Reply to: Working from Spain - good idea?

[Hercule]

from experience.... as intriguing as it may sound there's a couple of things people might not be aware of. All these places in Spain / Mediterranean which are so lively and nice in summer may look totally different comes end of October. Shops and bars close. Streets empty. And a winter in Spain can be much colder then most people anticipate, with the humid air and houses not being properly insulated. You may end up spending the days shivering in front of the screen ... brrrrr
And the summers... i think its too hot there to really perform any serious work. Even with A/C and access to a pool it's really hard to work when it's hot outside.
As always.... YMMV

[pedroPM]

me too

I'm impressed that you're able to get "work from home" jobs like that!

Could the OP give a clue as to what line of work they're in? It sounds quite appealing...

I'm a PM based in Madrid. Not contracting at present (I was back in the UK), I'm working for an outsourcing co posted at a big bank. I'm a big believer in being able to work from home, if the role suits, but unfortunately the concept is not very common here. So even though most of my dealings are with people in the rest of europe or india I need to spend two hrs of my life every day coming to/from an office

Oh well I'll continue my campaign to change the spanish working culture...with one eye looking out for cushy numbers like that of the OP!

[cykophysh39]

I'm impressed that you're able to get "work from home" jobs like that!

[PAH]

While researching this idea (working via the internet in a nice private villa with pool in Spain) I think a couple of issues I uncovered were:

1. The best rental deals (e.g. 4 bed 2 bathroom private villa with pool for around £500/month) are for 12 month initial term, but these agreements give you much better protection than typical UK agreement. Stuff like the landlord can only increase rent in line with inflation, and you can automatically renew for 3 or 5 years after the 12 months. The downside being that I think you need to provide an NIE number, which puts you on the authorities radar as being there long term so all the tax implications may apply.

2. If you take your UK registered car over you can only use it for 6 months before you have to get it naturalised in Spain at significant cost. So probably better buying one out there if you need wheels, plus it will have the steering wheel on the left.

3. Many expat areas are turning into ghost towns through over building or retired expats returning to the UK due to the poor exchange rate and poor interest rate on their savings, or working expats returning due to the lack of work opportunities in Spain now there's lots of unemployment out there. Not a problem if you want to embrace the Spanish culture, learn the language, and rent away from the typically grotty expat areas.

It's still my fallback plan but it does need careful research if going for more than a few months at a time.

[MrMark]

According to the Br expats site, there are plenty of longer-term lets going for 450+ a month, so long as you look around. Someone who's had a year with no earnings will snap your hand off if you offer 5k for 10 or 11 months, surely? Important thing is to get a place with fast internet coverage - towns and cities are good, but if you opt for a place in the sticks, beware.
Also, most people on that forum state that if you live/work more than 6 months you are liable to pay Spanish tax - but a good accountant can offset it against the tax paid in Blighty. To be honest, if you register as non-resident ie holidaymaker, and invoice, provide work in the UK, who's to know?
Property search engines - Idealista and Kyero are the ones to seek out

[mrdonuts]

considering working from spain for 3-4 weeks this summer - at 600 a month the place sounds a good deal

whats the area like?

where are these villas advertised ?

[portseven]

Believe me there are more than enough so can afford to take your pick. If you do decide to go ahead drop me PM with your ideas and I will see if my contacts over there know the block or area you are looking at.

Cheers - Will check the water with $ClientCo first (there's me assuming i am still there by the summer! ffs)

[northernladuk]

Sounds alright, wife would probably want a villa with pool but will have a scout round anyway

Believe me there are more than enough so can afford to take your pick. If you do decide to go ahead drop me PM with your ideas and I will see if my contacts over there know the block or area you are looking at.

[portseven]

Its very nice. All around Estapona to Gib area is very scenic and cheap. 600 will be for 3 bed penthouse. 2 bedder would be even cheaper. There is the small port of Dequesa round there if you like the port life or plenty of hillside accomodation if you like it quite. Banus is 20 mins away to have a big night out. Malaga at worst is 1hr -1.5 hours away etc. Gib 15 mins, get to north africa on a catamaran in an hour for a trip.

Monarch flights £39 return if you book at the right time. Fill yer boots I say.

3 gold courses in spitting distance including Valderma (if that is how you spell it)

Sounds alright, wife would probably want a villa with pool but will have a scout round anyway

[northernladuk]

considering working from spain for 3-4 weeks this summer - at 600 a month the place sounds a good deal

whats the area like?

Its very nice. All around Estapona to Gib area is very scenic and cheap. 600 will be for 3 bed penthouse. 2 bedder would be even cheaper. There is the small port of Dequesa round there if you like the port life or plenty of hillside accomodation if you like it quite. Banus is 20 mins away to have a big night out. Malaga at worst is 1hr -1.5 hours away etc. Gib 15 mins, get to north africa on a catamaran in an hour for a trip.

Monarch flights £39 return if you book at the right time. Fill yer boots I say.

3 gold courses in spitting distance including Valderma (if that is how you spell it)

[portseven]

consideri

considering working from spain for 3-4 weeks this summer - at 600 a month the place sounds a good deal

whats the area like?

[Antman]

Should have never left Benidorm.

[northernladuk]

Bloody hell! From what you describe it sounds like an idyllic place near to the beach etc. But you say prices have crashed ?
How has that happened ? Why did the demand drop ? How can really bad areas in UK like Middlesborough for example have got house prices at an obscene level when prices for your flat has crashed ? It makes no sense.

In US the prices crashed because people handed over the keys to the bank since the bank owned the deeds. Is it the case in Spain ?

Everything you can think of went wrong. Take your pick.
Far too many built in a short time. The entire coastline from Gib to Banus and futher was just a sea of cranes.
Euro was 50p so very attractive. Euro hit £1 about time they were finished so twice as exensive so people can't afford
Spain nearly went bust
Spain had it's own housing crash
Arse fell out of the world economy
Disney pulled out of what ever was rumoured to be built there
Manilva mayor got arrested for taking bungs for giving licences out or something
yadda yadda

[fullyautomatix]

Sounds exactly the same as me but I paid twice that for 3 bed split level penthouse and same with crystal ball. We are still trying to sue our now bust developer for outstanding ground rent and half the community is owned by the bank.

The flats are only worth what people are willing to pay and that is nothing right now. You might get stupidly lucky to get a buyer if you put the cost as something stupid, and I am talking 50% less than anything else in the area.

Rents are way below the mortgage rates etc. It is a bit of a disaster out there at the moment. The only thing to do is to budget for the worst and wait it through. It can't get any worse so just wait for the good times... which could be 10 years away.

Rents for mine at the moment are around £600 a month if you can find someone.

Bloody hell! From what you describe it sounds like an idyllic place near to the beach etc. But you say prices have crashed ?
How has that happened ? Why did the demand drop ? How can really bad areas in UK like Middlesborough for example have got house prices at an obscene level when prices for your flat has crashed ? It makes no sense.

In US the prices crashed because people handed over the keys to the bank since the bank owned the deeds. Is it the case in Spain ?

[northernladuk]

So to be clear - You paid 300K EUR for a flat and you can rent out for 600EUR a month?

Can you find someone for 600 EUR a month or is it vacant at the moment

On and off, ex pats moving around because they can, people working in and out of area and so on.