| The Comments |
Hi Toddie I am not in Spain at the moment Having a lovely holiday in the Caucasus Beautiful views and the people are great Bought a house here really cheap Back to Spain in Oct.
This message was last edited by paddy121 on 15/07/2011.
_______________________
Its many a time a mans mouth broke his nose
0
Like
|
|
Toddie:
Dear me! I did not say that. I said (in reply to Jon):
" I can assure you we live judiciously (LOL) but we certainly don't scrimp or "just get by". There is of course a difference between "living" and "existing".
I made no allusion to anyone. And I repeat, again, it all depends on where yu live in the country.
I see no sign of any "slanging match" as you call it.
I am just telling you how much it more or less costs for us to live, and I repeat again we do live judiciously. I can't tell you it only costs us 650€ a month to live, because that would be a lie. I am sure were 50 people to come on here to give a figure, we would probably get differences in costs.
Best to everyone
Patricia
0
Like
|
Hi Patricia,
I certainly could not detect anything inappropriate in your comments !
You mention 2300 Euro to live comfortably in Costa del Sol. Thats also my 'back of envelope" estimate (i.e. a couple excluding holidays & owning property).
Keen to hear from any other people living in that region.
Thanks,
Jon
0
Like
|
Thank YOU, Jon. Whew!
Patricia
0
Like
|
I say, Piltonian! Now that sounds like JUST the place for me.
Me being such a retiring and obedient soul. LOL.
Patricia
0
Like
|
Just wondering why there is such a big difference in general living costs between the two Costa's. We are in the process of selling the family holiday home on the coast and were thinking of CDS to be closer to Sierra Nevada, but it sounds as if it's not such a good idea if the basic living costs are so dramatically different. Does anyone have any costing's on Costa Brava area ?
We are looking for something in easy driving distance to ski areas for the grandchildren to enjoy, and maybe a bit of rental income to help increase our pension pot for the future.
_______________________
Toddie
0
Like
|
The Costa Brava is particularly attractive because
- Summer heat is less intense than further south,
- Scenery is spectacular,
- There are beautiful well-preserved mediaeval towns like Pals and Peratallada everywhere,
- Catalonia is well run with good roads and railways
- The A7 motorway is never more than a few minutes drive and connects to the French network
- Barcelona is easily accessible
- Golf courses are numerous and of the highest standard all year round
- In winter, there is good skiing in the nearby Pyrenees
- There are cheap flights to Girona/Costa Brave airport and to Barcelona and Perpignan.
- Eating out is inexpensive and a real pleasure
- The cost of living generally is reasonable.
That is an impressive catalogue of benefits. Add that attractive property is still fairly freely available and competitively priced and you will quickly understand the popularity of the region.
Many different nationalities settle here, but unlike further south they are all intermingled, with no "English" estates or "German" estates. The whole atmosphere is much more cosmopolitan. That does not suit everybody.
Before buying anything, do visit the area in and out of season. Resorts that are a buzz in summer often die completely in the winter. To most Catalonians, the Costa Brava is where they go for their summer holidays; they don't live there, and they don't even visit at week-ends out of season. If you are buying just for summer rentals and/or your own summer holidays, that does not matter, but if you are thinking of permanent residence, it is a critical factor. Never assume that you may be able to rent your property in winter Hope this helps
_______________________
Its many a time a mans mouth broke his nose
0
Like
|
Thanks Paddy that is certainly food for thought. Our first taste of Spain was in the Costa Brava back in the early 90's, remember visiting some very good bodega's back then, ahhh nice memories. Think we may do a little investigation trip when this heat dies down in September. Thanks again.
_______________________
Toddie
0
Like
|
_______________________
Its many a time a mans mouth broke his nose
0
Like
|
_______________________
Its many a time a mans mouth broke his nose
0
Like
|
elect. 70€
water 18€
Irr. water 3,85 €
int/ phone. 35€
wood 20€
gas bottles15€
car insurance 45€
car tax 14€
house ins. 15€
IBI ( council tax ) 1,5 € Yes , 16€ a year. Yes Paddy that's 20% of yours ! lol.
m/phones 10€
total 247,35€
that leaves food around 200 €, tobacco 20€, diesel . Well that depends on me . Varies from 60€ - 200€ +
Mines 3000m2, 4bed 2bath , pool, just outside town .We don't drink & aren't in a Brit area so there's not a lot to do.
_______________________
Todos somos Lorca.
0
Like
|
_______________________
Its many a time a mans mouth broke his nose
0
Like
|
Rent 1400 euros a month.
Electricity 200 euros a month on average (aircon summer, heater winter)
Water 30 give or take
Internet 80 for two connections
3 cars, 1200 for insurance a year give or take
100 repairs a month on average.
fuel 200 a month
car taxes/itv 400 a year give or take
food /household 200 a week give or take
dog cost 300 in last 2 weeks
clothes 20 a month to 400 a month. (more towards the 20/60)
health insurance for 2 people 6000 euros a year
mobile phone 200 euros a month give or take, 150 normally
cigarettes / alcahol / chocolate 120euros a month
eating out / bars 200 euros a month give or take, sometimes nothing
0
Like
|
_______________________
Its many a time a mans mouth broke his nose
0
Like
|
Hi Bigwilly Just curious as to why you choose to rent
_______________________
Its many a time a mans mouth broke his nose
0
Like
|
many reasons.
I was going to buy a house in Sotogrande in 2007 for 1.4million euros (which was good value at the time)
i didnt
7 months later they phoned up and offered me it for 600k cash (the recession hit hard)
which meant i would have been paying a mortgage in negative equity immediatly and nobody saw the recession coming or i didnt anway.
in 2009 i got sick of spain and was going to live in france but met a girl just before i left so i stayed.
i see houses that are only 10 years old in spain looking like they need knocked down they are so run down.
its very rare to hear good news regarding property in spain.
and i am not sure where i want to live yet.
so renting is bad because its dead money but allows me to move every 11 months and have a change of scenery and keep flexibilty to move to wherever i want in the future.
This message was last edited by Bigwilly on 15/07/2011.
0
Like
|
Good reasons .All the best with your new relationship
_______________________
Its many a time a mans mouth broke his nose
0
Like
|
Perhaps, I could run a little off topic re the following:
1) When might be the best time to buy property in Costa del Sol & when is the market likely to bottom ??
2) Some informed people have suggested summers are unbearable in Costa del Sol. How unbearable - is it comfortable walking up to say 11 am & after 5 pm ?
Appreciate any feedback,
Jon
0
Like
|
1. if you are english and earn money in pounds the best time is when the exchange rates are most favourable to you.
simple as that.
2. unbearable? i wouldnt say that.
it does get a bit hot but by the coast its a lot cooler.
in the hills and campo you probably wouldnt want to go walking after 9am and 7pm in june, july, august, september.
by the coast you would be fine most of the day just rather warm
but only mad dogs and engishmen go out in the mid day sun.
if you dont have aircon it would be unbearable to live and sleep but most people do so its not a problem
0
Like
|