Moving process to Spain - Page 2

Very well said I couldn't have put it better we live in El Alamillo and love life here and personally we feel alot of things are cheaper than the UK and the eating out whole experience is generally wonderful 

We have just completed the NLV process (and, incidentally moved from Scotland).

We used Raquel at BeGlobal Attorneys, based in Barcelona, and would definitely recommend her. As most of the dealings will be in Spanish and with the Spanish authorities, we thought a Spanish lawyer would be best.

Happy for you to PM me for any further advice if you want...

My husband and I are in the process of finalising the buying process for a house in a small Spanish village in the Granada province, after 8 months of wheelings and dealings. Patience is a virtue and knowing that nothing is straightforward as there will always be some unexpected issues does help. All this at the same time as trying to get residency (applied before 31/12/2020) and still being requested documents which were not asked in the first place so a 10 months process so far. Luckily, we are in Spain as with lockdowns, going back to the UK was a no-no. So doing it from afar will probably be a long shot I guess. I read that you can apply for the NLV from the Spanish embassy.

First, British real estate agents are simple property finders....not agents, as most hardly speak Spanish. They browse Internet and cut deals with the agencies that hold the property in the first place, something you can do yourself. Once we paid the deposit, the nightmare with the useless agent started. Their documents were written half in English, half in Spanish so no legal value and we wventually dealt directly with the Spanish owner (who paid a €3000 commission to the agent as Finder fee). The agent referred us to their gestoria to deal with the numerous notary and other processes involved. Do not use anyone agents refer you to. There are enough Spanish lawyers who speak English and know the law and the fee you pay is well worth it to avoid hassle. This is what we did: we found our own lawyer who is handling everything for us hassle-free. And we do not want to hear about that agent ever again!

We wasted time with our Spanish bank as we needed a small mortgage too. They took 3 months to finally reject us on some obscure reasons, one being we earn our income in sterling. So we applied to another bank and got a positive answer within 2 days! Same documents, same situation...just different criteria from a bank to another so if you need a mortgage, apply from several banks (there is only a handful of them). Also make sure the property you wish to buy is classed "Urban" as "Rural" makes it more complicated. 

Even if you are a cashbuyer, the only process you avoid is the bank. The other parts are still taking long. And there are a lot of fees on the way so plan at least 15% on top of the sales price

Renting should not be an issue. There are plenty of properties to rent around (mostly furnished).