Click on one of the article headings below to read more. These articles were written by Chris Garwood for various publications such as Living Spain Magazine and Spain Magazine.
Moving to a New Life in Moraira
March 2009
We used to live in Derbyshire until Graham's health took a turn for the worse and was diagnosed with ME, we moved to Norfolk where Lorraine worked as a manager at the Acute Norfolk & Norwich Hospital. We both enjoyed boating on the broads, part time project managing and renovating unique old properties, but after two disastrous summers of awful weather Graham had had enough and we decided to head for the sun.
We purchased a PC in January 2007 and the search began, we also bought a copy of Spain magazine and noticed Costa Blanca Select's advertisement. This put us in contact with Chris and Linda Garwood who sent us a lovely email about living in Spain and photo's of some properties for sale in Moraira, Costa Blanca North. We had never heard of Moraira and had not been to Spain for over 30 years, but decided to have a holiday later that year and test the water we decided to take our dog Barton (a labradoddle) with us.
Chris advised us what to look out for with regards to pitfalls with bringing Barton over to Spain. After obtaining Barton's Pet Passport we booked the ferry from Plymouth to Santander and we set off on our journey touring Spain, staying at various towns on our way down through Madrid, Granada to Solabrena on the Costa Tropical. Here we stayed looking at countless properties for sale in and around the Costa del Sol region. This was November, sun shinning and Graham feeling much better due to the climate. We then moved on up towards to Costa Blanca, again staying at different places and viewing yet more properties. We eventually arrived in Moraira with Chris and Linda meeting us at Junction 63 off the AP7/E15 and took us to their villa, after and nice lunch, a quick wash and brush up they took up into Moraira town to meet some of their associate agents and we immediately realised Moraira was the place for us!
Costa Blanca Select had weaved their magic we were hooked on Moraira, even before we saw any properties.
Chris and Linda had certainly done their homework with our requirements and had complied together an excellent property portfolio with various villas to view with their associate estate agents who were also excellent.
During our stay in Moraira nothing was too much trouble for Chris and Linda, they have an enormous amount of knowledge and experience of this area and we felt relaxed, safe and confident in their ability, they are a reliable and competent team. There was no pressure put on us to buy if the property was not for us, we moved on to the next without any obligation whatsoever, until we found our dream home which is now called Casa Lorraine. We knew once we saw our villa it was for us, it ticked all the boxes and more. Chris and Linda had come up trumps!
Once we decided to purchase the villa Chris and Linda guided us through the process of obtaining our NIE's, putting us in touch with a Lawyer, opening Bank Accounts and even a Vet for Barton.
When it was time for us to make the return journey back to the UK from Moraira to Santander Chris mapped us out an excellent route back to the ferry, and even taking time out to show us the way back to the autopista.
When we were back in the UK Chris and Linda kept us updated with every final detail until we finally purchased our dream villa. Due to commitments in the UK it was nearly a year before we could come out permanently to Spain, and Chris and Linda took time out of their very busy schedule to check the property periodically whilst it was vacant. We thought this was a very nice gesture.
The whole process from reading CBS advert to purchasing and relocating is just what Chris and Linda say in their advert. All the agents they recommended are excellent and really helpful.
Six months on and we are settling into our new life style in Moraira, everyone you meet has a smile on their face, a different story to tell and no two days are the same. The people we have met say "I wish I'd done it earlier", we are glad we did it, to have good quality time and life together is so much better here.
Moraira is a fabulous place, with lots of sunshine, beautiful beaches, the town has a lovely ambiance, and a feel of being totally relaxed and safe.
We have found the best policy is to do one job at a time and adapt to the Spanish way of life, forget about being British, we certainly do not miss anything about the UK. Have a go at the language, do not be frightened to try or make a mistake, the Spanish are lovely people and will help you every step of the way. We have had a little advantage due to Barton our dog being a labradoddle he attracts attention and has become a minor celebrity in Moraira.
We have purchased various electrical items for the villa and have been amazed how quick delivery and installation was, we went out one evening at 19.00 hours and purchased a washing machine, it was delivered and installed the next day. The sales assistants are all friendly and accommodating. We have also had some building/plumbing work undertaken and this again has been a quick service to an excellent standard.
As we have had such a good experience of relocating and settling in Spain with the help of CBS, we have decided to start our own B&B at our villa, so we can offer advice, hospitality and our experiences to anyone wanting to use CBS to purchase a property in Moraira.
We would advise anyone thinking of buying a property in Spain to do it now, don't leave it too late to purchase your dream home in Moraira.
Contact details: Casa Lorraine
Tel: +34 965 744 783
E-mail: casalorraine@btinternet.com
