22 Apr 2010 3:31 PM:

Hi I currently own a property management business but don't worry I am not here to sell it to you as I don't cover the area you are looking, I cover from Gibraltar to Estepona, I just wanted to try and offer some friendly advice.

Depending on when you are planning to move out here? now is a very good time to get a good deal on a rental property.

I currently rent and we are moving next week to a 5 Bed Semi detached house for £50 more than we are currently paying at the moment for a 2 Bed Town house. People are desperate to get there properties rented at the moment due to a bad summer last year and a even worse winter. Note most long term rentals are for 6 or 11 months. There has been an increase of property for rent recently as people who own properties and were only letting them on a holiday basis can now see the security and benefit of a long term rental rather than risk another quiet summer.

I would suggest you came over and just rented somewhere for a month or two while you view as many properties as you can and also get a feel for the different areas, some of the busy areas in the summer can be very different in the winter months as they tend to be more seasonal for tourists and a lot of the shops and amenities close in the winter, where as a more Spanish populated area will be busy all year round as they live and work in the areas.

We drove to Portugal last week to see my parents and it took us 4 and 1/2 hours with the roads clear from here to the Algarve, its a beautiful drive (depending on which way you go) with no real border either you will just pass one sign saying you are in Spain and then a few hundred yards later a sign saying welcome to Portugal!

I wish you Good luck with your search and enjoy your retirement

 

This message was last edited by SEAK on 22/04/2010.

This message was last edited by SEAK on 22/04/2010.
Thread: Floundering!

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22 Apr 2010 3:07 PM:

Hi I will make a cup of tea and have a good read through all you have posted ,Thank you. I think my problem is my host provided a free website maker which I decided to use until I am set up properly just to get me on the web for now and it does not let you edit the actual http text its more of a webbuilder page where you type direct onto the site page and then publish (if that makes sense) i have been trying to get into the web text so I can add the google verification but have had no luck yet and it gets so confusing with all the so called help pages on the site.

I have purchased a website package but have not even managed to open it yet as it involved downloading wordpress which is mind boggling, I am starting to greatly respect web designers and am also wishing I just had the money to let someone who knows what they are doing do the job, now if you ask me about property i am right up there but this http stuff is harder than people think! (or at least thats what i keep telling myself)

Thanks again I will keep you posted (or not as the case might be)

Thread: Is anyone good with websites??

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21 Apr 2010 2:55 PM:

Hi Thank you all, unfortunately due to my low budget I won't be able to opt for any of the replys that get companies to promote it for me :(  with regards to Markfish's post what is a SEO? sorry to sound dim.

I thought it might have been the case regarding it being a competative field but even when I type in my full webiste address in the google search it still doesn't find my website.

I am hoping as you said earlier that word of mouth will also help my profile but its so frustrating when you are trying to get a business off the ground on a budget. I realise that most wouldn't even try on such a low budget but due to unforseen circumstances and a matter of survival in these bad times I am determined not to be another statistic to the dole que!

Any other suggestions welcome, Thanks

 

This message was last edited by SEAK on 21/04/2010.
Thread: Is anyone good with websites??

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21 Apr 2010 12:00 AM:

Hi Sorry its been a while since I have been on, I have been keeping up with the forum though from home, we returned back to the UK in Oct last year only to be made redundant again at Christmas so we headed back to Spain in March for good this time, with no ties to the UK with work now I am happy to say we are staying here for the forseeable future. I have just set up a new Property Management Business (Oh no another I hear you cry) Don't worry I am not one of those who has just stepped off the plane and decided to "give it a go" I managed two estate agents in the UK ,with qualifications and 10 years experience I hope to be more proffessional and bring a better customer service level to my clients than some agents I came across last year. With no redundancy money (long story) I am having to set up on a small budget and have designed and published my own website (for now) but I am struggleing to get my website found on the major search engines i.e Google, Yahoo and such and I was wondering if anyone knows roughly how long it tales to be found by the so called googlebot? Or is there anything I should be doing?

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Thread: Is anyone good with websites??

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01 Sep 2009 8:48 AM:

Hi we live in Alcaidesa about 15 mins away from Gib, my partner works in Gibraltar 5 days a week, he goes every morning at 7am to miss the ques (as previously mentioned they seem to start around 8am in the week.) I know this last week or two there have been problems with the Spanish Police they narrowed the que down to one lane and wouldn't let you que past the round about so you had to drive around La Linea to get back into the que and hope you didn't end up past the round about again!! The ques have been upto 2 hours waiting! But in saying that we went on Sunday around 9am and drove straight in no que and the same coming out. I would also avoid around 10.30 - 11.00am s there are 2 flights that land and cars get stopped earlier than pedestrians crossing the run way. SO really it is very hit and miss but I do agree on the mass exidus at around 4.00pm to 5.30pm my partner always tries to leave before then as he has sat in que for 1 hour 45 mins in 28+C which does not make him a happy man by the time he gets home! I would check what times Morrisons are open as I am sure they are open Sundays and late.

As an Ex Pat though I agree you can't really get dairy products anywhere, some supermarkets have a English section i.e Carrafour has a section with Cheese and other items but they are expensive in Spain expect to pay £4-£5 for cathederal chedder! Yoghurts are the same just different packaging and most supermarkets do have fresh milk if you look in the fridge section but everything doesn't last as long here so I wouldn't advise it. Your best bet if you can bear it is to go to Morrisons once a month like we do and stock up on cheese, cottage cheese, dips, & cakes. We have only been here just over 2 months and I must admit I don't crave the English food like I did when I first got here so you will probably find you won't have to go as often.

Thread: Driving to Gibraltar

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