Tenerife forum

[ahda]

Hi everyone.

We are a couple with a toddler planning to move to Tenerife from London, hopefully in the next few months.

Although we are sure we want to live in the North of the island we have actually never been there, I have been only to the South, and my partner will visit Tenerife for first time in few weeks.

However, we are convinced that the North is the place for us. We are travelling to Tenerife in few weeks to look for a property, but we are not very clear about which areas would offer what we are looking for. We would rather live in a rural area than a too close to a tourist resort, have a modest budget and ideally would like a garden for our daughter, and it should have not to difficult access to possible areas for work and childcare.

We are looking for a more peaceful life and an increase in quality of life, together with a slower pace.

Any suggestions.

Thank you.

[DaveR]

If you have never been to the North and your partner has never been to Tenerife then why are you so sure that that is where you want to live? To be honest with you I think you should plan a couple of trips over to do some more research before you come over permanently.

[sunny]

Hi ahda welcome to the forum, am sure you will find lots of interesting info on here.

I agree with Daverock I really think you need a few trips over here before you can decide where you want to live and also if you need to work where you will work, schooling etc. We spent a few years of careful planning before we actually moved although did have to sort out a business at home first, which did take up some of that time, although we are semi-retired now, which was part of the plan. Keep in touch and let us know how you are getting on. Good luck

[rob]

Hi Ahda,
You really have taken the bull by the horns. You've never been there but know that's where you want to live? Do you speak Spanish? What are your work qualifications?
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[strippersrus]

the north is very lovely and very rural...but so are areas of the south, plus they weather sown here is a bonus.

the north has cooler weather and more rain than the south. If you speak spanish the north will be good, if you don't then you may have a language barrier, as there are not many English speaking people up there.

You could live inthe south in a Spanish rural area away from tourist areas...still with a budget and get a nice place....pleaces are cheaper up north yes, but work may b e a little more limited.

Decide what you really want out of life here...yes the pace is slower....much slower and the manana effect can be daunting at first...


if you do not speak spanish...start learning...look around differents areas...if you have specific questions then we are more than willing and able to help on most things lol....

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[jenny]

Hi ahda and welcome from me too

Perhaps you should consider renting first as then it gives you time to get to know different areas before you buy somewhere. If you buy somewhere that is not in a popular area it may take a long time to sell unless you sell it really cheap.

What work do you plan to do? In rural areas of Tenerife I don't think you will find much childcare facilities, particularly up in the north as the Canarian mums either don't work or they leave their children with family members.

[ahda]

Hi,

Thank you for your prompt replies.

I know it seems a bit crazy to plan to leave in a place you hardly know but, sometimes you have to risk to gain, and take the bull by the horns.

My partner and I came to the UK nearly 13 years ago, so we are not new to changing countries. We know this is not the place for us and much less for our daughter, we find London now is too hostile, aggressive and expensive to make it worthy to leave here.

Sorry, I have not mentioned that I am Spanish, I therefore speak Spanish. I have a 3-years Spanish degree, experience working both in UK and Spain (administration, management, training), speak Spanish and English fluently and a bit of French. And I am prepared to do any kind of work if I need to.

When I was in Tenerife in April I was asking locals everywhere I went about the possibilities for me to find jobs in the island. I was assured by everyone that with my languages, training and experience, and my willingness to work anywhere, I would have no problems finding a job (and according to them I shouldn’t need to get into cleaning jobs! … which I would do, of course, if I needed).

My husband is Ukrainian and works in IT support/networking, which I have been told is in some degree of demand in Tenerife.

As a Spanish person I feel quite comfortable with the idea of moving there even not knowing the place well, it cannot be worse that when I moved to London, on my own, not knowing anyone here.

We are only getting older, and leaving it for later will not help finding jobs; on the other hand if the locals think that the situation around jobs right now is not bad, it doesn’t mean it will be like this in few years time. The other deciding factor is, my partner is finding it increasingly difficult to live in London, can’t cope with the rat race any more. At the moment the only reason for my family to be here is that I have a job I like, but I think we’ll all be better off when we move.

The other thing is, you can always move. I came to London not knowing if it would be for couple of months or for a couple of years, and it is nearly thirteen years now. You will never know if you don’t try, and my husband’s mental health I seriously think is at risk in London.

Renting before buying is not an option for us, we don’t have a property to sell (we are renting here), and therefore only have our jobs to get a mortgage. Once we leave our jobs we don’t know when we could qualify again for a mortgage. We also have a small amount from an inheritance to help us, so hopefully we should get a not too very big mortgage, for a modest property.

Regards.

[jenny]

I don't blame you for wanting to get away from London - that's where I worked before I came to Tenerife and I hated it too and I'd only been there for 6 months!

How old is your daughter? As a Spaniard with other languages you are bound to find work here easier than most. When you come over for your holiday, try to visit lots of the places you think would be interesting to live, buy a copy of El Baul or Diario de Avisos and take a look at the jobs available in the north area.

BardofEly (another forum member) will be able to give you much more information about the north as he now lives there adn loves it.

[DaveR]

Being Spanish yourself puts a whole different slant on the matter.

If you are determined to buy a property then there are a couple of options for you. You could buy before you leave your jobs in the UK and the bank here would lend you based on that income. You would need to be certain that you would start earning soon enough over here to be able to pay the mortgage.

I honestly think you should rent for six months first of all. Once you are earning most banks would require to see six months salary coming into your account and would lend you based on that. I have done my research with a few banks.

As for cleaning! We started off looking after a holiday apartment as a favour to a pal whilst we looked for a business to buy. Things escalated from there and we have a lot of properties now. Good apartment owners will pay you very good money for doing the job well. It's not just cleaning but keeping the general appearance and maintenance of to scratch too. Currently we work three days a week and earn our rent with one weeks work. We have been contacted by various people over the weekend and have agreed on another 6 apartments.

[strippersrus]

With your language skills and experience you should be OK..

I would just say that the IT side of things for youe husband may be slightly mor edifficult.

My husband doe sthe same sort of thing and we were told there is a great call for decent Technicians, networking people and so on.....this is not entirely true...this area is covered by so many peopel that is hard to break the market here. It can be done but take a a while. Mine goes back to UK every month to deal with our clients there lol...so not much of a problem.

As for cleaning....Dave...I to do this and yes as soon as people find out you are good..recommendations go a long way. It is big business here..cleaning..
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[ahda]

Hi,

Jenny, my daughter is 2. Thank you for your suggestions about El Baul or Diario de Avisos, that is the type of local knowledge I need.

Thanks to everyone for your interest.

[bardofely]

I recommend the north very highly and have lived in the south for over a year but want to stay in this part from now on! As a matter of interest when I first came to Tenerife on holiday I was staying in La Laguna so it was the north that attracted me here.

The only place up here that I know of that is classed as a tourist town is Puerto but it is nothing like the tourist resorts down south!

The biggest places are Santa Cruz, La Laguna and Puerto so these would be good areas for work and shopping and other facilities.

Some villages have hardly any shops and there are some that have none but just a few bars and restaurants.

Basically you have the choice of somewhere up in the cooler mountains or down near the sea or in between.

I live in San Marcos near Icod and love it here but I have discovered that Agua Garcia is the place I will move to eventually. I intend staying here about another year but Aqua Garcia I fell in love with!

It is definitely much quieter up here (apart from at fiesta and carnaval times) and the traffic isn't as bad as down south, which you would find is another advantage.

I would recommend you came over and had a drive around to see the different towns and villages. There really is a lot of difference between places up here caused mainly by the mountains and how the cloud often covers them keeping them cooler and damper. The villages and towns on the coast tend to be drier and sunnier.
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[powerbabe]

Can I recommend RST inmobiliaria. The guy who is dealing with me is called Stephano. He has been brilliant!

Good luck x

[jenny]

Thanks for your reply powerbabe but the first post was made almost a year ago so I guess they got sorted.
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[powerbabe]

Sorry Jenny. I guess I am still not too hot on this! I didnt even notice a date. Wont make the same mistake again (famous last words)