Looking to buy a cave home in galera

Hi everyone we are new to the forum and are
looking to buy a small cave home
In galera
Can anyone help us with the following
Is there many expats living in galera
Any good lawyers any help and advice
Would be so welcomed
We would love to make new friends and contacts
We are a fun loving couple in our fifties
And have been thinking about this for a number of years and we are now ready to take the plunge so to speak does any one know what Spanish inland properties are like to deal with,
Thank you all in advance
Ray & tracie

Tracie1963 wrote:Hi everyone we are  new to the forum and are
looking to buy a small cave home
In galera
Can anyone help us with the following
Is there many expats living in galera                

There are LOADS of brits in Galera. The best strategy is to go there for a week. To find the brits,
just walk into any bar, us brits tend to be "distinctive" That way you will be overwhelmed with advice, tips, drinks, pointers and opinions.
The trick then is to sort out all the contradictory ones.

Thank you for your help have you been received well by the people there

Hi Ray and Tracie
My tip to you is to explore the area and don't just stick to one place, there are so many great villages and countryside in our area to buy a cave, get the agent to take you out on a tour of the area and give him a list of what type of property and price range - take a look through Spanish Inland site to get an idea. By the way you won't fail to bump into a brit somewhere if that is what you want! It's a great place to live and there will be lots of help and advice on the way.

I have lived in Galera for 5 years, It is a friendly place with a mix of ages from yours to 70 plus. there are several bars 3 food shops post office paper shop feraterias and as said above plenty of advice. It is a lovely part of the country, There are cave houses for sale here but try before you buy. The weather can get very cold in the winter but also hot in the summer. You could rent a cave house or stay at the hotel. See you around. marie.

Good evening all
Thank you all soooo much for taking the time to reply to us we feel so much more confidant to move farward does any one know or have had any dealings with a lawyer called I think he is called victorio Garcia
Also Sean at Spanish inland they have some lovely cave houses for sale but I have just been reading an artical about a British couple who purchased a cave home that should not have been sold as it was down for demolition from this estate agent and that the builder they employed was recommended by inland however the ground below and outside all collapsed and the builder was an alleged cowboy and this couple have lost everything I believe the articale was in 2012 we are not badmouthing or aquising any one of any wrong doings it is clear for every one to read and as it would be our life savings we have like others worked so hard for we are trying to do our home work
Any advice would be most welcome thank you for all taking the time to talk to us here.

Ray & Tracie
Garcia

Hi there,

I can only say positive things about both Sean and Spanish Inland Properties. We bought a cave through them last year and even after the sale they continue to be of assistance. We also used Victoria, again he was very easy to work with and I would happily recommend him. We have been writing a blog about our experiences of buying a cave house which may contain some information that you find helpful, or just entertaining reading A link is below. Please feel free to PM us if you have any questions.

Danny and Josie

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We have purchased 2 cave house via Sean at SIP who has been totally brilliant and helped us every step of the way . initially we purchased just one with the intention of a holiday home but fell in love with Galera and its people and took the plung to move here full time a year ago. We purchased the house next door and knocked them into one to make a lovely home, we used a brilliant British builder who has lived here many years and understands caves which with our limited Spanish and preference for footings etc uk style building suited us best.

We can highly recommend Sean a really nice guy !

Hello there
Thank you for taking the time to message me
We are taking the big plunge and nervous as we will be ploughing all of our savings into a home and want to get right this has been my dream all of my life to be honest may I ask what solicitor you used
Look farward to hearing from you
Warm regards
Tracie

Hi Tracie,

I know just how you feel, it's been my dream too I have watched " place in the sun " for years!! But now I am living in the sun and we love it and Galera and surrounding villages.

We used Victorio Heras and have been very pleased with his services and continued advice.

I hope you also find your dream and Galera is a great place to start looking.

Best of luck to you

Hello there
Thank you for your reply
Everyone has been amazing and so reassuring on this forum, you are all like a little family so glad I found and joined it, we did not realise there were so many home birds here. Hopefully our paths will cross one day we are coming over in 4 wks as we both still work at the moment but hopefully we won't go home empty handed will post again with an update. Again many many thanks enjoy your weekend
Warm regards
Tracie & Ray

If your looking for little Britain then go to Galera as so many ex-pats live there. If you want the English brands then go to the shop that sells brit stuff.. If you want the real Spain then keep well away from the place..Nice looking village yes but join the click.
Always two sides to the story. Those that live there are bound to say best ever village in Spain. On the other side of the coin ask some of those before you buy outside of the British box.We are a family working in the Spanish system but surrounded by real Spanish kind people..No bitching or backstabbing or tittle tattle.. Best advice rent in Galera first without the purchase and see what you find and get the feel of the of the place.. Once you have parted with your hard earned money it could be a little late.Everyone on the forum has made their choice where to live but sometimes with regrets.Take care but Rent,rent ,rent first is sound advice

We dealt with both Sean and Victorio and had no problems. You get a good service from the estate agents as they help you with local information and settling in.

The costs involved in buying and selling are very high in comparison to the UK and both Spanish and British tend not to move once they have bought. The sale of properties is typically measured in months, not weeks.

So take your time in buying and get it right the first time. You could rent a cave from Sean in the meantime to see whether you like Galera. And try to visit at different times of the year. Altitude matters in the winter months—we are at 1000m and notice the temperature improving as we descend to Benamaurel which is at 700m.

You could also look at properties away from the built-up area, but which are still just a couple of minutes away in a car from the shops and restaurants.

Keep an open mind, its a fantastic area and will give you all you want, but only when you truly decide WHAT EXACTLY you want / need. Like Pedro, we live in a small hamlet surrounded by Spanish neighbours. Its fantastic, basic honest values and old fashioned humility and care. Depends what you are ready for (see above). Personally, I didn't come to Spain to live in any enclave anywhere, I came for the Spanish life amongst Spanish people and culture, but then again I had enough of the crap in the
UK!

Well said Lurchio.. Nice script

Galera does have a lot of English but far far more Spanish people, we are in the minority, we live on the outskirts of the village and you can get as envolved as you wish, it could get very lonely if like me your spanish is poor and try as I may I am not sure how much better it will get, I know as I grow older I will take comfort in having some friends around that do have issues in common. I think it is unfair to call Galera little Britian it's far from that, it is a beautiful village with wonderful people from all walks of life and you can mix or not it's up to you.

But renting to find the right house is a very good idea, you will know what's right for you when you find it, with Brits or without !

Wherever you buy, and whether you mainly socialise with Spanish neighbours or English-speaking immigrants, do make plans to learn Spanish if you don't already! Most villages in the area offer free weekly classes, and there's some good online courses, which you may need to pay for. If you live near an adult education college in the UK there may well be Spanish courses starting this month (usually with an emphasis on "holiday" vocabulary, but it's a start).
It's not a difficult language to learn if you're willing to take a bit of time to study and you'll enjoy life here more if you can communicate!

To add my little bit to the equation, we have as previously mentioned a holiday home at the moment with a plan to move over permanently in the future (long or short term is debatable at the moment).
We came out looking for a property in a slightly remote location with a bit of land and everything else that goes with the dream.
We bought a lovely little cave house in a village with a nice roof Terrance but no garden space at all.
Complete opposite ends of the spectrum.
However when viewing properties we realised that the town property had a massive short advantage due to our requirement to lock up and leave for up to 3 months at a time.
No overgrown garden to deal with every visit and nice neighbours who keep an eye on things when we are not there.
When we move out permanently we may well move to what we were looking for previously.
This is just what suits us, everybody is different.

Hello all
Is anyone familiar with hinonjares at all

We have been sent some information about a cave house for sale there but aren't familiar with the area,


Thanks in advance

Ray & Tracie

It's small! But 15 mins by car to Pozo Alcón whch has lots of amenities.
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Near the beautiful Sierra de Cazorla if you like nature and hiking!

There is alsoo Rusticom (nick Wachter) and Cuevas Spain in Huescar (Piet and Sandra) who are selling caves in this area. We went with them alsoo to visit caves. Did our homework first by looking at their web-site. Then took contact to visit the caves we were interested in. Finally we bought from Cuevas Spain because they had the caves for sale we loved most. We are now the owners of 8 caves in Castilléjar not far from Galera and love it here.

We can recommend Nick at Rusticom He is based in Baja and is very knowledgeable and helpful.

Hello everyone

Just to give you an update

We have just goy back from our visit

And have to say it exceeded our expectations I cried when it was time to come home home,

We meet amazing people who were so helpful and informative i.e. Spanish English and Dutch

We viewed lots of cave homes in different villages and stayed in a rental cave for our visit,

We made an offer on a cave but our agent cannot get in contact with the owner
So we all fear the worst,

So we have left our offer open and are returning for two weeks in Jan again renting a cave to continue our search,

Can anyone advise as to how long approx it takes to complete from start to finish on a purchase,

Thank you all in advance

Tracie

Hi Tracie

Please don't be dis-heartened by the lack of response on your offer, things do take time here! There are plenty of other properties otherwise in our beautiful area so hopefully the cave/house of your dreams will come to fruition. The buying process for us for us was really quick and smooth - 4 weeks! I've sent you a PM with more details.

Good luck
Viv

Keep us posted Tracie