Caporegime
Anyone else just checking in here periodically waiting for him to realise that the sun is horrible and that he should come back and be miserable with the rest of us 
Relocation to Spain Experience
- Thread starter Martynt74
- Start date
Yeah, i probably could do. There are rules whether max height is 7m, so there are a lot of 2 story houses around, however as you have to buy a 10,000m2 plot and build on 2% it gives the option for a 200m2 house which is plenty big enough for most people and is likely a simpler build.
Insulation they're getting better at, already today it felt a little chilly in the house when it dropped to 10C over night. They're trying to get much more efficient to keep houses cool in the summer and yet retain heat in winter. The developer was showing me the breeze blocks they use now which have built in insulation and weigh virtually nothing.
I'm unsure of roof maintenance, i think flat roofs are getting more common but have some slight run off built in, they're heavy on insulation again and probably more "engineered" vs the older tiled rooves.
Anyone else just checking in here periodically waiting for him to realise that the sun is horrible and that he should come back and be miserable with the rest of us
Sadly, no sign of that here. The real nice side is that on Thursday it rained around 10pm and was windy as hell. Friday morning i was on the phone to a mate in the covered Naya and sent him photos of the 3 directions i could see. It's nice that you know when it rains it'll clear up quickly and it's not just set in for the week like in the UK. We have pondered whether we'd get sick of the sun, but when the views are like this it's hard to imagine you getting tired of them.
Left
Centre
Right
Was still windy as hell when i attempted my first bike ride in ages on the Friday though
Made some bits really tough.I had last Thursday/Friday off work. On the Wednesday we had the 4 viewings i mentioned above. 1 was an immediate no, the second i loved, the 3rd i liked but the wife didn't and the 4th i've no idea why i'd picked it for a viewing as was god damn awful!
This was the one i loved. A real odd one in that the previous owners had taken a house and split it into 2 mirror images (bar some small adjustments) as it was 2 couples buying together. The pool area was nice and the floor area was good.
We went back on Friday with a builder to discuss knocking down the central wall between the 2 lounge areas and having a big kitchen/living area with sliding/bifold doors. The theory being we have one side of the house and the other would be for guests/my home gym/cinema room. However discussions seemed to suggest they weren't open to offers and would prefer to maybe do the work themselves and then sell. Will see what the builder comes back with.
We got a quote from the Tuesday builder of €15k to move that bedroom wall out. It feels high and i don't think it's worth it, my wife also wouldn't want the house without it, so i think it's off the table. We did love the idea of the new build though and the estate agent took us on Thursday to a finished house from another developer. This place was stunning, has split air hot/cold, pellet burner which he said heated most of the house and also a full solar array and solar heated pool.
The base price of the house (exc extras) was €250k plus the land plot. These vary from around 30k to 100k depending on area. The only negative was the build time of >12 months. I think we're probably likely to go down this route though. My wife being very specific with what she wants decor wise means adding a huge amount to any other purchase, either immediately or down the line.
The upside is this developer has a link to the Sabadell bank to unlock a 70% mortgage on a rustic property which isn't usually available to us dirty immigrants.
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Also, prize for anyone who gets the cost of this bottle of wine (+/- 5%)
Caporegime
Not gonna lie, I have too much love for the UKs rolling hills and greenery. I find places like that too barren and dry for my tastes. I do understand I am in the minority here however
I was out yesterday it it was about 10-14 degrees, perfect sunshine and it was just immaculate. The sort of ride that makes you glad to be alive and in a lovely part of the world.
€2.99. Only because I assume it was fantastically cheap or you wouldn't be taunting us with your excessively cheap plonk!
Not gonna lie, I have too much love for the UKs rolling hills and greenery. I find places like that too barren and dry for my tastes. I do understand I am in the minority here however
I was out yesterday it it was about 10-14 degrees, perfect sunshine and it was just immaculate. The sort of ride that makes you glad to be alive and in a lovely part of the world.
Yeah, the rolling hills i'll miss, however there is still a lot of greenery here (kind of), and then in some months you get almond blossom on trees which is a great sight.
€2.99. Only because I assume it was fantastically cheap or you wouldn't be taunting us with your excessively cheap plonk!
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Soldato
Santa Pola is where I lived for four months in 1979, working albeit illegally. On a dredger.
We actually headed over that way at the weekend. There was a house between Elche and Santa Pola. Seems a decent area, still lots of space around the houses and close to the beach. Limit being that it's miles from mountains and just a flat plateau.
Soldato
It was a small town back then, the people were friendly and the drinks were incredibly cheap. Four years after Franco death and there was much talk of politics and life outside Spain. I had a task translating Pink Floyd lyrics for a group of girls
. Still a very conservative society though.I drove a three litre Capri at the time whereas most local cars were small Citroëns or Seats with the occasional Mercedes.
It was a small town back then, the people were friendly and the drinks were incredibly cheap. Four years after Franco death and there was much talk of politics and life outside Spain. I had a task translating Pink Floyd lyrics for a group of girls
I drove a three litre Capri at the time whereas most local cars were small Citroëns or Seats with the occasional Mercedes.
Yeah, i get all the cool looks in my 4litre Wrangler.
It's amusing how they clearly appeal to beach folk. I don't see any inland, but Moraira where my parents live are flooded!
€2.99. Only because I assume it was fantastically cheap or you wouldn't be taunting us with your excessively cheap plonk!
Cutting the competition short because i'm bored, but @Maccy could've had 5 bottles and @fez a decent amount of change after 3 bottles.
It was a whopping 79cents. i don't really know how you even bottle it and have any margin on that! I'm not saying it was nice, or that i'd buy it for a treat, but it was perfectly drinkable and would be fine to palm off on people.
Forgot to mention but we've heard a few gunshots recently. We got used to this when we were here in May and presume it's the farmers with some old shotguns, however when out for a run on Sunday i was coming down from the mountains to a guy with some kind of full assault rifle.
I'm not a gun expert by any stretch, but it had a scope on the top and looked more assault rifle like that anything else. I assume you get hunters around for the wolves/wild boar, but never expected this!
I'm not a gun expert by any stretch, but it had a scope on the top and looked more assault rifle like that anything else. I assume you get hunters around for the wolves/wild boar, but never expected this!
Soldato
The Spanish used to drink watered wine at lunch time, otherwise everyone would need a long siesta. A 79c bottle mixed with still or sparkling water is probably just refreshing.
Soldato
Sounds like you are getting good advice..
My parents moved twice (so 3 houses in total) in Spain, and I think they always got a small mortgage on the property and had some trusted solicitors, the amount of illegal houses in Spain is nuts..
They bought a brand new Villa near Albox, which was on a small estate of 20 villa's.. 10 where 'legal'.. 10 where classed as cattle sheds.. The problems that caused was crazy, the electricity/water companies got angry when the builder had connected up the 10 illegal houses, so they turned everything off for a few months (Leaving my parents to have water deliveries made and have water tanks with appropriate filtering).. I believe 2 of the 10 illegal properties led to the occupants being evicted with zero come back, the builder and his brother had buggered off somewhere by that time.
Then when my parents moved to the coast (Mojacar), there are entire estates empty not too far down the road, all illegal.. the spanish legal system is crazy, effectively you get zero protection as a buyer, it's all down to you, and worse, randomly they'll let it all go through, then at some point the police turn up and evict you.. and that's it.. complete loss..
Do not mess around, there will be super cheap properties that look too good to be true.. and there is always a reason!
Saying that, going in and following best legal recommendations, it should be fine..
Do they have any wild boar (protective mothers), themselves, and , later, myopic old hunters, are a risk for all terrain running on Med - distinctive clothing needed -
not sure they had the little birds, there, that are controversially shot in France.
Yeah, the estate agent couple have been great. He actually took a property law degree when starting up and so knows a lot on the legal side too. He said he got AI to quiz him and got 9/10, then disagreed with the answer of his wrong one and AI acknowledged he was right. He took great pride in that!
The developer we're looking to use also used to be a fully fledged property lawyer and has decent contacts with local town halls etc. So we feel in pretty safe hands.
@jpaul - Yeah, there's wild boar around in the mountains, a few reports of them getting through wire fences. Apparently they especially like Almond trees.
In good news. The van is now sold
Considerably less than i'd have liked and less than i probably could've got for it, but it could've taken months and it was costing ~£60/mth in Tax and Insurance so it just felt best to cut my losses and sold it to a dealer who trades in UK cars/vans.Overall summary
| Paid | 2200 |
| Insurance - 2mths | 116 |
| Tax - 3mths | 84 |
| Battery | 80 |
| Service | 72 |
| Injector Seals | 264 |
| Insurance Cancellation Fee | 50 |
| Sold | -1200 |
| Total Cost | 1666 |
Compared to a removal firm it's a hell of a saving and works out similar to what a One Way Van Hire place would've cost for 5 days rental. Risk there being someone on the way over had used one and it'd been rescheduled a few times because of late returns so i think it was definitely the correct choice.
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Soldato
I might be overly cautious, but from my parents experiences having been out there 20+ years, do not trust the estate agents, and especially do not trust a developer.. Make sure you have totally independent legal advice and I believe going for a mortgage naturally gets a lot more checks/conditions applied that also helps, but that should all be dealt with by someone neutral. Just look at the number of abandoned illegal developments and they all had dodgy developers and estate agents selling those to the unsuspecting..
Just FYI, a lot of the problems start with developers that have 'contact's in the town halls.. This has been abused time and time again where they've paid back handers to those contacts, who get them dodgy licences to build tool sheds/animal sheds or outright build where in reality you can't.. it's quite common that this gets so rife, suddenly the mayor (or equivalent) suddenly disappears to South America with a bundle of cash leaving a massive wake of woe behind them..
Its the same for estate agents.. there was very little legal comeback on them for working with dodgy developers and creaming off a lot of money, only to claim all manner of excuses when it all went south..
There is very little proper legal recourse for dodgy behaviour, and its systemic in that it often goes back to the 'town hall'.. back in the early 2000's my parents had sold one house in Spain and were looking for a new place in Torrevieja, out of the 3 new houses they pursued, two fell through on legal issues.. one downright illegal with incorrect planning permission, the other was not built correctly and had no services, it was illegally hooked up to the water supply and there was no guarantee it would ever get a proper water supply! it took nearly a year to find somewhere and they had to come back to the UK for 6 months staying with me whilst they got their 3rd place sorted..
[edit] I see some changes have occured recently, that may help, but still.. eyes open.. trust no-one!
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Completely agree. Whilst Spain has improved a lot with estate agents being regulated now, i've heard horror stories of certain agents spending time and effort just finding loop holes to get around them rather than actually complying! We've spoken to loads and feel fairly comfortable with the ones we have and the developer is a fairly small guy who only builds 4-5 houses a year rather than promising the earth and seems to have a great local reputation. However i agree, independent legal advice will be a must.
Am also debating a second car. Something cheap and barge like. I've my eye on a Jaguar X Type. Probably an absolutely terrible idea compared to something lower end, but they look great and would be super comfy for any driving we do around Spain.
Something like this!
Ignore the mileage, it's par for the course here!
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Ok, so had a meeting with the developer. It seems that my initial hopes that he would be able to buy a plot of land on our behalf, add on the build fees and then end up at a final figure which we could mortgage were foolish. Seems that because we want to build on "Rustic" land. The bank pretty much value it as worthless and so would only base a mortgage on the build price.
The upside being that he's adjusted the floorplan of one house we liked for another client which works much better for us and means no architect adjustment fees.
Given that a plot of land of sufficient size to build on is around €70-80k. That means a hefty knock on our deposit. The positive being that if we don't complete until November 24, then it's around 12 months of potential additional savings, the biggest benefit being that for every £1 we save, we can then borrow an extra £2.
I've made a few Excel models, but also have been drinking for a few hours and am potentially now just making numbers do what i want them to do (i'm an accountant after all!). They suggested that there is a chance to "Overvalue" the build cost to increase mortgageable value to slightly account for the worthless land. Within reason of course.
Here are the calculations (@Mercenary Keyboard Warrior you could be useful here!). There's 3 models although i'm just including the one at 15% over.
Could someone proof check these!
Note that the reality is that, should we give up and need to sell. The eventual sales price would value the land and so there's little to no risk from our side here of ending up in negative equity due to any over valuation. We're also unlikely to end up paying 5%, probably closer to 4% if i can get a mortgage as a Spanish Tax Resident which seems likely by Nov 24.
EDIT - Also worth nothing that this developer has a great reputation and includes insurance for cost creep. As long as we don't deviate from the initial plan, then we pay what's been agreed at the initial stage. Also because we would buy the land up front, we would own anything on our land, so assuming the step payments were reasonable there's no risk of ending up in the terrible position as many people do. The terms i've seen so far is that the first payment is only due once foundations are laid, so the guy has sufficient capital to finance the build rather than needing everything up front.
Right. It's 12:30. I'm off to bed!
The upside being that he's adjusted the floorplan of one house we liked for another client which works much better for us and means no architect adjustment fees.
Given that a plot of land of sufficient size to build on is around €70-80k. That means a hefty knock on our deposit. The positive being that if we don't complete until November 24, then it's around 12 months of potential additional savings, the biggest benefit being that for every £1 we save, we can then borrow an extra £2.
I've made a few Excel models, but also have been drinking for a few hours and am potentially now just making numbers do what i want them to do (i'm an accountant after all!). They suggested that there is a chance to "Overvalue" the build cost to increase mortgageable value to slightly account for the worthless land. Within reason of course.
Here are the calculations (@Mercenary Keyboard Warrior you could be useful here!). There's 3 models although i'm just including the one at 15% over.
Could someone proof check these!
Note that the reality is that, should we give up and need to sell. The eventual sales price would value the land and so there's little to no risk from our side here of ending up in negative equity due to any over valuation. We're also unlikely to end up paying 5%, probably closer to 4% if i can get a mortgage as a Spanish Tax Resident which seems likely by Nov 24.
EDIT - Also worth nothing that this developer has a great reputation and includes insurance for cost creep. As long as we don't deviate from the initial plan, then we pay what's been agreed at the initial stage. Also because we would buy the land up front, we would own anything on our land, so assuming the step payments were reasonable there's no risk of ending up in the terrible position as many people do. The terms i've seen so far is that the first payment is only due once foundations are laid, so the guy has sufficient capital to finance the build rather than needing everything up front.
Right. It's 12:30. I'm off to bed!
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