Best Tips! Americans Buying Home in Spain!
Best Tips! Americans Buying Home in Spain!
We just bought a new front line
beach home in Spain and love it!
Americans buying homes in Europe
We just bought a new front line beach home in Spain and love it! Americans buying homes in Europe are up 256% since January 2025 ( via May's Financial Times) and it has been an up trend for a while. Spain, Portugal and Greece are the most popular countries Americans choose to buy homes (with paths to EU passports).This is a photo of our daughter Heavenly swimming on Christmas Day at the little cove cliff hidden beach a few meters away from our new home. So many cool beaches and areas to explore!
I will be doing a series of articles about our home buying process to help guide all who are interested. This is a perfect time to diversify one’s investments! Europe has a better work-life balance, excellent affordable health care, environmental sustainability, far superior mass transit and a chance to enjoy a lifestyle most could not afford in major US cities.
Tip #1 – Take your time! It takes some time to really know and understand a country and continent. We love Europe and have been traveling to Spain and Europe for long stays for twenty years, so know it well. I first visited and lived in Europe ( Italy) when I was in my early twenties, so fifty years of exploring this continent. As a travel writer, I have used rental cars, camper van. trains, buses, subways, biking and and so much walking to explore every exciting nook and cranny. This lifestyle suits us well and a beautiful, Costa Durado small fishing village that is just a fast train ride away from Barcelona, Tarragona, Valencia, Madrid & all of Europe, seems like the perfect place for us to retire.
All the ease of peaceful, active, beach life, but the tiny fast train station a few meters away, makes it very easy to zip off to gorgeous coastal cities like nearby Barcelona, Tarragona ( University city with a Roman Amphitheatre), Reus, Sitges, and very close by medieval Tortosa ( with it's famous Renaissance Festival), when we yearn for city excitement, shopping, museums, or day trip.
When our daughter visited us last winter she loved taking this fast train to Barcelona & Tarragona regularly and also took the fast train to Madrid for a few days getaway. We feel like this is the best of both worlds for us! We prefer a sustainable lifestyle where we do not need a car. That is just easier in Europe and we can easily rent one if we need to. A perfect place to grow old!
As I write this, I look out at an exquisite sea view with the sounds of waves and birds chirping in the nearby Palm trees. This makes me so happy. I once rented an apartment on the first line of the sea in Marina Del Rey, California in the eighties and loved it, so I promised myself as I left it, that some day I would buy a beach home or flat. I almost forgot that old dream, but when we wintered in Cyprus a few years ago & I walked daily on the beach, I remembered again. The sunrises and sunsets here can be outstanding so that adds to the charm.
I thrive on beach living as it brings me joy! Being right on the beach safely, on the first line where you see, hear and smell the sea close up on your balcolny in a semi private way, is also key for me. I often live & travel close to the sea ( water and mountain combos make me feel sublime), BUT being ON the sea, not just close, or with a view, makes a huge difference. I love the healing sounds of sea waves 24/7 & watching the sea change colors depending on clouds and time of day! Being so close begs one to go walk or sit on the beach.
Tip #2 – Trust your instincts! The moment we saw this place and view, we knew this place fit the “location, location, location” famous real estate quote. Views this great and close to the beach are rare to find, even in Spain or this village. There are a LOT of beach view homes and apartments here, but this location is unique and special. We've been all over Spain, but the moment we saw this serene village, it just felt right. Several close ones are lovely too, but NOT as right. Then we took the most mesmerizing, magical, short drive on a nearby country road through gorgeous ,well tended, ancient olive farms and were totally enchanted! Yachts, many blue flag beaches, red cliffs and distant mountains near the sea, flowers and ancient olive trees…oh my!!
It also reminded us of a beloved beach apartment my mom once owned on the front line in Capitola, California. We lived there one winter when we sold our first house & had a delay moving into our 2nd home. Capitola is the oldest beach town in California and a perfect Silicon Valley getaway. This beach reminds us of our old home area, cute Capitola beach and the beautiful small harbor here reminds us of Santa Cruz ,California. The distant mountain view over the sea reminds us of Kauai. It is almost like we have so many places we love all in one!
We are into health and longevity and this place fits that goal so well. Living with a sea view and hearing the sounds of waves improves health and helps one live longer. This is a fantastic place to hike, walk, bike, sail, kayak. Spain does such a great job of maintaining their beach areas and making them walkable.
Tip #3 Spend time in an area during various seasons to know it well before buying. Like all of Europe coastal places, it does get busy here in July and August they say, but not overly crowded. It is extremely enchanted and peaceful here in spring, fall and winter. We came repeatedly during those months over a few years house hunting. Even now on May weekends and holidays it is quiet. We rented a beach place in this town last November through January and absolutely loved it. Great restaurants, perfect sunny weather almost every day and always some people but never crowded. Many from Barcelona & other nearby cities and many Europeans have second homes or flats here.
I love my morning walks here on the beach! The views are spectacular and I love to feel the salt water and sand on my feet. I adore all the many diverse beaches here and nature. Wild flowers, ancient trees, & various landscapes abound. The close next beach over is more secluded and is surrounded by pine and olive trees. There are a few small beaches and then a gorgeous red rock cliff beach. One can hike from that beach to the next town ( about 4 hour hike, or 10 minute drive). One can actually walk along this beautiful coast all the way to France! There are also nearby large beaches in the Delta Ebro that are empty even in summer high season!
I love this location too because it is very close to France, Andorra and Italy. Plus a fast train ride from anywhere in Spain or Europe. While staying here last winter we drove 3 hours north to celebrate New Years in charming Collioure, France & had a blast! In the past we loved taking the ferry to Italy from Barcelona and look forward to that again soon! It is also close to Spain’s top wine reg
ions like Priorot which we adore & skiing or mountain exploring in Andorra & the Pyrenees.
When I walk in the opposite direction on this seaside promenade I head to the wonderful harbor! Of course there are a ton of great restaurants this way too, old olive trees and the sail boats combination make me smile. There are several beaches in this direction as well and a few cool statues! It is a great place to walk at sunset and locals seem to enjoy their traditional "paseo" then.
There is also the first Medicinal and Ecological Botanical Garden of medicinal herbs & teas in Spain where you can find more than 400 organic species and beyond that a camping resort with 2 large pools and a restaurant. There is even a very cool saki place made by a Japanese/Catalan native with the local rice ( first Saki place in Spain).There are some interesting historical informational display guides along the way as this was once an ancient Roman port, plus a few play grounds.
Tip #4 – Pick a place with a few friendly expats that speak your language, (but not over run) & friendly, helpful locals. We already have a few great friends here ( locals & expats) that have helped so much! There is so much to learn in a new country, so knowing others that have been through it as well, is invaluable. We have other long term wonderful friends in Spain, but it helps to have some in your exact location.
Our favorite restaurant is nearby with fantastic food, view & charming, creative American owner. They moved here in 2016 starting with a beach flat and then later bought a olive farm & country home. You may have seen our daughter Heavenly do a twitch stream about the bar this past winter with the California born owner, George. Heavenly loves steak so that is what we had there on Thanksgiving in this photo below and it was scrumptious like all the food there.
Tip #5 Pick variety, so you have many choices and good local transportation. Also, we're very close to the Delta Ebro Natural Park famous for flamingos & birds and other nature, plus a lighthouse, sand dunes and more beaches. One can ride horses on the long beaches that are empty even in summer. This is the longest river in Spain, the Delta is 124 square miles with includes an area of rice fields, bike trails and board walks. We can see the light house across the sea from our balcony. Plus we are near the biggest adventure park in Europe called PortAventura World that is located in Salou, just 30 minutes away. We are also very near to some spectacular medieval villages like Miravet, Siurana, Horta de Sant Joan and more.
We’ve been seriously looking for the right place to buy in Spain for a few years now. We've been based in Barcelona area since 2022 and doing the Schengen shuffle every 3 months exploring Europe. We loved living in Andalucia in the enchanting white village of Frigiliana starting in 2006 where we wintered many years ago & where Heavenly went to local school from 1st – 4th grade. But we have also spent extensive time near Sitges for 20 years ( where we park our vintage camper). We decided we wanted Barcelona to be our big city, so looked at places from Costa Brava to Costa Duado. Which is a wide range! We were visiting Barcelona a few days ago & realized again how much we love this beautiful city! We are ready to trade in our beloved San Francisco for it.
We loved the last home we owned which was a rural home and vineyard in the Santa Cruz Mountains. We saw the 2008 crash coming so we sold it in 2006 to explore the world as a family and world school our child in her 3 languages. We loved being digital nomad and world school pioneers! Yet it was hard to leave this beloved home and partly we loved it because it was very European and reminiscent of places we visited there.
So we were mostly looking at rural properties in Spain. We also looked in other paces like Portugal, France, Italy, Greece, Montenegro, Croatia, Bulgaria and Albania. Since both my husband and child are Spanish heritage and speak Spanish & we love Spain, it made the most sense for us.
Tip #6 Always hire a good bilingual lawyer & architect before buying in Spain. Buying a home is always a stressful experience, experts say and more so in a foreign land. One needs the help of a lawyer and architect to safely buy a home as a foreigner in Spain. Rural homes ( campo) are much difficult to buy than a house or flat in a city or town.
Unlike the USA, many homes and apartments in Spain stay on the market to buy for many years. Over the last few years, we started to bid on many homes that had been on the market for numerous years. Strangely, several of them were taken off the market ( after being for sale for years) once we started to bid on them. Apparently, some Spaniards love the idea of the money gained by selling a home, but once they get a bid, they realize they do not actually want to part with their home. This happened to us repeatedly, mainly with rural homes but also with a big beach apartment in this small town. The first one we bid on in 2022 ( which had been on the market for years already) is STILL for sale at the same price! Tip #7 - Be prepared for anything and trust the process.
We did learn so much with our long process. I will be sharing all that we learned over time. We also were not in a hurry and wanted maximum benefits at the lowest cost. We are fussy buyers. Thus, one could find a house to buy faster than we did.
We had planned to buy a rural, off grid home first and then later buy a beach apartment in a town. We actually found a rural home nearby this winter, but after the fires in Los Angeles, global warming challenges, and with the complications needed with an off grid country home ( well, solar panels, fencing, pool, generator, car needed etc), we decided to start with the beach flat in town first. So glad we did!
We still plan to buy an off grid country home nearby likely as we love the ancient olive trees here and love having our own small vineyard and grow our own food. This is just a much easier way to start and we can take our time finding the right finca in the campo. We also prefer to be car less and use public trains, buses and bikes mostly and just rent a car for short periods when needed.That might not be possible with a rural property, but very easy here.One less thing to worry about right now.
We are just a few feet from the main blue flag beach in town, major grocery store ( Spars), a park, library, medical clinic, restaurants, yoga studio, Physiotherapist, recycle bins, and stores. The stone and paved promenade along side the beach runs about 5 miles from end to end. This complex has a place to store our bikes in the lobby and ramp to the outside door. This town and Delta area are flat enough to be ideal for biking. There is a wonderful small expat community here ( English, Dutch, Irish, French, Belgium, Swiss & a few Californians). All of these things and more make it a perfect place to grow old and long term investment to pass on to our daughter.
We have stairs in this building as well as an elevator. The large rooftop has spectacular views and perfect for watching fireworks during holidays and hanging up clothes to dry. Perhaps in the future I will create a roof top garden and outdoor movie theatre. The average temperature here in January is 57F and the average temp in August is 85, so just the kind of Med weather we like.
The old couple who lived here before us had this place for 23 years, but live in Tortosa so just used it for a few weeks in the summer. Although there are many beach view apartments and homes here, this is the ideal spot, thus they rarely are available. Many of the sea view apartments and homes are second homes, so mostly used in summer and rarely sold.�
160;
We are just painting it all white right now and will live here a while to decide what else we might want to do. Luckily, we already have a great local architect and the friendly president of the homeowners association is a construction expert who lives here and is redoing a few of the apartments in this building he owns. He is already helping us with a few small things.
We just closed the deal and moved in two weeks ago, but fall more in love with it every day. It all feels so right and we are grateful that we did NOT get any of the other homes we were interested in now. Also we are so grateful for all we learned in this process. Each home taught us something. We will start blogging about the good, bad and ugly of house hunting in Spain. It is not really too hard once you realize it is just done very differently.
Most foreigners usually buy homes with cash. Mortgages are possible, but much trickier, even more so with older buyers. Prices over all are much cheaper than California and many places in the USA ( and expensive places in Europe like London and Paris). High end cities like Madrid and Barcelona, of course will be higher priced than small coastal towns or inland villages.
Houses often or usually stay on the market for years without lowering prices. Tip #8 – One can bargain. The paper work can be immense ( more so with rural properties). Real estate agents in Spain do not have training like USA realtors. Plus you can not really sue like USA if you are ripped off. Thus it is really important to also use a trust worthy, experienced lawyer and architect when buying in Spain. We will be writing about who we chose and why.
We will be getting a retirement visa for Spain soon. After much thought and research, we think Spain is an ideal place to retire. Are you looking to move to Spain or retire here? What questions would you like us to answer for you? Do you live in southern California and interested in doing a home exchange this summer? ( We have to go back to LA to pick up our retirement visa for Spain). Let us know!
