Torrox, 4 questions

[Twain]

Hi

New in this forum but I've used it for some days now.
Reading threads both old and new and learned a lot of your experience.
Also the main info from the front page and sub pages.

Also google is of much help but sometimes it's best to ask those with
hands on experience, hence my new thread here for you.

Sorry for this long first post, but just wanted to introduce myself
and what I've done so far to get to know Spain.
I appreciate your time reading and any answer you have to my questions.

A few years ago I was in Spain for about 2 months.
Driving from Madrid, via Granada, Motril and down to Gibraltar.
And back to Torrox and stayed there some time.
So I've seen what the rest of the coast (and inland) can offer (at a glimpse).
Part of it on the new highway but most on the old coast road.

Choosing Torrox is also based on the climate, the best (or one of the best) in Europe.
Revealing that my move is related to health issues.
Torrox got what I needed from day to day and I loved Torre del Mar also which can give me
a bit more "life" if needed (and the large shoppingcenter El Ingenio).
Only 15 minutes by car away from Torrox also.

So I think I've choosen the right place when I go for Torrox. Still, I'll try the place for a longer period before I decide.

There are still much left for me to sort out before I can settle in Torrox.
So this is my first steps at getting to know what I've missed and should think about before leaving Norway.

For one, my budget is still not ready (it probably will be later this year).
But I see that other posts prices of groceries and diesel. Compared to Norway it's very cheap. I'll guess around 50-75% on most things.

So what's my questions?

Q1:
Where to live.
My first choise would be a small villa up in the Torrox valley. (ca 10-15km from the coast).
I'm single and would only need 2 bedrooms (the one extra for family and friends visiting).
What are the typical prices now and will Torrox also see a drop for uptil 20% in these prices in near future?
Any trusted real estate agents in Torrox to take a look at on the net? (better than others?)
What if I choose to build a new house?

Q2:
Water, sewage, garbage, electricity, insurance, tax, Internet connection.
Have I forgotten something?
Is there a place I can find those prices for Torrox? Or does anyone have an estimate.
Regarding the tax, any on the property? My pension from Norway?
Are Internet connections via the land line possible in all of Torrox? Or do I need to keep an eye on where I settle?
What speeds are typical available? Do you get the 10Mbps at around 30-40euros?

Q3:
Budget.
At the moment my budget are 1500 Euro pr. month.
I expect that to increase, don't know how much but I'll see later on.
How much more do you think is needed?
Would I be able to survive on that amount in Torrox?
I don't smoke and I don't drink alcohol due to my health situation at the moment.
Again, I'm just one person living a quiet life.

Q4:
Interest rates/Mortgage.
My understanding is that in Spain the mortgage interest is not a percentage of the loan, but the Euribor rate plus a percentage.
Based on the Euribor for 2009, plus 1% interest on top of that (typical for some banks I see)
I get the impression that the mortgage interest rate vary from around 4% in January to around 2% now in May?
Is it easy to get a mortgage? Let's say for 200.000 Euros, how much income/security would the bank ask for?
What are the typical down payment plans? (how many years, in Norway 20-25 years are common).
Would it be cheaper to lend the money in Norway instead?


To sum it up, pardon my English and thank you for reading all the way down here.

[SteveHall]

WELCOME!

A very interesting post with a lot of good points and questions. Many of these have been answered before and I would suggest that you look through a lot of the old threads - especially the cost of living threads.

The "big one" would be getting a mortgage. You are going to find that massively more difficult than you would have even a few short months ago - so if you are going to need finances then you should definitely be checking the options before you go much further. Certainly many of the banks who were falling over themselves to lend money to expats last year have now pulled in their reins and in some cases are just not lending to non-Spanish tax residents. If you look in some of the local Scandinavian press (En Sueco, La Danesa, Solkysten etc) you will see who is working in the Scandi market still (Jyske?)

As for living on 1500 euros that would obviously depend on whether your mortgage was 0 or 1500 euros per month but if it were (say) 500 then yes you could live on 1000. It's not the tobacco and the alcohol that are the (financial) killers in Spain but more basics. 10 MB for 30 euros - tja, tror inte det!!! We're even further behind than Sweden LOL. Many of us (ask Jojo) are happy to get a copper wire hanging on to the net!

Building a house? It would take a VERY brave man to do that on this coast. Apart from the papeleo and the horrendous delays there is the whole matter of the legality of it all. You seem to have very basic requirements and I would definitely recommend that for your first house that you opt for an already built one.

As regards your English - it is excellent. Congratulations

[Xose]

Originally Posted by SteveHall

WELCOME!

......

As regards your English - it is excellent and puts many of our contributors to shame. If you wish you can PM me in Norwegian but I am sure that will not be necessary.

That was a tad adjacent wasn't it Mr Chairman?!

You sure that was good PR - or even CRM?!

[SteveHall]

OK, I'll delete it if you think it will offend XTreme LOL

[jojo]

Originally Posted by Twain

Hi

New in this forum but I've used it for some days now.
Reading threads both old and new and learned a lot of your experience.
Also the main info from the front page and sub pages.

Also google is of much help but sometimes it's best to ask those with
hands on experience, hence my new thread here for you.

Sorry for this long first post, but just wanted to introduce myself
and what I've done so far to get to know Spain.
I appreciate your time reading and any answer you have to my questions.

A few years ago I was in Spain for about 2 months.
Driving from Madrid, via Granada, Motril and down to Gibraltar.
And back to Torrox and stayed there some time.
So I've seen what the rest of the coast (and inland) can offer (at a glimpse).
Part of it on the new highway but most on the old coast road.

Choosing Torrox is also based on the climate, the best (or one of the best) in Europe.
Revealing that my move is related to health issues.
Torrox got what I needed from day to day and I loved Torre del Mar also which can give me
a bit more "life" if needed (and the large shoppingcenter El Ingenio).
Only 15 minutes by car away from Torrox also.

So I think I've choosen the right place when I go for Torrox. Still, I'll try the place for a longer period before I decide.

There are still much left for me to sort out before I can settle in Torrox.
So this is my first steps at getting to know what I've missed and should think about before leaving Norway.

For one, my budget is still not ready (it probably will be later this year).
But I see that other posts prices of groceries and diesel. Compared to Norway it's very cheap. I'll guess around 50-75% on most things.

So what's my questions?

Q1:
Where to live.
My first choise would be a small villa up in the Torrox valley. (ca 10-15km from the coast).
I'm single and would only need 2 bedrooms (the one extra for family and friends visiting).
What are the typical prices now and will Torrox also see a drop for uptil 20% in these prices in near future?
Any trusted real estate agents in Torrox to take a look at on the net? (better than others?)
What if I choose to build a new house?

Q2:
Water, sewage, garbage, electricity, insurance, tax, Internet connection.
Have I forgotten something?
Is there a place I can find those prices for Torrox? Or does anyone have an estimate.
Regarding the tax, any on the property? My pension from Norway?
Are Internet connections via the land line possible in all of Torrox? Or do I need to keep an eye on where I settle?
What speeds are typical available? Do you get the 10Mbps at around 30-40euros?

Q3:
Budget.
At the moment my budget are 1500 Euro pr. month.
I expect that to increase, don't know how much but I'll see later on.
How much more do you think is needed?
Would I be able to survive on that amount in Torrox?
I don't smoke and I don't drink alcohol due to my health situation at the moment.
Again, I'm just one person living a quiet life.

Q4:
Interest rates/Mortgage.
My understanding is that in Spain the mortgage interest is not a percentage of the loan, but the Euribor rate plus a percentage.
Based on the Euribor for 2009, plus 1% interest on top of that (typical for some banks I see)
I get the impression that the mortgage interest rate vary from around 4% in January to around 2% now in May?
Is it easy to get a mortgage? Let's say for 200.000 Euros, how much income/security would the bank ask for?
What are the typical down payment plans? (how many years, in Norway 20-25 years are common).
Would it be cheaper to lend the money in Norway instead?


To sum it up, pardon my English and thank you for reading all the way down here.

Hi, well lotsa questions. First of all Torrox is apparently a great place and we have a couple of people who come oin here who live there, so I'm sure they'll be only to happy to talk about that.

Living on 1500€ a month, well I have rougly that to live on and I've got two children and three dogs. Its a bit of a struggle, but I manage and if there's only one of you... however, it very much depends on your mortgage repayments??? Mortgages are not easy to get either these days. You'll need proof of earnings via tax records, or a very good, comprehensive set of books for at least the last three years. I suspect if you havent been living in Spain then that maybe a problem????? I dont know about Norway, but the UK banks will not take on a mortgage on a property outside of the UK, something to do with if they need to repossess.

But anyway as house prices are still falling in Spain for now, maybe renting would be a better idea until everything falls into place for you and indeed the economy???

Jo xxx

[SunnySpain]

Hiya,

Wow, you seem to have lots of very good questions.

Norway eh, we have friends in Stavanger. Anyway, good luck in whatever you decided or maybe you have already made your decision.

Sounds we should go and take a look at Torrox

We managed Istan and Malaga at the weelend, the former has a rather nice lagoon and is set up high in the mountains.

Dave

[Chica]

Hi Twain,

to the forum.

Good to hear you are planning to settle in this area. The official questions have already been answered so I won't go there again. Internet connections in the campo can sometimes be a problem and I know a few people that live in the coutryside that also has a problem with their moblie so you would need to be careful about that. The cost for us is €50 a month but that gives us 24/7 free access.

As you probably know, there is a large norwegen expat community in the village but I don't know about the outskirts of the village.

As I can't pm you if you can pm me a contact phone number I know an estate agent that has been here for many years and speaks norwegen and has great knowledge of the area and officialdom. She will contact you if you would like her to.

I read in a spanish national newspaper once that Torrox is the 3rd most expensive place to live in spain . How true that is I don't know. But I do know that you would live here quite comfortably on 1,500 p/m if your mortgage payments are no more than 600/700 p/m.

Good luck and if I am still here when you arrive, maybe we could meet up for a coffee.

[Twain]

Thank you all for the kind feedback.

I did read some post about cost of living. The one that's sticky.
I think that prices for 2008/2009 would be more of a guideline then elder prices?

I'll search more for the other prices I asked for.

I understand what you're saying about the mortgages and will look more into that. As I would be on a pension from the Norwegian Gouvernment I would think that my income was safe enough? And yes, a mortgage in a norwegian bank for a house abroad is not possible I think.

Is it the same difficulties when building up in the valley as down by the coast?
Or should I just drop that thought entirely?
I was going to rent in the first place to check out Torrox more before buying anyway.

Regarding Internet speeds (and availability) I got the price off telefonicas website but was asking because I didn't believe it would be so easy in Torrox compared to let's say Malaga. Maybe mobile broadband from Vodafone would be better?
(Sorry if this naming of companies violates forum rules, I'll check them again)

Internet access is of some importance. If not high speed, at least a steady connection would be necessary.

@jojo
If you can make it with children and dogs I would think I'll be able to make it too.
And SteveHall mentioned 1000€.
So this looks promising. (If I ever get a mortgage)

EDIT:
I was too late to reply, new post in the thread I see, so I edit my own post here.

@SunnySpain
I'll look into Istan, it's the one up in the valley from Marbella?

@Chica
Thank you for the coffe invitation and good advice about internet and costs of living.
I've seen a norwegian site (spaniahus) and been in contact with them before.
Are we talking about the same agent?
I didn't know that the norwegian expat community in Torrox was that numerous?

Thank you again for your answers.

[Tallulah]

Originally Posted by Twain

I'll see if anyone from Torrox is reading this later.

Thank you again for your answers.

Twain - I don't know if upon speed reading through the posts, you managed to catch Chica's reply to you (immediately above your last post). She's based in Torrox and has been for some time (6 years, isn't it Chica??) so I would regard her as an excellent source of information for living there from first hand experience.

Good luck with everything,
Tallulah.

[Chica]

Originally Posted by Tallulah

Twain - I don't know if upon speed reading through the posts, you managed to catch Chica's reply to you (immediately above your last post). She's based in Torrox and has been for some time (6 years, isn't it Chica??) so I would regard her as an excellent source of information for living there from first hand experience.

Good luck with everything,
Tallulah.

Hi Tally,

Yes 6 years.

Twain,if you have specific questions just ask and I will find out for you if I don't already know the answers.