Moving to Spain - Part 14

The Perfect House

Part 14

The Renault salesman rang the gestor in Benissa and he was able to see us straight away. We filled in the application forms, gave him our passports and left with a promise of NIE numbers in 4 to 5 weeks.

Next, we had to find a house. I introduced myself to an estate agent in Morarira who had been recommended as completely honest and trustworthy. I asked him to find us a villa in the area with a limit of 200,000 euros including fees. He did some research then I spent 3 days with him viewing various properties. My wife and I had a system – I would view 10 to 15 properties then choose a maximum of 3 for her to view. Then we settled on one. It always worked in Wales but would it in Spain?

The properties I viewed in our price range tended to be 20-25 years old. Therefore they needed modernising: new bathroom, kitchen, windows and in many cases full reformation. At the end of 3 days the agent said he would be honest with me. He thought I would not find what I was looking for in that area so would I be interested in meeting his business partner who ran an agency in Albir.

I had nothing to lose, so I met his partner the following week who showed me around a number of properties in Altea Hills, Albir and La Nucia. The one in La Nucia was a show house for a new development of 34 houses on a community – it was situated at the end of a block of 4.

After a few days I was struggling to decide which properties my wife should look at so we decided to write down independently what we wanted from our next home.

I wrote:

• Situated on north Costa Blanca in reach of a large town
• A new property
• Uninterrupted view from main living area of the Med.

My wife wrote:

• Use of a pool
• 3 bedrooms
• Young Spanish neighbours, to allow us to integrate

After viewing a number of properties, with our new agenda in mind, the day finally arrived when I took my wife along. I had a good idea which she would go for, but she surprised me when she stepped over the threshold of the La Nucia property and exclaimed, “This is it! ”She hadn't seen the house but explained the feeling was “right” Who am I to disagree with a woman's intuition?

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Summary of Links

Part 1 - The Idea
Part 2 - The First Trip
Part 3 - The Return Back Home
Part 4 - Second winter in Spain
Part 5 - Xmas Eve in Spain
Part 6 - Trips to Spanish Cities
Part 7 - Madrid
Part 8 - Third winter in Spain
Part 9 - The Villa
Part 10 - The Decision to Move
Part 11 - Research
Part 12 - Leaving Home
Part 13 - Buying a Car...(or not!)
Part 14 - The Perfect House
Part 15 - Completing on the house
Part 16 - Moving In
Acknowledgements

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