Hz

Hi my name is helen and my husband and I are visiting cadiz, chiclana de la frontera in 7 weeks time to look for a property to buy with a view to emigrating. we have our house up for sale in the uk.

but I am now concerned as in the forums it says its not a good time to buy in spain. and are also confused and unsure about the legal side, between the rustic properties with no mains water etc and the ubanized ones, would like a property with a garden,

are the rustic ones not safe to buy dont want a horror story of government taking property away or building a road or something.

can any one explain the simple rules and what to look for and reputable estate agents and lawyers please.

 Hi Hz,

Not all rustic properties have no mains water. We bought 7 years ago in a totally Spanish village north of Granada which had water and electric and it is the best thing we could have done. Although we had problems at the start ( no gas bottles for the water heater, no kitchen and a house full of old furniture  it was also the coldest winter for 56 years -18c when we arrived), we also have some of the best neighbours you could wish to meet. They fed us and let us shower and have a decent standard of living until they had sorted our immediate needs and have kept a watchfull eye on us ever since. We are now an accepted part of the village and all the children try to practice their English on us whilst we are still improving our learning of Campo Andaluz. The good thing about buying a village house is that it is less likely to have problems with the escritura ( we had completed within a month as everything was in place ) we have a small garden and a terrace so the best of both worlds.  The house has taken a bit of imagination to get it as we want but we have kept the rustic feel and all the locals love the way we have restored it, old beams and all ( in a village they will always want to know what you are doing ) but we would not move from here for the world.

Don´t be afraid to look at rustic properties as there are some gems hidden where you don´t expect to find them

we are due to look at some properties with an estate agent called cadizcasa have you heard of them, it was them that warned us of the legal side saying that most rustic properties had septic tanks and wells. and were not connected to the mains as they were not legal, they say the garden is the problem as its the land thats not legal.

these rustic properties are cheaper and within our price range as urbanized ones are more expensive, dont want a renovation project, or a townhouse which they say are safer.

going to chiclana de la frontera

they are in a street of properties and seem to have been lived in for years but not sure about the septic tank scenario.

what do you think

Hi Helen,
I think you will find that many people on expat forums say now is not a good time to move to Spain and often they are right.  However, that depends on your circumstances.

If you and your husband are thinkng of looking for work in Spain, you really ought to think again, as unemployment is very high here, and Cadiz is hurting more than most areas.
However, if you will have a reasonable income to live on when you arrive here, either a pension, or income from work or lettings outside of Spain, then the prospect will be better.
But I would think very carefully about selling your home in the UK, because if things do go wrong and you wish to move back there, it would be good to have somewhere to go.  In that case, it would be better to rent, at least for the first year, so you can get a real feel of the area and you will be more certain whether you actually want to live in Spain permanently.
Renting in most parts of Spain is cheap now, certainly compared to most areas in the UK.  You would probably be able to find somewhere much less spartan than you would be able to buy outright.

You also need to be think carefully about living on the campo (in the countryside).  It is not only about whether the homes are legal (although that is obviously extremely important), but it is also about whether the house you decide on will have all the things you need.
Can both of you drive? Because, if not, you will need to look into public transport (often thin on the ground in rural areas).  Then there are things like shops, health centres, farmacias, even somewhere to go for a night out. Plus, you will need to have a reasonable command of Spanish, otherwise you will find it difficult to deal with all the legal matters which buying (or even renting) a home out here entails (and that can be never ending!).

I'm not trying to put you off, it's great when people succeed, but please think carefully before you make up your mind.

Enjoy your time in Cadiz, and I wish you luck in your search and in whatever decision you make.

thanks for all your help, but I am afraid we have to sell our uk home as we will not have any income when we move and need the profit from our home to live on, and the money made from the sale to buy. both my husband and I will be giving up our jobs, as we are very disallusioned with the uk, the fact that the retirement age has been lifted, the taxes, crime, weather, cost of living, unfair treatment of those who just try to make a honest living getting penalised, cost of booze and cigarettes, need i go on.

and I also feel that i you dont move lock stock and barrel you have an excuse to come back to uk and dont fully commit, we have no family as such here, in uk so no grandchildren etc to worry about..

will be careful and look properly have also looked at france. once again thanks for advice helen

From your last post I would say stay where you are.  

Frying pan /  fire springs to mind, and at least you know the frying pan !

I have to agree that it's not a good time to buy...and you need to be very careful in the area you are looking at as there are many ilegal properties here, particularly around Chiclana. We looked at loads of properties in this area a while back and we found the agents and the lawyer we spoke to VERY PUSHY.  It was only afterwards, when we did more research, that we knew we had been lied to on several counts! 

Why not rent your UK place out for six months and use the rental income to rent a place in Spain (there are some REALLY cheap rentals at the moment) so that you can spend time in the area researching the job/property market.  If you really need to sell your UK property to fund your time in Spain...at least buy a bolt hole in the UK so you have something to come back to if needs be.  You can more-easily rent out a small pad in the UK whilst you're away.  But please, for your own sake, DON'T BUY TILL YOU'VE TRIED.

 Whatever you do make sure your lawyer has no connections to the builder or estate agent or others you are buying from.If you want to make sure that you are told the truth get a second independent lawyer(maybe from a different town) to check the status of the property you are interested in. Probably not standard practice but it saved me a good bit of money once and cost me only 100 plus Euro. But I would go with renting myself for a while and if you don't have to be by the seaside, there are some nice and probably cheaper places not to far inland.Medina Sidonia or Arcos de la Frontera for instance. Not overrun with tourists but yet lively enough.

Best of luck

 I agree with what people have said re renting being a good way to get to know an area.   I would also say that property anywhere is not for the faint hearted BUT that said, I cannot keep out of it, and there are exciting opportunities both in Spain and the UK, especially with bank repos.   I would say if you are sure of what you want, where you want it, and can pay cash and be sure you are getting a genuine reduction (at least 50% off the 2007 price), then I think it is an excellent time to buy in Spain.  But don't be sucked into tourist developments - the properties here tended to be particularly overpriced in the first place for the size of the units. 

I would also though say that if you are looking to live off income generated by the sale of your house - it all sounds a bit precarious.  Do be careful you don't overstretch yourself.  The reasons you list may be good reasons for being disillusioned with the UK, but they are hardly good reasons to jump into buying in Spain - or indeed France. 

Noooooo don't do it. I honestly think it would be madness to sell up everything to fund this move. It may be a good time to gamble if you have money to spare and can afford to lose it if things in Spain get worse or you don't like it or the place you buy turns out to have prolems, but I really wouldn't do what you're thinking of right now. But each to their own I guess. The French property market seems to be holding up a bit better and that would be my choice right now.

 I agree, dont do it unless you have a large amount of disposible income. The post earlier was right in my opinion, rent your house in the UK and rent a property here in Spain before you decide to commit to buying a property. We wish we did, we are now stuck here, cant afford to go anywhere and no work in the pipeline, and getting poorer everyday. We are considering going back home to the UK!!!!

 Best of luck with what ever you decide.

 Regards, Steve.

 quite if you dont have the disposable income dont do it also work here very hard to find

 "quite if you dont have the disposable income dont do it also work here very hard to find"

Yeah, but you're still goin

 thats cos i look and think before i leap

just been reading the olive press online there is a series of articles about folk who have made a real mess of house buying and building one couldnt live in his cave because it is falling down read it then buy an established older property and get a proper lawyer not a gestor!!

what goes on in their minds?

This message was last edited by stillgoin on 28/03/2012.

This message was last edited by stillgoin on 28/03/2012.