Warm welcome - Page 2

Cheryl, thanks, several people have advised us to avoid British agents so we will, and we will try Kieron, once again, thanks.

Martin O’Gorman

Richard, thanks for your suggestion, somehow you have guessed exactly what we want, hospital/medical supermarket, schools,(our daughter is 6 months old) obviously we want to meet ex-pats, too many of the coastal regions remind me of Blackpool 😳we will definitely look at Crevillent, thanks. 

Martin O’GORMAN.

Thanks, we might take you up on that, we hope to get to Spain in August, vivid 19 permitting.

Martin O

Hi Grannyrose😳, thanks for the help and advice, only been on the forum a few days already plenty of food for thought. Partying all night 😊, I don’t think so, we have a 6 month old daughter, our partying usually finishes about 9😊. 

Regards, Martin O

There are numerous schools beside us. The police come everyday and stop all traffic close to the schools when arriving and going home. All of the requirements you are looking for are in vicinity, they even built a new church close the infants school. There is a wonderful private hospital close by too. Remember, Torrevieja is a working town so you will find all your requirements and more. The shopping precinct even has a vets! I have a wonderful English  guy who comes to our house and cuts my husbands hair and colours and cuts mine too.... 25 years as a salon owner in London . People love cycling in the area So perhaps that is something you as a family would enjoy as it is pretty safe on all the side roads.

Hi Martin

My pleasure, just PM me when you are ready...

Cheers for now

Richard

Hi G/Rose, you have certainly got me interested, maybe you are the mayoress 😊, if not you should be, you certainly sell it well 😊😊. From what you have said it ticks all the boxes. We have started with a list of definite requirements; within 60 minutes of an airport that serves Birmingham, not a tourist area, our daughter is 6 months old, so there need to be schools, also medical centre/hospital, must have fast WiFi( obviously to keep in touch with family and friends), the property  must be a house, minimum 2 bedrooms and would prefer some outside space, to date I haven’t checked Elche but I think the stumbling block might be our budget, we have £60,000 to spend but that has to include all fees which I believe are 10/12 percent 😬. What do you think of our chances?

Thank you for responding to our enquires, 

Regards, Martin O

Hi Richard, obviously when we decided we wanted to move to Spain we put together a list of essential requirements but the location is not very important, our essentials;

Within 60 minutes of an airport that serves Birmingham 

Definitely not a tourist area( I’ve seen enough drunken Brits on the rampage)

Must have school( our daughter is 6 months old and we intend staying)

Hospital/ medical centre 

The property; 

A house, minimum 2 bedrooms, preferably with some outside space, and fast WiFi must be available 

We have £60,000 to spend but that includes fees and taxes which I believe are 10/12 percent 

What do you think of our chances?

Regards, Martin O

Hi Martin,

If you are coming to Spain with your wife and young child, you will require a real home, not a holiday home. By that I mean that you will need storage space, somewhere to gang your washing out, room fir bikes, toys etc., You will want to live in an area where you can settle and make friends for years to come. Sadly, €60,000 will not buy you what you need. I don’t wish to burst your bubble but there’s no point in allowing you to think that you can achieve your dream on anything close to this figure. Would you consider renting instead of buying? Are you planning to get employment in Spain and if so, what type of work? You could buy further inland but remember, if you buy and end up deciding to sell up, that will cost you too. I presume you are young as you have a young child, please consider renting until you have found your feet. Once you have established yourselves, you could take a mortgage out and increase your spending power.

You should be able to rent a lovely home as many people buy holiday homes and end up not really using them. Go over for a visit in the autumn, hire a car, arrange to view both rentals and homes for sale. Don’t rush headlong into anything. Allow yourselves time to think.

Houses and buildings in Spain are very cold in the winter as they aren’t built like houses at home. They aren’t insulated , few homes have double glazing, even fewer have fire places and many are open plan which makes it difficult to keep any heat in. You will need a bathroom plus at least a toilet and wash hand basin. check behind curtains for any loose plaster/ paint as lots of houses can be damp as well as cold. 
IMost of the properties are built for summer use but because the weather during the winter months us di good during the day, many of us enjoy getting away from the cold, damp winter of home. By 4.30pm once the sun sets , there isn’t any cloud cover do the cold huts very quickly. Air con is handy as you can heat the place with it but not everyone has it installed, you will need it for intense summer heat and cold nights off season. I could go on forever trying to help you to understand what you must look for. Please take a note book with you with all your requirements. Don’t trust your memory. Look for a south facing home. Ask about flooding in the area. Sometimes the ridiculously low price reflects problems that you don’t need. 

Please take heed of everything I have told you and you will be fine. 

Good hunting!

House prices may well drop following COVID so you may find your 60k goes further in the future and you may be able to grab a bargain.