Buying a property

It may help you with some of the bureaucracy these days if you have a look at the Tips and Guides on this site as well as the Citizens Advice Bureau Spain website.   Many things changed quite a lot on the 1st January this year when the UK finally left the EU and Brits became Third Country people.

Beware of property agents asking for "reservation fees" or whatever - that money is gone. 

Hi. We have a property in la regia. Where we are is very quiet and it feels very safe. It’s also very convenient for the strip, the gym and the boulevard. 

Hi Maggie 1970

The picture looks lovely but La Regia is quite a bitty area and you will be in close proximity to your neighbours, many of whom are Spaniards who arrive for the summer and are used to staying up for a good part of the night and socialising pretty loudly throughout that period. Sounds lovely but friends have to move out then as they cannot get any sleep! 

Try looking on google street maps as there is also a very busy road which, looking at the length of the garden, I think goes past the bottom of the garden. There will be a constant stream of traffic in the summer.

On the other hand it is in easy walking distance to a large supermarket and 'the strip' a large area of bars, restaurants, banks etc plus a medical centre and about a 15 min walk to the beach.

It would never be a good idea to buy without actually seeing the property and its surroundings, for instance there is a brothel nearby and also a gentleman's club and a music club which advertises huge crowds for performances-maybe look on line for this? I cant remember the name for the music club but it's near the car lot on the N332. I'm sure someone else will be able to supply the name for you.

Please take care before you buy unseen!

Hi Barry thanks for your reply, I didn’t realise it had become so difficult to buy a second home now in Spain. I think the best option is to fly out when possible and ask more questions then thanks 

I’ve lived in Spain since 1988, first working in Barcelona and since 2017 near Calpe. There are worse places in the world to live than Spain. But Spain is not all sun and sangria. The Spanish systems regarding medical care, taxation and property ownership are not like the UK. If you don’t speak Spanish get good reliable advice in advance.

When looking for a location decide your priorities, near to shops, beach, golf course, sea, mountains?

Presuming you will stay in Spain, ready access to public transport and medical care must be considered for later years when your mobility is impaired.

A property with stairs may be fine now but later?

Although both my wife and I are fit, we choose a property with next to no stairs and easy access for a wheelchair if necessary. If you want to avoid carrying all those heavy bottles of wine up stairs look for car access near to the kitchen.

Look seriously at property maintenance costs, as well as the annual cost of utilities and taxes. 

The garden may look great, but do you want to be slave to gardening or enjoy yourselves?

Whichever direction your property faces there are up and down sides. North facing - cool in summer but humid in winter, south facing - hot in summer but makes the most of the winter sunshine. Is the propery protected from wind, flooding ?

Get a reliable architect to evaluate the property for possible faults in structure, damp, leaking rooves, plumbing, wiring etc.

If the property has a septic tank, get that checked too.

These are just a few points that spring to mind when retiring to Spain.

My advice is to make a list of things you want and don’t want and use it as a checklist when you search for a property. You will never tick all the boxes on your list but it should help you to find what you want.