# House hunting



## rubencito (Apr 12, 2013)

I meet some people searching for a house in Spain and they start the hunt directly for a house. Then they drive around to get to know the province, region, the town, neighborhood...

I would choose first a province, (Granada, Murcia, Alicante), region in this province, town, neighborhood and a house in a good location in that neighborhood at the end.

Isn´t this more logical?


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

rubencito said:


> I meet some people searching for a house in Spain and they start the hunt directly for a house. Then they drive around to get to know the province, region, the town, neighborhood...
> 
> I would choose first a province, (Granada, Murcia, Alicante), region in this province, town, neighborhood and a house in a good location in that neighborhood at the end.
> 
> Isn´t this more logical?


I would always suggest doing a want and need list first, finding an area that fits the list and renting first

Jo xxx


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## KayParkyn (May 4, 2013)

jojo said:


> I would always suggest doing a want and need list first, finding an area that fits the list and renting first
> 
> Jo xxx


This is what we have done but not knowing the regions at all is making it more difficult, and there are so many agencies all charging different prices lol!
We are looking for warmth so that rules out the north in the winter, we are both country people from a small village near the sea but within an hour of airports for children and grandchildren to travel.
We don't do pubs (could learn though if of helps to fit in lol), we love walking, cycling and swimming - we are bringing our tandem with us as well as our archery sets  
So, if anyone knows of a 3 bed, furnished villa around 350€ a month, give us a shout - we are looking at moving in September.


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## Madliz (Feb 4, 2011)

KayParkyn said:


> This is what we have done but not knowing the regions at all is making it more difficult, and there are so many agencies all charging different prices lol!
> We are looking for warmth so that rules out the north in the winter, we are both country people from a small village near the sea but within an hour of airports for children and grandchildren to travel.
> We don't do pubs (could learn though if of helps to fit in lol), we love walking, cycling and swimming - we are bringing our tandem with us as well as our archery sets
> So, if anyone knows of a 3 bed, furnished villa around 350€ a month, give us a shout - we are looking at moving in September.


Have a look at this temperature map for Spain and you will see that the north is not cold in the winter IF you are on the coast:

Montly Climate Maps for Spain and Canary Islands

A Coruña/La Coruña (top left) is warmer than Barcelona in December. I was smitten by the area after watching the Vuelta last year but it is a little cut off.

I'm in the middle of the country and this week last year we had snow on the ground, Madrid being the highest capital city in Europe. Spain is one of the most mountainous countries in Europe and the climate varies greatly here depending on altitude.


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## Pazcat (Mar 24, 2010)

Define warmth though?

I wouldn't exactly call the Costa Blanca warm in winter. Not as cold as northern Europe but certainly not warm all year round.


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## KayParkyn (May 4, 2013)

Pazcat said:


> Define warmth though?
> 
> I wouldn't exactly call the Costa Blanca warm in winter. Not as cold as northern Europe but certainly not warm all year round.


It's warmer than where we live lol, but I take your point, everyone's idea of something is different. I think 20C is hot but my hubby calls that just warm lol.


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## Pazcat (Mar 24, 2010)

I call 20°C brisk. 

It rarely gets that warm though in winter. 12-15°C was the average daytime temp this year for us and it felt colder because the house doesn't take heating well.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

KayParkyn said:


> This is what we have done but not knowing the regions at all is making it more difficult, and there are so many agencies all charging different prices lol!
> We are looking for warmth so that rules out the north in the winter, we are both country people from a small village near the sea but within an hour of airports for children and grandchildren to travel.
> We don't do pubs (could learn though if of helps to fit in lol), we love walking, cycling and swimming - we are bringing our tandem with us as well as our archery sets
> So, if anyone knows of a 3 bed, furnished villa around 350€ a month, give us a shout - we are looking at moving in September.


You would have to start thinking a lot more than 350 euros pcm for a furnished villa around here. You wouldn't get a one-bed piso for that. We started out paying 2000 euros a month plus 300 euros for gardening and pool maintenance five years ago but we've managed to knock the rental down by half.

Even inland you're looking at between 600 euros to 1000 euros but then of course there are utilities bills to add to that which in our case with internet/phone, water, electricity averages out around 300 euros a month. That doesn't include gas bottles for heating.

If there are indeed villas for rent at 350 euros a month I'd be interested to know where and with what amenities.


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## KayParkyn (May 4, 2013)

Pazcat said:


> I call 20°C brisk.
> 
> It rarely gets that warm though in winter. 12-15°C was the average daytime temp this year for us and it felt colder because the house doesn't take heating well.


Our average this winter was just about 5C on a good day!!
Our house temperature was around 13-15C according to the official Age Concern Thermometer!! (no insulation in walls due to nature of construction, no double glazing etc) I had a hot water bottle permanently strapped to my back lol!!


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## KayParkyn (May 4, 2013)

mrypg9 said:


> _If there are indeed villas for rent at 350 euros a month I'd be interested to know where and with what amenities_.


Maybe 'Villa' might have been the wrong choice of word lol, but check out a number of agencies for 2/3 bed country, bungalow, or similar and there are quite a few properties out there. (look at ThinkSpain, EyeonSpain, Kyero come to mind immediately)
We aren't looking for a pool and any gardening, maintenance etc will be done by ourselves (hubby was in construction and maintenance for years) and we are both avid gardeners


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## XTreme (May 17, 2008)

KayParkyn said:


> Maybe 'Villa' might have been the wrong choice of word lol, but check out a number of agencies for 2/3 bed country, bungalow, or similar and there are quite a few properties out there. (look at ThinkSpain, EyeonSpain, Kyero come to mind immediately)
> We aren't looking for a pool and any gardening, maintenance etc will be done by ourselves (hubby was in construction and maintenance for years) and we are both avid gardeners


More Jacks heading this way then?


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

KayParkyn said:


> Maybe 'Villa' might have been the wrong choice of word lol, but check out a number of agencies for 2/3 bed country, bungalow, or similar and there are quite a few properties out there. (look at ThinkSpain, EyeonSpain, Kyero come to mind immediately)
> We aren't looking for a pool and any gardening, maintenance etc will be done by ourselves (hubby was in construction and maintenance for years) and we are both avid gardeners


Yes, I've seen those. We looked when we arrived here five years ago.
There are a lot of things you need to consider when looking at country properties, as Jo can tell you...flood, fire, landslide and difficulties of access spring to mind.

The area we initially considered was ravaged by fire a couple of years ago.
Of course it's not all gloom and doom and there are lovely properties out there but things are often cheap for a reason and you need to bear that in mind.


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## Maureen47 (Mar 27, 2014)

I think it depends on what you want in Spain , we are about to buy a fab villa, 3 beds , 2 bathrooms , 3 acres of land but it is in rural spain , 45 mins from the coast and very spanish , for us it is perfect but it is not for everybody, we can walk to village , we have peace and quiet but can get to the coast and the city if we wish , think through what works for you and maybe visit places off the beaten track , the prices are better and for me the lifestyle is too


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## RobJones (May 3, 2014)

I live in Javea and i think the temperature and weather and the sourindings are all very nice. We have the beach, the port and the old town all with walking distance of each other. It is about an hour from both Alicante and Valencia so can get great prices on flights and also we have the purest air in the world. if you would like to chat more feel free to private message me



rubencito said:


> I meet some people searching for a house in Spain and they start the hunt directly for a house. Then they drive around to get to know the province, region, the town, neighborhood...
> 
> I would choose first a province, (Granada, Murcia, Alicante), region in this province, town, neighborhood and a house in a good location in that neighborhood at the end.
> 
> Isn´t this more logical?


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

RobJones said:


> I live in Javea and i think the temperature and weather and the sourindings are all very nice. We have the beach, the port and the old town all with walking distance of each other. It is about an hour from both Alicante and Valencia so can get great prices on flights and also we have the purest air in the world. if you would like to chat more feel free to *private message me*



or better yet, ask on the forum - that way everyone can benefit from the info - that's what forums are all about, after all


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