Reasons to be Cheerful
March 4th, 2008
Yes, there is hope for the overseas property industry. In AIPP Takes Action we see the first public shaming of a company that has failed to live up to a set of standards they volunteered to uphold.
I’m not at all familiar with the specifics of the case but I’m delighted that, as an organisation, the AIPP has chosen to flex their muscles and make it clear that they will not support the behaviour of errant member companies.
Reading to the end of the article, I also discovered that the AIPP has been responsible for bringing about financial settlements to the public to the tune of £76,000 to date.
Where you see the badge of AIPP membership, you know that a company has signed up to follow and be bound by a set of rules that establishes minimum standards of professional and ethical behaviour.
I fully endorse the aims of the AIPP, and it’s why, even though we don’t sell property directly, Kyero.com became members back in 2006.
Remember our cost of living survey? Here are the results in summary. It wasn’t an easy set of numbers to compare because prices vary considerably by region and lifestyle — but hopefully this establishes a baseline for you to work from.
A basic cost of living of €644 per month tallies quite well with my own experience over the last 6 or 7 years in Spain. We lived in Girona province for the first year and have been in Granada province since then and can attest to the significant difference in costs between these two provinces.
We’ve also seen costs increase while we’ve been here (it would be surprising if they hadn’t). The introduction of the Euro was certainly welcomed by retailers as an opportunity for some ‘rounding-up’ of prices, and fuel-related costs have risen.
Overall, I would agree that you can use the ‘two-thirds’ rule to guesstimate your cost of living in Spain — for most areas. Simply take your current UK costs and take off a third. Assuming that you don’t change your habits and lifestyle dramatically, this should be a good starting point in predicting your cost of living when arriving in Spain.
What’s difficult to anticipate is how your lifestyle will change when you arrive in a new country. Longer, sunnier Spanish days might mean you spend more time doing nothing (for free) or you might experience a sharp increase in socialising at whatever cost that might incur.
Years ago, when working for an American company in the UK, it seemed to me that prices in the US were the same as the UK — just the currency changed. Now it seems the same applies to Spain and the UK. What costs a pound in the UK will probably cost you a euro in Spain today.
Martin Dell, Kyero.com
