The house in the US is on the market, the retirement papers are filled out, and the moving company has been contacted. Gathering the visa information has begun (ho boy, what a headache!) We think we meet all the requirements (in the process of getting health insurance and income proof up to standard) and the cats have been appropriately chipped. We've done our homework (I hope!) and the target date is late February.
The challenges are 1) moving 4100 books and our furniture (cargo container, it looks like) and 2) Working like mad on our Spanish. We're putting in the elbow grease on those.
We love Valencia, have visited many times, and intend to settle in that area. We hope to settle somewhere in the city itself, as neither of us wants to own a car anymore, if we can help it.
Where we need help, if we can impose on your kind advice, is in finding our place to live. We're not made of money (although we should hit town with decent starting funds) and we are hesitant to make another trip over from the US just to apartment scout. Does anyone know of a trustworthy person or agent that could help us find and secure an apartment on a 1 year lease remotely? Is that even possible since we won't have our NIE until we get there; or is it possible to get an NIE before you have an address? It is VERY expensive to secure 1 month housing, it seems (although, again, I could be wrong.)
I feel like an idiot for asking, but I suppose most people arrive with less of a clue than they should have, or think they have. We'd be willing to compensate someone for helping us with this, of course.
Thanks for any help you can provide.
Kit and Kathleen Thornton
Need advice on apartment hunting
Re the NIE. Having an address in Spanish is not a requirement
You can obtain the fiscal ID number in a Spanish consulate
However, if come to live in spain, as a non EU Citizen, you will be required to obtain residencia. In that case you will have an address I. e. where you are living at that time.
When the Residencia is issued the number it bears will be your NIE. If you already had that number , then that will be the number on your residencia when it is issued
Thanks for your response, Johncar. You responded when I had a question last year, too. Thanks for being so helpful.
So, I can rent an apartment without a residencia? I suppose that's a silly question - I can't get a residencia without a residence, right?
All that said, is there anyone you'd trust to hire to do apartment scouting?
Hello Kit and Kathleen,
just seen your posting on expat.com. There are relevant forums on this website related to "moving to Spain" which gives extensive information and also experiences shared by other like minded people like yourselves who are contemplating on a move to Spain.
We only spend about 5 months per year in Spain usually escaping the winter in Germany. Back in 2013 we bought a plot and had a house built according to our specifications. It was indeed a great challenge as we neither spoke Spanish nor knew one anyone in Spain then. So a lot of questions, not to mention uncertainties, did actually make things very difficult at the beginning re. NIE, opening a bank account, property/land search, registration, etc. etc. Glad to say everything panned out well in the end.
It is too lengthy here to relate all these items in emails. If I can be of any assistance feel free to call by sending me a PM and I'll let you have my contact details. Here in Germany we're 6 hours ahead of US Eastern time (eg New York City time).
All the best in your search for your future home,
Antly
Hello, most major cities have companies who specialize in helping foreigners get things sorted both for sorting out what is needed to lease along with the apartment hunt. The real estate industry here is a bit different with agents working for buyers, therefore agents not make any money helping people find apartments - only for selling. This can make it tough when you are not local. In Barcelona a good company that helps foreigners is WeRelocateBarcelona (werelocatebcn.com). I know they have helped people in Valencia in the past - the cities are close (per American standards)! I suggest you contact Lisa or Marcel there, if they cannot help you with a search in Valencia, there is a good chance they will have a contact who can. Best of luck!
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