To sell up and move to Spain ?

[MijasMaddie]

Hi MN’s!

I’ve nc! So in a nutshell.. I’ve got two DC (sons) 8yrs and 10yrs. DH is 13 years older than me. (I’m mid thirties he’s late 40s)

He works in financial sales and I’m a small business owner (pet care/boarding).

We have a home in a lovely place on the outskirts of London. BUT we are struggling to live!

My DH has unfortunately been out of work/made redundant SO many times! We’ve been together 13 years and it seems every 2/3 years he is out of work.

A couple of years ago he had to ‘leave’ instead of being pushed and was out of work nearly a whole year! This has put us in such a bad financial situation.

We now pay the mortgage and the bills but we have hardly anything to live on. The mortgage and outgoings are huge.

Credit cards maxed out. I’m in touch with debt companies etc only so much can be done!

Life is a hamster wheel and borrowing from Peter to pay Paul etc..

AIBU to sell up and move to Spain? We attended Spanish lessons (myself, DH, DC) but stopped a couple of years ago! So we are no way fluent!

I have no money nor does DH but we have money in our home. After selling our home we could have enough to buy a three bed apartment in Southern Spain (ideally Calahonda area).

DH is saying he’ll have to stay here and rent a room outskirts of London to work his job in the city etc.

I could get rid of my debts and this misarable life but I will also have burnt all bridges to ever be able to come back.

My youngest is 8 and a young sweet 8. He’d be happy and make friends anywhere. But my eldest is 10 going on Kevin the Teenager! I’d have to put them through Spanish state school (also thinking of doing Cambridge p/t home school modules) if he hated it then he’ll hate me!!

Pros - I’d have the debts and financial burdens weighing me down gone. I’d be living in a sunny climate.
I am qualified in beauty industry, massage, animal pet training care..

Cons- what if it all goes wrong?

I’ve wanted to move to Southern Spain since 2013. I love it there. I fully appreciate living there is different to a holiday.

Only other option is to sell this house and rent there for a year (?)

Are kids that are about to turn 9 and 11 too old to be put in a Spanish state school?

I cannot go on like this 😑 too over drawn too broke. Don’t know how I’ll afford food for this week!

The thought of selling up and being able to buy a spacious penthouse in Spain has never been so tempting.

Ps. I have experience in beauty, make up, massage in case you wondered what I’d do over there. Also a very experienced animal carer.

• also Brexit is a factor but as it stands I know I can still go there ...

Please give me some advice (shake some sense into me!) thank you! X

As does Cardiff.

I don't know about the rights to live and work in Spain due to Brexit, but it sounds like you've looked into that.

I'd go. We've sold and paid off debts and moved to a much cheaper part of the country. Not abroad as I'm shit in humidity. We've earmarked a certain amount of money from the same to buy somewhere (on the hunt), but left a smallish chunk yo live on for the next few years. It's not a lot, but our spending years are behind us and with no mortgage and no debts to service we don't need a lot. It's a bit scary, but also as bloody liberating as you like.

I'd say go for it. I wouldn't stress about trying to do your place up if you don't have the money. Work out what you need to make the move, get some house valuations done on yours, and look forward to your new life.

Oh, a four for DH working in London during the wk, that's just like many oakeshott who work away. Most consultants I know are away 3-5 says a week. He might only need to do it for a while as your needs will be lower so the funds will build quicker. I'll only be working a max of six months a year, and that's only for the next couple of years to build some funds and pay for DDs Masters.

Trying to squeeze in a house sale, home purchase, new schools, paperwork for everything from health insurance to dog passports, finding out whether you can earn out there all in 6 months before we Brexit (bearing in mind May says she wants to go earlier) is optimistic. If we no deal the week before you plan to move, what would you do?

I think now is the worst time to choose to do this, although I understand the desire to escape.

It’s a crazy pipe dream
Split up your family, relocate somewhere with low employment and where you don’t speak the language

Your problems are your husband’s unstable employment and to a lesser extent your dogs trashing your home and reducing its sale / rental value

If you do t address these your problems will follow you

You need to wake up.

Invest some money in redecorating your home, let it, rent somewhere commutable to London that is far cheaper, rebuild your financial base there. Then you have options to move back.

And I'm also confused about the fact that you've mentioned your pet care business as a reason why you can't move north, but yet you're considering Spain!! Not wishing to sound facetious, but people outside of London have pets too...

Do a course in dog grooming, and supplement your income that way. I'm in Edinburgh, and the waiting list for these people is astronomical!

Sounds like leaving London would be a great idea but you are right to be cautious. Why don't you consider just moving somewhere else in the UK? We moved out of London to South Cambridgeshire (I see your from Cambs!) and we love it but its so expensive to buy. Wish we had moved to Suffolk or Norfolk in hindsight where its a bit cheaper. But East Anglia def rocks. We have friends who moved to Yorkshire and Edinburgh and love it. My sister moved to Italy 10 years ago. She bought a flat out there but now wants to move back to the UK but she can't sell it. Its been years now. She said there is no jobs out there and she doesn't find the healthcare very good. All in all she regrets it. I would at the very least do a 2 week holiday out there and see if you can imagine it.

Who would look after your children while you work in restaurants/golf courses in English speaking part so of Spain, with your husband in London after school nd in hols?
You do know people have pets elsewhere in the UK so are just as likely to require care as expats in Spain? I find the fact that you partly blame the state of your house on your dogs a bit worrying, to be honest - I would expect a doggy professional to have higher standards. I know of lots of expats running dog rescues in a Spain, I think out of their own pocket.
. I would also worry if you and your DH are not great with money, with multiple debts, losing jobs, with a business you are prepared to leave behind, that you haven’t got the right skill set to make a go of it abroad. Fine without children, but seems a bit unfair for them as plans really don’t sound watertight.
You know DH could rent a room in london and commute from elsewhere in UK? I know people doing that from Scotland and the north. At least then children in same school system, NHS. And you’re definitely entitled to live here and old still sell up and get something much cheaper.

I think that you are getting carried away with the fantasy of owning your own home in a sunny place and are burying your head in the sand about the downside. On the assumption that you are happily married and your sons love their father, don’t you think it would be hugely sad for him to live apart from your family just for the sake of some sun?
Now, imagine that from tomorrow you had to spend all day every day, with no friends, in a classroom where you didn’t speak the language, but were being asked to read and write and hand in homework. Add to that being eight and your Dad no longer living at home and Mum probably out working in a bar in the evening so you have to get your own tea, and walk and feed the family dogs, it would be pretty miserable. Will you also be leaving behind cousins, grandparents etc?

You said that you couldn’t move North as DH can only work in London, but he could still live away in London if you were in a cheaper part of the UK- the difference for your children would be a much easier transition as no language barrier and you’d still have the security of the NHS etc.

And are you absolutely sure that there are no jobs in “financial sales” in Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Birmingham? With his employment history perhaps it is time anyway for him to change course slightly, which should be possible within the financial services sector.

The house in Grantham that a previous poster linked to is an amazing price for four beds. You could probably get it for £175K which would leave you with nearly 15-20K after fees/removals to pay debts. I don't know that area at all but surely that would be a better bet so you can free up money/start saving and your dh can live at home and commute to London (which would probably be expensive from there but at least you'd have some money spare for it). You could then make a 10 year plan to go to Spain when the children are older. The Brexit situation will be a lot clearer then too.

Unless you have a plan on how you're going to get a job that pays what you need it to,
I'm afraid I agree that it does not sound a terribly good idea. If it was just you and a partner then I'd say go for it but you have your kids' lives to think about as Well. Am sure they could be perfectly happy in Spain (I teach Spanish for a living so am all for it!) but I don't think you'll get a good job easily without speaking the language well.

Btw I'd highly recommend the north of England. Or anywhere in Wales. Job opportunities for both of you and much cheaper to live in. And mostly perfectly nice!

I think all in all you’d be better relocating to somewhere cheaper in the uk.

I know a couple who moved to Southern Spain ten years ago. They retired there but sold up their family home and bought another one over there. They always planned to come back eventually. Not long after they moved, the Spanish market crashed but the UK market has jumped up over the last decade. It's very difficult for them to come back now as their money won't go that far. It is also not uncommon for it to take a couple of years to sell a place which makes it tempting to sell for cheap prices (I wonder if this will get worse in areas popular with ex pats after Brexit). I think they wish that they had rented out their UK home and rented a cheaper property in Spain - just to keep a foothold in the UK market and to allow for a reversal if it doesn't work out. The UK rent would have more than covered the UK mortgage, even at the higher rate they would have paid for swapping it over to a buy to let. You can quickly sell or bin your clutter and some paint and a deep clean would freshen the place up. Might be worth pursuing this half-way house first to see if you can establish a successful life for yourself. 12 months in, you will have the measure of living costs etc. including pricey health insurance (the Spanish health system is brilliant); expensive fuel and Spanish lessons etc. Then you can make a permanent move. Something has to change though as you can't carry on living as you are. Life is for living, not existing. Could you rent out rooms in your UK house and your husband could keep a room? I think you would get tax relief for some of that? Then it's even more reversible and he can keep an eye on the place.

Selling up and moving up north wouldn’t make a lot of sense as H only can get work in London and I’ve got a pet care business

I’m a bit confused, wouldn’t the pet care business need to be closed if you move to Spain? I live in the North - the demand for pet care services is crazy - never enough and new ones (especially boarding) are like golddust to get places.

I wouldn’t move a broad especially with such uncertainty. I would look at major cities elsewhere in the U.K.

MrsMozart- thank you for your advice

We left the UK a few years ago because we were fed up of how expensive everything was, and working long hours for low pay. Also my husband worked for the NHS so was obviously very stressed doing the work of several people and they kept "forgetting" to pay him.

We have never looked back. Being able to take it easy, work normal hours and have spare cash and time for doing the things you enjoy is invaluable. We're much happier.

Jacas- I kind of get your post but at the same time it’s slightly taken out of context. Reason being - moving up north would not make up mortgage free (Spain would) and I’d have to potentially start a pet boarding business again and H would have to either relocate with us or expensive train fares (extortionate)

Hahahahaha, so you thank the only person telling you to go. I can see how you're ending up in financial disasters given that you only listen to what you want to hear. Terrifying really, poor kids.

Pregnant - that is wonderful! Please don’t say if you can’t but I’d love to know where you went! Thank you again for your message

You would be mortgage free in Lincolnshire, the hour commute with a season ticket would also be cheaper than renting a room in London. That’s before you consider the cost of flights and health insurance.

Reason being - moving up north would not make up mortgage free (Spain would) and I’d have to potentially start a pet boarding business again and H would have to either relocate with us or expensive train fares (extortionate)

Didn’t you say you’d have £200k? You could easily be mortgage free up north!

I think I’m a bit confused by your posts - isn’t your H relocating to Spain?

Mrex- huge apologies! Did you give me advice? If so I’ll look back

I could be wrong, but I'm not sure there is much call for home dog boarding/dog walking in Spain. The rescue problem is huge over there.

Personally I would move to a cheaper part of the UK and be mortgage free. You can set your pet care business up relatively quickly, people are crying out for that kind of thing here.

Move to Spain once your children have turned 18. That gives you 10 yrs of being mortgage free and just save, save,save.

I think moving would be very hard on your older child.

The cost of a room in London is a mortgage payment on a large house where I live & is commutable to places with jobs.