Newbie looking for advice and ideas from those who have walked the path - Page 2

Wow thank you Grannyrose for taking the time to give such positive comments. 

Regarding the property market, I'm sure there as many quirky stories as there are houses for sale. Once all is said and done the deal has to right for the buyer and seller alike. I have an idea of what properties are available as I have looked at sites like Thinkspain for at least 18 months. There is no shortage of places for sale, so there must be a shortage of buyers. Hence there must be a reason people aren't flocking to buy property in alicante / murcia or even wider spread.

The property market in the UK works very differently and I am looking forward to leaving it behind. A 2 bed is around £250k and 3 bed £350k in my town, making it a great place to be selling away from and not so nice too be buying into. 

So Rose, I'd say you are right, I do have a plan........currently I have no idea if it is a workable plan but lots of people manage to move abroad so maybe just maybe I can become one of them? 

Tim

Hey there Yorks, no prizes for guessing where you might hail from eh?

Well delighted to hear there are classic cars floating around. I regularly go to see old car /bike shows locally and love to see rare or different models. 

Yorks, its great that you mention coming over at different time of year etc, I was across hunting around with my daughter last august. We had 2 weeks scanning along looking anywhere and everywhere we felt might be nice. I honed in on the area inland of Torrevieja simply as it has towns, cities, motorway, airport and those all important mountain views. House prices seem reasonable and so whats not to like? 

Grand scheme is over 100sqm of house, over 6000sqm of plot, a garage/ workshop, plenty of shade and bigger the better for me.........no of course i dont need a huge house or land but its something i would look for.

If I have to sell bikes and cars and replace them with spanish ones then so be it. I have 3 bikes which are race track only so wont need spanish registrations, and while it appeals to bring the MG, its not especially rare or wonderful in any way

I really appreciate the responses from this forum.

As well as Jim's Guides, can I suggest that you have a look at the Citizens Advice Bureau Spain site for general queries and the N332 site for anything to do with driving in Spain.    The latter is run in conjunction with officers of the Guardia Civil for English speaking people and has an English version of the Spanish equivalent of the Highway Code.

 I have lived in Spain for almost 15 years, in Almoradi which is about 20 minutes' drive inland from Torrevieja, and do not have any plans to move back to the UK.    It is a Spanish town of around 17,000 occupants of many different nationalities.   A couple of things to be aware of are: (a) after the end of this year many rules and regulations may change for British immigrants and (b) many provinces and towns 'tweek' the national rules and regulations for their own procedures.

Good luck.

Hi Tim

trees can be an issue. do your home work, A friend of ours has a couple of olive trees and if they don't get the fruit off , they make a mess.

gardeners and tree surgeons for the taller trees are an added expense, but they look great and give a lot of shade so its just a possible added cost, to take into account.

The reasons for so much property on the market are many and varied. Many people bought with mortgages off plan and suffered during the crash.

The bank repos can be on the market for years as the banks wont budge on price. Once you find the area stay there and gather local info,anything can be achieved but you need to sort the wheat from the chaff. 

Hi Tim, my husband and I live in Villena and have done for a while. We absolutely love the area we live in, so we are more than happy to go for a coffee/beer or wine. Get back to me here as a private message and we can exchange phone numbers and arrange something. Good luck in your search 😎 Anne and Tony

Hi Tim

Happy to hook up for some "grilling" I moved here on my own so happy to share what I have learnt along the way. Can pop into Torrivieja or nearby when you are here.

Gilly 

Hi Tim,

You have had very good replies from people who have made their homes in Spain .

Did you say that you were interested in motor bikes or ordinary bicycles? I imagine that you could gave some fun touring around the countryside on a motor bike and you could join one of those societies and travel farther afield in convoy!  If it is cycling , you can do the same of course!  We went to the Jalon Valley with David’s Coach Tours last year and saw lots of people cycling up and down the mountain. ( all mad of course, to me anyway!). 

I wonder how easy or difficult it would be to bring a motor bike over from the UK, surly all that would require alteration would be the headlight .  You mention your convertible MG, I am advised that convertible cars are better in the UK than in the intense heat if Spain. We have had a Mercedes CLK convertible bought new 20 years ago. We thought about bringing it over to Spain but never did. My husband still taxes and insures it but mostly it remains in the garage but he won’t part with his toy! During the summer, he lowers the hood and off he goes to the local shops as happy as Larry! I drove it recently and almost required a crash course on how to drive because it is manual and everything is different inside it. However, it is still a joy to drive.  If you can, keep your MG and use it during the winter months and enjoy yourself .

I believe that you will have a delightful time living in Spain. There are more hours in the day there than here..... or do it seems! The money you will save on central heating and the cost of tumble drying will pay for sorting out the paperwork for your car. 

We have had so many fills of oil over the winter that I had forgotten how much less it costs to winter in Spain.  Our daughter is due to give birth on Monday , hence the reason for us being at home. Another month or so and we can jet off to good old Torrevieja.  Get sorted and get going. Good luck again.