

Also there is the terrible thought as to how you would feel if you didn't have a stab at it, if that's what you really want?

How does it go? '..or wonder till it drives you mad, what would have happened if you had.'

Re: Would you move to Spain now?
 

I'd still move here for sure, but I wouldnt be looking to buy ..... I'd be renting.

Re: Would you move to Spain now?
 

Quite agree Bill,....all you can do is check the odds are in your favour as far as possible, then jump in with both feet, if you really fancy it......better than spending the rest of your life wondering what might have been.
Yet on such fine decisions, much of a persons future happiness and lifestyle can depend.
Like yourself I am a countryboy, and generally very cautious where brass is concerned,...yet I must admit that two of my purchases were spur of the moment decisions,...both my head and my heart said they were right, so I virtually jumped straight in, within a matter of hours,though naturally later did what checks I could before completion.
Fortunately I've been lucky and never had any regrets,....yet wherever I have lived, I have always known others whose life in the sun has been plagued with never ending worries about the legallity of their property,embargos and such.
There's always some element of chance involved, no matter how careful you are, but if you don't try it and give it your best shot,then you will probably always wonder what you missed out on.
Oh, to answer the question,yes,I hope I still would, and hopefully not be frightened off with so many tales of woe.
In addition, I've always found difficult periods,uncertainty and times of recession to be far and away the best times of great opportunity.

Re: Would you move to Spain now?
 

I'm actually moving to Malaga in Feb. Excuse my rambling posts, too much time on my hands since I chucked the job. :rofl:

But I honestly don't know I would be going if I had money - the kind that pays for houses outright.

I'd probably be pretty paranoid too if I was expecting to spend my golden years there. Away from family and the life I have known for decades.

Old dogs etc.

I share your primary concern re: the constant niggling anxiety about whether or not you do actually own that house!

If my parents announced their intention to do what you are proposing I would be extremely concerned. Baby boomers, the ones I know at least, are far too trusting and far too confident in 'systems of accountability' to protect their interests alas.

Maybe you aren't that old tho. :)

There seems to be ample precedents showing legal properties suddenly becoming illegal and I've been pretty surprised by the cowboy stories I've read re: the Spanish banking and taxation systems. I don't have first hand experience of either tho, maybe you do?

All depends on you, your confidence in your ability to adapt, your level of mutual emotional reliance (are you really going to be happy spending a lot more time with the other half?), do you really still have mutual interests or have you been ships passing in the night for too long?

Soooo many factors to take into account. :D

Economically, I'd say you would be easily lulled into a false sense of 'bargain' but the dust still hasn't settled on the CDS just yet I reckon.

So no. I wouldn't be looking to buy now, I'd probably rent a year and see how it goes. Bit of a gamble, sterling could go down the shitter, we might end up in the Euro or equally might see a resurgance in the UK property market and you might get more in a year etc.

Who knows? :unsure:

All I will say is, me personally, I don't like having my eggs in one basket and in retirement terms especially concerned about being a little too old to rebuild if I am wiped out. If you are young and foot loose, go for it!

Re: Would you move to Spain now?
 

That last line is far and away one of the truest ever spoken.

Every time the economic wheel turns, a lot of people are ruined and lose out, and at the same time, those who have some money to invest will make a LOT.

Re: Would you move to Spain now?
 

Yes, I would move to Spain - provided that I was in the same position I was in when we came just over 3 years ago! That is, we retired early (without pensions, we have to wait for those, although the OH has just started to draw one small occupational pension which will help to offset the increased living costs due to the decline in sterling). Although we had bought our Spanish house 3 years before that, I would not make the move until I was sure we had enough money to live on without the need to look for work, to last until our pensions kick in.

We didn't follow the advice of many to rent before buying (which I'm sure is eminently sensible) and we are still happy with our purchase. We wanted a town house in a predominantly Spanish town with all facilities (public transport, medical centres, hospital, cultural activities, good shops, etc) on our doorstep and that is exactly what we bought. I don't drive so a campo house or one in a small rural village would have been completely unsuitable. Although life hasn't been 100% perfect (one burglary last August, but that happens to campo houses too, and a bit of hassle early last year from some unruly kids who moved into the street, but that has been sorted following complaints to their parents) we like where we live. I agree with the poster who said that many if not all problems with illegal builds can be avoided if you stay away from rural properties and those on newer urbanisations.

However, if we decide to sell our house and move in a few years' time (provided we can find a buyer that is!) we think we would then rent rather than buying again. Certainly at the moment rents are so low that we could afford to rent a much nicer house than we could afford to buy, I don't fancy the idea of paying 10% of the purchase price in taxes and notary fees all over again, and I feel it would be easier for our families when something happens to us (as it most certainly will one day) if they didn't have the problem of paying Spanish inheritance tax before they could dispose of a house here).

I agree 100% with the posters who have advocated learning Spanish. It really does make day to day living easier and it's irritating for those of us who have invested the time, money and effort in learning when other Brits who haven't bothered expect us to trail around to the town hall, utilities companies, doctors' appointments, etc. with them.

Re: Would you move to Spain now?
 

We rent a beautiful house that we would not be able to buy and still pay less per month than we did in the UK.

And we have the 5 year tenancy agreement should we wish to stay here a long time-which we do.

Re: Would you move to Spain now?
 

Yes, a few say that, but it's a sad state of affairs when you cannot consider living in the campo or a in new build for fear of ending up with an illegal property.:confused: We'll always get the sabelotodos that haven't got an illegal build that will tell us how they cleverly avoided it, but I have also read of many really switched on people that have still gotten their fingers burnt. In the Spanish property forum there are people there that deal in property, and have still ended up with illegal properties or unfinished properties.

Re: Would you move to Spain now?
 

I don't think it is new builds per sé that are risky. Afterall, there are plenty of "fincas" that are 100+ years old but aren't legal.

High risk properties are those that are built outside the city limits (so rural, or semi rural). But for some reason the British seem to be very attracted to that type of property!

Re: Would you move to Spain now?
 

Can't say I heard of any fincas that old being demolished, have I missed something?

Re: Would you move to Spain now?
 

Might be a good place for a new thread. Everyone could start to list out specific areas where they know the buildings could be subject to issues. You're in Javea? I would be interested to know where some of trouble spots are in that area as we're looking to buy a holiday apartment in the area and in the future possibly something bigger.

Thanks.

Re: Would you move to Spain now?
 

How so? I could understand if they've been "reformed" which was actually a 'from-the-bottom-up- rebuild, or that bits bunged on were not legal, but how could the whole property not be legal if it's a century or more old? (yes you hear the sound of fear from someone with total escrituras including pool plus neighbour up the hill who was born here & saw the reform etc etc!))

It's a thought.