Selling everything

@sandra hargis

Welcome to the expat.com forum and good luck with your Spanish adventures!

Unfortunately, you definitely can't take your house with you. :-)

You can buy (or rent) a house, apartment, or beachside villa... just depends on your budget and geographic preferences. I suggest Idealista as a very large online property agent with lots of listings all over Spain... it's a great research tool so you can see what you can get for your money.

If you're very attached to a particular car, you can get it shipped over, and then go through the import formalities. However, I think most would suggest that it's easier to buy something in Spain. Or, you might even abandon your car, as you'll find that lots of Spanish towns and cities are extremely walkable.

You can also move over all your furniture and personal effects, if you get the same size property.  I'd suggest that it might be a good time to downsize from a huge house to an easy-to-manage, lock-up-and-leave apartment... and you can furnish it locally instead of shipping your furniture over.

You can certainly move back to the USA later (or divide your time between the two), and there are always some expats who decide to return to their home country. However, it's definitely stressful and aggravating to do two big moves. If you're not sure if Spain's the place for you, it might be better to spend a few weeks/months travelling around to see which areas appeal, and/or do some kind of rental (6-12 months) to see if you're happy.

Like everywhere, Spain has its pluses and its minuses, and it's always an adjustment moving to another country/culture/language. However, it's a lovely country and a very popular retirement destination, especially if you like beaches and sunshine.

Thank you for your response.  We are going to Spain next year to explore the areas that we may considet.

Don't forget. In Spain, the standard voltage is 230 V and the frequency is 50 Hz. You can't use your electric appliances in Spain without a voltage converter, because the standard voltage in Spain (230 V) is higher than in the United States of America (120 V).

@sandra

Sell or give it all away! it is just stuff, make the move, dont look back!  It is much safer living in a civilized country like Spain anyway!!!

Move some of your belingings to spain and get rid of the rest.  you wont regret it!!

@sandra hargis hi I moved from France to Spain, I had a farm and only lived there for 10 yrs but had so many things, I sold lots , put some in storage and quit my job, 6 days before completion the buyers bank refused the funds, I don't think he had been too honest about his finances. A year almost to the day I was back in the same situation, but I gave a lot to friends, sold as much as I could, burnt lots of half started projects in the garden, took some to the tip, some things to charity shops and some pieces of furniture that I love are in my sons garage , filled the car with as much as possible and drove 1500kms to Spain, have been back once with the car to collect stuff , but really need to do a run with a van,  found the second experience better, to start a fresh is great, the furniture wouldn't have suited the Spanish house, and I have no garden, so no need for mower , rotovator , hedge trimmer etc. Good luck