Buy or rent first in La Marina

Consider a (used) motorhome which gives you independence and unbeatable flexibility. Selling it later will result more economic than paying for 2 or 3 moves. There is so much to see and you will need a lot of time and most of all persistance. Do not pay to any property agent anything upfront - that money is gone forever. The market is chaotic, over 4 mio. objects which no one wants due to missing infrastructure, over 3.000 abandoned villages waiting for you(?).

Well, La Marina is certainly not an abandoned village! Like many urbanisations it has a supportive expat community.  There are many locations around South Costa Blanca that can offer plenty of local amenities, ex pat support while you settle in and ways to make new friends.  

If you rent first it gives you a chance to chose the area best for you. Buying and selling in Spain is a very expensive process, so best to be sure that the property you buy is where you really want to be.

Look carefully at the visa requirements. The most likely one for you will be the Non Lucrative Visa, which requires a minimum income or savings for first 5 years (min).  If you are selling from an expensive area in the UK you may be able to qualify for a Golden Visa, which requires investment in property in excess of €500,000, but for most people that isn't an option and would remove the choice of renting first.

Noted. Thanks for your response.

This is very helpful thank you.

Be aware that there are two La Marina locations quite close to each other.   One La Marina is a large urbanisation on the inland side of the N332 and comes under the jurisdiction of San Fulgencio and the other one is a small town on the sea side of the N332 and comes under the jurisdiction of Elche.

A couple of websites that may be of help to you are:

Citizens Advice Bureau Spain for bureaucratic stuff, and

N332 for anything to do with driving in Spain.   It is for English speaking people and is run in collaboration with officers of the Guardia Civil and has an English version of the Spanish equivalent of the Highway Code on it.

Thank you so much.  I have booked a trip to visit in May so I am hoping to get more of an idea.  I will have a look at the two locations mentioned. 

Morning,

We bought a house in 2004 at the bottom of the Urbanisation (the Mercadona Road). A year ago we sold the house, we decided we liked the area and bought a smaller 2 bed, 2 bath detached Lola at the top of the Urbanisation. We love it, as we are older we can now walk easily to the bars and are so pleased we decided to stay. 

When you visit in May there are three main areas off Avenue Londres which are Consum Square, The Grey area and the top of the urb. 

Visit ExPats Solutions in Consum Square if you have any queries. Chat to the bar owners and people in the bars they all know of things going on in the area. 

Good luck.

Susan

Hi Susan,

Thanks so much for sharing information with me.  I will definitely take a look around in May. 

Joann 

In my opinion I would say rent somewhere first and get to know the area a little bit more.  There are plenty of holiday homes to rent on Air bnb although nothing is cheap anymore :-(

Just to add, I have been visiting La Marina Village and the Urbanisation for 15 years and are now looking to buy a place in the area.

Best of luck to you

Ian