My first post, just wanted to say hello :) - Page 2

Wow Kev your complex looks really lovely, no wonder you're so happy with your decision . I hope we can get something just as nice with our budget.

Of course, with all the advice that you’ll get, please remember that you only have the right to live here (or retire) for part of the year … unless you both have, or can acquire, an EU passport. 

Hi there we are from the U.K. and are in the process of purchasing an apartment in Benalmadena. We are using an agency called Spain Homes. www.spainhomes.com. They set us up with an agent to view properties ,bank for Spanish bank account and Lawyer for all the legal work required to purchase here. Great team working hard to get our forever home in the sun. Santiago our agent is not interested in the hard sell approach , he genuinely wanted to get us the place that best suited our needs and he did it! We cannot wait to get the keys. My advice would be don’t cut corners get a reputable agent and lawyer , it may cost a little more but the peace of mind and speed at which they work is second to none . Highly recommend this agency ! 

Thank you Bishee :) No EU passport I'm afraid just UK and Australian, but at the moment we both work full-time anyway. When we retire we will hopefully have grandchildren so will probably want to split our time between the UK and Spain evenly.

Thanks for the recommendation and sound advice Deb86. It's nice to hear from people with recent experience, it's really helped with not only agents but getting me to look at areas I hadn't considered because I didn't know about them. 

Good luck with your new apartment:)

Who knows … we may have re-joined the EU by then!

I am going through an apartment purchase in Fuengirola at the moment. All is going well and the usual Spanish mañana syndrome is kicking in with respect to time of completion. But I’m in no hurry as it is …. so I’m chilled. The advice from the agent in respect of pooled sharing of available properties is correct and so the choice of agent showing you properties is the most important. They do tend to give a service way above those in the U.K. and will happily sort out things like advice on how to arrange electricity, local council, rubbish and other services while you are away. Lawyers (abogados) can do that too but there may be a charge. It may be convenient to give power of attorney to a trusted English-speaking lawyer if you’re not going to be readily available to sign paperwork and bank setups etc. 

Thank you Bishee, I've got myself a little note book and am writing everything down that I need to remember (there's so much!). 

I'm having trouble finding a good walking tour video specifically for Riviera Del Sol. Every other town on the Costa Del Sol has a dedicated video (and I'm spending hours going through them). If anyone knows one can they post a link please :)

Try this one Georgina

https://youtu.be/3nLul0xBUeY