Completed!! in Playa Flamenca

I would strongly advise having your bills paid from a Spanish bank account, as you will have monthly & quarterly utility bills, amongst others.

When we bought 3 years ago (in PF coincidentally) we transferred a large amount of sterling over to our Spanish account via Transferwise, and got a good exchange rate at the time - though this depends on the amount you are transferring. When we are in Spain and go shopping etc we have debit cards for our account, so pay everything at the time in Euros, not worrying about what the exchange rate actually is?

Sabadell do 2 direct debit transfers a month with no costs, and the exchange rate isn't too bad, one at the start of the month ,and one on the 25th. 

I compared this with Lloyds and though Lloyds do free transfers the exchange rate was pants.

I use transfer wise for large transfers who I would recommend, though try and do it at the start of the week as waiting for large sums to show on an account over a weekend can be a hairy experience.

Do some home work , as for residency you have to show an income, which can be the transfer, if it reaches certain limits.

Please do your homework as it appears that the rules change quite regularly and advice from friends can be out of date.

Congratulations on your purchase and hope you have many good times ahead. We completed in Playa Flamenca last month and do exactly as the other replies above advise. We have a Spanish account where we transfer money into using Transferwise. Our electricity, water, community bills etc were all set up as direct debits from this account by our lawyer and works fine. Good luck.

Thanks everyone for your replies and the congrats are most welcome.

I'm looking to register my a/c with Sabodell at present and struggling to get my head round it.  Can anyway advise please what my DN number is.  There is a number at the top of the letter but it doesn't repond to that and there doesn't appear to be any where for me to do the initial registration.  I phoned and he gave me some infor but said its straight forward.  Unfortunately I'm a technophobe and it doesn't seem straight forward to me.

Thanks for the info about Sabodell only doing free debits at the beginning of the month and specifically on 25th.  I've also been contacted by Iberdola re electricity but their replies are in Spanish which unfortunately I don't read.  I'm rather struggling with this process at present.

Any advice would be welcome.  Thanks.

Julie

I agree with the others, have a Spanish account and set up all the utilities on direct debits to ensure they are paid on time.  I am surprised the lawyers who handled your purchase have not helped to do this as most include changing utilities into your name and setting up the direct debits in their fees.

Once you have your account sorted then you will need to look at starting the application for your license.  I can pm you a recommendation on who can do that for you locally at a reasonable rate.  I have posted quite a few times about licenses on the forum.  You will also need keyholders that are registered, and again i can recommend one but you will probably want to interview several anyway - just make sure they are working legally or you can be fined.  You wont be able to advertise the property until you have your registration number and it takes several months to get that at the moment, so start the process sooner rather than later.  This is a good site you started but bear in mind a new regulation came in July and you now need a certificate from the Town Hall first to send with the application. 

www.spain-holiday.com/rentalbuzz/holiday-rental-licences-in-the-valencian-community

Enjoy your new home!

Hi there. Congrats on the purchase. I use Sabadell bank and they are really helpful and as my Spanish is very weak, it’s good to know they always have people who can speak English. The last time I was over in Spain, I changed electric supplier from Iberdrola to Siesta Green Energy because they offered better rates and worked out how much energy I needed (less than Iberdrola had calculated so that also brings the costs down). They have an office in La Zenia (next to the supermarket) and set everything up for you including payment from your bank account. I only bought my property last year and with help from the forum members, bank staff etc. I’ve been steered in the right direction. Everyone is so helpful, it doesn’t feel like you are on your own with things, so take it steady and good luck. Enjoy.