Is now a good time to move?!

 Hi we are seriously considering moving to murcia, we have 2 children 10 & 14.

Is it a good time to  move or should we wait a few yrs?

any advice...many thanks :)

 Hi, there are some absolute bargains around the Murcia area, but on the downside, no work.

 Regards.

Question - is it a good time to move?

Answer - No, if you and your partner / other half will be needing to work.

A number of people have asked exactly the same question as yourself over recent months and there have been some very helpful responses from people who are either living in Spain or who have had to return to UK. - Check out the threads on EOS about this,

The spanish economy is in a really rocky position - and Im sure you will have seen the news when topics have been talking about the euro ..... very risky to move to Spain at this time. Also, if you read any economic reports about the state of Europe and the lack of stability of the Euro, you will see that positive change is unlikely in the next couple of years.

Added to the above, you would need to think about your children's schooling / education. Your oldest child, at 14, will now surely be studying towards his / her GSCE's. A major change in terms of a move to a foreign country could really have a negative effect on your children's education.

In summary, dont do it!!!

I always recomend that you should rent first! For as long a period as possible, trial run if you like. This will, this will give you the chance to get to know the area, the schools, the people and the employment/business prospects, talk to as many people as possible, opinions will differ drasticly. You will also have the flexibility to move around and try different areas.  Formostly dont make any dicisions in spain that you wouldnt make in the UK.  Spain WILL turn the corner so be ready and informed.

check this blog out. good luck

Spain's Property Market to Rebound in 2012, Say Local Experts 
 

This message was last edited by Bobi on 13/01/2012.

I wouldn't move to another country with children of that age regardless of anything else, I'd be reluctant to disrupt them within the UK and would only do so if there really  was no other choice. The idea of moving around and trying different places with a 10 year old a 14 year old could be disasterous for them, bad timing altogether I'm afraid.

I totally agree with Poppyseed on this

The article you attached Bobi reached a new high in hype that verged on the insulting.  To me there was anabsence of logic to back up the extraordinary statement that "Spain's Property Market to Rebound in 2012".   I would certainly like to be believe it (!) but let's not kid ourselves.

The first stage is for the banks to sell off the properties they hold - there's been estimates of up to 1,000,000 units that they will want to off load first.  Most banks are only providing mortgages on the properties they are selling themselves, which itself is creating a bottle neck in the selling process.

But this process will take many years.  The only way it will happen any quicker is that if there is a collapse of Spanish banks and the liquidators or the banks themselves are obliged to sell off their property books for peanuts.  But after the scramble there will be still be a large amount to sell and a lot fewer buyers.

There was not much in the way of an explanation for the claim that the market will "rebound" other than it was alleged to be the view of local experts.  But these unidentified people are presumably estate agents, developers, etc etc and of course they would say that, wouldn't they !

I struggled with one particular paragraph in the article...Furthermore, Pritchard explains that this year is likely to see inflation increase in the United Kingdom, with rising interest on bank accounts and unstable stock markets pushing British buyers, Spain's strongest market, into investing their money in Spanish property...This is complete sales b*ll*cks.  Inflation in the UK is likely to go down, not up in 2012, but will remain insignificant.

The only bit of truth I could find in the whole article was that the UK has provided the largest number of punters buying Spanish property.  But virtually all of these in the private sector will have suffered such a massive reduction in the their respective pension pots and the hope of buying a nice little place in the sun to retire to will be delayed for many years.  Certainly not 2012.

 Thanks everyone for replying :)

We have decided to wait until my eldest finishes hes education, then think about it again.

we will just continue to have holidays there :))

is it a good time to move ??

YES...back to England!! hahhaha!

 20 C HERE 5 C WHERE WE USED TO LIVE YEA RITE JUST CANT WAIT!

We wouldn't look back in many ways but I have to admit it has been a struggle.

Thankfully for us all our kids were grown and were starting their own families by the time we moved so it wasn't an issue in the same way.

It was a lot to give up good old blighty and I do miss the kids. They come and stay which is nice and modern technology helps a lot. we're always on skype since my son set us up with an account!

I have a friend who sells property in Spain who are based back in the UK if you ever want any ideas. We met out here a few years ago and I wish I'd known what she knows when we were buying the first time around!

After our first house was a complete nightmare and we definitely wished we'd rented it first. But we clawed out of that mess and into a lovely little place that has served us well. We've lost money compared to what it was worth a few years ago to be honest, but then hearing how much people have spent and got nothing we dont feel so bad.

house prices always seem to go up and down a bit so if you're looking to move now is the time I guess as I can't see them plummeting too much more! Well I hope not anyway!

GO FOR IT!  If you don't you'll never  know what might have happened.  You come into the world with nothing and go out of the world with nothing, except the experiences you have had.

 lol!

Cant take it with you can you DonLochnagar!

You certainly can not!  I'm 57 and I'm in the process of moving to Murcia region.  I'm Scottish and proud but can't stand the rain anymore!

Mummylisa, a lot of good advices on this thread -- well mosttly good. I can really appreciate what people are saying about the childrens education. In Europe as in a growing parts of this ever shrinking world, it is so important and will become more important to be part of the knowledge base workforce and to get into that it means a good sound basic education. Not too say can't be had by moving - but it is a risk.

Properties both to rent and buy are good prices - all you can say prices today will not be the price tomorrow. We have finally just received payment for a sale of our rental villa near Alicante. Brought in the late 70's for about £7K and after all fees and taxes we received just under £70K in our account this month. Bargains are to be had but look at the building quality closely -- many including our unit certainly wouldn't meet any of the building codes in the UK.

Work is difficult too come - no direct experience but there is lots on EoS on the subject. Working in anything to do with tourism seems to be low wage and uncertain. But best of luck there are always opportunities you just have to seek them out or make them happen.

Good Luck - we wish you the best as we bid farewell to Europe after living in UK and Spain for the past 40-years.

David