any sort of advice would be good!

Hi, we are looking to buy a property on ciudad quesada and I'm intrested to find out what other people think of this development - good or bad!  We hope to move before christmas.

Also has anyone else bought before renting in area - alot of negatives from relatives!

thanks

Hi and welcome to the forum

I have not yet bought but have rented in Quesada and it is one of the places we are considering.  I think a lot depends on what you are looking for.  Personally i would rent in an area before commiting to buy to make sure that i knew what i was buying into.   As far as i can see Quesada is a town mainly of British ex-pats, for some people that is reassuring, but for others not what they are looking for from their Spanish retreat.  It is close to most facilities, but not close enough that you can do without a car ... so if that is an issue for you you need to be aware of it. 

I personally like Quesada especially Dona Pepa (& II), my hubby doesnt and thinks that it would be like living on a housing estate - however at the end of the day i will get my way if thats what i decide i want LOL!

What worries me though is the amount of new building and empty houses.  Many houses are unsold and developers just seem to move on to the next development, and that can turn into a bit of an eyesore.  Many houses are sold but rarely occupied.   I am told there are issues with burglaries.  But to be honest i think these issues are common with most areas and not peculiar to Quesada. 

When looking to rent as we have been doing, there are hundreds (honest!) of houses to rent in the area and if you look at the availability calendar you will see that many only have bookings for a few weeks over the summer months.  So if you want to rent a house, it is easy, however if you want to buy thinking you will get a good rental income then i would say you need to do your homework and think carefully, because that would not appear to be a good bet!

On the positive side ... I think Quesada feels like a comfortable place and i think i would be happy buying there.  It may be very quiet out of season, but i like quiet.  There are good shops, restaurants, supermarkets nearby and Torrevieja is only 15 minutes away by car, where you can find any kind of entertainment you may want and excellent shopping and a HUGE weekly market.

At the end of the day you have to decide what it is you are looking for before you can tell whether a place is right for you.  But enjoy looking!

Hi Crooksy

I have visited Queseda a few times in the past and it doesn't seem to get any better. I have friends on La Siesta down thwe road towards Torrevieja. The have been burgled while they were sat watching football. In a detached bungalow with high walls and a gate.

Please read the following article.  http://ezinearticles.com/?Crime-in-Torrevieja&id=142826

I don't know if this area is worse or better than anywhere else I'll leave yo to decide.

I agree with Auntie Em about renting first, speak to people who live there (not from Massa) for their opinions and advice

Good luck with your decision

John

Thanks Auntie Em

We are hoping to live full time in spain so we don't really want to rent out - I've looked on the internet and cannot  find a place that rents properties on quesada for up to 11 months, any advice?

We have also looked at properties in Rojales ( i can"t believe we've narrowed it down to just 2 places!), at the moment we are looking at going through a large agent and going on an inspection tour to view properties - and then try to ignore the hard sell at the end!  I just think it would be a minefield to find own estate agent and solicitor without guidence.

thanks again

Crooksy

Tha large agents are thae worst, read some of the stuff in other posts

Crooksy, i agree with Jake

i will pm you with a website address to check out for sales.  The other thing to consider (a piece of advice that i was given on here) if you see a house for sale and think it might be what you would like - why not ask the vendor if he would be interested in a rental, with a view to buy if you like it etc.  There is so  much for sale at the moment that some vendors would be happy to have the income and a potential sale at the end!

Many of the short term rentals will be willing to consider a long term rent, especially as a number of people "invested" in properties to rent and are now finding it difficult.

Good luck

I've read that people are advised to only rent out their properties for 6 months at a time, the law in Spain is different and renting for longer periods makes it sometimes difficult to get people out.

Why not try shorter rentals in each of your preferred areas, you also need to stay in these areas at different times of the year.  The time of year can make a big difference in the amount of people that are around.

Anyone wanting to move over full time needs somewhere with other full time residents otherwise the area will be like a ghost town over winter.

Why don't you give us more information about yourselves and what you are looking for in regard to your ideal location.  I'm sure someone on here will be able to point you in the right direction.

I'm sure you will be better off coming out on a short break yourselves and meeting up with an independant agent who will listen to your wish list rather than someone who has to complete a sale to keep up with the required quota.

Lastly have you ever stayed at Qeusada?  interested to know why you've picked there as a possible favourite.

Our situation is that we have 2 kids age 6 and 8 so we need to rent and buy in the same catchment so not to disrupt them too much. My husband also needs to find work, previously worked in office management and building trade (varied!).

We picked Quesada purely from information gained on the net and from qsd agents, we liked the fact it had ex-pats and fairly central location for most things.

This site has opened my eyes to renting which we had not considered because we were going to use the equity on our house to buy -  are there any agents with good reputations that rent properties up to 6 months or so.

Just as I thought I had it sussed a new can of worms comes along!! 

What a brilliant site

semijubilada - those books that you recommended to me were very helpful - do you think you could give Crooksy the details too as she might also find them useful

thanks

Em x

Hi Crooksy

We are along the Lemon Tree Road at El Raso urb. We have made a friend on EOS who goes by the site name " Georgia". He works for RightMove Espana in Guardamar & he was telling me they often suggest you rent prior to buying & they'll help you out with that. Contact  www.rightmoveespana.com  Nice people.

Also, regarding a lawyer, WestMed come highly recommended.

http://www.westmed-es.com/ingl%E9s/index_in.htm 

Pedro J. Munuera Suances, a lawyer contactable on this email pedro@westmed-es.com speaks at an Ex Pats club that my friend's brother & partner run. Those books Em was saying about are also the ones we have, namely Buying a Home in Spain & Living & Working in Spain both by David Hampshire. Excellent to refer to for so much, a must have. They are by Survival books.

Read part of Living & Working in Spain  .. First of all, click on this link 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Living-Working-Spain/dp/1905303033/ref=pd_sim_b_1/203-1534082-4437559

then click on actual book or you can just click here >>>> Search inside this book  then just keep clicking on book to see index & some pages to get your interest. Gives you great insight into what's inside.

There is a link to read part of Buying a Home in Spain ..  click on this link

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Buying-Home-Spain-David-Hampshire/dp/1901130193/ref=pd_sbs_b_4/203-1534082-4437559

but when I clicked on the book or Search inside this book  there was a problem with the page & it wasn't possible to read the contents of the book as you could do before, sadly. If you buy both books together from Amazon you'll pay £19.54 plus P&P which is a great price. About four years ago same books cost us £11.95 & £12.95 

Ordering books from Amazon today!  thanks for that.

I went on the site of rightmove espania and could not see that they did rented accomodation - is it a case of talking to them direct? 

The other question i had was there is a web site that can get the NIE number without being in spain and completely over the internet, they charge 350 euros for 2 - is it better to get  these when you are actually in spain? Also is there any other places to look for jobs other than the local papers - it would be a weight off his mind to get work before we move but it sounds as though this may be unrealistic

Wow, will my questions never end?!!!!

The two books I found useful are Buying a house in Spain and You and the Law in Spain.

The books can be heavy going at first but they do contain good information.  I also bought a book about drving in Spain, cannot tell you the name or author but it is often mentioned in the Costa Blanca News.

Your situation is different to ours so reading the other book mentioned by Mor. is a good idea and hopefully will provide useful information.  The only thing that concerns me is that you are of an age where you need to work which some people find difficult.  You need to be realistic about this many people succeed and many others don't. 

The ideal situation would be to come over for a year or two as a trial, rent out your home in UK and then if it doesn't work you would still have a foot in the UK property ladder.  Obviously with young children the schooling will be your first priority, there ages are in your favour as they should intergrate easily into a spanish school.  Teenagers find it harder to integrate and are sometimes another reason why the family moves back to the UK.

Friends have told me of a family who live near them in Xativa near to Valencia.  They have 4 boys and live a two bedroom house which needs a lot of work done on it, some would say they are living in poverty but they are really happy.  Living there is really hard as you not only have to learn Spanish but also Catalan.

Living around the Torrevieja area is easier as you can get by with Spanglesh but if you really want to intergrate then you must learn Spanish.

Hi All,

Back from 2 weeks of sun,sangria,benidorm(first time there!!) sand and the in-laws.

Back to sun,sangria,not Benidorm(not overly impressed) sand,in laws and work.

Hi Crooksy,

We do not advertise the rental side of the business as such becuase we do not do it as a business if they makes sense?hence the fact you wont find it on our website.

What we do with our inspection trips is talk to the people before they arrive to find out there requirements then source a property from word of mouth and EOS members that wish to rent their property.

You can then get a better idea of the area in which you want to buy in as you are not cocooned in a hotel nowhere near you want to buy and you can get a feel for the area.

We decided to do things slightly different than the larger agents as we feel that you can only get a good idea of the area from being there rather than out of a car window.

Quesada?ummmmmmmm

You will either love it or not,with every town there are pros and cons and again there are good areas and not so good,the only way you will ever find out is walk around and make your own decision and opinions.

I personally think it is OK.

If you need any more help yopu can PM me.

For anyone that has mailed me over the last two weeks i am working through my mail slowly but surely but please bare with me as my brain hasn't realised that the rest of me went back to work on monday!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi Morerosado,

Looking forward to meeting up again when you are over,the Bodegas are in full production in preperation for your visit and i think some of them have even taken on extra staff to cover your imminent visit and consumption levels.

If you are over before the 8th September come to Daya Vieja for the fiesta as i have been asked to represent England In the traditional England V Spain football match to open the new Stadium,national anthem the lot and yes they are selling alcohol!

Right back to the grind stone,if this is a slump in the market i am taking a holiday when it supposedly gets busy again

Kind Regards

Georgia

There you go Crooksy, send Georgia a PM. I've met him, he's a conscientious worker &, I'm sure, will pull out all the stops, unlike many. (Georgia, that'll be 100€ for that )

Glad you decided on buying those books as they really are good. There are over 360 pages in my Buying a Home in Spain & over 520 pages in Living & Working in Spain. Some reading.

Georgia, we arrive evening of 7th September so we could come to see your spindly legs try & hold you up for 90 minutes footie. Watch out for the extra 30 minutes extra time not to mention the penalties. I'll bring the camera, EOS would lurve to see the man in action. I can rib you as much remember.  Anyone would think I drank the way you portray me. Have you seen me with an alcoholic drink ? It's all heresay.   Can you email me the details & we may venture over & scream "come on England" at you.

Hi More,

The game is at the new stadium next to the Daya Vieja public swimming pool,it's on the main road through the village coming from Daya Nueva,look for the signs for Piscina.

Sept 8th at 8pm at the moment,i will find out definitely at training on wednesday.

By spindly legs i am sure you meant to say athletic physique,your spelling is not what it used to be,i will leave the 100€ in the usual place.

I am not saying you drink a lot but i have just seen all the local winos running from Guardamar screaming "she's coming" and clutching their bottles of vino,there must be an early warning system somewhere?!.

Last year on the old ground there were approx 800 people watching so it should be good.

Regards

Georgia

Make sure you get a video of this pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese for all of us to see!!! 

Glad to see you back rested after a short holiday!!!

I KNEW I SHOULD HAVE KEPT QUIET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks Rixxy,not so much of a rest though! been shipping family around for 2 weeks to"areas of interest"pain in the a.......

Came back to work for a rest!

Regards

Georgia

x

" athletic physique"  you swallowed your dictionary, Georgia ?

Hubby just rang to ask if he should buy milk on way home as he thought what's in fridge had "off" taste on his branflakes !

Arrrrgh! Family - and dont they just luuuurve you living in SPain!

Ive heard all sorts of horror stories with people acting as bed and breakfast. I learned arly, had one set out then decided best to rent them an apartment and let them use spare car, otherwise theyre under your feet and want to go everywhere - seems they think youre on hols too!

And yes - amazing how busy I am when they arrive as well - except for when my gran came over from Canada as she is 82 now - wasnt gonna abandon her!

Now get back to work!! See you soon!