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Moving to Torrevieja or near by area's in 40's

Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2021 11:40am
8 replies479 views8 members subscribed
Topwatch

Posts: 4

1 helpful points

Location: Torrevieja

Joined: 22 Feb 2021

Hello, We have decided to sell our UK house and move over to Torrevieja area or close by IE Quesada etc. We can no longer take 6 months of bad weather, it's really got us down this year. We love getting out and about, cycling, electric scooters etc we want a complete life style change! We are fairly young both around 40 Years old, we like a quiet residential area's but life within 20-30 mins walk or bike ride away. We will have saving of around £130K so looking for either a 2 bed apartment but would prefer a bungalow with a community pool (Seen a few in Quesada) I have been quoted around 1500 Euro a year by Sanitas for health care for us both which seems fair enough. Myself I sell watches on online which generates us a small but nice income easily £500-£800 a month, I lost all the EU orders after Brexit so will be nice to get back into the single market. We have been looking at Visa's, seem they want to see bank statements for a couple of 2 with around 32,000 Euro for the first year this is fine but hopefully this will become more easier within time as Portugal are only asking for 10K Euro per couple. Feel free to step in to help us with new area's which maybe good for us, Thanks 

Grannyrose

Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2021 12:19pm

Grannyrose

Super helpful member

Posts: 1256

1569 helpful points

Location: Torrevieja

Joined: 5 Dec 2017

Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2021 12:19pm

Wow! Your plan sounds very good. 

Ok. You say you are going to sell your house in the U.K.  .... don’t , if you could rent it out to cover your mortgage costs it will remain a great investment.  I would always advocate keeping your U.K. property, it allows you to return home if something in your life changes. Your home will probably continue to increase in value unlike property in Spain.  Next ,you’re young so will enjoy the opportunity to have some fun during the year. Torrevieja is perfect for you. Recently, several very smart and young restaurant/ bars have sprung up and look fabulous,the sort of place that will appeal to young and old alike. Down at the pier, the outdoor night spots are absolutely lovely and during the warmer times it is idyllic sitting outside listening to the music and enjoying a glass of vino. We have 2 huge shopping centres , Habaneras is within walking distance/ bus trip and Zenia is a short drive away. Some beautiful shops in the town as well. Naturally, there are lots of residential areas with shops etc.,located close by. Don’t even look at the new satellite developments outside Torrevieja. All beautiful but you are young and don’t want to live in a retirement area. Perhaps they are not all Oder people but they aren’t Torrevieja, 

Most people will strongly advise you to rent and I’d agree with them. Far more practical financially as the landlord provides all the white good and maintenance. It’s a no brainier. Do this until you know that buying is the right thing for you, you may never decide to buy!  

I hope this helps you. Please be aware that the weather over there can be a shock/ surprise to many of us!  Evenings/ nights are cold, not as cold as home but still requiring heating and warm clothes. When it rains, you can be literally stuck indoors for 3/4 days until it abates and sometimes your tv pixelates and unless you have WiFi for Netflix etc., you will be looking at 4 walls. Living in Spain is nothing like holidaying there! Make sure you find a home with good storage and decent outside space for relaxing in and drying your washing. It’s the boring and basic things that can be overlooked when being blinded by somebodies curtains/ furniture ! 

Don’t consider shipping over your furniture, rooms are smaller and don’t suit many of the pieces you probably have. 

You have a lot to think about now. Please use your head and not your heart. Everyone has dreams but sometimes they can turn into nightmares.  Good luck. 

Granadagordon46

Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2021 12:30pm

Granadagordon46

Helpful member

Posts: 55

158 helpful points

Location: Torrevieja

Joined: 6 May 2018

Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2021 12:30pm

Topwatch wrote on Mon Feb 22, 2021 11:40am:

Hello, We have decided to sell our UK house and move over to Torrevieja area or close by IE Quesada etc. We can no longer take 6 months of bad weather, it's really got us down this year. We love getting out and about, cycling, electric scooters etc we want a complete life style change! We are fai...

...rly young both around 40 Years old, we like a quiet residential area's but life within 20-30 mins walk or bike ride away. We will have saving of around £130K so looking for either a 2 bed apartment but would prefer a bungalow with a community pool (Seen a few in Quesada) I have been quoted around 1500 Euro a year by Sanitas for health care for us both which seems fair enough. Myself I sell watches on online which generates us a small but nice income easily £500-£800 a month, I lost all the EU orders after Brexit so will be nice to get back into the single market. We have been looking at Visa's, seem they want to see bank statements for a couple of 2 with around 32,000 Euro for the first year this is fine but hopefully this will become more easier within time as Portugal are only asking for 10K Euro per couple. Feel free to step in to help us with new area's which maybe good for us, Thanks 

Hello Topwatch,

                          You will be following a well beaten path with your proposed move to Spain, so many people are being motivated  by both weather and economic climates.

I'm sure that you're aware of the pitfalls as well as the benefits of such a move, but for most it can be very successful,

And if I may I would offer the following advice.....

Do your homework , try and look at every angle, rent first and within 6 months you will know if you have made the right move.

Selling online can be very successful, but remember that although you will hopefully improving your European sales you may lose some of your UK sales, and it would be probably worth extending your range of other products.

You may also be able to subsidise your income by selling on car boots / markets etc., keeping in mind that you really should 'sign up'  and pay social security and tax, expensive but in my opinion worth every penny, I get a Spanish pension ( small ) as well as my UK pension.

Apart from having operated numerous 'real' shops over the years, in UK- Spain and for a short while in Florida, I've always also kept mail order / online selling running as well, both worked well together.

Anyway, Good Luck with your plans.!!

Saludos,

              Gordon

Topwatch

Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2021 7:56pm

Topwatch

Original Poster

Posts: 4

1 helpful points

Location: Torrevieja

Joined: 22 Feb 2021

Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2021 7:56pm

Grannyrose wrote on Mon Feb 22, 2021 12:19pm:

Wow! Your plan sounds very good. 

Ok. You say you are going to sell your house in the U.K.  .... don’t , if you could rent it out to cover your mortgage costs it will remain a great investment.  I would always advocate keeping your U.K. property, it allows you to return home if something in your life changes. Your hom...

...e will probably continue to increase in value unlike property in Spain.  Next ,you’re young so will enjoy the opportunity to have some fun during the year. Torrevieja is perfect for you. Recently, several very smart and young restaurant/ bars have sprung up and look fabulous,the sort of place that will appeal to young and old alike. Down at the pier, the outdoor night spots are absolutely lovely and during the warmer times it is idyllic sitting outside listening to the music and enjoying a glass of vino. We have 2 huge shopping centres , Habaneras is within walking distance/ bus trip and Zenia is a short drive away. Some beautiful shops in the town as well. Naturally, there are lots of residential areas with shops etc.,located close by. Don’t even look at the new satellite developments outside Torrevieja. All beautiful but you are young and don’t want to live in a retirement area. Perhaps they are not all Oder people but they aren’t Torrevieja, 

Most people will strongly advise you to rent and I’d agree with them. Far more practical financially as the landlord provides all the white good and maintenance. It’s a no brainier. Do this until you know that buying is the right thing for you, you may never decide to buy!  

I hope this helps you. Please be aware that the weather over there can be a shock/ surprise to many of us!  Evenings/ nights are cold, not as cold as home but still requiring heating and warm clothes. When it rains, you can be literally stuck indoors for 3/4 days until it abates and sometimes your tv pixelates and unless you have WiFi for Netflix etc., you will be looking at 4 walls. Living in Spain is nothing like holidaying there! Make sure you find a home with good storage and decent outside space for relaxing in and drying your washing. It’s the boring and basic things that can be overlooked when being blinded by somebodies curtains/ furniture ! 

Don’t consider shipping over your furniture, rooms are smaller and don’t suit many of the pieces you probably have. 

You have a lot to think about now. Please use your head and not your heart. Everyone has dreams but sometimes they can turn into nightmares.  Good luck. 

Thank for the advise and taking the time to reply. Yes this is a massive move for us, we are happy to rent for 6 months, looking at the rental prices it seems a no brainer like you say. Renting will also give me a chance to bed in work wise, finding the post offices and suppliers for packing materials. Over in Spain do DHL or UPS collect from your door like they do here in the UK ? (Parcel Collections). We would be selling our furniture as its all fairly big, we would just be bringing over the smaller things. We have Abarth 500 Car we really love it, looking at car prices over there it would cost 15K Euro to replace, I know you can bring your car with you but if your staying do you have to alter the headlights or something to pass the Spanish MOT ?

Topwatch

Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2021 7:57pm

Topwatch

Original Poster

Posts: 4

1 helpful points

Location: Torrevieja

Joined: 22 Feb 2021

Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2021 7:57pm

Granadagordon46 wrote on Mon Feb 22, 2021 12:30pm:

Hello Topwatch,

                          You will be following a well beaten path with your proposed move to Spain, so many people are being motivated  by both weather and economic c...

...limates.

I'm sure that you're aware of the pitfalls as well as the benefits of such a move, but for most it can be very successful,

And if I may I would offer the following advice.....

Do your homework , try and look at every angle, rent first and within 6 months you will know if you have made the right move.

Selling online can be very successful, but remember that although you will hopefully improving your European sales you may lose some of your UK sales, and it would be probably worth extending your range of other products.

You may also be able to subsidise your income by selling on car boots / markets etc., keeping in mind that you really should 'sign up'  and pay social security and tax, expensive but in my opinion worth every penny, I get a Spanish pension ( small ) as well as my UK pension.

Apart from having operated numerous 'real' shops over the years, in UK- Spain and for a short while in Florida, I've always also kept mail order / online selling running as well, both worked well together.

Anyway, Good Luck with your plans.!!

Saludos,

              Gordon

Thank you Gordon for taking the time also, great knowing I have some people on the inside to help me out. 

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Kimmy11

Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2021 8:41pm

Kimmy11

Legendary helpful member

Posts: 6869

12554 helpful points

Joined: 8 Aug 2017

Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2021 8:41pm

Hi Topwatch,

Are you British or Irish?  If you're a UK citizen, you're now a Third Country National since 1 January 2021 and will need to apply for a Visa to live in Spain - as you intend to work in Spain, you'll need a visa that allows you to do that:

http://www.exteriores.gob.es/Consulados/LONDRES/en/InformacionParaExtranjeros/Pages/VisadosDeLargaDuracion.aspx

Good to hear that you're receptive to renting before buying.  It's expensive to buy and sell property in Spain - in addition to the price of the property itself, you'll have to pay an additional 10% in ITP (property purchase tax) and allow a further 3-4% to cover fees such as lawyer, notary and land registration.  While there are some newer agents opening in the area, who charge 3% commission to sell a property, 5-6% is the norm, so you can see that it makes sense to do your research and get it right first time when you buy.

Regarding your car, you'll need to re-register it in Spain, which will require some modifications, such as headlights and possibly fog lights as well.  If you email Graham and Leigh at Spanish Number Plates, they will give you an estimate, based on your car details:

https://www.spanish-number-plates.com/about-us/

Kind regards,

Kim

Topwatch

Posted: Wed Feb 24, 2021 3:26pm

Topwatch

Original Poster

Posts: 4

1 helpful points

Location: Torrevieja

Joined: 22 Feb 2021

Posted: Wed Feb 24, 2021 3:26pm

Kimmy11 wrote on Mon Feb 22, 2021 8:41pm:

Hi Topwatch,

Are you British or Irish?  If you're a UK citizen, you're now a Third Country National since 1 January 2021 and will need to apply for a Visa to live in Spain - as you intend to work in Spain, you'll need a visa that allows you to do that:

http://www.exteriores.gob.es/Consulados/LONDRES/en/InformacionParaExtranjeros/Pages/VisadosDeLargaDuracion.aspx

Good to hear that you're receptive to renting before buying.  It's expensive to buy and sell property in Spain - in addition to the price of the property itself, you'll have to pay an additional 10% in ITP (property purchase tax) and allow a further 3-4% to cover fees such as lawyer, notary and land registration.  While there are some newer agents opening in the area, who charge 3% commission to sell a property, 5-6% is the norm, so you can see that it makes sense to do your research and get it right first time when you buy.

Regarding your car, you'll need to re-register it in Spain, which will require some modifications, such as headlights and possibly fog lights as well.  If you email Graham and Leigh at Spanish Number Plates, they will give you an estimate, based on your car details:

https://www.spanish-number-plates.com/about-us/

Kind regards,

Kim

Sorry for the slow reply. Yes we know about the Visa requirements. This seems quite steep to be honest considering Portugal are offering the same Visa at around 10K Euro per couple, I think within time and after this terrible virus Spain may relook at this, its OK for us but its going to put more people off I would imagine. Today the Estate agent came to value the house which was a lovely surprise, he also gave me the rental value which was around £1400 per month this completely shocked us, Defo the way forward. Yes we are British, thanks for the info regarding the car.

Grannyrose

Posted: Tue Mar 9, 2021 6:05pm

Grannyrose

Super helpful member

Posts: 1256

1569 helpful points

Location: Torrevieja

Joined: 5 Dec 2017

Posted: Tue Mar 9, 2021 6:05pm

Delighted to hear that you are thinking of renting your home, a very wise move in my opinion. You will be well advised to rent in Spain. As I told you, we’ve owned our house for almost 20 years and the cost is a lot when you only get to stay in it periodically. I think you’ll do well. Most towns have  a CORREOS( post office) and there are couriers too. Don’t know anything about DHL in Spain so can’t help you. You could look for a rental on the coast or Quesada which is full of fellow Englishmen. There are several new satellite towns which have popped up over the last 15 years full of English. We bought near La Mata close to the sea and close to Torrevieja town. It depends what you’d prefer. There’s something special about coastal walks on your doorstep but less English there and more Spanish and Scandinavians. ( they speak excellent English) some high class restaurants. Great changes since we first arrived thankfully! For years, eating out was hit and miss. Initially food was created for what the Spanish thought we’d like and called their restaurants Pizzerias. Finally, there are some excellent places to eat and based on the prices at home, very good value. 

Once this lockdown is over, pop over, hire an apartment for a week or two and drive around until you decide what areas appeal to you. Take your time, do your research because this is your future life that’s at stake and use your head and not your heart. All the best. 

McKeithys

Posted: Thu Mar 11, 2021 11:05am

Posts: 26

7 helpful points

Location: Rojales

Joined: 31 Jul 2020

Posted: Thu Mar 11, 2021 11:05am

We moved last year (knew the area as family have had a place for over 25 years. All the advice is good and am sure you will love it. I am 47 and work from home and all works well so far x

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