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1K views 14 replies 11 participants last post by  ambegayo 
#1 ·
Has any member any advice on equity raised from your house, I am wanting a cheap place in Spain to see out most of the winter, we have a lovely motorhome but the daily mileage to get down to spain is getting harder as we get older, we have good value in property which we
don't see need to leave to all to our family. Any advice appreciated.
 
#2 ·
With all due respect, you do not say what age group you are, to see if it would be worth while. Raising equity on your house sounds good but the amount they offer and some of the charges some make will be ridiculous.

With the cost of fees and maintenance on the Spanish property, if you are not letting will make it cheaper maybe to rent instead. Just a thought, then at least you could always use a different location each year.

cabby
 
#4 ·
DO NOT BUY. I will repeat: DO NOT BUY.

Just rent an apartment down in Spain each time you want to come down here.

The costs of having a place down here all year, just for you to use for say 3 months, would be really silly. Additionally, your tastes change and you may well want to stay somewhere else next year/in future years.

Winter rentals are very cheap, and you are not tying yourself down to a specific location forever.

With apartment rental, you have no maintenance issues, no utility bill issues, no local property tax issues, no local language admin issues, and you haven't tied up maybe £50,000/80,000 euros in a foreign country.
 
#5 ·
An old workmate`s mother in law used a company to release some equity in her home.And after 5 years they
started charging her rent from there portion of the property.I would not do it,but if you do read all the
small print and get advice.
As has been well said downsizing is a much better
option!
 
#8 ·
I was chatting to a chap on a French aire last year and he was about to decamp to Portugal permanently and reckoned on an apartment @ c. 200 Euros a month would suit him fine - sounds cheap enough to me. Perhaps that's an option rather than buying and being stuck in one location, at least he can give up and move elsewhere
 
#9 ·
We have an ex work colleague who has lived in Spain, full time, for about the last 5/7 years. They rent and every time they have moved property they have got a cheaper rent. If you only need it for 3/4 months of the year renting has got to be the best option. This option also gives you a lot of freedom if for some reason you have to give one winter a miss.


David
 
#10 ·
Thanks for your replies, it was what I was expecting - we had discussed it last year and dismissed it, but you have all confirmed what I expected. Rip off for anyone who tangles with it. As rayc will have noticed we are off road at the moment due to an unfortunate argument with a post at Beaune CS in France on way home in October last year. Will be doing some accurate planning on mileage between stops to get down to Spain when van is repaired. Thanks again.
 
#12 ·
Renting an apartment sounds like a no brainer - if that's what you want

BUT

Apartment blocks are basically empty in the winter (which is why the rent is so low) - would you want to be the only occupant in a block of apartments in a foreign country?

We gave that solution some thought but decided instead to buy a cheapo ex traveller caravan and store it in Spain, paying a euro a day for that.

We pay 35 euros to have it taken out of (covered) storage and put on site

We pay 12 euros a day to have it on site for 180+ days

And another 35 euros to have it taken back into storage

The benefits are many - but mainly social and no driving around to have a beer or something to eat although we do take a car to carry the stuff we need to use both in UK and Spain so there's the cost of ferry and mileage to add but I still spend less on fuel here than I would do in UK over the same period.

We are "thinking" about renting out our house in UK to generate some additional income - but actually can't be bothered (and fortunately don't need) to get it all sorted...

Cheers

Dave
 
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