New to vera

Hi Dave and Sue, Congratulations on your purchase of Spanish property. I wish you well in your new adventure. Your apartment won't be completed for at least 2 years (probably longer if most experiences apply). 

If you buy furniture two years in advance you'll have to pay for storage and risk companies staying in business over the next while. Covid has unearthed many weaknesses worldwide on company survival. I think you'd be better off to wait before purchasing.

You won't be short of places in which to purchase. When we bought our apartment in Mojacar Playa we bought all the furniture and everything required within one week. Cash is king. But, when the furniture is delivered to your new holiday home you need to be there to ensure what you bought is delivered. Your washing machine is usually connected by the person delivering it too. 

Helpful Hint:- Nearly all of Spain goes on holiday in August and perhaps any other month is best to purchase anything substantial? 

agree with Matthew do not expect your property to be completed on time and don't buy anything until you have the keys and the documents to the property.  cash is king but also they sometimes can't deliver for up to 8 weeks so you just have to shop around if you need things faster.  summertime is not a good time for any thing to be done quickly.    you can get a full furniture package provided from a company in Garrucha called Homes & Beyond which is worth considering.  and the advice is to start some basic Spanish now use the Duolingo on the internet and it will help you a lot.

You might like to note that you can also buy online from IKEA.es.  Their Web page is in English as well as Spanish so no problem there.

Matthew is right.  They practically never never finish anything here on time so don't panic about getting here for the completion date! 

Many thanks for your help and advice. When u say cash is king..do u mean literally euro notes or just not taking loans hire purchase etc?

Read my Lips - Cash as in Euro notes - If you haven't got your NIE number do it asap in the UK if you live there. You may not be able to buy furniture in advance without your NIE.

they will often give you a good discount if you pay in full or bulk buy and deliver for free and also make up furniture for you if needed.  they will fix shelves to the walls if part of a unit.  

Hi Dave and Sue. Warm welcome to the forum. Congratulations on your new place in vera. We purchased an apartment in Mar de Pulpi just along the coast 3 years ago. Absolutely love it....when we can get over !!. Like you we were unsure how to go about purchasing our furniture. As we are still working age it was more convenient for us to buy the furniture pack on offer through the developer. We bought our garden furniture from koala in antas who have a great selection. If you have time and can be at your property to take deliveries you could also use a courier firm who ship your furniture door to door from the UK. I'm sure there are some recommend firms on this forum.If we were buying again this is the option I would use as I feel there is a better selection and cheaper goods in the uk....esp garden furniture. All about weighing things up but a full van load could be your best bet. Regards and good luck   John & Lyn (glasgow)

Thanks for helpful comments.  We are so looking forward to kitting it out although probably 2y away. We are in Dumfries  sw Scotland and are thinking rent a van and ferry/drive with van full of uk bought goods...beds couch garden furniture bikes etc. Anybody done this?

Hi Dave and Sue

We purchased in 2018 in Vera Playa on the Las Marinas community near Millionaires bar.  Our apartment was not new but the furniture and kitchen equipment required updating. 

I asked about buying small kitchen electric appliances on another forum and was recommended to a department store in Almeria town, naively we drove all the way there but afterwards found that we could have bought much more local. 

We did do a trip to IKEA Murcia to buy all necessary plates,  cups, glasses etc but you can easily get these local in the Chinese shops in Vera, depends what you want. We even went to DFS Murcia ( being newbies and a shop we knew from UK) and purchased a massive sofa bed. It was on offer and a shop display but they delivered and installed next day, a really good service. However on reflection there are lots of muebles/furniture shops in Vera, Antas and Garrucha that sell great stuff and more wider choice than you see in the UK which you can use. We purchased a further settee in Vera with delivery same week and a dinning dining table and chairs that had a 6 week wait. Again both good service.

My advice is not to rush spending your money, get your keys and have a short break in a local hotel at the time of completing to visit some of these shops and plan your purchases then. If you buy early you have the worry of early delivery or storage.

Best wishes

Grant