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Handyman????

7679 Views 13 Replies 11 Participants Last post by  toffeeboy, 
M
Hiya I wondered if any of you could tell me if a handyman would do well in spain my husband and I are planning on moving out to spain with our 3 kids and my husband who's a joiner wants to start up a handyman buisness he as said is a joiner but can do allsorts from plastering to tiling and some electrical etc, but we wern't sure if we would do well.
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jojo
mrsmac5 said:
Hiya I wondered if any of you could tell me if a handyman would do well in spain my husband and I are planning on moving out to spain with our 3 kids and my husband who's a joiner wants to start up a handyman buisness he as said is a joiner but can do allsorts from plastering to tiling and some electrical etc, but we wern't sure if we would do well.
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There are already an awful lot of out of work handymen in Spain I'm afraid - The construction industry crashed over here during the credit crunch and therefore there are more than enough out of work builders etc. who are struggling to do any work at all

Sorry to spoil your plans, but handymen arent really doing well at the mo

Jo xxx
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mrypg9
I think the answer has to be no, unfortunately, at least for the foreseeable future. There are loads of flyers on lampposts and in mailboxes round here from people of all nationalities offering handyman services, many at cut-throat rates.
The ability to speak fluent Spanish is more and more a necessity if there is any hope of getting a job as the British immigrant market seems to be drying up rapidly.
Even in this relatively affluent area people are putting properties on the market and hoping to head for home. Some have had their houses and apartments on the market for two or three years without even one interested person contacting their agents. A large property opposite us has been for sale for five years....
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Stravinsky
And of course once registered as self employed here you would have to pay "social security" payments of well over €200 a month even if he didnt do any work in that month
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S
TBH at the moment you are better off coming over for a couple of weeks and looking round - things are pretty dire in some places locally.... no work for even skilled trades and there are loads of builders doing odd job stuff just to keep afloat!
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T
mrsmac5 said:
Hiya I wondered if any of you could tell me if a handyman would do well in spain my husband and I are planning on moving out to spain with our 3 kids and my husband who's a joiner wants to start up a handyman buisness he as said is a joiner but can do allsorts from plastering to tiling and some electrical etc, but we wern't sure if we would do well.
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Hi there,
I just did a google search for the same question! I wonder... did you go to Spain? Did your husband find much work? What about schools for your kids??
My husband and I are contemplating moving out to Sain. He is a handyman, I make jewellery and we have a 2 year old daughter, with a plan to have another.....
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xabiaxica
tanyia4 said:
Hi there,
I just did a google search for the same question! I wonder... did you go to Spain? Did your husband find much work? What about schools for your kids??
My husband and I are contemplating moving out to Sain. He is a handyman, I make jewellery and we have a 2 year old daughter, with a plan to have another.....
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she never came back to tell us:(

unfortunately things are far worse here now than they were 18 months ago - if you have work in the UK I'd say stay put, make lots of recces (holidays:D) learn spanish & then when things improve you'll be in a good position to come:D
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T
Had a feeling that would be the case. Are there any areas that are picking up yet?
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xabiaxica
tanyia4 said:
Had a feeling that would be the case. Are there any areas that are picking up yet?
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apparently the Canaries - but mostly tourist trade linked work

it's a good sign though:)
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90199
xabiachica said:
apparently the Canaries - but mostly tourist trade linked work

it's a good sign though:)
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Also the construction industry on our small island, but that started last year:)
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P
Hi everyone, first post here.
My experience up here in Lleida (Catalunya) is there is still work for people who do quality work. Problem is you have to do it for naff all and then hope you get paid in the end. I am lucky that my missus is from here and have contacts. Speaking the lingo is a given otherwise the only work you'll get is teaching English if you're lucky.

You have to offer something that the locals don't otherwise the work/job will go to Juan, or around here Jordi. It would be better for you if that something is better work or soething of added value otherwise you will have to compete on price alone.

Good Luck to anyone who is coming.

I've been here 6 years now, I was lucky enough to catch the tail-end of the boom.

Pat
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jojo
Just to add some negativity here. Lets not forget that any recovery or new jobs coming available should really be taken by the millions of unemployed who already live here and who's dole money has now run out (dole in Spain is time limited) or who werent eligible in the first place

Jo xxx
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Pesky Wesky
Pat Lleida said:
Hi everyone, first post here.
My experience up here in Lleida (Catalunya) is there is still work for people who do quality work. Problem is you have to do it for naff all and then hope you get paid in the end. I am lucky that my missus is from here and have contacts. Speaking the lingo is a given otherwise the only work you'll get is teaching English if you're lucky.

You have to offer something that the locals don't otherwise the work/job will go to Juan, or around here Jordi. It would be better for you if that something is better work or soething of added value otherwise you will have to compete on price alone.

Good Luck to anyone who is coming.

I've been here 6 years now, I was lucky enough to catch the tail-end of the boom.

Pat
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I think the days of handymanning for the retired Brits, of coming over and seeing what you can pick up, of "I'll do anything even cleaning" (as if cleaning was the worst you can do!) have come to an end, at least for the moment.

As Pat Lleida says you have to think what you can offer Spain, not what you can get out of the country. If you can offer something different, that is required, you may be able to get your foot in the door.

This is a country with deep set problems that are not going away any time soon. If you have a permanent contract job to come to, you might want to think about it. If not you are taking a tremendous risk
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T
I think it's a but like the UK though, there are plenty looking for odd job work but who do/can you trust to do a good job for a fair price. There's still plenty looking for a fast buck but I've struggled to identify a decent handyman to do general house maintenance at reasonable prices, it's a case of getting a good reputation - if you have that work will come, if not it'll be along hard slog.

BTW if anyone can suggest a good hanyman in the Estepona area please forward details to me
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