Parcent - January 2005

Artists impression of our house in Parcent

In December 2004 we decided to return to the Jalon Valley and look for another house. We did a lot of research, and arranged to view using two estate agents. One of them was Buena Vista, who had found us the house in Sagra. And Dave and Sue would again be our guide.

We looked at a lot of house before we arrived at Parcent. Dave and Sue had earmarked one of these houses as favourite. When we arrived there was a deep hole to cross to get into the house, and only a narrow springy length of wood to cross on. Jan refused, and went off with Sue whilst Dave and I looked around. I liked the house, but was not really sure it was the right one.

When we returned to the pavement there was no sign of Sue and Jan. Dave thought that they might have gone to look at another house further up the road. It was easier to enter this house, and Dave thought Sue might have suggested that Jan look around as it was similar to the one that they were showing us.

When we arrived on the naya (balcony) I was blown away with this fantastic view. Far superior to the one in the earlier house, which looked down the valley but did not overlook the village. I felt that this was "the house" and told Dave we wanted to consider putting in an offer.

As we left the house we found Jan and Sue. They had been exploring a dirt track which leads down to the village. Jan felt exactly the same as I, and we both knew that we had found our house in Spain. It was quite a bit dearer than the other one, but larger and just right for us. We could even extend the downstairs to provide a large wargames room.

Sue, Jan and Dave on the naya where I had decided that we would have to have this house.

Jan and Sue in the bathroom, even here there is a beautiful view. We arranged to have an extra large window put in, and the bath raised, so we could admire the view when having a bath!

Why not Sagra

Unfortunately the purchase of our house in Sagra did not go smoothly.

Within a few months our solicitor advised us that the builder had failed to arrange a bank guarantee. We were advised that we would be badly advised to continue with the purchase of the house without this document.

There followed a series of exchanges between us and the builder, in which he maintained that a bank guarantee was not essential. However he was legally required to provide one if we insisted, which we did. He failed to provide one, and we cancelled the purchase.

We were very disappointed, but not for one moment put off moving to Spain. In November 2004 we again began our search for our house in the sun.

Sagra - April 2004

In March 2004 we contacted a local estate agent in Salisbury, who specialised in finding homes in Spain. After explaining that we wanted a good walking area and not too extreme in temperatures, she agreed with us that the Jalon Valley in the Costa Blanca would be ideal. She arranged for an estate agents, Buena Vista on Jalon, to contact us to arrange an inspection visit.

At 1015 on 21 April we arrived at Alicante airport, where we were met by Dave and Sue from Buena Vista estate agents of Jalon. They were to be our constant companions for the next four days while we looked at prospective houses in the Jalon Valley.

We were impressed that they had taken the trouble to match available properties with our requirements, and we looked at a number of possible ones. But when we visited the one at Sagra we fell in love at once. It was an overgrown field when we first saw the site, but the agent came prepared with diagrams and drawings. We spent an hour or so walking aroun the plot, studying diagrams and maps and trying to visualise what it would look like when it was finished.

We would not sign to buy at once, despite a lot of sales talk about lots of interested buyers and this plot might be gone by tomorrow. We returned to our hotel and talked it through, and through and through. We didn't get a lot of sleep that night. But by morning we had decided we would buy.

We returend to the site, went over the details again, and again, and again. Finally we agreed to pay our deposit of €3000. We returend to the office and signed on the dotted line. Then we all went to a local beach front bar and drank a glass of champhagne. We were owners of our own house in Spain!

Why Spain?

The purpose of this blog is to chart our decision to move to Spain, our search for a house, our move to Spain and our subsequent life there.

We had intended to retire to Pembroke, and had spent many happy holidays there when we combined coastal walking with looking for a suitable retirement. By 2003 we decided that whilst we both loved Pembroke, it was not the place to retire to.

In November 2003 we took our first overseas winter holiday. We were recommended La Palma as it was good for walking. The walking was not particularly good, but we did like the relaxed Spanish life style.

In January 2004 we went to an exhibition about buying a house in Spain. We agreed to go on a sales tour, where we paid a small contribution and they flew us to Spain, wined and dined us and hoped to sell us a house. We went to Santa Pola, a fishing village near Alicante. We had a great four days, looked at lots of houses, liked one but resisted any temptation to buy. We returned to UK and started our research.

We wanted somewhere we could expand our favourite pastime of walking. We wanted to be near other British, but not too many of them. We wanted somewith a reasonable mild temperature, not too extreme hot or cold. After a lot of research we decided on the Jalon valley area of the Costa Blanca.

We arranged another inspection visit, but this time with an estate agents who were located in the Jalon Valley. In April 2004 we set off four our second house hunting expedition, which was to result in our move to Spain in March 2006.