# Legal advice



## ambegayo (Jan 7, 2007)

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.


----------



## cabby (May 14, 2005)

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


----------



## tugboat (Sep 14, 2013)

I wouldn't want someone else having a financial interest in my property. Would downsizing your UK home be an option, to free up capital for a place abroad?


----------



## TheNomad (Aug 12, 2013)

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.


----------



## jo662 (Jul 27, 2010)

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!


----------



## rayc (Jun 3, 2008)

tugboat said:


> I wouldn't want someone else having a financial interest in my property. Would downsizing your UK home be an option, to free up capital for a place abroad?


This to me seems the preferred option. I believe the OP lives in the same locality as me and there are options to do that whilst staying in the general area.


----------



## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

Having looked at this I agree that renting is the cheaper, better and more flexible option.


----------



## Sprinta (Sep 15, 2010)

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


----------



## klyne (May 10, 2005)

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


----------



## ambegayo (Jan 7, 2007)

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.


----------



## rayc (Jun 3, 2008)

ambegayo said:


> 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.


Wendy, We have noticed the tarpaulin cover over the damage. It must have been quite some shock for you and hope you were both ok. i hope you are soon able to get repairs underway. Ray & Lesley


----------



## HarleyDave (Jul 1, 2007)

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


----------



## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

Surely if the apartment blocks are empty you can find a property that is in a community?


----------



## HarleyDave (Jul 1, 2007)

Probably - but not, perhaps, at the price you want to pay or in the location you want to be in.

Just pointing out an issue that took us a while to realise before we went "our way"

Cheers

Dave


----------



## ambegayo (Jan 7, 2007)

*Legal Advice*



rayc said:


> Wendy, We have noticed the tarpaulin cover over the damage. It must have been quite some shock for you and hope you were both ok. i hope you are soon able to get repairs underway. Ray & Lesley


Thanks Ray, The tarpaulin is to cover the rear window which along with the kitchen window leaked (had lots of rain in France) The post tore at the capping and the bottom ridge. We are OK and hopefully we should be taking it to Southdowns soon, they have some parts but not all.


----------

