[BMF Matt]

Hi Guys & Gals

Thought we would do an introductin, as we are planning on moving to Mallorca next year (2011), so will be spending some time on here trying to absorb all the info posible.

Our situation is:

Currently been self employed in UK for 14 Years
We are selling everything, and coming with a lump sum
Plan to rent, and either buy an existing business or start a new business or 2
There is me and my wife, both around 30, 2 kids who will be aged 3 & 8 when we move, and my parents, and my wifes parents who are all retired.
We are selling cars etc, and will buy once there
As all granparents are coming, this should give me and my wife the support and time we need to start the new business.
All the grandparents live with us already in the UK, so this will not create any problems, in fact the only slight difficulty at the moment is finding a Villa to accomodate us all. It looks as if we will have to go for a long term large holiday let.

We have travelled all around the island, and the north is our preferred area, around Pollensa somewhere.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Matt & Gem

 

[djfwells]

... a couple of websites that may be useful to you in finding a suitable property to buy or rent (apologies if you are aware of them already) :

Home - Enormo, The Simple House Search
venta pisos, alquiler pisos, pisos madrid, pisos barcelona, pisos valencia
idealista.com — casas y pisos, alquiler y venta. anuncios gratis
Spanish property - Spain jobs - Spanish news - think-SPAIN.com
Spanish property for sale: Find 100,000 Spanish properties for sale


- Just out of curiosity, what's the business ?

 

[BMF Matt]

Thanks for the web sites, much appreciated. No need for apologies, any help or suggestions are brilliant.

Not sure what the business is yet. I know that may sound daft, but we should go with enough to sustain us for quite a while, and I think it will be easier to judge once we are there. We have a broad range of business experience between us, and I feel it would be daft of us to presume a certain business may be sucessful somewhere, without having lived there. Internet research can only take you so far.

My initial thought is to spend 6 months finding our feet, and getting all the local knowledge that I can (also a chance to keep improving our Spanish). Hopefully by then will have a good idea of what we are looking to buy, or probably the stronger possibility of a new start up. Depending on the initial investment required to set up, we may luck at starting more than one business playing to both our strengths.

 

[djfwells]

Thanks for the web sites, much appreciated. No need for apologies, any help or suggestions are brilliant.

Not sure what the business is yet. I know that may sound daft, but we should go with enough to sustain us for quite a while, and I think it will be easier to judge once we are there. We have a broad range of business experience between us, and I feel it would be daft of us to presume a certain business may be sucessful somewhere, without having lived there. Internet research can only take you so far.

My initial thought is to spend 6 months finding our feet, and getting all the local knowledge that I can (also a chance to keep improving our Spanish). Hopefully by then will have a good idea of what we are looking to buy, or probably the stronger possibility of a new start up. Depending on the initial investment required to set up, we may luck at starting more than one business playing to both our strengths.

You seem to have thought many aspects of your move to a new life through, and having the Gramps on hand will certainly help you loads. What were your plans with regards to schooling ? have you checked them out yet ?

 

[BMF Matt]

The schooling is the one area where we are coming up short, all the international schools seem to be in or around Palma and surrounding area's. It is obviously a major consideration, so am going to keep looking, I suspect there's going to be a bit of a commute by the looks of it though.

Either that or we will have to make that our business, an English speaking school in the north of the island. Lol.

 

[90199]

Why not consider a Spanish school for your children?

They should learn the language, with little if any trouble at that age,

Hepa

 

[BMF Matt]

We have considered that, but it is the option we know least about. I'm sure language wouldn't be an issue for long, but we know nothing about the Spanish syllabus etc. Definately something we are going to have to look into more though.

 

[90199]

We have considered that, but it is the option we know least about. I'm sure language wouldn't be an issue for long, but we know nothing about the Spanish syllabus etc. Definately something we are going to have to look into more though.

Why not start another thread on schooling, there are plenty on this site that have been down the same road,

Hepa

 

[BMF Matt]

Why not start another thread on schooling, there are plenty on this site that have been down the same road,

Hepa

Good idea thanks, will do. Wasn't sure about bombarding the forum with loads of questions, being new i wasn't sure if I would just piss loads of people off.

 

[90199]

Good idea thanks, will do. Wasn't sure about bombarding the forum with loads of questions, being new i wasn't sure if I would just piss loads of people off.

Those on here don't seem to mind the questions, they are a very reasonable bunch, there is a wealth of knowledge and experience,

Hepa

 

[djfwells]

As the other have said, don't be put off by Spanish schools. My daughter goes attends a Spanish school and I must say that I am very impressed with the standard of education overall, at 3 and 8 your kids should adapt to life pretty easily. In the (Very unlikely) event that they can't you can always send them to private school, whereas it would be much more difficult to do things the other way around.

 

[BMF Matt]

Thanks for the info, much appreciated. I have just started a thread on schooling, so hopefully will get more of an insight, as with your post above.

Thanks again.

 

[Pesky Wesky]

Hi,
you won't piss people off by asking questions, I can assure you, but there's a lot of info already on the site that can give you useful background info, especially about education, so I'd go to the search facility on the main Spain page and look for education, schools, children, mallorca etc...
For example this one
http://www.expatforum.com/expats/sp...ing-spain/50696-education-spain-v-uk-etc.html

 

[greenteen]

Hello BMFMatt
Having just moved back to Uk from Mallorca I know exactly what you are going through. I have friends in Pollenca and it is a lovely place, but a bit isolated from the rest of the island for work etc and one of the reasons we didn't live there. Some liken it to Wales! Our friends send their kids to the international school in Marratxi, but it is a big commitment - school fees rise every year and the likelihood of your children integrating with the locals is much reduced and as you say a 40minute commute. It obviously depends on your children and how well they learn - we sent ours to a local school and within 6 months they were fluent for their age group, but however much we tried they were never really accepted - blond hair, blue eyes etc. They had friends, but the parents (of course) have a lot of influence. They also are taught in Catalan with Spanish once a week (as a foreign language) and also the downside is they fall a long way behind with their English. I thought we could teach ours to keep them up with their written work, but it didn't work - in their eyes we were the parents not the teacher! We tried the international school and although a lovely atmosphere etc don't expect it to be on a par with a good state school in the UK.
However its a great place to live we had a great time and met some really lovely and not so lovely people there - if it weren't for our kids we may still be there, but it was certainly an enriching life experience for them.. As I said to someone else do read the threads on this forum about English xpats living in Spain - it is true you will be wined and dined by some as you are new and have money to spend - and they want it. Of course there are genuinly nice people who want nothing from you and just want to help - as there are everywhere. Good luck