Help - Thinking of moving to Javea

Good morning,

We are from the USA and moving this coming year to Spain. We bought a house in a great rural area 4 minutes from the sea in Benitachell.

We will be in Spain January 2 for 2 months to continue our remodeling of the great house we found.

We also have an excellent realtor that we would love to recommend. He doesn't only show you houses listed with the agency he works for (as most realtors in Spain do) but he shows whatever is available in your price range. He speaks perfect english.

There is tons of paper work we are doing to be able to live in Spain. It is mind boggling what the Consulate wants..

Not sure what is expected from you as you are from England.

All our best,

Bob and Lisa

If you don't work, you would effectively be "early retired".

As of now (pre-Brexit) ...

1/ If you live in Spain you must have Residency in Spain. You should apply asap after you settle here. If you don't work, you won't get healthcare (you will need to purchase private healthcare insurance to qualify for Residency). Residency will enable you to vote in local elections. You should get the solicitor who handles your house purchase sort out your NIE, bank account etc. This is routine.

2/ Your income will be taxed in Spain (not in the UK). At present (pre-Brexit), if you don't work, you need to demonstrate an income of around 750 Euros per month to qualify for Residency. It is widely believed that this will increase to around 2400 Euros per month after Brexit (as you would be applying as a non-EU citizen). There is lack of detail on the exact date that the figure will change. The income tax take in Spain is higher than in the UK. Tax is paid in Spain a year in arrears (not PAYE), so there is a tax cut-over cashflow process to plan for. 

3/ If you buy a fully legal house in a well developed area (or on an urbanisation) you will have no problems. Debts stay with the property (not the occupant), so have your solicitor confirm that all utility bills are paid up.  If you buy something illegal, good luck with that !  If you choose to build your own place on a greenfield site, get very good legal advice before you part with any money.

4/ Most Spanish banks will direct debit a UK bank on a monthly basis at minimal cost (but, of course, you will be subject to fluctuating exchange rates). 

5/ It is a bit more expensive. Most people have a peak/off-peak tariff, and the off-peak period is usually 14 hours, so careful usage addresses the cost.

...... If you work or are self-employed, you will get Spanish NHS. Self-employment has costly overheads (otherwise we would all become self-employed, do one hour of work each year, and claim free healthcare).

Regardless of your employment status in Spain, your reliance on UK property income means that you should look into the Spanish wealth tax. Excluding your primary residence (which would be in Spain), if your worldwide assets net out at (I think) 600k Euros or more, the Spanish tax system takes an annual nibble at it.

I believe it's EUR 700K plus upto EUR 300k for a spanish residence - though a UK property portfolio is likely to swallow up 700k pretty quickly. 

Hi All,  Thanks for your replies. 

Lisa Anna - Would be very interested in seeing what your realtor guy has on his books regarding property. I am looking to visit Javea in april for a few days and line up some viewings.

 This also fills me with dread as much as the upheaval of moving itself is getting all the relevant paper work together when not knowing what is needed!! 

Hope you have good weather on your trip.

Kelvin - Thanks for your replies. Seems Brexit will still have some effect on what happens if i were to move to Spain and also seems unclear as to what will happen once "we" leave??  We`ve had 3.5  laborious years of this already!!!

My UK assets are over 700K euro`s so will i be subjected to a wealth tax in spain? In the UK we dont pay any tax on the value of your assets until you sell which you will then pay Capital Gains tax at 40% Max.

Are you still subjected to a 10% levy on your property purchase price to cover your costs? Example, solicitors fee`s and Gov`t fee`s etc?

Good morning,

We are in the process of getting a Golden Visa.  And, we have several friends that got residency visa.

There is so much confusion regarding wealth tax.  We know that for us there is a treaty so we can not be taxed twice and since we are retired we will have no earnings in Spain.  We will continue to pay taxes in the USA.

Many people think that once you become a resident you are no longer part of the country you came from from that is untrue.  We will still be US citizens and Spain residents.

The main reason for becoming a resident is so we can stay longer than 180 days at a time.

I will private message you our realtors name and phone number. I suggest you look in the neighboring areas around Javea. We are quite close to Javea. We chose the area we are in because it is so close to many places we love.. Moraira, Clape and Benissa for example. 

All my best,

Lisa

Thanks Lisa. I too am looking at surrounding area`s like yourself such as, Denia and Benissa but the rustic style property/villa with grounds i want seems to be more prevalent in Javea. I am looking on www.rightmove.co.uk on a daily basis. lol

As i said previously, the whole process of getting the right paperwork in place is more daunting than the process of marketing your own property and buying your new one.

Hi there,

There are tons of websites to look at.

I suggest you look at all the various agencies as they will have current homes for sale.  The ones on that website are often outdated.

We bought ours from Tabaira in Moraira.  Our agent is Francisco Mas.. We would only go with him as he ended up being the most honest and is so hard working!! Plus if you see something else on line from another agency  he can still show it to you.  

If you want to contact him his email is [email protected].. He also has Whats App.. don't have that number with me right now.. Lisa

Brexit presents many concerns for Brits of retirement age already here legally (will they continue to receive reciprocal healthcare ?), for Brits here illegally (will they be able to demonstrate sufficient income to obtain legal Residency, or be able to pay back-taxes, and at what date does the income threshold change ?), for Brits who split their time between the UK and Spain (they face constraints on their time in Spain) and for Brits who aspire to live here.

In your case ...  

Allow 13% for buying costs (gov't tax and legal costs).

Looks like you would pay wealth tax.

If you spend >182 days per year in Spain, you pay income tax in Spain. Britain and Spain have a bilateral non-double-taxation agreement (not Brexit-dependent), so you don't have to pay income tax in both countries (I don't know about USA/Spain - Lisa Anne, I guess you have looked into it from your perspective).

You will also pay CGT in Spain if you sell any of your UK property at profit.

I am following the same route as yourself but am a bit further down the road having purchased a brand new Villa in Costa Nova, Javea in January 2019 and I intend to become a permanent resident later in 2020. I plan to retire early and let out my home in the UK. The buying process is straightforward but only if you follow the rules. We bought a brand new house from a reputable local builder. Our Estate Agent (Alta Villas) guided us through the process and Julie and her team were fantastic I can thoroughly recommend them. The key is to engage a good lawyer and I can highly recommend Antón Abogadas in Javea. They all speak perfect English and arranged everything including our NIE numbers. You need to allow 13% on top of the purchase price of the property to cover all taxes and legal fees etc. I would also keep some contingency in reserve as we had a surprise water connection fee of 3,000 Euros as it is a new property. Also if you have a pool make sure it’s full of water as it costs quite a lot to fill it. When buying you must make sure your home has a Cedula de habitabilidad issued by the Town Hall. This is effectively confirmation that the property has been legally constructed and conforms to planning regulations. Make sure this is up to date as many properties have under builds that have been developed after the Cedula has been issued and the extensions are not totally legal. If you buy new make sure the builder has included the cost of the land and relevant taxes as these are expensive. You often see new builds advertised but without the land included so do be careful with this. The advantage with a new build is that they are much better insulated and have a 10 year guarantee. You will need to transfer Pounds to Euros and this is another area to be careful with. Don’t use the bank for money transfers as they will charge you! We used Currencies Direct They were much cheaper on large amounts and it was very easy as you can set up an account on line, buy forward if the rate is good etc. You will need a Spanish bank account. This was straightforward but be prepared to provide lots of documentation as money laundering seems to be their main concern. You will also have to pay a monthly fee to maintain the account. We have had the house nearly a year and I can highly recommend Javea. Not only is it a beautiful place, but we have met more people here than I ever have living my life in Surrey! My advice would be to go for it! I’m looking forward to making the permanent move in 2020, so would be interested to know the next steps as well. Let me know if I can help with any advice on the property buying process. My next challenge will be registering a UK car onto Spanish plates which I am doing in a few weeks time.