# Looking for clarity please!!



## hopalong35 (Mar 2, 2015)

Hi all

I'm putting together a list of different costs planning for living in Spain and I wanted to check I've covered everything. Through research I've found out what I think is right but who better than to check than people that have lived and bought out there already.

My calculations are based on a 70000 euro property (2 bed apartment) in one of those Polris World resorts in Murcia


Buying the house
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Including the Legal fees I've allowed for about 13% of the cost of the apartment


Running the house (what i'm looking for clarity on)
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Community fees - It says between 80e-140e and from what I can see this includes TV, internal phone and Internet. Is this correct or do they include more?
IBI - 0.5% cost of the property?
Non-Residents tax - 0.5% cost of property too?
Insurance - around 350e a year?

Thats what I found but could someone give me a guide on the below please:
How much to run gas and electric a month- 1 person on their own only
How much to insure and tax a small 1.2 Corsa or similar as a run around.
Anything else I should be considering (outside of food etc)

Thanks All!


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

hopalong35 said:


> Hi all
> 
> I'm putting together a list of different costs planning for living in Spain and I wanted to check I've covered everything. Through research I've found out what I think is right but who better than to check than people that have lived and bought out there already.
> 
> ...


Make sure you have somewhere to park
Petrol...


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

hopalong35 said:


> Hi all
> 
> 
> Non-Residents tax - 0.5% cost of property too?
> ...


Not sure why you're factoring in Non-Resident tax - I thought your father was planning to live there permanently?


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Lynn R said:


> Not sure why you're factoring in Non-Resident tax - I thought your father was planning to live there permanently?


good point


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## smitty5668 (Feb 25, 2015)

hopalong35 said:


> Hi all
> 
> I'm putting together a list of different costs planning for living in Spain and I wanted to check I've covered everything. Through research I've found out what I think is right but who better than to check than people that have lived and bought out there already.
> 
> ...


have you actually been out and looked at any of the resorts yet? if so which one are you thinking of?


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## hopalong35 (Mar 2, 2015)

Hi - I will own the apartment - he'll be living there

Going in a couple of weeks - got my eye on La Torres and Haciende Requelme especially but looking at a few


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

Electricity is very expensive, even more so than in the UK. How much he uses depends on whether he needs it for heating, cooking and hot water. If you find somewhere with mains gas that will bring the bills down - but it's not universal. We don't have it where I live, we have to use propane gas bottles for cooking and hot water.


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## smitty5668 (Feb 25, 2015)

sugest you look at mar menor and particularly roda. it has a good few permanent residents and good links to other expat areas.


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

Alcalaina said:


> Electricity is very expensive, even more so than in the UK. How much he uses depends on whether he needs it for heating, cooking and hot water. If you find somewhere with mains gas that will bring the bills down - but it's not universal. We don't have it where I live, we have to use propane gas bottles for cooking and hot water.


I use electricity for heating water and, of course, running domestic appliances such as fridge/freezer, microwave, washing machine, TV, iron, etc. and my bills are generally around €45 per month (the bills arrive at two-monthly intervals, for the OP). We use bottled gas for cooking and almost all our heating (except for an electric bathroom heater in winter) as we don't have mains gas here, either. However, as I think the OP said his father is 90, would he be able to cope with lifting and changing gas bottles? They are pretty heavy.


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## hopalong35 (Mar 2, 2015)

I'm assuming these places have gas as they have radiators in the pictures - but the ovens are electric

He's 68 so he's ok with lifting

From what I could see available Mar Menor didn't have anything worth looking at (only off-plan which is a no way

Roda is a bit out of price range 

La Torress and Hacienda Requelme seem to have some really good residents associations?


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

hopalong35 said:


> I'm assuming these places have gas as they have radiators in the pictures - but the ovens are electric
> 
> He's 68 so he's ok with lifting
> 
> ...


Sorry for getting his age wrong - must have misread something there!

The thing about using electricity for cooking is that you need to be contracted for a higher potencia (the amount of kw you can draw at any one time) in order to be able to run an electric oven and hob, otherwise the system is likely to trip out whenever you have too many things switched on at once. The standing charges (which apply whether you are using any power or not) are based on how much potencia you have. I only have, and only need, 3.45kw which is partly why my bills are low.


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## hopalong35 (Mar 2, 2015)

Ok - makes sense - so has anyone who lives on these resorts got any feedback on what utility bills they have to pay for?

And any idea on the car questions?


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## labob (Dec 2, 2014)

hopalong35 said:


> And any idea on the car questions?


Second hand cars are more expensive, relatively, than in the UK, but for about 2k you could find an old one in decent condition. I was told insurance should be about 350 euros?

I'm car hunting at the moment, looking at both dealers and pages such as wallapop and milanuncios will give you a better idea.


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

Lynn R said:


> I use electricity for heating water and, of course, running domestic appliances such as fridge/freezer, microwave, washing machine, TV, iron, etc. and my bills are generally around €45 per month (the bills arrive at two-monthly intervals, for the OP). We use bottled gas for cooking and almost all our heating (except for an electric bathroom heater in winter) as we don't have mains gas here, either. However, as I think the OP said his father is 90, would he be able to cope with lifting and changing gas bottles? They are pretty heavy.


Wow.  Our electricity bill _averages _€100 a month and the Jan/Feb one was €380! That's in addition to bottled gas for cooking, hot water and a gas stove in the living room in the evenings. We don't keep the house especially warm either, we turn the heaters off when the temperature reaches 19º or 20º indoors.


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

Alcalaina said:


> Wow.  Our electricity bill _averages _€100 a month and the Jan/Feb one was €380! That's in addition to bottled gas for cooking, hot water and a gas stove in the living room in the evenings. We don't keep the house especially warm either, we turn the heaters off when the temperature reaches 19º or 20º indoors.


I just checked my last bill which was for the 2 months up to 24 Jan, and it was for €99.53. The one before that was €92.41. Haven't had the Feb/March one yet, it will probably arrive next week.

Have you got a leak somewhere?


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## extranjero (Nov 16, 2012)

Leak of electricity???


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

extranjero said:


> Leak of electricity???


Never heard of electricity leakage, then?

How to Discover an Electrical Leakage at Home | eHow


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

More information specifically relating to Spain, in case you thought it was an early April Fool.

40% of properties suffer from earth leakage is your house leaking? | IBERSWITCH


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Alcalaina said:


> Wow.  Our electricity bill _averages _€100 a month and the Jan/Feb one was €380! That's in addition to bottled gas for cooking, hot water and a gas stove in the living room in the evenings. We don't keep the house especially warm either, we turn the heaters off when the temperature reaches 19º or 20º indoors.


You got me all worried so I just asked OH (I'm sorry I have no idea about bills) and he said our electric bill is even lower than Lynn's and we have a (not large) 4 bedroomed house, although the central heating, hot water and cooking is gas.
If you have electric heating that is costly, but i seem to remember you don't have central heating, do you?
In which case it seems you need to investigate further!


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

Thanks for the concern and the interesting info about leakage. I don't think this is the explanation though, as the bills go right down in the summer. 

No, we don't have central heating. We have two electric radiators on all day, as we work in separate rooms, a heated towel rail in the bathroom which we leave on overnight, an electric oven (rarely used) and all the other usual stuff. 

It's a large detached house with a flat roof and no insulation so heat just goes out through the walls and the ceiling.

I've stopped worrying about it. All the other bills are so cheap (e.g. €4 a month for water) that it's swings and roundabouts.


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