Moving to Denia

Hi there,

I'm originally from the UK but have spent the last 22 years in Australia but seriously looking at Spain as an option for early retirement. Australia, although a great country and a lot to see has now become ridiculously expensive to live and costs just keep climbing across the board. Spain is a real option as my parents have lived there for a number of years. My question is; if I was to buy a property in the Denia area (so no rent or mortgage to pay) could a single person live comfortably on a 1,000 Euros a month?. Parents have provided a lot of info' but I'm just after more input from others living there.

Thanks

T

If you were to buy outright without requiring a mortgage then 1000€ is enough to live on. Comfortably? Depends on your lifestyle of course but this area of Spain is quite cheap. Electricity could set you back 80-120€ a month but other than that, running a home is inexpensive.

One word of advice, as many people on here will tell you. Don't just come over and buy, even if it seems like the best way to save money on a monthly basis. Rent for a while, make sure you are happy in the area, make sure Spain, or at least this part of Spain is right for you. The housing market is still bad and although buying is easy, selling at the moment is far from it. When you do decide to buy, don't leave any stone unturned when doing so as regards to the status of the property etc.

Denia is nice. Summers are very hot, humid and extremely busy, whilst winters have cold nights and the place is very quiet.

good advice from Fartharder and many people would agree

I am sure there are a few experts who will know everything there is to know about Denia, the best ones are those that actually live there.

You say early retirement I wonder how old you are and if you would have to take out private health care you may well have complicated the matter with the fact that you would be class as a non EU citizen as you have Brocken ties with the UK 22 years back presently the UK will pay for your Spanish health care provided you're of pensionable age l don't no how that would work for yourself as you have not paid a UK national insurance for the last 22 years l think you will have to start making inquiries with the relevant government departments back in the UK if you do qualify for free health care then you should be able to get by on 250eu per week.

Hello windtalker,

Thank you for your message, in regards to private Medical this has been addressed and I have just found out that Oz no longer pays a pension to Brits returning to the UK or the Eu. There used to be a reciprocal agreement in place but that is no longer the case. They kept that quiet. Try getting hold of a G'vmnt official to talk about it is virtually impossible. I do come away with a Superannuation fund (paid out) when I leave and a UK pension of  GBP74.00 at retirement age (which I believe can be topped up). I just wonder how many Brits know about them returning to the UK after years working in Oz in Government positions, Police Ambo's, Firies etc. and not being entitled to a pension, disgusting. As I previously mentioned, the cost of living is out of control here in Australia and even a visit to a GP costs, there is nothing free across here. For example my rates for a 3 bedroom house, without pool on 600 square was approx. $2,700.00 this year. That's nine times the amount my parents were paying in Benitachell on acreage with great views. What I pay for 1 beer here you would get 12 stubbies (bottles) of San Miguel there. One of your melons at the Mercado about 0.80 cents, $5.00 here. and so it goes on (Not that I'll be living on San Miguel and melon, haha). To travel 15 km's in a Taxi into town, about $39.00. To travel 3 km's from the Airport to my place of work about $19.00.  To have a two course meal (entre and main and a drink) for two at restaurant, there wouldn't be much change out of $150.00, that's without taxis. I shudder to think what it will be in another 5 years. Retirement here is not really an option even with my Army pension etc. I appreciate all replies as I believe there has been some "heated"discussion on this subject before. 

Kind Regards

T

Trooper. You paint a picture of high living costs, but are the wages reflected in this also, like high costs, higher wages, because as you have mentioned so much is cheaper in Spain and so are the wages lower, not that your going to work I know.

I know a few who have gone to Australia and are on a much higher wage then doing the same work / job in the UK, and it aint so cheap to live in the UK anymore.

I've just gone through the wringer buying in Denia.. been here since April, and I've focussed on doing the same as you.. trying to keep costs down.

So do obvious things like cutting down on (expensive) electricity by buying a wood or pellet burner, and install ceiling fans in every room, and never use the aircon.

Also, consider buying a 'casa suelta' ie. not part of an urbanisation with monthly communidad costs. Or buy a townhouse in Denia town centre.  Tha's 75-250 EUR a month you don't have to pay out.

In Denia specifically(compared to Javea), generally the plot sizes are smaller, and I have a 340m2 house, and in Las Marinas (Denia+2km), and pay around 400 EUR a year IBI.  So buying a decent house on a small plot will obviously keep your annual running costs down.

Watch out as ADSL degrades badly out of Denia town central (+1KM).  I am 2KM, and have 1MBs, which is crap, so I paid for a Wimax wifi solution, and pay about 25 EUR pm for 4MBs, but I could pay more and get higher bandwidth, which obviously costs more... so you need to factor that into your bills (on top of your phone line costs) if you want to watch videos online or make sure you buy somewhere very close to the town centre.

Then there's transport costs if you are out of town, with infrequent buses at this time of the year (1 per hour down to las marinas).

So yep, 1K a month is possible, with a carefully chosen small plot and investment in avoiding electricity, and if you are near town / keep the transport costs down.

The biggest problems that I had in Denia (thought it applies to all of spain -;)

1. dodgy property agents, who just plain lie about everything. Never ask them anything verbally, always demand documents, and get them checked if you don't speak fluently, as they lie about the purpose, scope of the documents they send to you. They will lie once, get caught out, and just continue lying.

2. solicitors who are incompetent and untrustworthy.. they just want you to sign the purchase paperwork so they get their fee, and to hell with your best interests. Don't expect any useful information from them.. you have to know the whole process and double check everything they do with a native speaker, especially re: habitation certificates.

3. getting residence if v. difficult.. queing up at Denia foreigners office at 6am on Friday to get an appointment to see someone the next week. You will need to prove you have FULL private medical coverage, including surgery, or your employer is giving you medical coverage. You will also need 7.5K in a spanish bank, and a certificate from the bank to prove that you have the the 7.5 funds(not a bank statement, a specific document you need to ask the bank for).

4. if you are transfering the property purchase costs (deposit and principal) from outside the EU, as I was, you will hit problems - some banks will roast you alive on where the money came from. ie. you will need a 100% watertight audit trail.. original statements, showing how large sums of money have moved between the EU and AUS. And even then, they will probably say 'well, we can see that you have X going into AUS, and you want to take out Y for the purchase', but how can we be sure X and Y are the same money? Then  you will have to provide bank statement of all your accounts worldwide going back years. Avoid Banco Sabadell!.. BBVA was a much easier ride.  The banks will talk about their 'compliance team' when asking for evidence.. shorthand for the government.  And they won't ask for it all at once.. just drip, drip, question after question, week after week, as they build up your financial profile.

Given problems 1..4, living on 1K a month ? I promise you that's the least of your problems.

All that said, I've gone through the wringer over 6 months, have the efficient house, residency and padron, and I love it here. But get your audit trail bulletproof before you begin, or else it will be a nightmare. Start asking your AUS banks for statements going back years right now (before you close any accounts), should they start to shake you down over your financial affairs.

Best of luck!

Jon.

Mate, I really appreciated your detailed reply on 'Going through the wringer' and had a bit of a laugh (sorry, that's my twisted sense of humour) You'd think they would be crying out for foreign investment. There is nothing worse than dealing with G'vmnt Departments though it's the same everywhere, they go out of their way to make your life miserable. I knew it wasn't going to be easy but even across here (and Australia is supposed to be civilised) everyone takes a slice out of you. I put Real Estate agents on the same par as used car salesmen, all they're after is the quickest deal possible. Even lawyers, dentists, accountants they are all at it, the quickest way to make a dollar. There are very few professional people with any form of integrity out there. Least of all politicians. And when the market is down they will make a living any way they can, it's dog eat dog. You never said whether you built or bought an established property, both of which I'm looking at. I do have bank statements dating back a number of years and they are welcome to them, so no problem with that. If I feel I'm getting no where, "Thank you, if you don't want my money I'll go elsewhere" but saying that it strikes me as they don't give a rats, or it's too hard. I am fortunate that I'm single again and no kids (that I know of ) in tow so looking forward to it. Thanks again for all the info' it helps to build a bigger picture

All the best

T