The Second House Hunting Trip
This trip ended up being insightful for us and helped narrow down the neighborhoods and types of houses we would really be interested in. It was also great to see the area in a completely opposite season. When we were there in August, it was warm, sunny and crowded with tourists. This time, it was really nice with temps in the 60s during the day and 50s at night. It was also good to see the area in its “everyday” state. Regular traffic, minimal tourists, etc.
After our first trip, we decided that on future visits we’d rent a house instead of staying in a hotel, so we could get a real feel for what a Spanish home and a Spanish neighborhood are actually like to live in day to day. We rented a four-bedroom villa in the La Mandarina urbanization, just south of the Arenal in Jávea — an 8-minute drive into town for under $200 a night, with a Consum grocery store less than a 10 minute walk away.
We also made a conscious effort to compare prices at grocery stores (we also visited all the major grocery stores — Consum, Mas y Más, Mercadona, Lidl and Aldi), restaurants and everyday shops. We came away confident we can cut our general cost of living by 30-40% once we’re here full time.
Living in the house for a few days taught us a lot about what we’ll actually want in a home here, from appliances to layout to outdoor space. Here are a few of the major ones:
This trip was also an opportunity to check out other things in local life. We visited the Sunday market in Jesús Pobre, just a stone’s throw from Jávea, as well as the market in Pedreguer. We visited a local vineyard, did a wine tasting and also found a wine store in Jávea that has a fairly extensive wine selection.
This trip, we tried more local spots for food. For breakfast: K. Ricco in Jávea and Niki & Niki near the waterfront in Dénia. For lunch: Aduana Wine Bar in Dénia and Soñando in Pedreguer. For dinner: La Vera and Volta i Volta in Jávea and El Carreter in La Xara. For coffee, we returned to Pichi’s in Dénia and Caffè Milano in Jávea — still the best in both cities and two places we expect to be regulars at when we move. For more information about these places, check this out.
Since Sundays are very relaxed in the area, we spent more time in downtown Dénia. In our previous trip, we spent more time in Jávea, so this was a chance to get to know Dénia better. Many streets in downtown Dénia are closed on Sunday, which makes it easy to relax and walk through the business district. Even in February, there was still a lot of outdoor activity and sidewalk drinking and dining going on. It was also striking how much of Dénia sits on a hillside, with the newer neighborhoods higher up tending to have wider streets and flatter plots.
When we planned this trip, we also took the opportunity to fly into the Alicante airport. We wanted to see it in person, since we know we’ll be using it a lot, but also to test the drive time and traffic patterns to get an idea of how long it takes to get there. Good news, it took just over an hour.
Romy, our agent at VillaLux, did a great job lining up showings, including a few properties we wouldn’t have thought to consider ourselves. We looked at homes across both towns and the area in between, and it really drove home how much the Montgó affects things depending on which side of it you’re on. The east and north sides run noticeably cooler, which matters if you want to spend as much of the year as possible outside by the pool. We’re leaning toward the sunnier south and west exposures for that reason.
You can check out the houses we viewed on this trip. They’re Houses #2 through #8 on this page.
Overall, we came away with a good idea of what we’ll get for our money as far as housing, what we’ll probably end up spending and which neighborhoods could be the right fit. For our next trip, in September, the focus shifts from exploring to actually deciding — we’ll be looking at homes we consider real candidates, meeting with our lawyers at Pellicer & Heredia, sitting down with our banker at Sabadell in Dénia, and checking out furniture stores to start getting a handle on the cost to furnish a place. If the right house comes up, we may come back with a decision made.