Viva Espana

[Sportsman]

For many years we assumed that when we retire it would be to Spain. We lived there in the 80's when I was working in Africa and always thought that it would be where we ended up.

Nearly three years ago we made the move but for various reasons we ended up in France instead and the experience has been and still is very good.

We still had a bit of a "thing" for Spain though, but the area we had been visiting for years had been spoiled by over development and that had attracted a criminal element, one of the reasons we chose France.

For the past year or so my physical disabilities have been getting worse and I am now finding it difficult to care for this property.

We have a two acre lake that is suffering from erosion problems that need attention and we also have about 2.5 acres of grass that needs cutting twice a week to keep it looking right. Thats 6 hours on a ride on every week for at least 9 months of the year.

The big attraction with this place was the lake and the fishing but to be honest it is not as much fun as I thought it would be. You can get a bit bored with fishing the same swims for the same fish all the time. I miss the sense of occasion in planning a fishing trip so I find that I am going out more and more to fish other venues. Sort of seems a bit pointless somehow.

My recent health scare has also stirred me into action maybe a bit sooner than might otherwise be the case but we have decided to start the process of househunting in Spain to try to find something a bit lower maintenance and easier to live in. Some warmer weather wouldn't hurt either, snow again today.

Another attraction of course is that there are some superb bargains to be had in Spain at the moment.

How about this for the same price as a three bed semi on an estate in UK

http://www.foundvalencia.com/property/property-for-sal-in-la-pobla-de-vallbona/

 

We are putting some feelers out in the Valencia region and hope to get away to Spain for a week or two pretty soon to have a good look around.

IF we make the move there are many things that I will miss about France, it has been a great place to live and I am by no means certain that we will end up leaving here.

Who knows what the future holds, a week ago I wasn't even sure that I had one, so my feeling now is if you want something then go for it, while you can

[Steve Burke]

What an excellent post! I wish you all the luck in the world in finding your dream life. Good luck!

[captain cojones]

Looks really nice, and a big property for the money. Make sure it´s not TOO big!

 

Good idea you have to rent before you commit to buying, incidentally...

sales to non Spanish are now running at the same rate as they were in 2007 before the crisis started.

 

Main buyers are currently British, Norwegians and Russians.

[Sportsman]

Thanks for your kind thoughts Steve.

Captain, I think that particular property might not be as "low maintenance" as I need.

I does seem a hell of a lot of house for the money though.

[captain cojones]

I would be looking for something a bit smaller.

 

Im downsizing at the moment for the same reason...My house is 300M2 (around 3000Sq feet??) And with the land i have with it, is just too big considering i am off flying around so often. Got lots of invites to the USA pending.

 

I will buy an apartment, just lock the door and leave it.

[chesters1]

My old boss moved to just outside menerbes (pretty area if you like rocks and frenchies) he had built on his land a 9 hole golf course for his son ,he then got addicted to the silly game himself and decided to move to spain whichhas some very good ones.

A year later he left he couldnt abide the brits living there ,he now resides in monaco but not for golf reasons

 

I think its a fact that foreign just becomes hot england (or perhaps colder england) you visit an area like we did in scotland last year expecting scots people but in the week your there you only find one and he was from the islands ,i presume if you flee to parts of spain to see spanish people all you find is a hot version of back home which kinder gives the impression if your fleeing from these dammed foreigners filling up england your a dammed foreigner filling up spain with your wicked foreign ways

 

Come back home the weather may be a bit dodgy but you will find all the fooking foreigners you went looking for in the firstb place

Edited March 31, 2013 by chesters1

[Tony U]

I fancy moving to Spain, when I retire in a few years time; though a bit further south, somewhere in Andalucia away from the costas.