# Hoping to move to Marbella



## thebouffards (Jul 19, 2010)

Hi,

I, along with my wife, 5 year old son and new baby are hoping to move to the Costa Del Sol by the end of the year. We were thinking of moving to the Marbella area.

I run my own business, for which I only need a good internet connection and a phone. I might do this from home or get some shared office space. At any rate, I don't need to find work when I'm there so this isn't an issue.

I was really hoping that someone can recommend a nice residential area to live in, that would provide easy access to a good quality International school.

Also, any other advice on making this move would be really helpful. For instance, what should we expect to pay for a 3 bed furnished villa/apartment? Since the downturn, are long term lets easier to find etc

Thanks in advance for your help.

Chris


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## lynn (Sep 25, 2008)

thebouffards said:


> Hi,
> 
> I, along with my wife, 5 year old son and new baby are hoping to move to the Costa Del Sol by the end of the year. We were thinking of moving to the Marbella area.
> 
> ...


Hi Chris, welcome to the forum..

There are a few of us who live in the Malaga/Marbella area with children, so doing a search on the forum will quickly give you some answers to your questions! 
For a list of international schools in the area, look at National Association of British Schools in Spain - Nabss. 
Generally, the nearer to Marbella you are, the more expensive the school. This thread has some useful stuff on it:http://www.expatforum.com/expats/sp...ternational-schools-malaga-marbella-area.html
If your children are so young and you intend to live here permanently, then it might be worth considering Spanish school, but if you envisage going back to the UK at some point then international school would probably be a good idea.

Long term rentals are plentiful and good value so once you have found the area and school you like, there should be no problem sorting this. Again, the nearer to Marbella the more expensive generally speaking..

Lynn


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## thebouffards (Jul 19, 2010)

Hi Lynn,

Thanks for replying to my thread and for the advice. I'll start scouring the forum for info, starting with the link you suggested..

Can be a bit daunting starting from scratch, but I'll get there eventually..

Cheers,

Chris


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## Guest (Jul 19, 2010)

Don´t really know anything about the schools as don´t have any kids yet but cost wise, if you´re talking about the disctrict of Marbella, it´s generally more expensive the further away from Marbella Town you go (discounting frontline beach). You can pay 600€ for a 3bed apartment right in the middle of town, you could pay double that for one on an urbanisation 10 minutes drive away. Really depends on the lifestyle you want; if you want quiet, luxury accomodation then look on the urbs outside Marbella the downside is that you have to drive to do anything and you´ll probably be surrounded by expats. If you´ve come from living in the country you´ll be fine as you´ll be used to driving everywhere, if you´re a city/large town boy then you´ll want to do the same here as you´ll go stir crazy otherwise - REMEMBER, you´re not here on holiday so having a lovely pool and a restaurant in the complex isn´t going to keep you happy for much more than 2 weeks!

Sticking to the towns you also benefit from decent services, be that buses, internet, doctors, cinemas etc. Offices are still expensive to rent long term but you can rent serviced offices by the hour/day/month if required.. most people tend to work from home though. Bear in mind the costs associated with working "self employed" here aren´t the same as in the UK. Budget for at least 350€ a month outgoings before you earn a penny


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## thebouffards (Jul 19, 2010)

Hi Shinyandy,
Thanks for the advice..
Our budget is about €1500 per month for accommodation, and we were hoping to get a 4 bed place with pool or something like that. Would that be feasible for that amount?
In terms of areas, we would want it to be fairly cosmopolitan, and not just out in the sticks.. A few nice restaurants, cafes, health clubs etc would be good and a good internet connection is essential for me. Also, a mix of expats and Spanish would be the ideal.. Can you think of any areas that would fit this kind of profile?

Regarding working self employed, I currently have a ltd company in the UK. Do you know if I can still operate through that, or can you work through an offshore company, say from Gibraltar, in Spain? Also, when you mention the €350 per month, is that taking into account internet/phone costs etc, or are there other things to consider?

Thanks again for your help with this, it's really appreciated..

Cheers,

Chris


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## Guest (Jul 19, 2010)

That´s a good budget but again bear in mind the running costs of such a big place and pool, does make me laugh when expats moan about the cost of living here having moved from a 2up/2 down in some Northern town to a 4bed villa with pool/aircon/4 bathrooms/etc! Regarding areas, your only way of knowing what *you* like is by coming here for a quick visit and driving around all the places. Along the coast here there is nothing really to compare with in the UK, so you´d have to realistically look at everywhere and see if it works for you. Large villas with pools don´t tend to be in busy cosmopolitan areas.. and rarely with a good Spanish crowd so you´ll be more likely to be out in the surrounding areas that fill in the gaps between the towns like Fuengirola, Marbella, San Pedro and Estepona

I´m pretty crap when it comes to tax issues but I´ve just had a big meeting with my accountant (and spoken to a guy, Advoco, that posts here) regarding running things offshore. Unfortunately due to the current crisis and the government looking at reducing debts however they can they´re really cracking down on loopholes. Basically, or how I understand it, if you´re living permanently here then you should be registered business here - if you´re not you´re going to get found out

The whole situation regarding running a business/self employment here is quite complicated and something I think you should seriously look into before committing to anything. It´s nowhere near as easy as it is in the UK to just "buy" a limited company and run from day one here with minimal running costs so almost everyone (if there is just one or two of you) tends to work as self employed. Being autonomo as it´s called here is equally as complicated and requires you to register, pay social security (250€) and submit quarterly VAT and Tax returns (accountants vary from 50-100€ for this service) even if you earn diddly squat

I strongly recommend you get some proper advice though, forums are like pub talk!


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## thebouffards (Jul 19, 2010)

Thanks again for all the advice.
The tax issue is a tricky one, as don't want to turn up in Spain and suddenly get hit with whopping tax bills. I'll have a chat with my accountant here, but not sure how much he'll know about regulations in Spain.
I'll definitely take your advice to come out and have a look round, probably the only way to get a decent idea of the area..
Once again, thanks for your help.


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## lynn (Sep 25, 2008)

thebouffards said:


> Thanks again for all the advice.
> The tax issue is a tricky one, as don't want to turn up in Spain and suddenly get hit with whopping tax bills. I'll have a chat with my accountant here, but not sure how much he'll know about regulations in Spain.
> I'll definitely take your advice to come out and have a look round, probably the only way to get a decent idea of the area..
> Once again, thanks for your help.


You definitely need to talk to an accountant that understands both UK and Spanish tax before you take the plunge. Timing on your move can be quite important, and an expert can advise you on that. There are a few of us here on the forum who have UK Ltd companies, but work exclusively in the UK so are in a slightly different situation from your own (in that we don't do any business in Spain at all).


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

You can rent a large villa with pool for 2000 -1500 euros on the coast between Marbella and Estepona. We live in that area and originally paid 2000 a month for a large unfurnished villa on a double plot with pool. When our first year's contract expired we told our landlord we would only pay 1500 which he readily accepted.
Utilities are quite high, as Andy says. If you have a large garden like ours you'll need sprinklers going overnight and most likely you'll use air-con. We're lucky as the house is spacious and airy so we don't need it. It gets cold in winter so you'll need good heating. All in all I'd factor in 400 euros for phone, internet, water, electricity, plus satellite tv.
We live in an 'ordinary' street, not an 'urb' which has a good mix of all nationalities, mainly Spanish. It's very quiet, the beach is a ten minute walk away and there is absolutely no high-rise, night-life or anything to attract badly-behaved adults or noisy teenagers.
Estepona or Marbella are a short car or bus trip away.
Bliss....
I would suggest looking at properties listed at rents above your budget and negotiate downwards. It's a renters market now.


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## Guest (Jul 20, 2010)

Indeed, I wouldn´t waste your time talking you your UK accountant.. I´d be amazed if they know the intricacies of the Spanish system when most accountants here don´t. Drop bakeja a PM, he runs Advoco and seems to know his stuff


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

ShinyAndy said:


> Indeed, I wouldn´t waste your time talking you your UK accountant.. I´d be amazed if they know the intricacies of the Spanish system when most accountants here don´t. Drop bakeja a PM, he runs Advoco and seems to know his stuff



What's Advoco?


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## thebouffards (Jul 19, 2010)

Thanks for the advice mrypg9, and Andy, I'll contact bakeja, as really that side of things is pretty crucial to this move for me..

Also, maybe you guys can help with this.. I have seen a school called 'The English International College' which looks pretty good, although of course we would need to go and view it.

Does anyone have an opinion of this school?

Also, on that side of Marbella, does anyone know of nice areas to live? I know the best way is to go over and have a look around, but it would help to have an idea..

To be honest, I'd be more inclined to like a 'normal' street rather than an urbanisation, however I suppose if I came over and got somewhere it doesn't mean I need to stay there for ever..

The key thing for me is that a good internet connection is a must, but also having things to do and within walkable distance would be a real positive..


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## Guest (Jul 20, 2010)

Advoco is an accountancy firm here

Nice areas to live... it´s a can of worms, everyone thinks where they live is the best/nicest area. Really, there is no other option than coming over and seeing it all for yourself. Personally I love living slap bang in the middle of Marbella where it´s mainly all Spanish, rarely need to use the car and can walk everywhere. To other people that´s their idea of hell. Like you said though, find somewhere as cheap as possible and stay there for 6 months and then move on.. it´s probably the only real way of knowing what you actually want


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

thebouffards said:


> Thanks for the advice mrypg9, and Andy, I'll contact bakeja, as really that side of things is pretty crucial to this move for me..
> 
> Also, maybe you guys can help with this.. I have seen a school called 'The English International College' which looks pretty good, although of course we would need to go and view it.
> 
> ...



San Pedro area has some nice quiet streets and the village of Cancelada is attractive and quiet...maybe too quiet for you, though.
We moved twice within the first six months of arriving here and then we found our lovely house where we hope to stay for a few years.


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## lynn (Sep 25, 2008)

thebouffards said:


> Thanks for the advice mrypg9, and Andy, I'll contact bakeja, as really that side of things is pretty crucial to this move for me..
> 
> Also, maybe you guys can help with this.. I have seen a school called 'The English International College' which looks pretty good, although of course we would need to go and view it.
> 
> ...


The EIC is a very well respected international school in Elviria. I do know of a couple of families that send their kids there, and they seem very happy with it. Personally, I ruled it out because when I contacted them to arrange a visit, they were so rude and said I couldn't visit until 'invited' after making an application to the school first! This was 18 months or so ago, and I believe the said person has now left the school so you might get a better reception! Certainly, that school has a higher than most perentage of Brits attending, and subsequently have been hit by the recession as many return to the UK. I do know it is one of the most expensive schools on the Costa del Sol. 
I have my three children at Sunny View in Torremolinos, and after the first year there, I have to say I am absolutely delighted with it as a school. All three are progressing well academically, and the atmosphere of calm and learning is quite special. I would certainly recommend it, but if you are dead set of Marbella then it will be too far away for you.


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## thebouffards (Jul 19, 2010)

Thanks for suggestions everyone. I'm going to book a short trip out soon to get an idea of areas etc..
Actually, I have another question if anyone is able to help?
As my work is all over internet and phone, getting cheap international calls is essential for me. I will be calling the UK, Germany, France, and frequently many other European countries and often this will be to mobiles.
At the moment I have a skype phone for all European landline calls, and for all mobile calls I use my Vodafone mobile, with add-ons to reduce the cost of calling European mobiles to 15p per minute.
I just wondered if anyone knows anything about these kinds of telephony issues, where to start looking, or is anyone knows someone who has a similar type of business who I could ask?
Thanks again


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## lynn (Sep 25, 2008)

thebouffards said:


> Thanks for suggestions everyone. I'm going to book a short trip out soon to get an idea of areas etc..
> Actually, I have another question if anyone is able to help?
> As my work is all over internet and phone, getting cheap international calls is essential for me. I will be calling the UK, Germany, France, and frequently many other European countries and often this will be to mobiles.
> At the moment I have a skype phone for all European landline calls, and for all mobile calls I use my Vodafone mobile, with add-ons to reduce the cost of calling European mobiles to 15p per minute.
> ...


I am using skype more and more for my international calls. Certainly, telefonica is outrageously expensive for these calls. I use it for calls to mobiles as well. Others I'm sure will give you other options..


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

I use voip, but I dont really understand it!! All I know is that I have a UK phone number and a spanish one, its cheap by comparison to telefonica and we need to be within sight of a "repeater"??????? I'm not blonde for nothing!!! LOL

Jo xxx


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## thebouffards (Jul 19, 2010)

Sounds like you know as much as you need to know on the subject!!
Actually, whilst on communications, can anyone also tell me kind of broadband speeds you can get along the coast, and if the speeds vary greatly from area to area?
Thanks


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## Guest (Jul 21, 2010)

Skype with the Europe Unlimited package and a UK SkypeIn number covers anything outside Spain for me. I have Vodafone ADSL (15mb) and that also comes with a landline phone with free calls to landlines in Spain - as they all tend to do nowadays. Run our business on that just fine, if we have to call a mobile then we use Skype and have some credit sat on there all the time (think it´s rougly 20c a min to a mobile anyway)

Along the coast and in the proper towns you´ll get ADSL much the same as in the UK, when you move inland or onto the newer urbanisations then you struggle getting much more than 1 or 2MB or have to rely on a wireless provider which I wouldn´t want to run a business using voip with too much (based on my clients anyway!)


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

lynn said:


> I am using skype more and more for my international calls. Certainly, telefonica is outrageously expensive for these calls. I use it for calls to mobiles as well. Others I'm sure will give you other options..


we use skype too - dh calls the US a lot for less than 2c a minute


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

thebouffards said:


> Sounds like you know as much as you need to know on the subject!!
> Actually, whilst on communications, can anyone also tell me kind of broadband speeds you can get along the coast, and if the speeds vary greatly from area to area?
> Thanks


speeds can vary street to street & day to day:confused2:


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## natalieml (May 9, 2010)

Hi there,

We are in a very similar situation to youa re are re-locating to Del Sol in December (17th to be precise). 

We run outr our Ltd business with all our business conducted in the UK.

We looked at school and we really liked the attitude and atmosphere of The British College in Benalmadena (even if from the outside it looks ike 2 shop fronts) and our children (9 and 7) will start in January. Even though it's an international school 60% of the klids are Spanish taking their lessons in English so there is a good mix of kids there. 

We need phone and internet to run our business and we have an internet phone for our business. THis means that we havea central London phone number that we will keep and all UK landline calls are free. For an additional £2.99 a month we can have another line with a Spanish phone number and again landline calls are free. For both it will be £7.99 a month. They also have a European rate for 15 countries for £8.99 a month. Its VOIP. 

If your interested and I recommend you we both get 2 months free. If not send me a PM if you want the website to look into it. Don't think I'm allowed to post it here.

Best of luck with your move.






thebouffards said:


> Thanks for suggestions everyone. I'm going to book a short trip out soon to get an idea of areas etc..
> Actually, I have another question if anyone is able to help?
> As my work is all over internet and phone, getting cheap international calls is essential for me. I will be calling the UK, Germany, France, and frequently many other European countries and often this will be to mobiles.
> At the moment I have a skype phone for all European landline calls, and for all mobile calls I use my Vodafone mobile, with add-ons to reduce the cost of calling European mobiles to 15p per minute.
> ...


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## Guest (Jul 22, 2010)

natalieml said:


> We need phone and internet to run our business and we have an internet phone for our business. THis means that we havea central London phone number that we will keep and all UK landline calls are free. For an additional £2.99 a month we can have another line with a Spanish phone number and again landline calls are free. For both it will be £7.99 a month. They also have a European rate for 15 countries for £8.99 a month. Its VOIP.


Skype does sound cheaper: 5,99€ a month to call landlines in 24 European countries and 25€ a year for a UK landline number in whatever location you want. You would get a Spanish landline and free national calls with your ADSL connection anyway


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## thebouffards (Jul 19, 2010)

Hi Natalie,
That's actually a pretty similar set up to the one I use at the moment.. I have a London fixed skype number with all European landline calls included. For me though, the problem is calling mobiles in Europe, which obviously works out far more expensive. At the moment I use my mobile with an add on which limits all European mobile call charges to 15p per minute.
I'm not sure if there is anything similar that I can do in Spain, or might just have swallow the higher call charges..
Without having been yet to look around, and based purely on internet research, we quite like the sound of Estepona. The fact that it seems more Spanish than other areas is quite appealing to us, while being near Marbella..
We've looked at a few schools (again, just on the internet) and likes the look of Laude San Pedro.
Does anyone have any thoughts, or know anything about this school, or maybe know anyone who has sent their kids there?
Thanks again,
Chris


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## thebouffards (Jul 19, 2010)

Hi Andy,
Regarding broadband, do most rental places already have broadband connected, or would you need to arrange this separately?
In the UK, it can obviously be a bit of a pain getting broadband, and can sometimes take weeks to get connected..
Do you know if you could encounter the same problems in Spain?
Thanks,
Chris


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## Guest (Jul 22, 2010)

Estepona isn´t near Marbella! If you don´t use the toll road it can take over 30 minutes to drive there (and over an hour by bus). It is nice down there though, not really any more Spanish in the centre of town than Marbella town is but admit it does feel different. That school you mention is in San Pedro.. I´d always try and live as close as possible to your school, getting around here especially in the summer can be quite tiresome! Check out San Pedro as an area, it´s really Spanish there and would be our second choice of location when we eventually buy

Some do, some don´t. If they already have a Telefonica fixed line then getting broadband of sorts will be easy - my Vodafone connection took over the existing Telefonica line and was up and running within a week (had 3G for free until is was live anyway). A client rang Telefonica for a new ADSL line in their Neuva Andalucia office and they installed next day. Go out off the beaten track a bit though and you could be waiting forever for things to happen


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## kathyd (May 28, 2007)

HI MRYPG8

we talked earlier this month before we took off for spain.
Now we have landed some 4 days ago and staying for 2 weeks in mijas. We are now on the hunt for property and getting an idea of areas.I know that I mentioned before that I am going to be teaching at Swans ...[took me an hour and 30 mins to find!] and we have had a look at some areas.

Not overly excited about living in high rise area and where you are sounds nice .
We may be looking at a place in belair today. Our accomodation untill end of August is Mijas Peublo which is nice but just too far from the school. 
What area are you in as it sounds suitable .Also i know you mentioned a good estate agent in the area .
I do not want to pay 1500 a month but can see that alot of properties are open to negotiation.
By the way I adore animals and noticed your comment about the shelter..in Estapona.
Any advice appreicated at the moment .We may take a drive today out to Estapona


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

kathyd said:


> HI MRYPG8
> 
> we talked earlier this month before we took off for spain.
> Now we have landed some 4 days ago and staying for 2 weeks in mijas. We are now on the hunt for property and getting an idea of areas.I know that I mentioned before that I am going to be teaching at Swans ...[took me an hour and 30 mins to find!] and we have had a look at some areas.
> ...


Hi Kathy,

Yes, it is nice where we are...I think Jo would agree with that. No high rise here.
The agent who got us our house is Francisco of Casitas Classiques, I'll pm you his number.
ADANA are having a stall at the market in the Diana Cemtre on Saturday....they are always in need of helpers for their various activities.


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

mrypg9 said:


> Hi Kathy,
> 
> Yes, it is nice where we are...I think Jo would agree with that. No high rise here.
> The agent who got us our house is Francisco of Casitas Classiques, I'll pm you his number.
> ADANA are having a stall at the market in the Diana Cemtre on Saturday....they are always in need of helpers for their various activities.


Yes, very jealous!!!! A Good spot that seemed to be close enough to everything without being in the middle of everything!! - Even Michelle Obama liked the area as she was staying up the road from MRYPG when we visited!!!!

Jo xxx


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

jojo said:


> Yes, very jealous!!!! A Good spot that seemed to be close enough to everything without being in the middle of everything!! - Even Michelle Obama liked the area as she was staying up the road from MRYPG when we visited!!!!
> 
> Jo xxx



Yes, we recommended the area to her the last time we had coffee together at the White House


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