# Help find right area for us please



## MrsR (Feb 3, 2013)

We are looking for a 2+ bed property to stay winter months and possibly rent out in the summer. Budget up too £100k. Ideally access to a pool when grandkids come. We have 2 dogs. 1 med size and one very small. We plan to run our business at home while in Spain. Not to far inland. Possibly costa Calida or Costa Del Sol areas. Any help and advice to best area for us would be greatly appreciated. 
Fellow Brits in the area would also be a factor


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

MrsR said:


> We are looking for a 2+ bed property to stay winter months and possibly rent out in the summer. Budget up too £100k. Ideally access to a pool when grandkids come. We have 2 dogs. 1 med size and one very small. We plan to run our business at home while in Spain. Not to far inland. Possibly costa Calida or Costa Del Sol areas. Any help and advice to best area for us would be greatly appreciated.
> Fellow Brits in the area would also be a factor


I'm not sure you could get a decent 2bed piso for £100k on the CdS even at this time. Apartments in the Marbella/Estepona area have dropped in price considerably but you'd still be looking at £200+.
Maybe somewhere away from the coast, like the Alhaurins?
As I've said before, it's difficult to recommend specific areas for people of whose tastes and lifestyles one knows nothing. Best to come and see for yourself. Decide on an area and tour around.


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## Justina (Jan 25, 2013)

mrypg9 said:


> I'm not sure you could get a decent 2bed piso for £100k on the CdS even at this time. Apartments in the Marbella/Estepona area have dropped in price considerably but you'd still be looking at £200+.
> Maybe somewhere away from the coast, like the Alhaurins?
> As I've said before, it's difficult to recommend specific areas for people of whose tastes and lifestyles one knows nothing. Best to come and see for yourself. Decide on an area and tour around.


I know it is a grind trying to find a flat or house at what one can afford but perhaps you should google in casas en venta and then close your eyes and stick a pin on the map of your chosen area. After that look at the various villages and towns and look at the prices. Also since I joined this forum I have been given various names of places along the coast and just googling in the towns and then property for sale in that area. Ultimately, come September I hope to have in mind a certain area with certain properties and just spend a few days wandering. In our case it is for the rest of our lives but realise other people are in more of a hurry. There are so many lovely places in this country, but one does need a bit of help and hope I have helped in some small way.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

There really is no way in which someone can influence your decision on where or even if to live in Spain.
Choice of a permanent residence is an essentially subjective matter.
I like where I live but I'm not sure that many British immigrants would enjoy my lifestyle. There are few Brits or any other Northern Europeans here -and those that are have lived here for decades and have gone native - and a reasonable level of Spanish is essential.
I like helping people where I can - I give to charity, assist aged people to cross the road and so on - but no way can I help someone choose or decide where to live in Spain or any country, for that matter. That would even extend to family and close friends, of whose tastes and preferences I have some knowledge.

It took us a very short time to decide to move out of the UK - about five minutes. The actual move came just over two months later. But we were moving to a country, the Czech Republic, that I had visited regularly for years and my partner knew reasonably well. We moved within five minutes' walk of a Czech friend I've known since student days who helped us a lot.

Our decision to move from Prague to the CdS was taken in August 2008, we began gathering basic information immediately and we began our drive on the last day of November of that year. My son has a house here which we used as a base to look round for our own house and that helped immensely.
But the initial research and planning can only be done by the would-be immigrant. It's your decision, your move, your new life...and if it doesn't work out as to some extent our life in Prague didn't then it's down to you and no-one else to put things right.

We moved out of my son's house too soon, found ourselves in an urb. neither of us could get used to - we'd never experienced that kind of communal living before - and it wasn't until we moved into our current house that we both felt settled and began to enjoy living in Spain. 
Feeling 'at home' in a new country is so important for future happiness...and the choice of the location of that new home must be yours and yours alone.


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## Justina (Jan 25, 2013)

mrypg9 said:


> There really is no way in which someone can influence your decision on where or even if to live in Spain.
> Choice of a permanent residence is an essentially subjective matter.
> I like where I live but I'm not sure that many British immigrants would enjoy my lifestyle. There are few Brits or any other Northern Europeans here -and those that are have lived here for decades and have gone native - and a reasonable level of Spanish is essential.
> I like helping people where I can - I give to charity, assist aged people to cross the road and so on - but no way can I help someone choose or decide where to live in Spain or any country, for that matter. That would even extend to family and close friends, of whose tastes and preferences I have some knowledge.
> ...


Yes, I ldo agree with your comments but it does help for someone who has paved the way to help like I got help last week from one of the posters where I asked about a train station and hospital etc. and am now plotting my way along that coastline. And like you I wouldn't be too keen on the urbs but some people might well be very happy in them. I also check out how many people live in the towns and all the other things. some people may well be happy with a place that only has about 2000 people, of which there are plenty, or areas which only have a bus service once a day, which, since I certainly don't wish to drive ever again, would be a no no-


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Justina said:


> Yes, I ldo agree with your comments but it does help for someone who has paved the way to help like I got help last week from one of the posters where I asked about a train station and hospital etc. and am now plotting my way along that coastline. And like you I wouldn't be too keen on the urbs but some people might well be very happy in them. I also check out how many people live in the towns and all the other things. some people may well be happy with a place that only has about 2000 people, of which there are plenty, or areas which only have a bus service once a day, which, since I certainly don't wish to drive ever again, would be a no no-


B ut these are matters of information, of fact. The 'best' place is a matter of opinion.

You are in fact agreeing with my point when you say that neither you nor I like 'urbs'...but some people might...in fact many obviously do.

Checking out population size, provision of health and similar services is something any serious would-be immigrant can find out for themselves.
Choosing where you live on the basis of the advice and opinion of someone you have never met.....no way Jose.

I'm with Baldy on this one...see Newbie thread. You simply have to suck it and see.

After all, put it the other way round: what would you say to a would-be Spanish immigrant to the UK asking which is the 'best' place to live....


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## Justina (Jan 25, 2013)

mrypg9 said:


> B ut these are matters of information, of fact. The 'best' place is a matter of opinion.
> 
> You are in fact agreeing with my point when you say that neither you nor I like 'urbs'...but some people might...in fact many obviously do.
> 
> ...


Well, I probably stand corrected but in my case it took one letter asking to be given all that I needed as to basic things like stations and hospitals instead of googling in every little village and that's what I thought a forum was for. As to important things like residence, banking etc., I found out by a letter to the Spanish Consulate. I had in previous years visited Barcelona and Granada and decided neither had quite what I wanted although recognised their beauty.
You are right about a Spaniard visiting the UK and looking for a place to settle which would depend on monies available and what kind of city or country spot where they would like to live. I haven't lived in the UK for forty years, but I could still give a fair idea weather wise, etc., where I wouldn't ever wish to live. Once again, I return to the wonders of google and would be lost without it.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Justina said:


> Well, I probably stand corrected but in my case it took one letter asking to be given all that I needed as to basic things like stations and hospitals instead of googling in every little village and that's what I thought a forum was for. As to important things like residence, banking etc., I found out by a letter to the Spanish Consulate. I had in previous years visited Barcelona and Granada and decided neither had quite what I wanted although recognised their beauty.
> You are right about a Spaniard visiting the UK and looking for a place to settle which would depend on monies available and what kind of city or country spot where they would like to live. I haven't lived in the UK for forty years, but I could still give a fair idea weather wise, etc., where I wouldn't ever wish to live. Once again, I return to the wonders of google and would be lost without it.


In forty years, so much has changed in the UK that your impressions dating back that far would be well out of date. Forty years ago, for example, Southend-on-Sea (sarfend) had an excellent bus service that served even the most remote places within a 25 mile radius with a minimum of an hourly bus service (more frequently obviously nearer the hub), an efficient local council (County Borough), good schools (L.E.A.), an excellent refuse and cleansing service, a thriving seafront and a thriving airport, a police force that was the envy of the country, etc. Along came the Tory interference - the police force was taken over by Essex (absolutely useless), the Local Government reorganisation made Southend susbservient to Essex County Council. The destruction was completed by MT with her "Local authorities are not there to provide or run buses, airports, public housing or even collect refuse- privatise them"! So now there is a lousy bus service, the airport is barely struggling along on subsidies (previously it was a net revenue earner), likewise the buses, etc. 

The railways under BR may have been inefficiewnt (largely as a result of governement mismanagement and underinvestment) and needed subsidising but still retained the concept of 'public service' were then, under MT's auspices, privatised so that they now need subsidising (from the public purse) to a greater degree than before, with worse service and profits going into the pockets of a limited number of wealthy investors.

Any person looking for information about where to live in Spain needs to sit down and make lists of what criteria they need to meet. This is not a five minute task and will take several weeks to compile a list as different things are thought of. One then needs to make a further list of possible places that meet half or more of those criteria. Keep cutting away until you have a list of half a dozen or so places that are worth looking at 'on the ground'. Have in mind the types of places you would like to live in and also the types of places you wouldn't like to live in. You should, by now, have an idea of the type of place you'd like and where you might find it. Then, go visit! BUT keep an open mind!

SWMBO and her mother have always lived in large towns/cities or even capital cities. Her mother, in particular, had never ver considered living anywhere else. We live in a large village (pop. <5k), two or three buses a day, it is an hour to the railway station (then 4 hours to Madrid), our next nearest airport that has most flights to where we might want to go (Málaga) is 2½ hours away or 1hour to Granada. They are very happy and say that they couldn't have ended up in a better place.


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

What we did when we were looking to move was to write down our needs ie close to a good airport, international schools, hospitals etc. Then we wrote down our wish list - close to the sea, shops, countryside.....

We found the best airport for us, Malaga (husband commuted), then we went on google and basically found locations that seemed suitable and had international schools, then we went over for a few days and had a proper look!

A good internet service meant that we were really tied to be close to towns and that played a big part in our choices. We then rented so that we had the freedom to fine tune and change our minds.* The one thing I learnt and is important IMO is that what you think you want from your armchair in the UK, isnt what you want when you are living the reality day to day in Spain*

Jo xxx


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

I saw where I know live, from another Island 40 miles to the north.


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## Justina (Jan 25, 2013)

baldilocks said:


> In forty years, so much has changed in the UK that your impressions dating back that far would be well out of date. Forty years ago, for example, Southend-on-Sea (sarfend) had an excellent bus service that served even the most remote places within a 25 mile radius with a minimum of an hourly bus service (more frequently obviously nearer the hub), an efficient local council (County Borough), good schools (L.E.A.), an excellent refuse and cleansing service, a thriving seafront and a thriving airport, a police force that was the envy of the country, etc. Along came the Tory interference - the police force was taken over by Essex (absolutely useless), the Local Government reorganisation made Southend susbservient to Essex County Council. The destruction was completed by MT with her "Local authorities are not there to provide or run buses, airports, public housing or even collect refuse- privatise them"! So now there is a lousy bus service, the airport is barely struggling along on subsidies (previously it was a net revenue earner), likewise the buses, etc.
> 
> The railways under BR may have been inefficiewnt (largely as a result of governement mismanagement and underinvestment) and needed subsidising but still retained the concept of 'public service' were then, under MT's auspices, privatised so that they now need subsidising (from the public purse) to a greater degree than before, with worse service and profits going into the pockets of a limited number of wealthy investors.
> 
> ...


I did enjoy reading that and how I agree with you about the UK. Although I haven't lived there for many years I did go on holiday several times and yes, poor old British Railways. While a nationalised system may have drawbacks, not that I can think ofany at the moment, the privatised system in the UK is a disgrace. I have travelled through France on many occasions on their TGV and so far four times in Spain on RENFE and several times on the cercania and take my hat off to both countries. About four years ago I went from London to Glasgow for a few days and can't remember the precise time it took like four or five hours but the return was a nightmare. We stopped everywhere and around 4.30 we seemed to be shuttled into a side rail where we sat until nearer 6pm and all this with repetitive announcements apologising for the delay. We eventually made it to Milton Keynes for the rush hour commuters where I then spent the last half hour trying to shake off someone's lap top that kept nestling on my shoulder. As I sat through more rush hour traffic on the Underground the suspicion grew that we were made to wait purposely just to pick up the commuters. I then made the decision that I would never repeat the trip. On the same holiday, I went to the nearest BR station for a return trip to Cheltenham to visit a cousin for a couple of days only to be offered a ticket at a daylight robbery price and didn't buy it but went back to what was my son's home at the time and told him and he got me an on line ticket at truly a third of the price that the station had offered me. I find that kind of trickery quite disgraceful.
As to your really helpful hints on how to find a place, those are more or less exactly what I am doing. Fortunately, I am in no hurry and have the luxury of a lot of free time. Cheers.


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