Posted: Wed Apr 26, 2023 7:52pm
I think you will need to do a bit of research, before purchasing.
Bills to expect
IBI Is what you know as council tax Payments obviously vary as to the size of house and are set by the ayuntamiento (town hall) in your municipality.But generally much cheaper than in the UK.
For instance if I moved my house 2 km done the road into the neighbouring municipality, my IBI would be less than half what I currently pay, but even so the figure is about 20% of what I’d be paying if I still lived in the UK.
Basura is a payment for the collection of rubbish again collection and amounts vary by municipality.
You have charges for internet and for whatever TV system you decide you want.
Obviously again you have electric and water bills. Mains gas is only available in a few areas, but calor gas can be used for water or heating if that’s what you decide.
On top of that if you live on a community you have community fees to pay. They can vary enormously, depending on the size of the community and what facilities you have. For instance if you have a garden around your pool, your community fee would include payment for the gardens. If it’s a high maintenance garden and only 10 properties then the cost will be much higher than the same communal area shared by 60 properties.eg Garden fee 200€ per month divide by 10 or 200€ per month divided by 60.
If you have your own pool, you will need someone to look after your pool on a weekly basis, even though for the vast majority of the year , it’s too cold to use. It can be an expensive garden ornament.
You may need to consider a security system if you’re not here full time and appoint someone to be a key holder to check on your property.
As well as someone to clean after guests have left and prepare for the new guests and be on hand to welcome new arrivals etc.
People buy holiday homes to be near the beach and bars, but do you want the noise from the bars and noisy holidaymakers if you live here permanently. So choose wisely, especially as your have to pay a 10 % purchase tax when you buy your property. You need to budget another 3-4% on top of that for legal fees when you purchase. So a 100k house will in real terms cost you 114k.
If you want to rent out your property even to friends and family, you need to obtain a license to enable you to do so. That sounds easier than what it is. Some areas don’t issue licenses and others you can be waiting up to 18 months to obtain your licence. All visitors to your property have to notified to the guardia and the income has to be included on your non resident tax return. Most people employ an accountant to prepare their tax returns for them, especially recommended the first year.
if you are only planning on spending 5 weeks a year in your holiday home, I honestly wouldn’t think it would be worth the hassle. The running costs per annum would cost more than spending 5 weeks in a 5 star hotel and Spanish properties rarely increase in value - even if they do you have to pay tax on the increase when you come to sell the property.
I love my lifestyle here and it feels awful, putting someone off, but I think you really need to sit down and do the maths.
Good Luck
Lynn