# Advice on locations around Marbella please



## uliveonce (Jan 28, 2012)

Hi,
I am currently based in the UK and have been offered a job in marbella as a project manager. I am negotiating so still not sure if it will go ahead. However, I would appreciate any advice on the following questions if possible:

1. I will need to do a long term 1 year rent at first. What areas would I get the best quality minimum 2 bed place with terrace and parking, that is fairly close to the sea and local amenities for around 5-700 euros a month? It must be within 30 mins drive of Marbella centre.

2. What other expenses will I need to consider each month (for a single man!)

3. Is there any anomosity from local people against English coming over and taking jobs?

4. Do you think that the current economical climate is improving at all?

Thanks for any advice in advance


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

uliveonce said:


> Hi,
> I am currently based in the UK and have been offered a job in marbella as a project manager. I am negotiating so still not sure if it will go ahead. However, I would appreciate any advice on the following questions if possible:
> 
> 1. I will need to do a long term 1 year rent at first. What areas would I get the best quality minimum 2 bed place with terrace and parking, that is fairly close to the sea and local amenities for around 5-700 euros a month? It must be within 30 mins drive of Marbella centre.
> ...


:welcome:

I'm nowhere near that area so can't comment specifically, but if you have a look at the 'useful links' sticky thread above you'll find links to rental websites which will give you some idea about rental prices

as to the rest of your questions - your expenses here will be more or less the same as in the UK as a whole - soem things are cheaper, soem more expensive, so it's swings & roundabouts - there are a lot of threads here for you to read

I don't know about animosity - I guess there could be in some areas


and as far as the economic situation improving - there's a thread in our 'pub' La Tasca, (above again) about how things are in our local areas atm - most of us would agree that we expect it to get a whole lot worse before it gets better


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## brocher (Mar 21, 2011)

Good luck with the job! 

Try to get tied up one way or the other soon, because rentals get scarcer as summer approaches, with many landlords holding out for the money they can make on short term holiday lets.

You can stay anywhere from Estapona, San Pedro, Guadelmina, Puerto Banus in one direction to Las Chapas, Elvira, Calahonda, Mijas areas in the other direction but you really need to explore the area yourself and see what would suit you.

Marbella is pretty expensive. 550e gets a "nice" studio, 600e just about gets a "nice" one bed. For 600 you could also get 3 beds but decor etc. may leave a lot to be desired! Further out you certainly seem to get a lot more for your money. Start having a look at the websites - idealista, fotocasa, enalquiler, etc - to get an idea of how far your money will go.

One good thing is "council tax" type charges are very low and usually included in the rental - meaning you can stretch your budget a little further.


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## brocher (Mar 21, 2011)

Here are some links to old posts which might be of interest - 

http://www.expatforum.com/expats/sp...ain/92293-relocating-spain-marbella-area.html

http://www.expatforum.com/expats/sp.../87696-newbie-moving-marbella-needs-help.html

One thing I would say, is be very careful when choosing where to stay as there seems to be a lot of very nice developments which look great but are basically uninhabited - effects of the recession/ holiday lets, or you might end up in a "ghost town."


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## uliveonce (Jan 28, 2012)

Many thanks for your helpfull replies. I may even book a cheap flight for a few days and hire a car to take a look.

I have no problem being up to 30mins away from Marbella, but preferably within walking distance of the coast, but saying that...if prices are considerably cheaper inland then I will certainly consider that. But my main concern is to be in a sociable area with shops, bars etc and not in a ghost town like Brocher says above.

What is the price of "council tax" and is it compulsory and what does it get you?

Thank you


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

uliveonce said:


> Many thanks for your helpfull replies. I may even book a cheap flight for a few days and hire a car to take a look.
> 
> I have no problem being up to 30mins away from Marbella, but preferably within walking distance of the coast, but saying that...if prices are considerably cheaper inland then I will certainly consider that. But my main concern is to be in a sociable area with shops, bars etc and not in a ghost town like Brocher says above.
> 
> ...


Generally council tax - IBI is included in the rent. Its nowhere near the price it is in the UK - usually well under 1000€ a year and covers the same things as in the UK. 

On top of your rent you probably will be expected to pay for electricity, water, telephone/internet, gardeners, cleaners..

Obviously that all depends on the terms in the contract you sign, but thats how it generally works

Jo xxx


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## uliveonce (Jan 28, 2012)

Thanks Jo.
So any rough ideas on how much my electric and water would cost per month?
I imagine there would be a big difference between summer and winter?

Thanks


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

uliveonce said:


> Thanks Jo.
> So any rough ideas on how much my electric and water would cost per month?
> I imagine there would be a big difference between summer and winter?
> 
> Thanks



Depends on how much you use and the size of the property. A rule of thumb would be the same as the UK! If you have aircon it wont be much cheaper in the summer - in fact I think we paid a monthly figure, altho my OH dealt with the bills so I cant tell you how much

Jo xxx


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## brocher (Mar 21, 2011)

Just count all your expenses pretty much the same as home, and you won't be far wrong. Some things a little cheaper, some a little more, so it all averages out about the same overall living expenses as the UK.

Yes, you have to pay IVA,buscar charges, etc, - equivalent to UK council tax for street lighting, rubbish collection, etc - but as I say they are usually included iin the rent in Spain, whereas you have to pay them over and above, yourself in the UK.

Once you know the job is definite you really need to go over for at least a few days. First, i'd check out the job is OK, then you can open a bank account so you can transfer money before you go over permanently. Then you can drive round the area, see what appeals, maybe set up some viewings just to get an idea.


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## Lui DeAguiar (Jun 24, 2012)

Can anyone tell what would be the nice urbanisations to live on from cabopino to riviera del sol?

I am planing moving there with my wife and kid but I do hear a lot about the empty urbanisations, can anyone give me a better insite on the area?


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

Lui DeAguiar said:


> Can anyone tell what would be the nice urbanisations to live on from cabopino to riviera del sol?
> 
> I am planing moving there with my wife and kid but I do hear a lot about the empty urbanisations, can anyone give me a better insite on the area?


You need to go and visit to get a feel. I'm not a great fan of that area. It didnt have a particularly nice reputation (apparently lots of rough, drunken behaviour, a couple of knifings had been reported.....). But I dont know if its fair to comment on the whole of the riviera de sol. 

Jo xxx


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Lui DeAguiar said:


> Can anyone tell what would be the nice urbanisations to live on from cabopino to riviera del sol?
> 
> I am planing moving there with my wife and kid but I do hear a lot about the empty urbanisations, can anyone give me a better insite on the area?



Urbanisations are imo not the best way to live in Spain but that's just a personal view, although based on experience.

We lived in an urb for five months when we first got here. We couldn't wait to get out and move into a 'proper' house on a 'proper' street.

Reasons: lack of general privacy- life lived in close proximity to neighbours didn't appeal; noise; a lot of coming and going as many apartments are used as holiday lets; sharing a pool and garden - much prefer privacy; shrieking children - been there, done that, got the Tshirt, now looking for peace and quiet; strange, enclosed ambience with few Spanish residents....

However....I can see the attraction for younger people with children or for people who are new to Spain with little if any Spanish.

I think there could be problems if there were one or two anti-social families. Because there is a lot of coming and going, a 'nice' urb can change overnight if the familiy from hell moves in.

Many people are very happy to live in these communities, though.
I'm just a miserable, anti-social old curmudgeon.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

mrypg9 said:


> Urbanisations are imo not the best way to live in Spain but that's just a personal view, although based on experience.
> 
> We lived in an urb for five months when we first got here. We couldn't wait to get out and move into a 'proper' house on a 'proper' street.
> 
> ...


I live on an urb......

it's a really nice gated urb...

2 pools, nice garden & a gym............ none of which I have to look after

I wouldn't want to live right in the middle though - we have the best of both worlds - our townhouse is on the outside edge of it - so we use all the facilities, but it's just like living 'in the street', and unless the 'family from hell' moved in right next door, it wouldn't actually affect us


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

You can get families from hell in villages too - the ones who keep their dogs tied up on the roof terrace or locked in a shed all week.

We are just out of earshot but my poor neighbours up the road have resorted to sleeping pills and earplugs.

Then there's the fighting cocks, motos without silencers, asthmatic donkeys, religious processions at 2 am, flamenco blaring from car windows, fireworks, football fans driving round all night with their hands on the horn every time Madrid or Spain win ... 

So much for the quiet life! A few kids shouting in the communal pool sounds comparatively peaceful!


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

xabiachica said:


> I live on an urb......
> 
> it's a really nice gated urb...
> 
> ...


But yours is quite small and intimate, if I remember rightly, and the apartments aren't rented for holidays...


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Alcalaina said:


> You can get families from hell in villages too - the ones who keep their dogs tied up on the roof terrace or locked in a shed all week.
> 
> We are just out of earshot but my poor neighbours up the road have resorted to sleeping pills and earplugs.
> 
> ...


We get very little of that...our village is small, very few young people, fireworks when there are fiestas or birthdays or goals scored....too small for anything other than a very poor excuse for a religious procession at our annual romeria. Sadly, there is only one Mass a week in our lovely little church and that on Saturdays...

Why has no-one reported those poor dogs to SEPRONA? And the fighting cocks...
Both are illegal and shouldn't be ignored.


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## Lui DeAguiar (Jun 24, 2012)

I can see how you all have different views on the urbs, but can you guys name the places where you live and like or dislike . 

I appreciated everyone's views really do. I just want to rent a place where my family will be safe when I am offshore and slowly I'll find the right place to buy. 

I am looking at renting something at about 700 to 1000 euros rental. 

Can anyone advise based on there experiences where would be nice to start.


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

Lui DeAguiar said:


> I can see how you all have different views on the urbs, but can you guys name the places where you live and like or dislike .
> 
> I appreciated everyone's views really do. I just want to rent a place where my family will be safe when I am offshore and slowly I'll find the right place to buy.
> 
> ...


Torremuelle, Benalmadena?? Altho I think the rentals on a three bed place would start at 1000€ 

Jo xxx


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## Lui DeAguiar (Jun 24, 2012)

Thanks for you advise  I will have a good look into la Cale de mijas. 

And Jojo - at this stage I am looking for a two bed flat for a rental until I decide what and where to buy.


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

***** said:


> I know someone who does rentals.


I think most of us do lol! But the best way is to go over, look around and see where you want to be, rather than contact agents at this stage. Find where you want to be and then search google, or look at the agents who cover the area

Jo xxx


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

mrypg9 said:


> But yours is quite small and intimate, if I remember rightly, and the apartments aren't rented for holidays...


actually it's HUGE - but you're right, most are lived in full time & by Spanish families - & it's mostly houses rather than apartments


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

mrypg9 said:


> We get very little of that...our village is small, very few young people, fireworks when there are fiestas or birthdays or goals scored....too small for anything other than a very poor excuse for a religious procession at our annual romeria. Sadly, there is only one Mass a week in our lovely little church and that on Saturdays...
> 
> Why has no-one reported those poor dogs to SEPRONA? And the fighting cocks...
> Both are illegal and shouldn't be ignored.


The village is full of dogs which are tied up all week and used for hunting at weekends. This isn't illegal; they are fed and watered, so SEPRONA aren't interested. The local police can order the owners to move them if the noise is causing a real nuisance, but they just take them out to the campo for a week then bring them back. Sometimes you just have to choose between getting a good night's sleep and falling out with your neighbours.

As for the cockerels, the owners just say they are pets. I don't think the police are that bothered.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Alcalaina said:


> The village is full of dogs which are tied up all week and used for hunting at weekends. This isn't illegal; they are fed and watered, so SEPRONA aren't interested. The local police can order the owners to move them if the noise is causing a real nuisance, but they just take them out to the campo for a week then bring them back. Sometimes you just have to choose between getting a good night's sleep and falling out with your neighbours.
> 
> As for the cockerels, the owners just say they are pets. I don't think the police are that bothered.


We have hunting dogs in our village - we take care when out with Azor as from a distance he could be mistaken for prey....but I have seen only one dog tied up and people were upset about it....

We have reported people to SEPRONA for keeping dogs chained. As for cock-fighting....I would rather fall out with my neighbours than turn a blind eye to such primitive barbaric practices.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

xabiachica said:


> actually it's HUGE - but you're right, most are lived in full time & by Spanish families - & it's mostly houses rather than apartments


That makes a difference, a big difference.
The piso we lived in briefly was in a gated community which wasn't very safe as twice in the five months we lived there the electricity was cut by endesa for non-payment of bills. So the gates to the underground garages were permanently unlocked and open as was the gate to the apartment buildings.
About a quarter of the apartments were unsold - not surprising as only a lunatic would have paid just under 400k euros for a two-bedroomed piso - and there was a backlog of 50000 euros arrears in community charges. When the electricity was cut off there was no tv, no lights in the gardens or stairwells and the lift to the garage stopped working.
For this we paid 900 euros a month almost four years ago....

Anyone considering living in an urb should ask to see the state of the community finances before buying or renting. They should also visit at different times of the day and night to find out about noise levels.

We didn't feel as if we had arrived in Spain when we lived in that community. It was like some strange no-mans-land....Life in Spain didn't really begin for us until we moved into the house we now live in.


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## Lui DeAguiar (Jun 24, 2012)

So where abouts do you live now?

Let me explain my intentions a bit better and I'll appreciate if you can give us any advise.

My wife (29y) myself (35y) and our baby (7m) we are trying to find a place not to far from a nice family oriented community or pueblo close to the sea in a NOT party oriented area. I work offshore 28 day on and 28 days of so it's important for me to be somewhere well stablished and safe, the last thing i need is to be dealing with the sort of trouble you have mentioned wile offshore since my wife is busy enough with the baby in it's early stages. We are both fluent in portuguese and it wouldn't take long until we get fluent enough in spanish but communication in spanish is easy enough as it is anyway.

I know I have to have a good feel of the place before buying my own place and thats why we are decided to rent something so we can spende about one year looking around.

Looks are very deceiving when you are on a holiday with limited time and thats why I am asking your advise, the point of view from someone who has been living on the area is a precious information.

So knowing what you know now about the place, where would you move to? where would you like to have you family based in order to start looking for your future family home?

Thanks


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Lui DeAguiar said:


> So where abouts do you live now?
> 
> Let me explain my intentions a bit better and I'll appreciate if you can give us any advise.
> 
> ...


Well, my partner and I took early retirement so our needs and expectations were different from yours.
We ended up where we are now, a small unspoilt village just past the Marbella city limits and a fifteen-minute drive from Estepona, because our family has property here which we stayed in whilst looking for a suitable place.
We looked around but found we liked where we'd first settled.
I would recommend Estepona for family life. It's Spanish, has few Northern European tourists, hardly any 'night life' but plenty of good restaurants, in summer is packed with Spanish families on holiday.
Plenty of accommodation of all types, probably more expensive than inland but you could get a two-bed piso with communal pool for around 500 euros exc. utilities.


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## boxergirl (Nov 27, 2010)

I would recommend Estepona also. My husband works offshore Angola and he too is away on a 4 week rotation. We are older than you and have grown up family in the uk. We lived in a small non gated Urb initially on the edge of the town , moved inland to get space for our dogs and have now after 6 months moved back as we missed Estepona. We are now a 10 minute walk from our 1st house with a big garden for the mutts. It is good to be walking distance from the beach and bars and restaurants. There are a few small Urbs in the vicinity. I would not live on any of the Urbs scattered along the coast where you would have to drive everywhere and no 'town' feel. We lived on Urb Maria Louisa gardens, I don't know the names of the others close by but you would see on google maps.


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