It's Too Expensive Here!

[John Doe]

"16,049 views" That doesn't include those in the U.S.Marshall Islands and Iceland.

 

[earlyretirement]

Sorry Im British/Irish so cant comment on the US residence process. I can confirm there is a wealth tax - the first 700k euro are tax exempt.
Utilities aren´t cheap. Spanish electricity prices are some fo the highest in Europe https://www.spanishp...h-eu-standards/
The bonus of the Andalucian climate and 50 average days of rain per year means you really only need heating Dec - Mar max. Some of the newer builds thrown up during the boom are of shocking poor quality. I´ve a friend whose house is mould ridden and freezing all winter. If you buy wisely and arent a friolero you can get by with an electric heater. Some data:

Water (for 59 days) - 285 euros July - Aug. We have a well but when it runs dry we water the garden daily (750 sqm). This was for 2386 m2 consumption
Electricity (for 59 days - 3 story house, 330 sqm, pool Dec - Jan) - 512 euros for 1,947 kilowatts consumption
Gas - we have gas central heating + cooking - 8 large bottles every winter - approx 330 euros
Fibre optic internet+phone package - approx. 200 euros per month
ABN equivalent - 1250 per year daily bin collections on street, quarterly grass cutting + weekly street cleaning


Hope that helps. Narrow down a city or town and then start to look into exact and current costs. Food across the board is ludicrously cheap, embarrassingly so. Breakfast this morning for 3 adults - 4.95 (3 coffees, mollete tostado each - that´s a long roll for the Bsas folk!)

Thanks a ton fifs2. This is really helpful. True, that people can google and find other forums but after reading this forum for many years, you kind of come to trust some of the personalities on this forum (others not so much... ha ha).

I totally agree about the ridiculous cost of food there. My family and I (wife and 3 kids) dined out at some great restaurants in/near Marbella and even with tons of food, drinks, etc. it was extremely cheap. And the food was amazingly good. Groceries in the market were a fraction of what we spend here in the USA in California. Definitely will look you up on our next trip to Spain. Thanks again for the helpful information.

 

[chris]

Chris for sure a terraced house or appt would be much cheaper utility wise. My friends in apartments don´t have any heating. They think it´s funny an Irish lass needs central heating but honestly in winter in a well built house with thick walls you´d be warmer outside than in as the houses are built to keep the summer heat out. I´m sorry I don´t have any comparisons at hand but I´ll do 2 things
1. ask a local friend who lives in a lovely old apartment block for details on her expenses
2. ask my Argentine lawyer who left Bsas to live in Madrid 1 year after us. He came to visit us and decided to retrain for Spain as a result. He had a lovely house with pool & garden in La Lucila. I´ll ask him for direct comparisons when he´s here in Easter week.

THANKS! Looking forward to your report.

 

[StevePalermo]

Are you a US citizen? I wish someone would answer my question about resident visas. How can a US citizen get one?

Not a US citizen.

 

[StevePalermo]

Thanks Steve! I just sent you a PM. But feel free to also answer here if you want and it can educate the mass forum.

My friend that is from Spain told me there is no big annual property tax each year. He said there is some tax but it's less than $500 US per year for the property/asset tax. I need to do some due diligence as I haven't started yet but it's always nice to hear from those that own properties and can give their real life experiences. He cautioned against long term rentals and said that it's hard to get a tenant out with their laws. But it's like that in Argentina as well but at least you can diminish your risk with getting a guarantor.

I'd be curious to hear what expenses are like (HOA, gas, water, electricity, cable/internet, etc). He said they were all fairly cheap.

Its true the taxes are very low, I pay much less than $500 per year for local property taxes, and other utilities are very reasonable (but I've just been living in Australia which is ridiculously expensive). I haven't lived here long enough to give accurate expenses, but my gas will be less than $10 a month and electricity and water $30 / $40 a month maximum, but that depends on consumption of course. I get free wifi courtesy of my neighbour, but that shouldn't break the bank, internet prices are coming down. I will never let my apartment out again long term, I've had a couple of nightmare experiences. Apparently the law is changing and its easier to remove tenants now but I won't take the risk. For detailed information on all things Spanish I use an expats forum (http://britishexpats.com/forum/) where there are people with far wider and more current information than I have.

 

[fifs2]

A mollete is a round roll like a pan arabe , at least its like that in Antequera!

Anything from egg shape to rounded rectangle here...

 

[Sockhopper]

Before choosing where to live in Spain, decide if you want to live in a Spanish culture or the British one. In many towns along the Costa del Sol especially, there's nobody who speaks Spanish left in them although British have lived in them for 15-20 years. They don't need to know any Spanish. But there are plenty of fish & chip shops and pubs whose British owners are fine with letting underaged foreign teenagers drink all the huge cocktails they want for a pittance. (The reports of kids dying of alcohol poisoning on their first night ever in Spain spread fast across Europe.) But The Full English breakfast is so easily found in those towns right down to its cold, hard toast; soggy boiled whole tomato; hot beans and greasy sausages. And it's cheap.

There are better places inland with foreigners including the British who actively integrate into and participate in Spanish towns and cities' own culture and speak Spanish. Unfortunately Spain overall is seen in Europe as the model for exactly what not to do if a country cares to keep its own culture advancing. But I saw the same phenomenon to a lesser degree in the far southern towns of Portugal.

As well as 'where you'll live', research the level of private healthcare insurance you'd need to be issued a long-stay visa esp if you're not an EU citizen. Rules vary nationally by EU country. By all accounts, Spain's public healthcare system is of very high quality. .

Go to the source for all info about settling in any foreign country. Sharing info of what things cost is great but beyond that, laws can change quickly. For example, I'd memorized huge sections of the new edition of a book known as 'the bible for Brits moving to France'. When we arrived here, we learned bit by bit how most all information we'd memorized was completely outdated by 4-12 years. We had to unlearn everything and start over again once we were here. Laws change.

 

[jeff1234]

Rent for a month. Its the best way to see if you'll like the town, the prices, the people......

 

[chris]

Before choosing where to live in Spain, decide if you want to live in a Spanish culture or the British one. In many towns along the Costa del Sol especially, there's nobody who speaks Spanish left in them although British have lived in them for 15-20 years. They don't need to know any Spanish. But there are plenty of fish & chip shops and pubs whose British owners are fine with letting underaged foreign teenagers drink all the huge cocktails they want for a pittance. (The reports of kids dying of alcohol poisoning on their first night ever in Spain spread fast across Europe.) But The Full English breakfast is so easily found in those towns right down to its cold, hard toast; soggy boiled whole tomato; hot beans and greasy sausages. And it's cheap.

There are better places inland with foreigners including the British who actively integrate into and participate in Spanish towns and cities' own culture and speak Spanish. Unfortunately Spain overall is seen in Europe as the model for exactly what not to do if a country cares to keep its own culture advancing. But I saw the same phenomenon to a lesser degree in the far southern towns of Portugal.

As well as 'where you'll live', research the level of private healthcare insurance you'd need to be issued a long-stay visa esp if you're not an EU citizen. Rules vary nationally by EU country. By all accounts, Spain's public healthcare system is of very high quality. .

Go to the source for all info about settling in any foreign country. Sharing info of what things cost is great but beyond that, laws can change quickly. For example, I'd memorized huge sections of the new edition of a book known as 'the bible for Brits moving to France'. When we arrived here, we learned bit by bit how most all information we'd memorized was completely outdated by 4-12 years. We had to unlearn everything and start over again once we were here. Laws change.

Either you don't like English breakfasts or the Brits in Spain are incompetent at their own cooking. Personally I love a full English breakfast and always look forward to it when in England. Best sausage in the world.

 

[glasgowjohn]

Which town in the south of Spain is Sockhopper describing . I lived in Malaga for more than 15 years and cannot imagine where he is describing.

His report sounds more like a cutting form the Sun rather than a report from someone who lived there

Yes , there are tourist bars in Torremolinos , Benalmadena , Fuengirola and Marbella . But in general the standard of cooking is better than average. Otherwise they just wouldnt survive . I didnt frequent them often but I sold different products to them and know that standards were decent.

Underage drinking is not common in the Costa del Sol . I was a volunteer translator at two different police stations and "drunk and disorderly" offences were not prevalent in the area. They existed of course but there were more drunken Spaniards in the cells at the weekend.

Maybe you are thinking of Magaluf in Mallorca , where event the local authourities admit the problem is hard to eradicate