" Hello to everyone. I am new to these boards and would like to talk to everyone and anyone about moving to Spain. We all have worries fears and concerns about the big move.. and we all have one thing in common, Spain. Each and everyone of us has information,Ideas and Answers to questions so together we could prove to be a clever bunch. We have all done our own little bit of research on Spain, which could prove to be very useful if we shared this information. So if anyone would like to chat or compare notes on the move to Spain.. we could communicate through the boards or E-mail. So if anyone would like to start the ball rolling leave your message here, either by asking questions or offering advice please do so. You can also E-mail me on:- shelly17@cwcom.net come on..we can do this, we can make freinds and you never know, once over in Spain it would be one heck of a good party, if we met up. good luck everyone Michelle. "

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" Hi Michelle. Many people ask for info on moving to Spain as they are (like the rest of us, looking for a better life) but we must not lose sight of the issues surrounding this. I have left a message about property on another board but if this is our ''coffee room'' then i''ll repeat it for you here too :o) When buying property in Spain it is very different from the safety net laws that govern the UK; in Spain it is more ''sink or swim'', ha ha. You know I am a relocator and whilst i have many contacts in the property feild it must be noted that there are good people on these boards who are looking to spend large amounts of cash - and they need to make sure it is a house not a pig in a poke! First and foremost in my opinion I would suggest people consider using a UK based property company (there are many) as this gives Right to legal redress via the British court system. But Spain''s judicial system goes at a snails pace, so the best thing to do is double check everything twice! An absolute must is to seek legal advice, and to see that the property being sought has an escritura (title deeds) - this would be a necessity if the buyer requires a mortgage anyway as the bank wouldn''t loan money on a ''promise'' that nobody will arrive with a claim to the property. (Which has happened, though the laws have improved). There are many issues concerning purchases to property, too many to mention here - but this will be a start! At the end of the day we all want the dream don''t we? And whilst we can all get carried away on the euphoria of it all, there are danger zones which we need to address - and we''re a pretty knowlwdgible bunch on here aren''t we! feel free to email me if you like, we''re all in the same boat aren''t we! My email address is GrimshawMD@aol.com Take Care. "

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" Your advice is good, everybody must seek legal advice before handing over any cash and signing any documents, whilst I am sure there are a lot of good reputable property companies, as with any business there are the ''sharks'' out there... It is very easy (as we know) to become excited and ufortunatly get carried away. There are many people on the board who would offer the same advice. Regarding schools I have been strongly advised to put the children into state schools and have to admit this does seem like the sensible option...does anybody have any views on this. When you live in Spain are you still protected as a English citizen...as in health ect..what kind of insurance should people look into. anybody got any advice. Michelle "

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" Whilst appreciating the caution aspect of purchasing property in Spain, it has to be said that Spanish Law has moved on a pace since the 70''s and 80''s when a lot of people got ripped off. As far as rural property is concerned i.e. farmhouses, many of the don''t have escrituras because they are first registration properties. If you want a farmhouse it is very normal to wait between 3-6 months for first registration to be completed. Usually the only way you will buy a farmhouse with title deeds is if someone has already previously purchased and gone through the first registration procedure or if the agent concerned has purchased the property through his/her company,started the registration process and then sells it on registered. You can lose very desirable properties by wanting things done very quickly in Spain - manyana is the legend, manyana is the fact. If you can''t deal with this don''t consider moving to Spain - Michael "

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" Just for everyone''s information, my husband and I purchased a home in spain two years ago and it was actually easier to buy than it would have been in America. Perhaps we were just lucky and perhaps the fact that the house was new helped. But we had an outstanding (Spanish) bank director who spoke very good english and pretty well walked us through the whole project from start to finish - from fiscal number to turning over the keys. We actually financed the house because the deal was so good we couldn''t pass it up - 60% down, 10 year, 5% interest. We just periodically wire money over to the bank and the bank makes the house and utility payments and pays us interest on the balance left in the account. Very, very easy - and very professional. We receive a transaction notice on every penny that goes in or out of the account. Credit check? Nope. All we had to do was fax over a copy of a recent income tax return and the loan was approved. Also, we were so sick when we signed the papers on the house that we really didn''t care at that point what we signed. We didn''t know that we needed cash to connect some of the utilities and therefore, didn''t have enough cash on us to pay the hookup charges. No problem. The bank director just went to the back room of the bank and came back with a handful of cash that she gave to our real estate agent and told him to go connect the utilities so we could go to bed. She told us to come back when we felt better and we could ""settle"" up with her. That would never happen in america. We also didn''t wire enough money over for the ""closing"" but no problem, we just wrote a check to the bank and ""closed"" on the house. Everyone knew that the check probably wouldn''t clear for another 1-2 weeks but the bank wasn''t too concerned about ""floating"" us an unsecured, unsigned loan for a week or so. Perhaps we were fortunate but the process was very pleasant and very easy to understand and we are very comfortable with the decision. We have met enough of our neighbors and have asked enough questions at this point to know we made a ""good, clean"" purchase. Whenever we go into the bank in Spain she always comes out to see how we''re doing and is always available for a translation or whatever. Sounds like this is NOT normal? "

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" Hi Cheryl, Thanks for all the great information. What part of spain do you live in? My family and I will be moving from California to Valencia in January of 2001. We have two kids age 10 and 12. They are both bilingual in Spanish. Do you know anything about the public schools? I would also like to get the name of the bank and real estate agent you used to help purchase you home. We will be renting a furnished appartment until we find an area that we love. I hope to hear from you soon. Regards, Cheri "

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