5 Year Plan

F

Fronty

Active Member
Im the first ever person to post in this forum Yipeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

I got a 5 year plan, Work for the next 5 years paying off al my debts and credit dras etc etc whilst learning spanish ( i have been doing this for 6 months now)

Then i want to go to spain and sell casa's (Houses) Can anybody offer any advice or tips on it.

Would love to do it in Ibiza but know the reality of that isnt that easy (but hey if you want something bad enough)

Otherwise Valencia Madrid Barcelona anybody help me ??
 
fronty, i'm moving to ibiza in spring 2008 with my wife and 2 kids. basically going then so that they will be pre-school when we get there and learning the language will be más facil for them.;)

i've got 2 degrees but i've kind of accepted the fact that at least initially the best way for me to earn a living is within the tourist industry and then after i can assess how i want my career to progress.

why do you want to be an estate agent?? are you working in that area currently??

my honest opinion is that it is, like in the UK, one of the most cut-throat/unstable working environments you could find. your spanish would need to be fluent or else you would be limiting yourself to english speaking clients (and the competition in this area is intense). also, a lot of your income will be commission based, so you can work your ass off for nothing sometimes.

however, i know 2 people who have done exactly what you have described and both have become extremely rich at a young age (one in marbella and one on the costa blanca). both of them have amazing drive and ambition and are commercial animals and pretty much worked 24/7 for the first 2 or 3 years they were there. now they allow themselves one day off a summer!!

bottom line fronty is that you have a plan and you are doing something about it, so its not just a pipe dream. Make it happen;) :)
 
hi fronty,

good on ya!

like grego says, nothing is easy especially in the real estate market.

real estate is booming here in spain. whereas the germans came and bought 5 years ago, now the brits are on the warpath (especially with new laws freeing up pension funds for acquisition of foreign property, etc). mainland spain will be easier than ibiza - although you'll have to look for unexploited areas, but then again, the quality of life in ibiza is imho so much higher ;)

whatever you do, fluent spanish will be a must. you'd be surprised how few foreigners living here who speak really fluent spanish - if you do, this will give you an instant advantage. if you are feeling dedicated, then you might even try learning a bit of catalan - even a few words will go a very long way in ibiza, mallorca, menorca, barcelona, valencia, costa blanca (all these regions have dialects based on catalan). if you did french at school you might not find it that hard either.

living in spain is a dream - i have been here 15 years and will never go back - go for it!!
 
Hola Fronty,

That sounds like a plan but as james said, real state in Spain at the moment looks like a clock-bomb (is it correct?) We are all waiting for a sector crisis and the market to go down, altho if this happens lots of people would take advantage of the situation and buy a flat or a house. If you can think of another job to do in Spain maybe it would be easier. Also, remember Spain first industrie is tourism, so that it means lots of jobs with english needed, that would be a plus for you, and a good way to get introduced to the working market.

Of course re your answer about Barcelona - Madrid - Valencia I would say Barcelona, but at the moment it's the most expensive city in the country and living here is only for riches :? . For what I know there's a big british community in Barcelona, mainly young people working as a teachers, in-company is the best deal. I don't like Valencia, that's a personal thing, and Madrid is a very exciting city but you miss the sea and that excitement from Madrid can be streess too. The weather is more extrem too.
THe spanish south is absolutly delicious and there's big tourism industrie going on. Sevilla, Cadiz, Málaga are cities to consider cos they look like great places to live, cheaper than the north and really friendly people around.

Anyhow, my advise would be: make a short list of cities and try to spend few days to know by first-hand what's going on on there.



PS: If you finaly decide to try in Barcelona - Valencia - balears, as james said a bit of catalan would be a plus as us locals, really apreciate people trying this forgoten language ;)
 
I've not been to my Spanish class in about 7 weeks :(

Now I feel too stupid to go back. I knew this would happen.
 
fatphilb said:
I've not been to my Spanish class in about 7 weeks :(

Now I feel too stupid to go back. I knew this would happen.
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go back.............its amazing how quickly you're back up to speed.
 
silvia said:
I don't like Valencia, that's a personal thing, and Madrid is a very exciting city but you miss the sea and that excitement from Madrid can be streess too. The weather is more extrem too.
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Hi, Silvia! Here again after a loooong time.;)

I'm wondering...why don't you like Valencia?? Barcelona is more beautiful, yes, but what more? in my opinion Valencia is more pleasant to live in and definitely way better to learn Spanish than Barcelona. Valencia has a very interesting nightlife too and absolutely an underrated city.

Plus, nowadays, in Catalonia you MUST speak catalan too or you won't get almost any job (I do know people from Madrid and the Canary Is. who had to give up trying to get a job there because of it). In Valencia there's no need to speak valencian to get any job. Inside the city, there're few people who speak valencian as their first language. Most of the people in the city use Spanish.

Another reason to choose Valencia: Fortunately here, regarding homes, Valencia is one of the cheapest places in Spain (including good wages and salaries), even cheaper than in poorer South (Seville, Malaga, etc), so the quality of life and the money situation is much more comfortable. Mind that the cost of each square metre on homes (flats, houses, rents, etc) in Madrid and Barcelona are twice more expensive than in Valencia. Twice more, believe me! Most of the people I know who live in Madrid have to share a rented flat.

And an objection about Andalucia: apart from learning Spanish, you must get used to the assorted 'Andaluz' accents, which is surely much harder to understand for a foreigner.

But in my opinion, the easier location for a foreigner is the Costa Blanca for sure. It ha the biggest community of foreigner residents all year round: mainly British, ans also many French, Germans, Dutch, ...even Norwegians!(there's a town of in Alicante called Alfàs del Pí where nearly most of them are norwegians!! 2500 out from 11000 inhabitants in town). There are even many places where you must speak English 'cos they won't understand you in Spanish! :spank:

Greetings! :)
 
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Tiger hi

As I said it's a personal thing and a subjective perception, so really I don't know why you should try to convince me. And about the catalan, please show me 20 job adverts where they ask you catalan compulsory.
One thing: if I'm going abroad to learn a foreing language I woulnd't be too cloose to a big spanish comunity
 
Hello. As friendly and distant as usual honey. I came here after a long time and, not to my surprise, saw this absurd post of you. I think personal subjective opinions would be better within the self, and if you want to give opinions, please, be more objective.

I'm not trying to convince you about anything. I was only curious about why do you think so, and afterwards I gave my own objective reasons to Fronty, not trying to convince you at all, that was your own invention. What happened to these people I know who were searching for a job is true (jobs with a certain importance). I've read some other cases in letters to magazines, for instance a guy with a girlfriend in BCN. She won't move at all to Madrid, point blank. So the guy tried to find a job in Barcelona, and had to give up.

It's a pity why so many people from Catalonia prejudge Valencia so badly. How many times have you been here by the way? The fact is that Catalan tourism in Valencia are the least, opposite to tourism from Madrid. The same happens to too many people in Valencia, many stupid people here prejudging Catalans. So near, so far.

I don't like to express my own subjective opinions about a city in situations like this, I consider it being real mean. I fit myself to the objective opinions. But I've been to Madrid and Barcelona lots of times enough to have objective and subjective opinions.:roll:
 
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Tiger...
8O 8O 8O 8O 8O

I think personal subjective opinions would be better within the self, and if you want to give opinions, please, be more objective.
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Why shouldn't I give a subjective opinion? Just cos you don't like it or cos you think it's all about objective opinions?
Did I give any fact about valencia besides my own personal like? Did I said it's an horrid place? NO. Didn't I remark it was a personal opinion?
I don't like to express my own subjective opinions about a city in situations like this, I consider it being real mean. I fit myself to the objective opinions. But I've been to Madrid and Barcelona lots of times enough to have objective and subjective opinions
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This is your personal point of view, mine is different and as valid as yours specially when I clearly said it was a subjective opinion.
I'm allowed to give my personal opinion as much as you are allowed to give your objective opinion.

And the most shocking is
It's a pity why so many people from Catalonia prejudge Valencia so badly. How many times have you been here by the way?
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Who is prejudging here? I don't like Tarragona neither and it doesn't have anything to see with me being catalan, and of course i have never been to Valencia neither Tarragona and all I know is what I've seen in TV and what I've read in the media :roll: :lol: ;)

You were not trying to convince me, that's fine, but you clearly asked me why I don't like valencia, here the confussion. Sorry if I sounded harsh it wasn't my intention.


Again,


PD: We can discuss the catalan thing if you wish, I insist, show me 10 adverst asking catalan compulsory and we can discuss it over a beer or ten ;)
 
Silvia, I would personally consider unfair if I told bad things about a place from my personal subjective opinions to someone who doesn't know it. Even more if I didn't give any reason telling why.

I'm sure you and most of the people in BCN would protest if I told: "I don't recommend you Barcelona because I don't like it, even tough this is my personal subjective opinion". This might give a distorted image of the place.

As for Catalan, I have checked some job adverts and I must say I was wrong. It's not a must to speak Catalan. I based my opinion on what these guys I know told me and on some letters to magazines complaining about it. But still, it is indispensable in many jobs believe me: Check out for instance: www.infofeina.com . So, as in many jobs there it is necessary to speak Catalan, wouldn't it be a handicap to add for someone from abroad or from any other part of Spain apart from Catalonia, the Balearic Is. and the most of the region of Valencia? Truly certain. Less oportunities. Moreover, someone living in Catalonia who doesn't speak Catalan, especially a Spaniard from other place, might feel left aside by a remarkable part of the Catalan society. That's a fact.

Don't get me wrong Silvia, I think it's great and necessary to preserve a local language like ours as part of our own identities and special features. And thus, I understand there are some jobs like a Government employee where the local language is essential. But in my opinion, I consider a wrong way if the people from abroad who move to Spain to learn Spanish feel kind of forced to learn Spanish+local language. It would be annoying for them. I prefer, instead of making them feel kind of forced, to encourage them to learn it (the local lang.) if they want, as an extra for the local people (mind that many of them will surely move only for a few months or weeks just to learn Spanish).
 
Please, quote where I've said bad things or where did I "don't recommend" Valencia.
YOu are taking all this personally and it has nothing to see with you.

And re the catalan thing, this is not the place to discuss it.
 
appeared today on the majorca daily bulletin..........

Govt awards holidays to good Catalan speakers
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]THE Balearic government gave official approval yesterday to a scheme awarding five days consecutive holiday to civil servants able speak a level of Catalan over and above the necessary legal requirement. Government spokesman Joan Flaquer said the move is part of a project to encourage civil servants to speak the regional language, thus providing an improved quality service to local Balearic people.
Exempt from this scheme are those who are employed in the health and teaching sectors who function according to their own rules. Specifically, an extra five-days holiday will be awarded for each of the recognised language certificates obtained, ranking over and above the level that needs to be attained for entry into regional government employment. Civil servants who believe they are eligible for the prize need to make application for their extra holiday. All hopefuls must expect to wait three months before being given the official “OK”; the days off need to be taken either in the current or ensuing working year.

DSCF5871.jpg
<--- mmmmm!! ;) [/FONT]
 
Gl with your plan, Fronty :)

The wife and I started to set some longer term goals a few weeks back and our main objective for FIVE years is to buy a place in Spain. Preferably Ibiza, altough our goals are not quite detailed enough yet. We have a little boy who is one of the catalysts for our desire to move to Spain.

Do you buy either of the Spanish magazines;

Living Spain
or
Spanish Magazine

I love reading both of the publications for inspiration and motivation for the future. Some great real life stories of people who have made the move (obviously successfully!).
 
The wife and I started to set some longer term goals a few weeks back and our main objective for FIVE years is to buy a place in Spain. Preferably Ibiza, altough our goals are not quite detailed enough yet. We have a little boy who is one of the catalysts for our desire to move to Spain.

Would you want to rent it ?
 
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