New to the forum

[raymondo]

Hello Everyone,
I have spent an enjoyable few evenings reading through all the posts on this great forum. The good lady wife and myself are planning to buy in Quesada in the very near future. At the moment We're in sunny Yorkshire.I have a few Q's to ask I know these Questions have been asked before but here they are again.
Is there any estate agents I should avoid (dubious practices etc.) or any that are particularly recommended.
In these uncertain financial times is there a spanish bank that comes with a recommendation especially regarding english speaking,ease of transfers from uk,and charges.
Has anyone recently got their NIE number? How hard was it and where is the best place
Common questions I know but I like to have at least a smattering of knowledge and local knowledge is the best to have. I look forward to any replies/help and thank you for your patience in reading all this.

Ray

[Jan]

Welcome to TalkQuesada Raymondo. Hope you find it helpful and interesting.

There are a few recommendations for obtaining NIE's on here : http://www.talkquesada.com/post2454.html?hilit=nie%20number#p2454

Hopefully others may also be able to give you advice too. We got our NIE's in London at the Spanish Embassy while we were in the process of buying our Spanish house. It seemed the most convenient way for us to do it at the time, as we live within very easy reach of central London but that may not suit everyone. Our Spanish solicitor also would have been able to sort it for us, apparently. We use Abaco for all our dealings. They are very good, speak English and are on email contact for any queries : http://www.abacoadvisers.com/. I'm sure there are other good solicitors but just thought they were worth a mention.


We use Halifax bank (Lloyds in Spain) and are able to transfer money easily by phone or online from uk Halifax to Spain Halifax/Lloyds. We thought they were going to start charging but up to now it's still free to transfer money and also free to use ATM's in Spain for cash. We found all the information to set up the account in the Halifax bank in the UK. It's worth looking into that while you are in the UK.

Hopefully you will get lots more help and advice with your questions on here soon.

Good luck with your house-hunting!

Jan.

[solent_lady]

Hello Ray,
I am selling my place at the moment - details on here in the for sale section if you want to take a look.

When I came out I brought through Villas Amarillas, they are in Quesada and all speak English. Matt is the legal chap there and he is brilliant. He set up my bank account for me .. all my direct debits, sends me a renewal notice when my contents insurance needs renewing, he can get your NIE number for you on the same day .. (someone accompanies you to get it) He is contactable via email if you need to know anything .

I too bank with Lloyds ( was Halifax, ) for the same reasons as Jan, you can transfer money to your spanish account from an english halifax account for free - I also Have a Bankia account ( they are also in Quesada ) and they pay all my direct debits. You can set up internet banking with both banks.

I hope this helps

kind regards

Tina

[AnneDC]

I also bought my villa through Villas Amarillas and can thoroughly recommend them too. They keep in touch and recently sent me the information to pay my non-resident tax, even though I bought my villa in 2011! I use Barclays bank down by the Arches, but this is only because I opened a savings account there before I bought my villa, they all speak excellent English and are very helpful, although they do charge on a current account

[Glyn]

I would put Lloyds (Halifax) at the top of the list for recommendation. Their Mortgage service, initiated from the UK and finalised from Madrid, is second to none. We bought off plan and so have not used agents, so no comment, although some I hear are asking unreal percentages still. We use Belen and Sanchez in Quesada for our legal needs. They are a small practice rather than a corporate group and Mr Belen is a straightlaced nice bloke. I would advise that you do your upmost to get someone else sort your NIE applications as the trek to Orihuela and the rudeness of the Civil Servants may be a downer to you - it pee'd me off.

Look around, shop around and hammer out a bargain. You have the lead on the market at the moment.

[toonsandballoons]

We used sapphire properties who organized everything from purchase to mortgage and introduced us to a great lady who did all the legal work and got nies sorted. Talk to Alan at Sapphire for ease of mind. We came over twice and when we came back. Just moved in with everything. Sorted for using