Any help or advice please

Matthew wrote on Thu Mar 10, 2022 10:38pm:

Susan, My advice to you is to hasten slowly. Yours is the first sub one minute post on this forum regarding retiring to Spain from a probable zero experience start. Slow down, learn, listen, experience and then decide. You are probably getting a bit offended at this point, but read on. . . .

1. Financial Advice regarding property purchase, taxes, retiring etc are ten a penny in Spain. Don't confine yourself to one advisor at this time....

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2. Attending an exhibition championing moving to Spain with property purchase etc is nothing more than whetting your appetite. Fall into the trap of thinking this one stop shop is the panacea of all ills could be detrimental to your ambitions. You have met sales people and they are good at what they do so tread carefully from now on. They don't stand to lose anything; you do.

3. Spain is a huge country and choosing to retire in Costa Almeria is not a bad decision. For a start, property is cheaper there and the weather drier and warmer than Costa del Sol. You are going to do this only once so get it right in one. Mistakes will be very costly.

5. I don't know what age you are or how long you have before you retire. But, property is not going to jump in price in the short term. Time is on your side.

6. OK! You want to get on with the job and Irish Matt is asking you to put everything on stall with immediate effect. But, the choice is yours and very few will advise you and leave you at the mercy of whatever. Some on this forum are exceptions to this. 

7. If you take one thing from this forum thread take a minimum of five weeks in the off season renting in Costa Almeria. This period will indicate whether Costa Almería is for you and more importantly  if Spain is for you. Forget about glossy exhibitions and sweet talk from trained salespeople and use your own intelligence.

8. Look at previous posts by me and others where I suggested that potential property purchasers should write out a SWOT analysis on the move (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats). If you fail to do this you are on the fast-track to disaster. Roy Keane keeps saying Fail to prepare; Prepare to fail.

Let this be your first introduction to the truth of buying property in Spain for your retirement. 

Matthew wrote on Thu Mar 10, 2022 10:38pm:

Susan, My advice to you is to hasten slowly. Yours is the first sub one minute post on this forum regarding retiring to Spain from a probable zero experience start. Slow down, learn, listen, experience and then decide. You are probably getting a bit offended at this point, but read on. . . .

1. Financial Advice regarding property purchase, taxes, retiring etc are ten a penny in Spain. Don't confine yourself to one advisor at this time....

Read more...

...

2. Attending an exhibition championing moving to Spain with property purchase etc is nothing more than whetting your appetite. Fall into the trap of thinking this one stop shop is the panacea of all ills could be detrimental to your ambitions. You have met sales people and they are good at what they do so tread carefully from now on. They don't stand to lose anything; you do.

3. Spain is a huge country and choosing to retire in Costa Almeria is not a bad decision. For a start, property is cheaper there and the weather drier and warmer than Costa del Sol. You are going to do this only once so get it right in one. Mistakes will be very costly.

5. I don't know what age you are or how long you have before you retire. But, property is not going to jump in price in the short term. Time is on your side.

6. OK! You want to get on with the job and Irish Matt is asking you to put everything on stall with immediate effect. But, the choice is yours and very few will advise you and leave you at the mercy of whatever. Some on this forum are exceptions to this. 

7. If you take one thing from this forum thread take a minimum of five weeks in the off season renting in Costa Almeria. This period will indicate whether Costa Almería is for you and more importantly  if Spain is for you. Forget about glossy exhibitions and sweet talk from trained salespeople and use your own intelligence.

8. Look at previous posts by me and others where I suggested that potential property purchasers should write out a SWOT analysis on the move (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats). If you fail to do this you are on the fast-track to disaster. Roy Keane keeps saying Fail to prepare; Prepare to fail.

Let this be your first introduction to the truth of buying property in Spain for your retirement. 

Susipod wrote on Fri Mar 11, 2022 9:12am:

Thank you for your replies they are helpful,  I hope you dont mind if I may give you a little more information on our current situation my husband is 60 and I am 66, we are both working at the moment as health professionals in the NHS so we are unable to take so much leave in one go, so it i...

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...sn't possible to rent for 4-5 weeks as we wouldn't be allowed all our leave at one time,  we have spoken to solicitors regarding how much funds we would need, so we would have to continue working until we are ready to move as we know we would be financially secure by that stage. We also have a house to sell, We don't want to rush the move but as you can see time is not on our side, although we are both fit and healthy. We had decided we would book 2 or 3 fortnightly trips to look around the different areas, this summer and next winter with a hope to move next summer/winter 2024. The other problem we seem to have is flights, there dosn't appear to be flights from Manchester in the winter to Almeria.  I am sorry for being a nuisance but it is a dream and a big step to make and any advice is greatly received and appreciated as we don't know anyone personally who has made this move and it's quite daunting knowing where to start.

Thank you so much

Susipod wrote on Fri Mar 11, 2022 9:12am:

Thank you for your replies they are helpful,  I hope you dont mind if I may give you a little more information on our current situation my husband is 60 and I am 66, we are both working at the moment as health professionals in the NHS so we are unable to take so much leave in one go, so it i...

Read more...

...sn't possible to rent for 4-5 weeks as we wouldn't be allowed all our leave at one time,  we have spoken to solicitors regarding how much funds we would need, so we would have to continue working until we are ready to move as we know we would be financially secure by that stage. We also have a house to sell, We don't want to rush the move but as you can see time is not on our side, although we are both fit and healthy. We had decided we would book 2 or 3 fortnightly trips to look around the different areas, this summer and next winter with a hope to move next summer/winter 2024. The other problem we seem to have is flights, there dosn't appear to be flights from Manchester in the winter to Almeria.  I am sorry for being a nuisance but it is a dream and a big step to make and any advice is greatly received and appreciated as we don't know anyone personally who has made this move and it's quite daunting knowing where to start.

Thank you so much

Juliet Diaz wrote on Fri Mar 11, 2022 9:40am:

Hi Susan,

My partner and I retired to Almeria three years ago and it was a great decision. We were also in a rush because we wanted to beat Brexit and be sure of getting residencia so we decided to move over and rent for 6 months. We did, however, sell our property in the UK towards the end of the calendar...

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... year because we aere aware of possible capital gains tax implications if you sell UK property in the same Spanish fiscal year as you gain residencia. Look into this aspect very carefully as it can cost you tens of thousands if youget it wrong!

You do not need the services of a company that will do everything for you (and charge an arm and a leg for it as well I am sure!). Get your visa application started and come for a holiday and identify possible areas you might like to live in., Do you definitely want to buy a property in Spain? Have you considered renting out your UK property (you would pay tax on the income in Spain) and then renting long term in Spain. Many of our friends do that, and not because they can't afford to buy as they are mostly very well off! It is very common to rent property in Spain and it is much cheaper than in the UK. For example, we have friends who rent a lovely 3 bedroomed duplex with sea views and literally a 2 minute walk from the beach in Mojacar for 600 Euros per month. Inland, you'll get a detached villa with pool for just a little more. And there are so many advantages to renting - if the pool starts leaking it's not your problem, if new neighbours move in with a constantly barking dog you can move, if you decide you dont like the area you can move! There are also advantages of not selling in the UK. For example, if one of you became seriously ill, heaven forbid, you may wish to return. Also, it can gratefully simplify inheritance issues as in Spain you are obliged to bequeath your estate in a certain way.and of course there's inheritance tax as well.

I appreciate that it is much more complicated to move over now but I would not work with a company promising everything. As I said, you can do most things yourself,, just take appropriate professional advice as required. Have you looked at the CAB Spain website? Lots of great information there.

I wish you lots of luck. Enjoy t he excitement!