Visiting on 9th Feb for 2 weeks

Hi,
The last week it's been colder (according to my relatives) than in previous years but they all have gas heaters which seem to work pretty well at keeping the flats warm. In ours we only have electric space heaters which are not as useful. I've only met a couple expats so far. John from Ireland is very helpful- can't remember his user name but he'll probably see this and can contact you!

Thanks for your reply, we used to use gas for a time on the Scottish islands which indeed gave us damp but we switched to solid fuel (we dug peat - not an option elsewhere) which dried out the house well. The main reason for us was the walls were solid, with no cavity, newer places don't have that problem and i wonder if thats the same on Malta/Gozo.

Don't mind a cold snap but months and months of cold weather is a problem to us, hence looking for a warmer climate.

I did meet up with an expat couple who used to live on Malta but now lives on Cyprus - it was worth its weight in gold talking to them, they were able to give us a few pointers but would be worth meeting others.

Its far better meeting face to face than on the internet.

We are as i say in the research stage as i don't do anything quickly, we have our house for sale and do hope it sells before I retire, if it does the plan is to bank the money and live in rented property - probably quite near to where we live now, continue to work till nearer retirement but to actively look at places to retire to.

I think Malta is ideal for retirement- I'm a good 25 years away from official retirement but already considering it !

g4jnw, I have PM'd you.

Great thanks for the reply have replied to your PM

we viewed a number of properties in a very cold week in Malta so we got to see how bad it could be in a cold snap. We saw 3/4 properties a day and only once did we see one property where there may be problems with damp and that was on a second floor apartment inland but near the valleys.

I was told it was the coldest winter theyve had on record for a number of years. I had a virus whilst I was out there but it must have been cold as hubby can cope with it but he felt cold too.

I guess it depends where and how much a property your willing to rent for. Ours was 750 euros we got a free month and a reduction as it was up for 800euros but its all inclusive furnished with everything we need to arrive so no major expense of shipping things across.  We noticed a de humidifier in one of the rooms though so not sure if that makes any difference.
I would say book your time out ere to have a really good look around and stick with reputable agents or people who arerecommend. Karin at Quicklets malta was brilliant for us and we are renting from  an english lady whose been out there for 42yrs thats a bonus to us as we are a couple that only flew out to Malta for one shot at it and ended up renting. Back mid march permanently and we hadnt visited the island before, like you heard lots of good things. Good luck would love to meet with you when you arrive! Lisa:-) we will be there permanently in March!

There are various groups here that have regular meetings if you want to meet other expats

Including
InterNations - www.internations.org
Malta Social - www.meetup.com/maltasocial
246 Expat - https://www.facebook.com/246expatsmalta

there are also various groups on Facebook. Its worth noting that Facebook IS the internet here in terms of finding out what is going on.

Thats good to know, will check them out thanks for the good info.