Guides
Straight answers, written down.
Everything we tell buyers on the phone, published for free. Fifty guides, real numbers, the awkward details included. Whether you are buying from Ireland or already living on the coast.
Straight talkIrish on the coastMoneyProcess & legalArea guideRenting it outLiving there
Straight talk
The things nobody else on the coast puts in writing.
The seven mistakes Irish buyers make in Spain
6 minEvery one of these is avoidable, and at least three of them are usually made on the same viewing trip. Here is what goes wrong, and the fix for each.How commissions really work on the Costa del Sol
6 minWho pays, how much, how agencies split fees, and why 'free to the buyer' is never quite true. The economics of the coast, published for once.Why your lawyer should never be the agent's lawyer
4 minThe single best piece of advice in Spanish property, and the reason it exists. Conflicts of interest in conveyancing, explained bluntly.Off-plan: the rewards, the risks and the bank guarantee that protects you
6 minNew-build off-plan buys more modern property for the money, on a timeline with real risks. How stage payments and the guarantees actually work.When we'd tell you not to buy
5 minSometimes the right answer is wait, rent first, or don't. The situations where we say so, because a business built on trust has to mean it.The viewing trip: how to see twelve properties and keep your judgement
6 minAgents' tactics, what to photograph, the questions to ask in every apartment, and the 48-hour rule that protects you from the day-three high.Why cheap Spanish property is usually expensive
5 minThe €90,000 bargain, unpicked: community arrears, planning problems, unrentable locations and the maths of cheap. Where real value actually hides.When a Spanish deal goes wrong: what actually happens
5 minFailed completions, seller pull-outs, deposit disputes. Rare, but naming them builds more trust than pretending they never happen.Irish on the coast
For the thousands of Irish already living here: residency, tax, schools, and turning renting into owning.
Rent a year before you buy on the Costa del Sol
6 minA week in August tells you almost nothing about living somewhere. What a year of renting teaches you about the coast, and why it usually makes you a better buyer.Renting long term on the Costa del Sol: what Irish movers need to know
7 minNIE, the fianza, who pays the agency fee since 2023, and why a Spanish lease protects you far more than it binds you. The practical guide to renting before you buy.Already living on the Costa del Sol? Buying as an Irish resident in Spain
6 minRenting in Fuengirola or La Cala and wondering about buying? Residents borrow more, skip the viewing trip and already hold the paperwork. The advantages, and the one clock to mind.Renting vs buying on the Costa del Sol: the honest maths
6 minRent on the coast has climbed hard while you were settling in. When staying a renter still makes sense, when it stops making sense, and the honest way to decide.Resident mortgages: how Spanish banks treat Irish income
6 minResidents can borrow up to 80%, but the source of your income decides how each bank sees you. Spanish payslips, Irish salaries, pensions and autónomo income, compared.Where the Irish are on the Costa del Sol
5 minGAA on a Sunday morning, an Irish association in Torremolinos and a consulate on Avenida Los Boliches. Where the Irish community actually gathers on the coast.Moving to the Costa del Sol from Ireland: the first 90 days
6 minNIE, padrón, healthcare, bank, phone, residency. The settling-in checklist for Irish arrivals, in the order that saves you repeat trips to every office.The padrón: the small registration that unlocks everything
4 minSpain's town hall register decides your school places, your healthcare card and half your paperwork. What the padrón is, why it matters and how to get on it.The 183-day line: Spanish tax residency for Irish expats
6 minStay long enough and Spain becomes your tax home whether you filed anything or not. How Spanish tax residency actually works, and how to get ahead of it.Working your Irish job from the Costa del Sol
6 minPlenty of Irish people work remotely from the coast. The parts that are easy, the parts that are genuinely complicated, and the questions to settle before it becomes permanent.Living on an Irish pension on the Costa del Sol
5 minThe State pension travels with you, healthcare comes via the S1, and the tax treatment depends on which pension you hold. The retired Irish resident's picture, plainly.Schools on the Costa del Sol: an Irish family's guide
6 minState, concertado or international? How schooling works on the coast, what Irish families tend to choose, and why the padrón and your address decide more than you think.Cars, licences and the DGT: an Irish resident's guide
5 minYour Irish licence is valid, your Irish car is a bigger question, and the DGT has opinions about both. Driving on the coast as an Irish resident, sorted.Money
Real numbers: costs, taxes, mortgages and what things actually earn.
What a €350,000 apartment in Fuengirola actually costs an Irish buyer
6 minThe asking price is not the price. A full worked example, every fee and tax line by line, down to the final cheque.Spanish mortgages for Irish buyers: what the banks will and won't do
7 minYou can borrow in Spain as a non-resident. The terms are different from home, the paperwork is heavier, and the timing matters more than people think.Moving six figures to Spain without losing thousands on the exchange
5 minCurrency is the invisible cost of a purchase. Bank versus specialist on a big transfer, forward contracts in plain English, and when to move.What it costs to own: the annual bills on a Costa del Sol apartment
5 minIBI, community fees, non-resident tax, insurance and utilities: a realistic yearly total for a typical two-bed.The 10 to 13 percent rule: every fee and tax when you buy in Andalusia
5 minWhere the rule of thumb comes from, when the real figure is nearer 9, and when it genuinely hits 13. The cost stack, explained once.Cash or mortgage? How Irish buyers actually pay for Spanish property
6 minSavings, pension lump sums, equity release at home or a Spanish mortgage: the four funding routes with honest pros and cons.New-build or resale: the price gap, the tax gap and which suits you
6 min7% transfer tax against 11.2% on new-build, character against warranties, keys now against keys in 2028. The comparison without the sales pitch.Selling up later: capital gains, the 3% retention and what Revenue needs to know
5 minNobody buys thinking about the exit, which is why the exit surprises people. Spanish CGT, the retention and the Irish side, in plain English.Process & legal
The machinery of a Spanish purchase, step by step.
The six steps from offer to keys, and how long each really takes
6 minA typical purchase runs six to twelve weeks from agreed offer to completion. The full timeline, including the parts that drag.What an NIE is, why you need one and how to get it from Ireland
5 minThe first practical step in any Spanish purchase. The two routes for Irish buyers, what each costs, and how long they take.The arras contract: the deposit that locks both sides in
5 minThe 10% deposit contract is the real point of no return. How it works, the double-return rule, and the traps in badly drafted ones.Buying from your kitchen in Cork: how power of attorney works
5 minMost Irish buyers never attend the Spanish notary. How a poder lets your lawyer complete the purchase while you stay home, safely.What a good property lawyer checks before you sign anything
6 minDebts that follow the property, missing licences, community arrears, embargoes: the unglamorous checklist that saves buyers.Spain's new agent registry: what Andalusia's 2026 housing law means for buyers
5 minLey 5/2025 makes agent registration mandatory in Andalusia, with insurance and qualification requirements. What changes for you.Area guide
Town by town, honestly: who each place suits and who it doesn't.
Beyond Estepona: where the coast's value went
6 minPast Estepona the crowds thin, the builds get newer and the money per square metre goes further. Manilva, Casares and the far west, for buyers who can see past the airport run.Fuengirola for Irish buyers: prices, pockets and the parts locals rate
7 minThe most Irish town on the coast, area by area: Los Boliches, the centre, Torreblanca and Carvajal, with honest prices and who each suits.Marbella without the mythology: what €500,000 actually buys
6 minPuerto Banús is not the town. What half a million really gets you, where the value hides, and when the honest answer is Estepona.Estepona: Marbella's neighbour grew up
6 minA renewed old town, a new-build boom and a €1,400 per square metre discount on Marbella. Who Estepona suits, and who it doesn't.Mijas: the village above, the coast below, and which side to pick
6 minMijas Pueblo's whitewashed charm or Mijas Costa's practical apartments in La Cala, Riviera and Calahonda. Two different purchases, one name.Benalmádena: the well-connected all-rounder
5 minMarina life, a hillside pueblo and a train to the airport. Why Benalmádena quietly suits more buyers than almost anywhere.Torremolinos: the town having a second life
5 minSpain's original resort is buzzing again: beaches, La Carihuela, the airport ten minutes away and the coast's strongest rental logic.Málaga city: buying in Spain's fastest-moving urban market
6 minCulture, an airport on the doorstep and year-round life. Where the value sits in Málaga city and what to watch.Nerja and the east: the quiet end of the coast
5 minThe Balcón de Europa, dramatic coves and the gentlest prices on the coast. What the Axarquía gives you, and what it asks in return.Where the Irish actually buy on the Costa del Sol
6 minIrish buyers made 1,186 Spanish purchases in the first half of 2024 alone. Where the community actually lives, and why it should shape your search.Near the airport or near the beach: picking your compromise
5 minYou'll make that transfer 240 times. The honest travel-time map of the coast, and the year-three test that picks your town.Renting it out
Licences, rules and realistic returns, for the spreadsheet readers.
Holiday lets in Andalusia: licences, rules and realistic returns
6 minIf rental income is part of your maths, read this before you buy. The VUT licence, the community veto, and what a two-bed really nets.What a two-bed near the beach really earns
6 minA worked rental example from gross season income down to a net figure: management, voids, bills and tax included. No fantasy yields.The rental rules changed. Here's what buyers need to know
5 minRegistration systems, community vetoes, city restrictions: Spain has tightened short lets on several fronts. The current picture for buyers.Buy-to-let or lock-up-and-leave: two very different purchases
5 minThe right apartment for earning is often the wrong one for your own August. The two buyer types, and the one question that settles it.Living there
Healthcare, residency, retirement and keeping connected to home.
The 90-day rule does not apply to you
4 minHalf the warnings online about time limits in Spain are written for British buyers. Irish passport holders are EU citizens, and the rules are different.Healthcare in Spain for Irish owners: what you're entitled to
5 minEHIC for visits, S1 for pensioners who move, private cover for the gap between. The question every retiring couple asks, answered plainly.Retiring to the Costa del Sol: residency, tax and the order to do things in
6 minSell first or buy first? Move before or after the lump sum? The sequence matters more than any single decision.Keeping a Spanish home connected to Ireland
5 minFlights and routes by season, the drive down, and what to do with the place in winter. The logistics of owning 2,000km from home.Wills, inheritance and your Spanish property: sorting it properly
5 minA Spanish will for the Spanish assets, the EU rule that lets Irish law govern your estate, and why purchase time is the moment to do it.Rather talk it through?
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