Episode 90: Lewis, Who Purchased In Illar

Intro

• Welcome to the Kyero.com Spanish Property podcast, where we interview people who recently purchased their dream home in Spain.
• They tell us what worked, what didn’t and what they’d do differently next time.
• I’m Beth Davison and today I’m speaking with Lewis, from Lincolnshire, who purchased a villa in Illar, in Almeria.

• His goal was to buy in Spain before turning sixty. He only picked up the keys nine weeks before we spoke. You can hear whether he did it before that milestone age.

• He worked with estate agents Spanish Property Expert to find his dream home in Spain.
• Check out the show notes at kyero.com/podcast to find links and resources mentioned in this episode.

Body of Transcript

Lewis:  Hello, my name is Lewis. And I've recently purchased a property in Spain, in Almeria, and a small Pueblo called Illar. 

Beth:  Lovely, and when you say just purchased, you do literally mean just purchased. When did you get the keys?

Lewis:  Got the keys approximately nine and a half weeks ago. 

Beth:  Amazing. Well, congratulations, because that seems super new and exciting. How did it feel? 

Lewis:  It is brilliant, absolutely fantastic, it's a dream come true. That's how it feels. 

Beth:  How long has it been a dream, then? 

Lewis:  Many years, I would say a good 20 years ago I always had the idea that I would like to go and move to Spain because of the weather. It's something we discussed many times. It was something that we planned to do (maybe when I was 60) that we, hopefully, would be in a position to be able to do that. Luckily enough, I'm only 59 and we managed to get there. 

Beth:  Yes, a year ahead of schedule. That feels good. 

Lewis:  Yeah, it was brilliant, yeah. I do have to pinch myself sometimes when I get up in the mornings just to make sure that I'm not dreaming and we did actually do it. So yeah, it's, it's lovely. 

Beth:  Yeah, that’s so nice. So, why the decision then (because you've moved permanently to Spain), why was that the goal and not have a holiday home that you sorted a dot between, or go over for longer periods once you've retired? Why the decision to go permanently? 

Lewis:  The permanent thing came later.

Initially when we started to look for property, we were looking at something like an apartment that we could come to for, probably, six months of the year. So, that was the start of the search. It was actually the house that we found that then encouraged us to consider moving out permanently. As I've said, it was a dream, anyway, to do that.

So, once we found the right property that we could live in permanently, that was big enough to do that, it changed our plans a little bit. I'd seriously, seriously got fed up with the English weather, sitting there through the winter, in front of the fire, but not being able to get outside, and outside is something that I liked to be outside.

So, the property had a little bit to do with the change in our idea, not just a holiday home, but to actually live there permanently, and also the Brexit thing came up a few times, as well.

Beth:  Okay, So, it's a little bit political, some of the choices. 

Lewis:  Yeah, it did have a bearing on it because we'd read many things about how complicated it could be in the future. So, if we're going to do it, and do the permanent thing, let's get in front of it. So, that's what we decided to do. 

Beth:  Amazing, and talk to me about the house itself then. It must be pretty special to have caused that much change, really, what happened with what? Talk to me about it, and the first time you saw it, and that kind of thing?

Lewis:  Well, we’d been searching on the internet as everybody else does. We came across the Spanish Property Expert, Daniel. We spoke to Daniel and told him what we were looking for and he came up with two or three properties. Two of them were in the village of Illa, where we are now.

We had quite a few conversations with Daniel. Eventually, he made the appointment with me; we booked the flights, and made the appointment to meet Daniel out in the village. It was quite complicated because the property we came to look at was quite run down, it was a repossession, and it needed quite a lot of work done to it. 

I’m from the building trade. That generally isn't a problem for me, but I was looking for retirement not to take on a building project in Spain. 

Beth:  Yeah, totally.

Lewis:  But nevertheless, we looked at the property and it was too much work. Daniel said, “I have another one that's just come available. Would you like to look at it?” It was literally around the corner. So we walked around the corner and went in and viewed this property. I wasn't particularly interested. I looked at it and thought that there was quite a lot of work there. It had been empty for a long time. There was a lot to do. And I came away thinking that was not the property. But unfortunately, that evening, my wife said, “Lewis, that's the one I want.” (laughter)

That caused a bit of a problem because I didn't really take that much notice of the property to start with. We didn't have an opportunity to come back to it other than looking at it from the outside, which we did that evening. We came back to the village, again, looked at it from the outside and she said, “I really like that. It's a nice property. It needs a little bit of cosmetic work,” is how she put it. I think she's spoiled because I'm a builder, by trade. It needed a new kitchen, and it needed lots of work. 

The windows needed sorting out; the shutters; it needed complete decorating. The garden was overgrown. 

Beth:  Yeah, just a little bit of cosmetic work, then, that's fine.

Lewis:  I've let her off, because the cosmetic work is now finished. So, we spent eight weeks here working. We haven't really gone out and done anything other than last week was the first time. So, the idea was to get here, and get on with the house, and get it sorted so we can live in it comfortably. There are a few little bits to finish off, but on the whole, the work is complete.

So, it has been eight weeks, working solidly, but we have got a beautiful house and it's very spacious. It's got a superb man-cave for our motor bikes, and mountain bikes, paddle surfing, and all that sort of thing. And it's got a huge man-cave, which, they call them under builds here in Spain, and it's absolutely superb for me.

So, I've got things you set up in there and in fact, I'm just decorating that part of the house, at the moment because the motorbikes are due to arrive at the end of the week. It will be nice and clean for them to arrive, and we shall enjoy Spain and the scenery that it has to offer. That was another reason why we came to this area because the scenery, the roads, the mountain biking, motorbiking, it's just exactly what we’re looking for.

Beth:  I feel like when someone dreams of their retirement, this is what they imagined. This is what they kind of think of: the freedom, beautiful scenery, doing what you love. It’s sort of a new life, a new leaf, yeah, it sounds like it's brilliant.

Lewis:  Yeah, it is. Our friends we said goodbye to, back in the UK, said, “You’re starting a new venture, a new life somewhere else.” It is that. There is a lot to do. There are a lot of things to organise - getting your health insurance, and applying for your residency, and all the things that come with that.

Having purchased the property in Spain, that's quite a complicated thing. You have to stick at that. It comes up every now and again, and it's like you think, “Oh dear, we've answered all these questions so many times; we've given the paperwork so many times; and they want it all again,” but I believe that's Spain and that's how Spain works.

Beth:  We hear about that a lot. That's quite common; just the bureaucracy; and get ready for it; and just, just keep on; just back and forth, back and forth; but just have the stamina and it does work out. I'm interested to know with the work… So, you've obviously been over there eight weeks doing that. Were you doing that alone or did you have help? Did you hire any local help? Did you? What was that like? 

Lewis:  Yeah, all the work I've done, the only help I've had is my wife. I give her the paint brush and a tub of paint and say, “Alright, that room is ready, you can start decorating.” It’s all cosmetic.

Beth:  You can do your cosmetic stuff. (laughter) 

Lewis:  Yeah, exactly. 

Beth:  So, you didn't have to cost that then because, basically, that was you. I was going to say about labor costs and things, how do you factor that in? But, actually, if you're doing it all yourself, you're in the best possible position to do it for the best value. 

Lewis:  Yes, yes, definitely. People have said that, here in the village, the English [people] that we’ve obviously gotten to know already, that you save such a lot of money because you’re not calling a tradesmen in. The only tradesman that we had [to call in] was an electrician, and that was the day that we got the keys. I think it was the second day, but we had a little bit of a problem. The solicitors arranged for the electric to be switched on and all that sort of thing. But, when we got in the property, although the electric was on, there was no fuse box in the house.

It was something that my wife had missed when she had a good look around. 

Beth:  To be fair. It's something I'd miss. Do you know what? It wouldn't be on my list of things to look out for? It's just not what I think of. 

Lewis:  No, exactly, no, and it is partly my fault because I should have taken more notice. But again, so I'm not used to calling trades people in, so, who do I talk to? Where do I start? 

I went back to Daniel, at the estate agents. I phoned Daniel and said, “I'm stuck, we’ve got no fuse box, but I believe the electric is on. Can you, can you help me?” He was extremely good. He said, “Bear in mind, Lewis, it's August,” (and this was about four o'clock in the afternoon, so, everyone was having their siesta), “I'll do what I can,” but, within an hour he'd contacted me back and he said, “I've organised an electrician to come out, within two hours, and they will come and have a look and see what they can do for you.” So, that was my first contact calling people in really, which was brilliant.

These guys turned up two hours later, and I didn't expect them to turn up two hours later. I thought it would be more like four hours later, being in Spain, but they turned up, and had a look. They gave me a price, which was excellent. They said, “We can come back tomorrow evening and we can put it all right for you.” So, and they did, and that's the only hiccup that we really had. Yeah, the Spanish Property Expert was the only contact I really had. And so that was my first port of call and it paid off once again. Yeah, it was good. 

Beth:  Yeah, that's great. What about shipping things? So, I know you mentioned the bikes which are arriving this week, but when you move your whole life, that's a lot of stuff. How have those logistics been - packing up and moving everything over? 

Lewis:  Yeah, I started packing in the UK once we found the property. I was a bit keen because everything was in a box and I was ready to go, but we hadn't completely done the purchase and I was a bit ahead of myself. It was complicated, organising and having things shipped over to Spain was quite complicated. We had loads of quotes and, and there are lots of different ways that you can do that - get your furniture over. You can have movers that will come and pack it for you and ship it over but it was too expensive. We were quoted 9,000 and 10,000 pounds.

Beth:  Wow, okay, that’s interesting.

Lewis:  Yeah, it was just so expensive. So, we felt like they didn't really want to do it. Then we went for the other option; we looked at options where we could hire a vehicle ourselves. I had a friend say that he would come with me, and drive over, and then drive the vehicle back. So, we costed that and that came out (with some accommodations there and back) it was 4,500 pounds. 

We were going to go that route. We were quite close to booking the vehicle. It was quite a big vehicle. You didn’t have to have a special license to drive, but it wasn't just a transit van. It was a big lorry. Then we found out, at the last minute, that in Spain – driving that in Spain you have to have tachograph and that got even more complicated. 

So, we abandoned that and I think we had about 10 days to go, and we went down the route of, basically, the shipping container, but it's transported on the back of a lorry and your stuff is loaded with other people's belongings. It's not ideal. It was 4,000 pounds. We did have a few things damaged. When you see how they cram it in, it was all very good when they loaded it back in the UK, we were there. They were very careful. It all went in to big crates and we felt very confident. 

If we'd known what happened to it, afterwards, we probably wouldn't have gone that route, but it all arrived. Nothing was missing. Things had a few dents and scratches. We did have insurance. We took out all the insurance that was required and then it's all good. It didn't spoil anything, but it is logistically it's something… Yeah, it takes some organising but we got there.

Beth:  Yeah, I think it's good to factor in these extra costs. Like not just the organisation, but also, you know, 4,000 pounds isn’t inconsequential. It's a good thing to have in the back of your mind that, “We're going to need a pot of money to help us with this.” 

Lewis:  Yes, yes, definitely. And my wife's very good with paperwork, she was extremely good with the paperwork and we'd even costed selling everything back in the UK and just only taking a transit van full, if you like, with our personal stuff. But it was expensive to do that - buy everything new, in Spain. It worked out to be just be too expensive. So, again, move the stuff as how it’s best. 

Beth:  And the last bit of the process that I wanted to ask you about is the bit that you're going through right now, which is your residency applications. How have you found that, comparatively, to all of the organisational stuff of getting your things over there, buying the house? You know, there are a lot of processes going on here. How has the residency application been? 

Lewis:  That seems, at the moment, to have been the easiest part. We were going to do it ourselves and we then decided to use a solicitor to help us. At the moment the solicitors seemed to get the appointments necessary - the police station and all this sort of thing to gain residency.

So, we have gone with a solicitor to help us with it. Again, Jill's done all of the paperwork, presented it to the solicitor, and the application has gone in. So, at the moment, it seems quite straightforward, quite easy, compared to what we've been through, but maybe I'm speaking too soon. Maybe it will get more complicated later on. (laughter)

Obviously we've got a little bit of a deadline, as well, which obviously everyone was biting the Brexit thing. So, everyone's chasing, really, to beat the end of the year. So that's why everyone is extremely busy.

Beth:  This episode we'll probably air next year, by the time this goes out. So I should just say for listeners, we're recording this towards the end of October and the deadline is two months away now.

So, actually, you've already got your paperwork sent off. That feels like the best timescale that it could have been.  

Lewis:  Yes, definitely, yeah. And that was something that we considered from day one, once we found the property we were keen to move it on as quickly as possible. Again, Spanish Property Expert, Daniel, was really helpful and pushed, because it was a bank repossession that we purchased. So, he pushed quite hard for us to get the bank to move as quickly as a bank can move, in Spain. Again, he worked really hard and made it happen.

So, time-wise for us, the timeframe for us was perfect and paperwork is in, and hopefully we will beat the deadline for the end of the year. It's not the end of the world, now, because the paperwork's in. We’re okay. The only that will happen is we will have to take a driving test if we've not completed this application by the end of this year. Apparently, they're saying that we will have to take a driving test, and then, because we're bikers, the motorcycle test. 

Beth:  So ideally you'll be able to avoid that, yeah, ideally, in the dream situation. 

Lewis:  Yeah, that’s the idea, yeah. 

Beth:  Well, my final question is if anyone is listening to this and also sitting on a 20 year dream and sort of close to making it happen, but hasn't begun yet. What would your advice be to anyone thinking of moving permanently to Spain? 

Lewis:  I think the, the most simple thing is it's just to follow your dream. It's not easy. Things aren't easy in life, but follow your dream. And if it's something that you really want to do, go for it, stick at it. You will have to work hard, and I think it also makes a difference if you've got some help; if you’ve got a good agent. We've sold, bought, and sold quite a few properties in the UK, and it definitely makes a difference if you have a good agent looking after you - and he's on your side, and he's doing what he can for you. So, do it just, yeah, just do it because the weather is beautiful, and the people are beautiful too. So, it's the best thing ever. 

Beth:  I'm so pleased that it's worked out for you and congratulations. Your first two months have gone well, and I hope there are many, many more happy months ahead of you, but thanks so much for talking to me today, Lewis.

Lewis:  Oh, sure, thank you very much for the call. It has been lovely. 

Beth:  Have a lovely day. 

Lewis:  Yeah, will do. Thank you. 

Beth:  Bye. 

Lewis:  Thank you, bye bye.

Outtro:  

• Thank you for listening and thanks to Lewis for sharing his experiences and to Spanish Property Experts for making this episode possible.
• I’m so glad that Lewis found joy in his man-cave and it just goes to show what you can achieve, even when there is no fuse box when you arrive.

• Remember, if you like what you have heard you can search this agent's properties and more on Kyero.com and don't forget to subscribe to the podcast so you never miss an episode.
• This podcast was produced by Kyero.com and our mission is to connect you with estate agents and properties throughout Spain.
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Pre-intro

• Tune in next time when I catch up with Chris, from Staffordshire, who is buying a property in Spain for a second time, so I’m keen to hear what has changed in the twenty years since his first purchase.

• I’m Beth Davison and you’ve been listening to the Kyero.com Spanish property podcast. I’ll see you next time!