Hi In The Sun,
I feel your pain! My husband and I went through this last year. We're in our late 50s and fortunate to be living here without having to work, so sounds like a similar situation.
As you're on your way in 3 weeks time, I'm guessing transport, removals, etc. are already sorted. Great to hear that you already have a solicitor sorted, as that probably means you've chosen an independent lawyer, not one tied to an estate agent. After that, you can't really do much without a bank account and an NIE, so NIE definitely your next step - your lawyer can help with this, but they will likely be more expensive than any number of agents in the area who offer these services for around Eu 40 per person. Other things to think of, based on the timelines stipulated in Spanish Law, would be:
- Healthcare (as you're not State Pension Age, you'll need to buy private healthcare, until you've been Resident here for 1 year, when you can decide whether to continue with your private cover, or pay into the Spanish healthcare system. If you can afford to pay the first year's premium in full, you can ask your insurer for a Certificate specifically to support your Extranjeros/Residencia application - if you pay by instalments, they won't provide this).
- Get a TransferWise account - HIFX or similar foreign exchange companies are useful for securing Forward contracts for large amounts when you come to purchase a property, but you'll get a better rate from TransferWise for any amount from £1,000 upwards. You can also use TransferWise's online calculator to negotiate a better rate from HIFX, which I did, even for a Forward contract.
- Spanish lessons (loads to choose from, depending on whether you prefer to learn on a one-to-one or in a group, and costs will vary accordingly. We go to Alan at Bar Catorce in Benijofar, Eu 5 per head for a weekly, 1.5 hour lesson).
- Extranjeros (List of Foreign Nationals)/Residencia (my lawyer completed our applications and made the appointment for us at no cost, but we had to pay for a translator to accompany us to the Extranjeros office in Torrevieja).
- Padron (similar to the UK's Census, you need to have your Extanjeros certificate before you apply to go on the Padron, which is a good thing to do as it allows your local Town Hall to obtain central funding from Madrid, based on the number of residents registered with them. It also allows you to vote in local and General elections. We actually obtained our Padron before Extranjeros, which apparently is illegal, but our Town Hall didn't tell us that!).
- Re-registration of vehicle if bringing from the UK (there are separate threads on this forum, if you need this).
- Tax Return for 2017/18 (depending on your individual circumstances, you'll need to agree with HMRC where you are tax resident for 2017/18. For example, we moved here on 9 May 2016, but had both worked until 27 April in the same tax year. We have rental income from a property in the UK, so HMRC advised that for 2016/17, we are eligible for "split year" treatment. There are other threads on here regarding Spanish tax returns, but as they are so many variables according to personal circumstances, best to seek professional advice).
- Exchange UK driving licence for Spanish (there are separate threads on this forum, but once you have become Resident, you have 2 years to exchange your UK licence for a Spanish one - details in this link:
https://www.expatica.com/es/moving-to/R ... 73563.htmlOn a general note, you say that you're renting initially, so I guess you'll be spending time looking for your "forever home". How exciting! But it's worth noting that estate agents in Spain are not regulated. Some of the less scrupulous ones will tell you anything from, "You have to pay us a deposit to open negotiations with the Vendor", to "You have to pay us Eu 3,000 to reserve the property for you". Even the so-called reputable one we dealt with said things like, "It's normal to pay a deposit in Spain to the estate agent" and "You should use our lawyer, it'll be quicker and cheaper". Our independent Spanish lawyer wouldn't let us pay anything until she'd seen the draft contract, when she picked up that an extension to our property hadn't been added to our Deeds - if she hadn't picked this up, we would ultimately have been responsible for correcting it at our own expense and if we'd wanted to withdraw from the purchase because of it, we would have lost our deposit. If possible, do your own research online -
http://www.Kyero.com is a good website for Spanish properties. It's common to see the same property listed with multiple agents at differing prices - sometimes due to different contract arrangements between the agents and the vendor, e.g. fixed price fee versus commission based, but also because multiple agency listings are much more common in Spain than the UK. And ignore the frequent, "There's no room for negotiating the price, properties are selling as fast they come on the market" or any other sales-speak they come out with. You're doing a wise thing by renting first, giving yourself time to be certain of what you want and where you want it, so don't feel pressured by pushy agents - there are still a lot less buyers around than there are properties for sale.
Good luck!