Tenerife forum

[bladesman29]

I am glad to have found this forum, as my partner and I are planning to move to Tenerife in Approx 2 years time, and any help would be greatly appreciated.

Our first thoughts are to sell our home (Which Incidently is costing us 1300.00 per month mortgage, which we cannot afford.) and buy a freehold bar for somewhere in the region of 45.000 euros. However reading some comments on this forum is starting to worry us somewhat.
Currently I am a taxi driver, and my partner is a civilian police worker. Would it be possible to be a taxi driver in Tenerife?

The bar is still our first choice, and any help on this subject would be greatfully received. Does anyone know any bar owners that are struggling to make ends meet? We are willing to work the instant that all legal loose ends are tied up. We do not want a holiday!
Also what kind of money could we expect to pay for renting a modest apartment/villa, and are they in good supply? Questions, questions, questions, I know, but any response, however trivial it may seem would help.

If we decided we were going to buy a bar, what areas would you recommend? We are hoping to find somewhere in Los Cristianos.

We also are willing to learn the language over the next two years, and are planning some trips over in the near future to "Case out" some of the bars that are up for lease.

Thanks in advance to any replies, any help appreciated. Kev and Louise.

[DaveR]

My suggestion would be to poke your eyes out with a blunt stick in preference to buying a bar. Seriously though do a search and read some of the previous discussions regarding buying a bar.

If you are still adamant about doing so. Then do not believe the books and figures that the seller shows you. Visit the bars regularly and do your research carefully. Get a good solicitor on recommendation. We did and he found an obscure 38000 euro embargo against the bar. Remember that any debt belongs to the bar and therefore you if you buy it. After several failed attempts to buy we gave up and I am glad we did. For 45000 euros you would get a small bar. A lot of small bars really struggle to make ends meet. Is that a good return for working 18 hours a day 6 or 7 days a week?

If you tell us more about the type of house you want we can give you some general information on prices.


Sorry to be negative but I like to be realistic.

[bladesman29]

Mmmm, thanks for that reply, think I,ll probably just stay home and wait for my house to be repossesed cos Interest rates keep going up and i cant afford the mortgage! lol. I do find it a bit odd, that so many people own bars, surely there must be some profit in it? What other possibilities are there in Tenerife? My mate owned a bar in Los Cristianos, "O'Flaherties," and did quite well with it, until unfortunately pegged it on xmas eve a few years ago. Feeling VERY disheartened now.

[DaveR]

Sorry mate but that is the reality. A lot of the bigger bars do well but will cost you a lot more than you had planned to spend. Lots of the smaller bars do make money too but a lot don't.

When we have our quieter spells on the Island and there are not many holiday makers about you would still have to pay all your fixed costs.

If you really want to live here then I would suggest coming over and looking at what other businesses are for sale. There are many oportunities besdides bars. Start your own business from scratch it is far cheaper than buying someone elses.

If you really want a bar then what I am saying is be careful. If you do it right then you can make it work.

Sorry I made you feel disheartened.

[rob]

Our first thoughts are to sell our home (Which Incidently is costing us 1300.00 per month mortgage, which we cannot afford.) and buy a freehold bar for somewhere in the region of 45.000 euros. However reading some comments on this forum is starting to worry us somewhat.

You will not buy a freehold bar for 45,000 Euros.

Taxi driver? IF you could find a licence for sale it will cost far more than your 45,000.

I suggest that you read and digest all the posts about bars on here, maybe your mate worked himself to death? Maybe he was in the 1 % who made it with a bar. Maybe he had more capital available than you? Whatever capital you have....use max 50 % to buy the business, you'll need the rest for taxes and expenses.

This doom and gloom is not put here to dishearten you but to save you from losing the rest of your money. We're here to help you ...... not to stop you buying a tiny bar without enough money behind you and going bust.

There are many other ways to make a living IF you're prepared to work for small wages.
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Who am I? Follow the myspacetenerife link under my avatar.

Remember: You don't stop laughing because you grow old, You grow old because you stop laughing.

[rob]

[bladesman29]

Well. thats my bubble well and truly burst. However, many people told me that when I moved here to Preston, from Chesterfield, not knowing the area, etc.. that me buying a Private Hire business was possibly not such a good idea, for obvious reasons! but...... I have managed to live quite comfortably off of the proceeds of my investment. However, even though I am pig headed, I will listen and absorb the comments that I have received so far, and hopefully may get some positive feedback when I awaken tomorrow, to the 80mph winds and torrential rain, on my way up to Lancaster on my school run! surely its gotta be better than that!

Ok, possibly a bar is not the way to go, but some people move over to Tenerife with nothing at all and make it work, a good example is a chap that worked in my mates bar, he left his wife bought a ticket to Tenerife, with no spare dosh, and lived there happily for years. I aint daft, the 45000 euros, is strictly for a business venture, of course I have kept money aside for other costs. Hope someone somewhere can give me some other examples of jobs/business ventures that are better suited than bars. By the way I spent 30 grand on a taxi plate in Chorley when I first moved here... That WAS a mistake! lol.

[DaveR]

[rob]

[bladesman29]

Ok, lets just say, not happy in my job, not happy in my lifestyle, hence thoughts of life in the sun! Perhaps "cant afford my mortgage" is a tad of an untruth, can afford, just dont want to afford! Rob, are you a pessimist, more than a realist? Just a question mate, no malice intended. As a point mind, I am a dab hand with computers, can build em, fix em, and network em. Any work in those areas? Every venture or change of lifestyle is a risk, I know that, but if we all look on the negative side of things, no-one would ever change would they? People would live in the "comfort zone" all of their lives and the world would stay the same. I understand that life, especially in the beginning would not be a bed of roses, but I am willing to take that risk, and for us, and our situation, all we have to lose is money. My partner can take a career break, hence have a job to go back to, and taxi drivers are two a penny here, so it aint really a big risk. Cheers for your feedback, I can tell by the amount of posts you have made that you are obviously a valuable contributor to this site.

[funky]

I have to agree with Rob. There are one or two small bars that make a killing, but they invariably have an angle (a hilarious compere, busty barmaids, free drinks all nite, nightly wet T-shirt competitions, that sort of thing)....

Damn, I think I missed my calling .....
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My Paranoia-Management Therapy is going great! Now they're only watching me half the time....

[bladesman29]

I could do the compere myself as a busty "barman" lol

[funky]

Good idea, but they're a fickle crowd over here, so you might have to grow yourself some man-boobs first. Any of the fat scousers waddling along the seafront in Los Cristianos should be able to give you some pointers. Or alternatively if you're not prepared to 'eat all the pies', I know a good plastic surgeon who can put you straight for a cool €5,000
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My Paranoia-Management Therapy is going great! Now they're only watching me half the time....

[rob]

Rob, are you a pessimist, more than a realist? Just a question mate, no malice intended.

No, but 20 years here and I've seen so many sad cases of distraught people who've lost their money or who are desperate to sell their dream bar in the sun.

Read the rest of my posts and articles, a life in Tenerife can be done, just don't buy a small bar with insufficient capital.
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Who am I? Follow the myspacetenerife link under my avatar.

Remember: You don't stop laughing because you grow old, You grow old because you stop laughing.

[strippersrus]