# newbie moving to Spain



## Lavenderfox (Jul 1, 2012)

Hi, Newbie here.
Retired.Thinking of moving to Spain if I can sell up here, but know *nothing!*
Im on medications, (can I still get family to collect and send them out?/ who supplies electricity/gas/telephone/intenet


----------



## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Lavenderfox said:


> Hi, Newbie here.
> Retired.Thinking of moving to Spain if I can sell up here, but know *nothing!*
> Im on medications, (can I still get family to collect and send them out?/ who supplies electricity/gas/telephone/intenet


Hi!
If you're retired and have some kind of savings or pension (and you don't think you're coming to the promised land where everything is perfect) you should be fine!
There's a a lot of info on the site although you need time and patience to go through it. In fact, my advice would be to take your time in general to sift through the information and let the idea "fatten out".
One of the most useful sites in the UK in Spain site, which gives info about healthcare and pensions
Living in Spain

Also on this forum, at the top of the main Spain page, there are some permanent threads called stickies. There is one called Forms, education, driving etc which you might want to take a look at.

Lastly I would say that you need lots of mini breaks in Spain to start thinking about where you'd really like to live, instead of taking a holiday.


----------



## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

It's hard to give advice without knowing more about your circumstances.

If you will need to find work, this is not a good time as you will know if you have read posts on this Forum.

But if you are retired then the 'problems' may be few or non-existent. My only advice -without knowing more - is not to sell your UK home until you are 100% sure that Spain is the place for you.

And if you are retired you are entitled to free health care...so medications won't be a problem for you.


----------



## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

You need to do a lot of research before you do anything. I would advise that before you sell up, you come over and rent and before that, you come and have a good look around and do some fact finding trips.

The one thing I can tell you is that it isnt legal or ethical for your friends to get repeat prescriptions from the UK. Once you are a resident in Spain your UK doctor will no longer be your doctor and therefore cannot take the responsibility of prescribing or providing medication. You will need a doctor where you live, so that he is able to see you and have your notes. 

To live in Spain you will need to have an NIE number, a residencia and be registered on the padron. 

Jo xxx


----------



## Lavenderfox (Jul 1, 2012)

mrypg9 said:


> It's hard to give advice without knowing more about your circumstances.
> 
> If you will need to find work, this is not a good time as you will know if you have read posts on this Forum.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the reply. Im retired, have a pension, will sell my property. I will only be able to afford a small place, but it will be cash sale, until next year my son will finance a bigger place and he will use it as a holiday home, while I will be there permanent
I just need to know how to put it in motion. I have put my flat up for sale to see if there is any interest, and want to go to (around) Torrevieja


----------



## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

Lavenderfox said:


> Thanks for the reply. Im retired, have a pension, will sell my property. I will only be able to afford a small place, but it will be cash sale, until next year my son will finance a bigger place and he will use it as a holiday home, while I will be there permanent
> I just need to know how to put it in motion. I have put my flat up for sale to see if there is any interest, and want to go to (around) Torrevieja



Please, please, please consider renting first. 

If you commit to buying straight away, and things don't work out for you (wrong area, don't like it or whatever), you have a mill stone around your neck. Property is just not selling here - not much anyway so you could be stuck with a property in Spain and nowhere to go back to in UK


Rent for a while - simply test the water!


----------



## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Lavenderfox said:


> Thanks for the reply. Im retired, have a pension, will sell my property. I will only be able to afford a small place, but it will be cash sale, until next year my son will finance a bigger place and he will use it as a holiday home, while I will be there permanent
> I just need to know how to put it in motion. I have put my flat up for sale to see if there is any interest, and want to go to (around) Torrevieja


You are in the same situation as us. We sold everything in the UK and now rent a lovely house - we decided not to buy as our family already has properties in Spain and France and we are SKINs.

We are hoping that they will buy the house we are currently renting too.

But as Snikpoh says...it really is best to rent first. We made a huge mistake with our first rental property here....We hated the apartment and the agents were crooks. 
If we had bought we would have been stuck and miserable!

It's really very easy to move to Spain. The few formalities you must complete aren't too difficult or complicated.

You'll have no money worries...so go for it and enjoy!


----------



## Lavenderfox (Jul 1, 2012)

Thanks.....I thought about renting, I couldn't afford to without renting mine, and Im not keen to....even managed, Im very concious about taking shoes off, cleanliness, sleeping in MY bed etc
I could wait until next year until my family contributes the finance of a largee place, but Im not getting any younger!! (65 now)


----------



## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Lavenderfox said:


> Thanks.....I thought about renting, I couldn't afford to without renting mine, and Im not keen to....even managed, Im very concious about taking shoes off, cleanliness, sleeping in MY bed etc
> I could wait until next year until my family contributes the finance of a largee place, but Im not getting any younger!! (65 now)


I understand all that....We had a couple of properties we rented out in the UK and we did rent our own house until we sold it - thankfully within six months of it going on the market but the Polish tenant stole a credit card plus PIN which the bank helpfully sent to my old address although they knew I'd moved to Prague and she used it to steal £5000! She also sub-let every room in the house and caused much annoyance to the neighbours.

So I understand your concerns.

But could you not rent -after summer when rents fall dramatically - say for a month in your chosen location, just to test the water, as it were?

I really would hate anyone to make our mistake. It really spoiled our first few months in Spain. I only felt 'at home' once we'd found the house we live in now.


----------



## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

Lavenderfox said:


> Thanks.....I thought about renting, I couldn't afford to without renting mine, and Im not keen to....even managed, Im very concious about taking shoes off, cleanliness, sleeping in MY bed etc
> I could wait until next year until my family contributes the finance of a largee place, but Im not getting any younger!! (65 now)


At least if you rent and it all goes wrong in Spain, all you'd have to worry about would be decorating. It would be total madness to sell up and buy in Spain when you have no idea what it will be like. Properties in Spain are not selling well and buying in Spain is nothing like buying in the UK. If you really dont want to rent your place out, then leave it empty, but rent in Spain. The way things are going, you wont lose any money cos house prices are dropping, so after renting for a few months, the same properties will still be available and cheaper.

Rent first!

Jo xxx


----------



## Lavenderfox (Jul 1, 2012)

jojo said:


> At least if you rent and it all goes wrong in Spain, all you'd have to worry about would be decorating. It would be total madness to sell up and buy in Spain when you have no idea what it will be like. Properties in Spain are not selling well and buying in Spain is nothing like buying in the UK. If you really dont want to rent your place out, then leave it empty, but rent in Spain. The way things are going, you wont lose any money cos house prices are dropping, so after renting for a few months, the same properties will still be available and cheaper.
> 
> Rent first!
> 
> Jo xxx


Thanks, I will take that on board, maybe go for a month and rent


----------



## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Lavenderfox said:


> Thanks, I will take that on board, maybe go for a month and rent


Wise words from Jo, reinforcing what I and Snikpoh have suggested.

Whilst I very much doubt that you will be anything less than delighted with your life in Spain - what's not to like, as they say - you do need to be 100% sure that you are in the right country and the right place.

But moving itself is easy. People are very willing to help, especially if you know a few words of Spanish...so if you don't, get that 'Teach Yourself Spanish' book from Smiths!


----------



## Solwriter (Jan 10, 2012)

Hi Lavenderfox and :welcome:.

Contrary to my usual persona (hopefully, lol!), I am going to be the negative one on this thread. 

I will say this...

Unless you already have friends (or perhaps family) living near you in Spain, you are going to be lonely.
If it is just you without a partner, doubly so.
If you have family and friends in the UK you are going to miss them, unless you and they travel to see each other on a regular basis.

As you have yet to learn Spanish, if you want to communicate with others on a daily basis (I certainly need to), then you will find life here difficult. It is not simply the case of finding somewhere to live among people who speak English, it is that every legal thing you have to do (becoming a resident, signing up for health care, etc) will either require some knowledge of the Spanish language, or money spent each time on a translator or gestor.

Sorry if that sounds negative, but as someone who enjoys living in Spain, but who also misses her family and UK friends on a daily basis, and who, even now, sometimes struggles to catch the gist of a conversation with Spanish friends, that's my take on this situation.

I would wait until next year, when your son can finance his holiday home here.
I would also not rely on this becoming a reality until he actually purchases the property.

Not doubting your sons ability to do so, just thinking that things change a great deal within a year and you may not like to be stuck here on your own.

With that in mind, a few small (but longish) trips and definitely not selling your property in the UK is the only way I would recommend this move.

Good luck whatever you decide. to do.


----------



## Lavenderfox (Jul 1, 2012)

Thanks for all the comment
I did learn Spanish 20 odd years ago, been wanting to move for a long time, although forgotten much now
I won't be lonely, plenty folk will want to come for a holiday!


----------



## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

Lavenderfox said:


> I won't be lonely, plenty folk will want to come for a holiday!


oooohh, now thats a whole different thread - *VISITORS* aaaaaaaaggggggggggghh!!! :eyebrows: :rofl:

Jo xxx


----------



## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Lavenderfox said:


> Thanks for all the comment
> I did learn Spanish 20 odd years ago, been wanting to move for a long time, although forgotten much now
> I won't be lonely, plenty folk will want to come for a holiday!


Yes, they will. In our three years in Prague we had guests every month. We decided to stop that when we came here ad have only very few good frioends on our guest list. 
It's also easy to make friends here. I got involved with a dog rescue charity and joined a political party and made loads of Spanish friends and friends of many nationalities.
I also see much more of my family as they come over almost every month to their house very near where we live - a ten minute drive away, if that.
We see more of them than when we lived eighty miles away in the UK!


----------



## bob_bob (Jan 5, 2011)

Don't sell in the UK, don't buy in Spain. Property is down 35% and is forecast to drop another 35% next year, you if you buy are in a loosing situation. Think of it like buying a new car for £15,000, hand over the cash and before you leave the showroom its worth £12,000.

Rent for a year or more at the minimum because if you do still go against logic and buy, you won't be able to sell it without taking a hit.

Its easier to redecorate your UK home than stand in line for emergency accommodation at the local DHSS office.

Think long and hard.


----------



## Stravinsky (Aug 12, 2007)

bob_bob said:


> Don't sell in the UK, don't buy in Spain. Property is down 35% and is forecast to drop another 35% next year,


Who is forecasting that bob bob?


----------



## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

bob_bob said:


> Don't sell in the UK, don't buy in Spain. Property is down 35% and is forecast to drop another 35% next year, you if you buy are in a loosing situation. Think of it like buying a new car for £15,000, hand over the cash and before you leave the showroom its worth £12,000.
> 
> Rent for a year or more at the minimum because if you do still go against logic and buy, you won't be able to sell it without taking a hit.
> 
> ...


They'll be giving houses away free with a bag of carrots a supermarkets soon if they go down much more.


----------



## bob_bob (Jan 5, 2011)

Stravinsky said:


> Who is forecasting that bob bob?


A link on this forum or the other Spanish forum if you have a search. I don't care either way what people do but to be honest I'd not invest a penny in Spain now.


----------



## Stravinsky (Aug 12, 2007)

bob_bob said:


> A link on this forum or the other Spanish forum if you have a search. I don't care either way what people do but to be honest I'd not invest a penny in Spain now.


No, I'd agree 
The only counter argument to that is buy low / sell high. To actually judge when prices are at rock bottom is very difficult of course ... and how long you wait to recover is a difficult judgement as well.

I dont understand why, but houses are selling here recently. Two have gone within the last month or two, and although reduced, they weren't knock down prices. Some are still overpriced, and will sit here forever and ever


----------



## jp1 (Jun 11, 2011)

Spanish property prices have fallen significantly more than 35%.

35% might be some quoted press figure that takes in account the average in the decline of advertised prices since the bust, but the reality on the street if you really want to sell it is closer to 60% fall.

For example in my area, typical 65 m2, 2 bed, 2 bathroom apartments were being pushed by developers for around 240k Euros maybe a year before the peak. These were the last Phase 3 properties of the development.

I got rid of my phase 2 apartment in Feb 2009 for 130k.

A private seller today needs to offer 100k or less to realistically get someone interested (maybe a lot less than 100k!!) Of course the developer/bank are still trying to offload these properties at circa 140~150k, and of course at this price they just sit there while this stagnation drags the entire economy further down the gutter.


----------

