Posted: Fri May 10, 2019 11:08am
Hello Trev, it's a minefield of legalities, as Pete says.
If your plan is to drive down, you can get a sale agreed on your current car with a UK garage, drive it down and then get it transported back to the UK garage for @ €600. You will then have a car to get you about down here until you find a Spanish registered LHD car to buy. Second hand cars are more expensive here as there is not the constant supply of ex fleet cars to keep the prices down so it may well be worth looking at buying a brand new car here.
As to where in the Costa Blanca to settle, that will be a personal choice depending on what you want to get out of your new life in Spain and you've posted in Benijofar which is a decent choice.
Generally speaking, urbanizations are for ex-pats, mainly of Northern European countries. Some of them become very quiet off season as many of them are holiday homes and then they become manic in summer. The construction of many Spanish homes is not what you will be used to, with single skin walls, sound will travel, as will heat, and you will need some form of permanent heating system from roughly October to March as it feels much colder here in winter nights with the lack of insulation and it is much harder to keep your home warm.
Some areas are prone to flash flooding. It rarely rains here, but when it does, it sure makes up for the rest of the year and roads become raging torrents. If you do a search for flooding in the Costa Blanca, you will find plenty of articles to read up on this.
English is not widely spoken outside of tourist areas and if you will be using the Spanish healthcare system, many Health Centres insist you have an interpreter with you and for hospitals it could be crucial. If you end up in hospital it will be even more worrying if you can't communicate so getting yourself an interpreter early on would be helpful. (Roughly €20 first hour then €10 thereafter for each appointment).
My advice would be to get yourself an expert to guide you through all the bureaucracy. We used Uma at getlegalinspain.com but there are many others. They can sort out NIE, Padron (list of all permanent residents) Residency (although not at the moment as no appointments are being given to UK ex-pats due to all the uncertainty over Brexit), Spanish driving licence, tax, SIP and Spanish wills. We tried to do things ourselves but got overwhelmed and it was such a comfort to have appointments made for us, to be told exactly what documents we needed and the number of copies required and to be met or taken to appointments.
If you don't speak it already, start learning Spanish. I've been using Duolingo which I find really helpful.
Buying and selling property here in Spain is expensive so consider long term renting before committing as it will give you the opportunity to see different areas (even within urbanizations) at different times of the year. Is there a dog left most of the winter in a neighbouring property that will bark 24/7, will that lovely little bar on the corner become a noise nuisance in the summer, is there a tourist let next door, will I have an indoor water feature every time it rains, does the property suffer from damp (a big problem here)?
Never expect an Estate Agent to point out anything negative as it is not their job, never use their recommended solicitor (abogado) and never fall for the sales pressure. There are hundreds of all types of property for sale here, with new builds continuing to go up and there will always be a Belgian, or Swede or Brit interested in the property you are looking at (NOT).
If you get it right, you can have a fantastic life here in Spain. We've been here nearly two years now and have no regrets. A fair bit of hair pulling and gritting teeth at times, but no regrets at all. My biggest savings, apart from having no mortgage, are on council tax, car tax, fuel, food and drink. With Menu del Dia between €6 to €12 per person with bread, salad, starter, mains, sweet, a glass of wine or beer and a coffee, you can't go wrong.
The only shadow is Brexit.
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