buying an apartment in spain
Discussion
rdjohn said:
And you are probably going to miss the Baku GP?
Yes, that's correct, due to the nature of the track it's better viewed on TV anyway, and to be fair it has produced some interesting races (hopefully more so than yesterdays), but at least I'll be at the Moto GP in Jerez the week after 
SS2. said:
Happy days, mate - I'm sure you'll love it !
Apologies if I missed it earlier in the thread, but what area you decide on in the end ?
As much as tigerkoi tried to persuade me otherwise, I ended up nearer Alicante on the South of the Costa Blanca. Typing this from my lounge there now with a very pleasant rioja in hand. To say I am delighted is an understatement. The whole duplication of life is proving very expensive but I am delighted, Apologies if I missed it earlier in the thread, but what area you decide on in the end ?
You thinking of a pad out here too Neil?
Chris Stott said:
Ah, La Carla, the venue for my 1st round of golf, nearly 20 years ago... I guess the foot deep divots have been filled in by now.
You’re more than welcome to come round for a beer guys. My terrace acquired a beer and wine fridge last year, so I don’t have to walk all the way to the kitchen to fetch a cold one anymore.
A few hours south for me but I would still be game You’re more than welcome to come round for a beer guys. My terrace acquired a beer and wine fridge last year, so I don’t have to walk all the way to the kitchen to fetch a cold one anymore.
Probably bring the Aston down over winter which would be a better GT than the hire cars I am making do with for now! Shnozz said:
As much as tigerkoi tried to persuade me otherwise, I ended up nearer Alicante on the South of the Costa Blanca. Typing this from my lounge there now with a very pleasant rioja in hand. To say I am delighted is an understatement. The whole duplication of life is proving very expensive but I am delighted,
You thinking of a pad out here too Neil?
We are pretty much on the cusp of moving to the Alicante area too. Detached villa, 3 beds, 400-600 metre plot. Enough room for life and visitors without the issues associated with campo services and security around a 10-20,000sqm plot!You thinking of a pad out here too Neil?
We have a few more ducks to get in a row, but the likehood is that I will actually move out permanently and still work in the UK. You may think that is mad, but frankly my job is such that I have to travel a lot in the UK, and flying out of Alicante to an airport local to my UK work location, living out of a hotel 3-4 days a week won’t be a great change.
We have no intention of owning a property in the UK, it is sell up (done) and go time. The plan is to put 30-40% of property value as a deposit, and mortgage the rest. Anyone know a good, reliable source for Spanish mortgages? I hear that brokers can normally secure better rates than going to banks direct. Ideally I would like to get an agreement in principle in place and visit in early July to kick off the purchase.
Current ideas (not recommendations) of folks to speak to are:
https://www.spanishmortgages4u.com/costs.html
https://mortgagedirectsl.com/
Without breaking name and shame rules, anyone got any positive / horror stories about these guys? It is tough to find independent reviews.
I can't help on the mortgage front I am afraid SeeFive. However, I am interested to know where you are looking and perhaps you could PM me? We might soon be near neighbours and I have already planned my Corvette purchase in Spain 
Just clocked on your profile and see you are currently very near where I originate from too! In fact a brother of mine has a house also in Port Solent. Small world.
Good luck with your plan. I hear what you say about wanting to move up with a one-way ticket although many, many ex-pats do suggest keeping at least a foothold in the UK market. I think they speak with the experience of having seen many sell up only to later want to return but having been priced out of the market in the meanwhile. Even if it is not now your intention to ever come back to UK shores, you can't see into the future. That said, even after only a few trips I could quite happily not return to the UK at all! I head back out Friday after next and that cannot come soon enough.
Just clocked on your profile and see you are currently very near where I originate from too! In fact a brother of mine has a house also in Port Solent. Small world.
Good luck with your plan. I hear what you say about wanting to move up with a one-way ticket although many, many ex-pats do suggest keeping at least a foothold in the UK market. I think they speak with the experience of having seen many sell up only to later want to return but having been priced out of the market in the meanwhile. Even if it is not now your intention to ever come back to UK shores, you can't see into the future. That said, even after only a few trips I could quite happily not return to the UK at all! I head back out Friday after next and that cannot come soon enough.
Read this thread a while back. It's very good, and a lot is very familiar!
We've recently bought in Portugal - second home for now - and I'm only posting to say I'd 100% recommend using a broker, unless you're a fluent [insert country of purchase here] speaker.
Got a better mortgage rate than we expected, great help with the valuation and then the re-valuation (!), got life insurance removed from the deal (330 euro per month) that we were told initially was mandatory, and then at the last minute the brokers spotted the life insurance had somehow crept back onto the paperwork. We would have been none the wiser until after we'd signed. Genuine stress-removing hand-holding for under 1000 euro.
The portuguese bit of https://britishexpats.com/forum/ I found very useful for advice - may be worth a post on there in the spanish department to see which companies come up positive.
We've recently bought in Portugal - second home for now - and I'm only posting to say I'd 100% recommend using a broker, unless you're a fluent [insert country of purchase here] speaker.
Got a better mortgage rate than we expected, great help with the valuation and then the re-valuation (!), got life insurance removed from the deal (330 euro per month) that we were told initially was mandatory, and then at the last minute the brokers spotted the life insurance had somehow crept back onto the paperwork. We would have been none the wiser until after we'd signed. Genuine stress-removing hand-holding for under 1000 euro.
The portuguese bit of https://britishexpats.com/forum/ I found very useful for advice - may be worth a post on there in the spanish department to see which companies come up positive.
Thanks for the feedback folks.
Schnozz, we are looking in the Hondon Valley, which suits our year-round needs and desires for a quieter lifestyle around our home. It also offers more space for your euros, which is very important to us - especially outside space.
I must update my profile, the Vette has gone a little while back. Shame really as it was a UK car with the correct CoC, so would have gone to Europe with no issues. Hope yours is being as good to you as mine was to me as over the 11 years or so she carried me around for about 140,000 miles! I guess the missus’s SLC will probably be OK without major works, and hopefully take it as chattels this avoiding lots of tax. I will also pick up a cheap soft roader out there for a little exploring.
Hi Andy. I have had a run around the web looking for happy broker customers, but they are very few and far between it seems. The legal language on official paperwork was my main concern, it is tough enough to decipher in English. My Spanish is spotty at best, but wandering through Spanish bank websites and having google translate on hand for more technical stuff seemed quite simple. I see what you mean about things creeping back onto contracts, and hadn’t considered that. My original thoughts were that with wider products available to them exclusively, ISTM that a broker could be a good idea. But rates at main Spanish banks seem to be very low anyway.
It is tough to find any personal recommendations towards a trustworthy broker, all the people I know in Spain are of course powerfully built, goateed, global company directors who simply peeled the relevant amount of 50s off their daily usage wad to buy their villas
Actually the two links I mentioned came from folks down there with 2nd hand reports of being ok, but it was stressed are definitely not their personal recommendations... so I need to do a bit more due diligence given that we are playing with lifetime sized amounts of our money.
Keeping the footprint in the UK thing won’t happen. We have sold both UK houses and are renting at PS already waiting for the off. Sounds irresponsible, but we do have financial vehicles kicking in later on which would fund that need if it came about. Some of that will be used to pay off the mortgage on staying down there. The rest we will probably donate to the local bodegas over time
Schnozz, we are looking in the Hondon Valley, which suits our year-round needs and desires for a quieter lifestyle around our home. It also offers more space for your euros, which is very important to us - especially outside space.
I must update my profile, the Vette has gone a little while back. Shame really as it was a UK car with the correct CoC, so would have gone to Europe with no issues. Hope yours is being as good to you as mine was to me as over the 11 years or so she carried me around for about 140,000 miles! I guess the missus’s SLC will probably be OK without major works, and hopefully take it as chattels this avoiding lots of tax. I will also pick up a cheap soft roader out there for a little exploring.
Hi Andy. I have had a run around the web looking for happy broker customers, but they are very few and far between it seems. The legal language on official paperwork was my main concern, it is tough enough to decipher in English. My Spanish is spotty at best, but wandering through Spanish bank websites and having google translate on hand for more technical stuff seemed quite simple. I see what you mean about things creeping back onto contracts, and hadn’t considered that. My original thoughts were that with wider products available to them exclusively, ISTM that a broker could be a good idea. But rates at main Spanish banks seem to be very low anyway.
It is tough to find any personal recommendations towards a trustworthy broker, all the people I know in Spain are of course powerfully built, goateed, global company directors who simply peeled the relevant amount of 50s off their daily usage wad to buy their villas
Actually the two links I mentioned came from folks down there with 2nd hand reports of being ok, but it was stressed are definitely not their personal recommendations... so I need to do a bit more due diligence given that we are playing with lifetime sized amounts of our money.
Keeping the footprint in the UK thing won’t happen. We have sold both UK houses and are renting at PS already waiting for the off. Sounds irresponsible, but we do have financial vehicles kicking in later on which would fund that need if it came about. Some of that will be used to pay off the mortgage on staying down there. The rest we will probably donate to the local bodegas over time
Yetski said:
we live just up the road in Duquesa
Have you visited the brewery in Manilva? https://www.grandeselect.com/the-brewery/Found it on my last visit to Duquesa, popped in just to buy a couple of bottles, the owner is very proud of his set-up there, ended up being given a tour and samples. Worth a look if you like beer.
The Hondon Valley can get very cold in the winter. Make sure any property you buy has a decent heating system. We aren't far from there and got a new build with central heating and hot and cold air con but it gets very cold inside in the winter and at other times of the year. At Easter we had our heating on quite a bit trying to heat the place up.
murray said:
The Hondon Valley can get very cold in the winter. Make sure any property you buy has a decent heating system. We aren't far from there and got a new build with central heating and hot and cold air con but it gets very cold inside in the winter and at other times of the year. At Easter we had our heating on quite a bit trying to heat the place up.
Indeed. Not massively cold compared to the UK, but the poor insulation properties of the houses means that heating can be necessary. Second issue of course is the choice of gas or electric for heating, on Spanish prices a bit like choosing between leprosy and bubonic plague. Not all of the houses I am shortlisting looking at are connected to mains gas, but it seems those that are have chosen that for their heating, maybe for efficiency or maybe for cost reasons.Thank goodness it is only a couple of months of the year.
Ha ha ha! Well put on the choices!
I too am facing that conundrum, particularly as its over winter I want to spend most of my time in Spain and escape the UK.
I currently have a blank canvas as I have no heating or air conditioning at the property. No gas supply so if I went central heating route i would need to run off bottles and also find somewhere to store these. Add to that the fact I could then fall foul of failing to update the cadastral register gives me little incentive to pursue the gas route.
Current thoughts are to have air con units with inverters and use them for both cooling and heating. I know of some folks who run them in addition to electric wall heaters so use the air con to give the house a 20 min initial "blast" and then let the cheaper wall heaters that retain a little more heat take over once they start actually providing some input. On a final level I am considering adding a wood burner but that really only would be used on days/nights that we were in for the duration rather than when coming home from a night or for the first thing in the morning need for some heating.
I too am facing that conundrum, particularly as its over winter I want to spend most of my time in Spain and escape the UK.
I currently have a blank canvas as I have no heating or air conditioning at the property. No gas supply so if I went central heating route i would need to run off bottles and also find somewhere to store these. Add to that the fact I could then fall foul of failing to update the cadastral register gives me little incentive to pursue the gas route.
Current thoughts are to have air con units with inverters and use them for both cooling and heating. I know of some folks who run them in addition to electric wall heaters so use the air con to give the house a 20 min initial "blast" and then let the cheaper wall heaters that retain a little more heat take over once they start actually providing some input. On a final level I am considering adding a wood burner but that really only would be used on days/nights that we were in for the duration rather than when coming home from a night or for the first thing in the morning need for some heating.
Our place has AC/heating as one system... it's over 20 years old and not very effective... heating only warms the living room and main bedroom, AC doesn't do much at all.
AC is not really a miss for us - just leave the doors open on to the terrace and the windows open at the back, and the constant breeze around our area leaves it fine. But our parents find it a bit much when they are there.
In the winter, it can get pretty cold at night, especially with marble floors. We've bought some rugs over this winter that help massively, but we would need more effective heating if we were living there longer-term.
Got a quote last year to get it all replaced, and it was c.€4k... that's for a 130sqm.
AC is not really a miss for us - just leave the doors open on to the terrace and the windows open at the back, and the constant breeze around our area leaves it fine. But our parents find it a bit much when they are there.
In the winter, it can get pretty cold at night, especially with marble floors. We've bought some rugs over this winter that help massively, but we would need more effective heating if we were living there longer-term.
Got a quote last year to get it all replaced, and it was c.€4k... that's for a 130sqm.
My experience is Mallorca but couple of things re mortgage and aircon / heating may be of use!
Firstly, we had a 15 year old aircon system replaced a few years ago, 100sqm apartment and similar cost to that quoted above. It has saved us a fortune in electricity bills and is very effective at heating. We are only there for short periods in winter but it works and our bills are half what they were with the old system.
Regarding the mortgage. We went direct and had no problems. Rate was good, staff spoke English and there is no chance of the bank pulling a fast one. When you sign at the notary the bank explained the docs in English, our solicitor also confirmed what the bank explained was what was on the docs. We used barclays spain (best rate at the time), they are now La Caixa.
Very important to get a local solicitor you are comfortable with who speaks good English.
Good luck!
Firstly, we had a 15 year old aircon system replaced a few years ago, 100sqm apartment and similar cost to that quoted above. It has saved us a fortune in electricity bills and is very effective at heating. We are only there for short periods in winter but it works and our bills are half what they were with the old system.
Regarding the mortgage. We went direct and had no problems. Rate was good, staff spoke English and there is no chance of the bank pulling a fast one. When you sign at the notary the bank explained the docs in English, our solicitor also confirmed what the bank explained was what was on the docs. We used barclays spain (best rate at the time), they are now La Caixa.
Very important to get a local solicitor you are comfortable with who speaks good English.
Good luck!
Chris Stott said:
Our place has AC/heating as one system... it's over 20 years old and not very effective... heating only warms the living room and main bedroom, AC doesn't do much at all.
AC is not really a miss for us - just leave the doors open on to the terrace and the windows open at the back, and the constant breeze around our area leaves it fine. But our parents find it a bit much when they are there.
In the winter, it can get pretty cold at night, especially with marble floors. We've bought some rugs over this winter that help massively, but we would need more effective heating if we were living there longer-term.
Got a quote last year to get it all replaced, and it was c.€4k... that's for a 130sqm.
I have been quoted similar - is that 3 or 4 units out of interest? My house is similar size. AC is not really a miss for us - just leave the doors open on to the terrace and the windows open at the back, and the constant breeze around our area leaves it fine. But our parents find it a bit much when they are there.
In the winter, it can get pretty cold at night, especially with marble floors. We've bought some rugs over this winter that help massively, but we would need more effective heating if we were living there longer-term.
Got a quote last year to get it all replaced, and it was c.€4k... that's for a 130sqm.
I am going to get rugs down and remember from my parent's place as a kid that slippers were a must! I must say I am not too bothered by the need for A/C as I am pretty used to heat and we won't plan on being there much over the July/Aug months so its not really a necessity. The only reason I am more looking down that route is the fact it could kill two birds with one stone. If we were to eliminate central heating from the options for heating, would you choose panel heaters or something else over warm A/C in terms of efficiency?
As said, I was really looking more at the A/C route to give reasonably swift effective heating and the fact it provided cool air for visitors during the hotter few months was more of a bonus than a primary factor.
Gassing Station | Holidays & Travel | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff