# It's nearly time!



## bristolsaint123151262 (Nov 15, 2014)

In 18 days time my wife and I fly to Malaga to start our new life in Spain.  We have got a holiday rental to give us time to find a long term rental on CdS in a "try before we buy". Our house here will be let to provide some income and a safety net if things don't work as planned.
I have been reading this forum for many months to get as much info as I can, so thanks to all posters. Many of you have asked the questions I would have asked and the answers are always informative, if not always helpful. 
We are looking for a 3 bed, 2 bath house or flat on the coast for a maximum 850 euros per month. It needs to have a communal pool, broadband access and, hopefully, British TV. And a parking space as we will be buying a LHD car. I assume this is a realistic budget? :fingerscrossed:
We aren't looking for work, having recently retired with a small but manageable income from savings so won't be affected by the job market. Our children are all adults and will hopefully visit, hence 3 bedrooms.
We will sort NIEs, resident registration, Spanish bank accounts etc asap while learning Spanish and patience with bureaucracy in a foreign language. I have no doubts that we will cope. Meanwhile, with Christmas, families, packing, dealing with Sky, BT, npower etc filling our time it will be a hectic 2 and 1/2weeks. :juggle:
Wish us luck and I will post again in the new year to let you know how we are getting on.


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## Roy C (Sep 29, 2012)

Wee are in a very similar position just a few months behind but hope to buy before we move over. On another property trip in Feb and also a chance to experience the winter. I think your budget looks very realistic , lots of long term rentals about by the look of things. Of course as ever depending on the area, places like Marbella are top dollar. 

Good luck as I'll be keeping an eye on your posts for any tips.


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## Leper (May 12, 2010)

1. Bristolsaint is onto an immediate winner. The "most" right time of year has been chosen for the move. There are plenty of rental properties available and your budget for rental is pretty generous. If I were you I would be thinking not more than €650 per month in a good location in a decent resort.

Their property in the UK appears to be used to finance some of the Spanish rental if not all and perhaps even Bristolsaint will have some dosh to spare. 

Sorry to point out the obvious but higher earnings in the UK and less expenditure on Spanish property = Good Deal and still, room is left for a favourable retreat, if necessary.

2. Roy C, eventhough Irish (like me) is still dipping toes in the water regarding property purchase. I would advise to rent for about 4 - 6 weeks in one location before moving onto another or even a different resort. Believe me, you will know if Spain is for you within a few weeks rental in the off season.

I don't know if Roy has another plan if he finds Spain unsuitable. Remember, it's easier for things to go wrong than go right. But, renting privately and keeping deposits against this that and t'other will work in his favour.

In general, I would advise both not to confine themselves to one particular Costa. There are many many miles of Costas from the border with Portugal to Barcelona. Property prices differ in each. So keep an open mind and accept nothing less than having all your requirements. 

. . . and best of luck.


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## bristolsaint123151262 (Nov 15, 2014)

Thanks for the words of encouragement. It's reassuring to hear them. We chose CdS after several visits to various areas, lots of research into climate, cost and several other factors. Our budget is a maximum but if we can spend less, so much the better as this will leave us more spare to follow some motorcycle racing. Spain has 4 Moto GPs. They own the series and their riders get most sponsorship. We are looking forward to a new set of circuits to visit and learn.


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

bristolsaint said:


> Thanks for the words of encouragement. It's reassuring to hear them. We chose CdS after several visits to various areas, lots of research into climate, cost and several other factors. Our budget is a maximum but if we can spend less, so much the better as this will leave us more spare to follow some motorcycle racing. Spain has 4 Moto GPs. They own the series and their riders get most sponsorship. We are looking forward to a new set of circuits to visit and learn.


Hope things work out for you! There is lots of interest in motorbikes in this area. Bikers zoom up and down the bendy country roads which climb up to a café on the Cruz Verde Pass (1256m) near El Escorial. Look here for photos
Puerto de la Cruz verde. Punto de encuentro de moteros desde 1970 | Revista Placet | Revista Placet
Will be flying into Brissol airport on Wednesday...


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## bristolsaint123151262 (Nov 15, 2014)

It's been lashing down and blowing a gale for what seems like weeks. Happy landings!!


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## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

I have no idea what your expectations are from the CDS but there is a massive difference between east and west of Malaga. We chose east of Malaga because we feel it is a much better place for our young son. Much of the west of Malaga is concrete until you get beyond Marbella, but many folk live in and around Benalmadena and are very happy. Just way too busy in tourist season for us. Good Luck!!


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## Maureen47 (Mar 27, 2014)

Good Luck in your move , we have been here a month and it already feels like home , we love it. We are in between the Valencia and Albacete circuits and our son is racing in Moto 2 in the Spanish CEV series next season so looking forward to some bike racing in Spain too


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## sdj101 (Apr 11, 2015)

We are off in 2 weeks for another 'fact finding trip' which hopefully will eventually see us moving over to Spain before too much longer. We are looking between Torrevieja - Murcia areas and still undecided whether to buy or long term rent when we make the move. Once we have sold up in UK we shall make that decision and we are both retired so no jobs to have to worry about and we won't have a mortgage but we don't have a high budget to buy - no more than 95,000 euro's to include the taxes and legal fees. We want to try and find somewhere whether it be rental or purchase that is close to transport/hospitals/shops etc., as we know old age can suddenly become 'old age!!!!" We chose January for another visit to see what the weather is like although we used to own in La Manga 30 years ago and it was pretty cool and windy in the winter. Need to make sure wherever we end up has some form of heating methinks!! However, a blue sky makes all the difference and we are sick of grey skies here. We always went to Florida for months in the winter but we sold up in April hence our move to somewhere a bit closer to the UK where our family will be. Lots to think about.


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

bristolsaint said:


> It's been lashing down and blowing a gale for what seems like weeks. Happy landings!!


Oh blimey. I thought the weather was very mild?
2 years ago the flight was diverted because of wind. How it's not going to happen again.


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## sdj101 (Apr 11, 2015)

Pesky Wesky said:


> Oh blimey. I thought the weather was very mild?
> 2 years ago the flight was diverted because of wind. How it's not going to happen again.


The weather is very mild however it does not stop raining for very long!! We have had some winds but nothing that had had an adverse effect on flying so hopefully you will avoid being diverted.

We leave Bristol Airport on 5th January for Alicante so hoping for a non-windy flight!! The forecast is for a dry day on Wednesday. Yay!

Happy Christmas.lane:


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## tony1985 (Dec 20, 2015)

Good luck Bristol!

I'm in a very similar position to you. We move out mid Feb to the Estepona area.

Please keep us all updated on your progress, and let me know if you end up that far west of Malaga!


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## bristolsaint123151262 (Nov 15, 2014)

The plan is to rent in a concrete jungle, possibly Fuengirola. We want a base in the thick of it from which to explore using public transport as much as we can. Although we will buy a car we will avoid using it if we can. A place in the sticks will be too remote for us and I don't cope too well with hills, so it's the coast for us. Much as we loved Nerja, the urbs were too far out of town for us and we felt we might be a bit isolated there. As we are only looking to rent for a year or so, we aren't too fussy. We will be fussier when we buy.
We are keeping a foot on the property ladder here though. Prices are still going up and savings accounts earn so little. The rent will also give us an income.
I'll check out the Moto 2 CEV series. It will be good to have someone to follow. My brother raced Bemsee for a few years and it gave a real insight to the racing.
For now we get xmas out of the way, spend a week frantically packing and fly from Bristol on 6th Jan. More later.


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## sdj101 (Apr 11, 2015)

bristolsaint said:


> The plan is to rent in a concrete jungle, possibly Fuengirola. We want a base in the thick of it from which to explore using public transport as much as we can. Although we will buy a car we will avoid using it if we can. A place in the sticks will be too remote for us and I don't cope too well with hills, so it's the coast for us. Much as we loved Nerja, the urbs were too far out of town for us and we felt we might be a bit isolated there. As we are only looking to rent for a year or so, we aren't too fussy. We will be fussier when we buy.
> We are keeping a foot on the property ladder here though. Prices are still going up and savings accounts earn so little. The rent will also give us an income.
> I'll check out the Moto 2 CEV series. It will be good to have someone to follow. My brother raced Bemsee for a few years and it gave a real insight to the racing.
> For now we get xmas out of the way, spend a week frantically packing and fly from Bristol on 6th Jan. More later.



Good luck and have fun. We fly from Bristol on the 7th!!!!


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## bristolsaint123151262 (Nov 15, 2014)

3 days to go. The house is in chaos with boxes everywhere. Stress levels are quite high. So are excitement levels. Still deciding what to take, what to leave and what to collect later. Now we get a phone call from our hotel to say we are arriving on a bank holiday. Do the trains run as normal? We are transferring from the airport by train. Are restaurants open? I know what bank hols are like here, but not in Spain. Will I even notice it's a bank hol?


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## sdj101 (Apr 11, 2015)

It is Epiphany and there are usually celebrations and parades going on. Not sure whether things close but doubt whether restaurants close as there are a lot of people about - we were in Tenerife when it was Epiphany and it was a great atmosphere.

We shall be there the following day but good luck with your move. Hope it is us soon!!!


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

bristolsaint said:


> 3 days to go. The house is in chaos with boxes everywhere. Stress levels are quite high. So are excitement levels. Still deciding what to take, what to leave and what to collect later. Now we get a phone call from our hotel to say we are arriving on a bank holiday. Do the trains run as normal? We are transferring from the airport by train. Are restaurants open? I know what bank hols are like here, but not in Spain. Will I even notice it's a bank hol?


Here are the Cercanias train times from Málaga Airport to Fuengirola on 6th January, which presumably will be when you are arriving (it's Three Kings Day when Spanish children traditionally get their Xmas presents). As you can see, they're quite frequent - this is a civilised country!

Cercanías Málaga

Some restaurants will undoubtedly be open, but some may be closed. In a tourist resort I would guess more will be open than closed.

PS Sorry the seach details aren't retained in the link, so you'll have to put your departure point, destination and date in yourself to see the times.


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## bristolsaint123151262 (Nov 15, 2014)

Thank you both. Most helpful. Roll on Wednesday


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