Bank Accounts and Bill Paying.
You can very easily send cash from your UK bank which obviates the need to carry large sums in cash and the exchange rate you will get is better than that for cash.
Depending on how big an amount you may be better off looking at a currency exchange company for better rates still, eg for buying your property, I used FX Exchange
http://www.xe.com/ they gave me approx 3% better than the banks would,
A "Box" is about 30 ish a year but can be a pain for anything recorded delivery, some companies will not even put a card in them, (workaround, Get parcels delivered to local shop/bar)
Depending on where you live, eg on an urbanisation it can be as simple as putting a post box outside the gate (Postie`s will not come on property at all) and having a word with them to get home delivery8)
Help at Hand / Emergency Back-Up.
Since buying our house in Ibiza the one thing for which we have been really grateful is having good friends and reliable tradespeople on the island to whom we can turn if we have any problems. It is really tough trying to sort out a leak, or a defective air-con unit, from over 1,200 miles away, with a contractor you have never met! This situation is even more difficult in the middle of summer. So if you haven't already got a list, then speak to someone you trust who already has a home and ask them who they use!
Thoroughly agree, I would also recommend doing any maintenance or building works off season, Come mid April everyone wants everything done "Now" the price go`s up, the quality go`s down, July and August are just silly, Probably 2x price & 1/4 of the quality, Working in 40+ heat is slow and sloppy, using concrete etc is plain stupid ( concrete block was 57c in Sun this August, Burn you hands on tools)
Housekeeper Option.
The single best thing we have done, and which we always advise buyers to consider, is to find a ‘housekeeper' who is resident on the Island permanently and to whom you can turn to help deal with these issues. You will need to pay this person a weekly or monthly retainer. This payment will normally also cover cleaning/ minor redecoration etc.It is up to you how much or how little you want you done but it is great to know that when you're not there someone is making sure everything is OK and that if there is a problem you don't need to jump on a plane or spend hours on the phone resolving issues. For those with really deep pockets and large houses, these housekeepers can often ‘live-in' which has the added benefit of increased security. If you don't know anyone who can help you might want to refer to one of the property advisers in Ibiza – if you do this I suggest that you speak to more than one and meet with possible candidates.
Again agree, (The wife does this
) There are also some reasonable alarm/security companies for more peace of mind, from phone to designated number to "send someone round" & they turn up quickly,
I would also recommend dehumidifiers through the winter months in un-occupied properties, The humidity/mould will wreck things otherwise,
Phone, Broadband and TV Services
3g still has some blackspots but is generally pretty good, I get 5ish meg at home, but I can see the mast
but beware in summer it can come to a standstill due to the amount of users ( blo*dy smartphones,)
Land-line can vary from 512kbs (adsl rural as they call it, sh*t lines it is really) to 7+ meg in town (Santa eu, Cosmi wifi) It`s still a bit expensive but you can also get satellite internet that will give you around 15meg,
Sky/UK tv, To get reasonably reliable 1,2,3,4,5 you need around a 1.8m dish, if you have decent net connection it can all be done through it (watch your bandwidth on mobile)
Hope the above is helpful
Have a good one
Tim
