Hi all, Wanting some advice on moving to Andalucia region of Spain. Rental help! :)

I have read some of the posting regarding the basic cost of living in Spain now let's get one thing clear before we start I do not live in Spain permanently for TAX reasons but I do visit my villa on Camposol every 6 weeks throughout the year  Camposol is not a holiday resort it is a urbanisation I have a 3 bedroom 3 bathroom Villa on a 350 mtr plot a 9mtr x 4mtr pool I have listed below the basic running cost of the Villa.

Running cost

electricity 7 days 45 eu includes hot water  pump for the pool comes on 3 times per day for one hour / cooking/ meter rental me and the wife we are very careful of running costs because of the price of electricity, if we stayed at our villa for one year it would cost 2,340 eu per year for electricity.

house rates for the year 420 eu

non residents tax of 350 eu per year based on the value of the house

water rates 22 eu per month minimum whether you use it or not that includes 7 mtr of water and meter rental.260 eu per year.this also includes rubbish collection.

our water bill for the year comes in at 600 eu including meter rental.

we also have 3 aircondition units that we cannot afford to run my son spent one week at the villa he said he was only using one AC unit now and again he did not like it one bit when I asked him to pay the electricity bill for the week It came in at 110 eu.

I am not going to get into any arguments about how much a jar of pickles cost in Asda U.K compared to Consum Spain  but what  I will quote is that 1 ltr of petrol is more expensive in Camposol and the surrounding area that my Home town in sth Wales Diesel is cheaper in Camposol if anybody on this forum can tell me how to do it cheaper I am all ears.

Our costs are similar to windtalkers and we live there all the time!

tax is definitely a reason for being non resident!

Well, we were looking at camposol some time back. I'm glad we opted out of that at those rip-off prices.

electricity 7 days 45 eu includes hot water  pump for the pool comes on 3 times per day for one hour / cooking/ meter rental me and the wife we are very careful of running costs because of the price of electricity, if we stayed at our villa for one year it would cost 2,340 eu per year for electricity.

So you get a big house with a pool and then complain about the running costs.

house rates for the year 420 eu

So not the 500 you quoted especially if the OP is looking for a flat or 2 bed house to start with

non residents tax of 350 eu per year based on the value of the house

I pay no tax

water rates 22 eu per month minimum whether you use it or not that includes 7 mtr of water and meter rental.260 eu per year.this also includes rubbish collection.

So a lot cheaper than water rates in UK. You probably don't have a swimming pool in S Wales. Point 1 applies

we also have 3 aircondition units that we cannot afford to run my son spent one week at the villa he said he was only using one AC unit now and again he did not like it one bit when I asked him to pay the electricity bill for the week It came in at 110 eu.

A good inverter type aircon should cost about 12 cents an hour to run. Even on 24 hours a day for the week you've ripped him off. I have 2 main aircon inverter units with ducting to each room (one for upstairs, one for downstairs). Both on for 6 hours a day and the cost is about 20 euros a week.

  but what  I will quote is that 1 ltr of petrol is more expensive in Camposol and the surrounding area that my Home town in sth Wales Diesel is cheaper in Camposol

Sorry but looking on the website and average petrol prices in Murcia come to 1.42 a litre. The highest cost is !.50. If you can find petrol in S Wales for less than £1.20 a litre let everyone know. Putting in a postcode on one site for Newport shows the cheapest is £1.26 and the dearest £1.48. Diesel even more so.

if anybody on this forum can tell me how to do it cheaper I am all ears.

1. Downsize

2. Move

3. Go somewhere else for petrol

Don't want to steal your thunder, mariedave, but can I add "change your aircon units".

mariedav

you are right I don't have a swimming pool in Wales but I do have  17 houses that I own and rent out so dont have anytime to use one anyway I would not dream of downsizing in Spain because I live in a 5 bedroom house in wales that is twice as big as the Villa I have in Spain and I just could not picture me and the wife living in a hovel even if the aircon units are only 12 cents an hour to run  (LOL) I put some petrol in the car yesterday and it was £1.26p per ltr the exchange rate at the moment is 126 cents to the £ I am sure you can work that one out for yourself .

Have you watched the TV program called Dragons Den you should take that 12 cents an hour AC unit you have and sell it to them you will make an absolute fortune or you could get killed in the stampede with people wanting to buy one so be carefull .

You paid €1.58 a litre for petrol? mariedave is right, go somewhere else. They must certainly see you coming.**

And she is also right (ish) about the aircon. Quite simple if you have an inverter type aircon at 1kw it will use 1Kwh of electricity every hour. Current price with Iberdrola is 14 cents per Kwh. If you have a 2Kw aircon that will be 28 cents per hour. As an inverter turns itself off when it reaches the desired temp, then it uses about 40% less of the energy.

For a 1kw inverter, the charge will therefore be 8.4 cents an hour and a 2kw inverter 16.8 cents an hour. Most inverters now are 1.5kw so half way between the two. If yours are using 110 euros a week then they must be the old, non-inverter types. Either that or you have it turned down so low that it is not being run efficiently. Between 21 and 24 C is ideal. Even cheaper for the heating element as rooms heat up quicker than cooling down.

We also have the ducted type and it impacts on the electricity bill about 20 to 30 euros every 2 months (less in winter for the heating part.

And for someone so rich, with so many houses and so on, don't you think complaining about an extra 15 cents for a can of baked beans is a bit chavish?

** Unless you are in UK and paid £1.26 which is still 20 cents a litre more than I paid today so it's still a porky when you said petrol in Spain is more expensive. And if it was one of those deals where you spend 50 quid in the supermarket and get 5p off then I can do exactly the same at AlCampo with a store card and pay €1.28 a litre, or about a quid.

Thank you, bob, that just about confirms what the aircon installer told us. However, I am sitting in my "hovel" and wondering why I enjoy it here so much when someone in a mansion obviously hates it so much. One of us is doing something wrong. (actually I'm sitting in the garden but you know what I mean).

Never mind, when windtalker drives past in his limo to fill up with petrol at the price he pays I can always tug my forelock should he deign to glance in my direction.

Oh, and by the way, it's just mariedav with no e on the end. Hubby is Dave who is so that could be confusing.

(also by the way, he is killing himself laughing at the "you'll be shocked by the prices in the Spanish supermarkets" comment).

Don't forget, when deriding others about prices they pay, especially electricity, is that the higher ones potencia the more one pays for everything including per kw . Some may only be on  2.2 whilst others , like me, maybe on as high as 13. And that doesn't necessarily mean one lives in a mansion, because I certainly don't, just that ones house is totally electric and one never suffers the problem of fuses tripping.

Spanish supermarkets, and indeed markets charge according to where they are and if there is a large Brit community. Mercadona, to me, equates to Waitrose in UK = reasonable  but we have several local Spamish Spar shops in the area and the prices there can be as much as 50% more.

For the legals:

http://issuu.com/mariadecastro/docs/rental_act_2013

and our top advise when renting: submitt the contract to arbitration instead of Courts