An Open Door to Home Ownership in the Mediterranean!
Creating your dream life is absolutely doable!
I am just a girl with an idea that became a new lifestyle opportunity - DIY. Many of my friends ask me how I did it, and encouraged me to start this blog to share my journey and experiences on how I became a semi-retired digital nomad in the paradise of the Mediterranean.
In this blog I will share with you the 5 Steps I took which changed my life forever -
and 5 Tips for finding and buying your dream home in the Mediterranean.
The 5 STEPS that Changed My Life Forever
Step #1: Visualise (and write down) your dream life in retirement. Which might beg the question, why not start living that life now?
In my forties I started think about where in the world I would want to live in my retirement. I’ve been fortunate enough to have had the opportunity via my career to live and work all over the world, and so the idea of a home base had become very blurry.
Step #2: Think about your happy place. Where do you feel the most at home, or your best self?
I have always loved the Mediterranean region: Italy, Greece, Portugal, Spain and the South of France - somewhere warm and where life seems naturally convivial - a dream of many of us born into extreme winters.
Step #3: Identify the “un-lock”. For me, it was finding a property to buy now, while still working, to kick-start my retirement plan.
I had been to many parts of the Med over the years but had no idea how to go about buying property there, what I could afford, or what it would be like to live there.
Until... one weekend while on holiday in the Med, I happened to meet friends who had just moved from Asia to the Med. The way they described it, it actually sounded doable.
Step #4: Put the plan into action. Research, find out the “how to”.
I started my search for a property in the Med right away and was really surprised to find villas and apartments still quite affordable across the Mediterranean - it’s not all George Clooney’s Lake Como or Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous in San Tropez!
Throughout the Mediterranean region you can still find land and re-buildable ruins for less than €100,000 (and in many cases much less). 2-bedroom villas and farmhouses from €100-300,000, and 3-bedroom villas and farmhouses from €200-350,000 are still plentiful - although if you want to be where the influencers are, or a property right on the sea, prices go up significantly.
The Lonely Planet makes a good summary of the real estate market throughout the Med in this post I've linked. More data updated for 2023 here.
Step 5: Put yourself where you want to be, and magic will happen. I got so excited following my research, I had to go there and see for myself what the market for properties actually looked like.
That summer I planned a few weekend trips to some of my favourite spots in the Med, for holidays, but also to look at properties. In one of those weekends, that summer -with my best mate from uni (college) and a convertible rental car - I found my dream property in the Med. After some swift due diligence I put in an offer on my dream home the next month. Within 3 months from that I had the deed and the keys to my new Med life.
How to Find Your Dream Home in the Med in a Weekend: 5 TIPS
#1. Find a Local Real Estate Agent in the country you are interested in, one that you can trust - as a foreigner there will be many different processes.
I asked different friends who were from the Med countries I was interested in for referrals. I interviewed each agent online by asking them to share a short list of properties that met my initial criteria. I chose the one that was most responsive, and seemed to understand the types of properties I was interested in. We had a zoom call before my trip to narrow down the criteria for properties I wanted to see.
This article lists European real estate websites by country - scroll down for the Med countries.
TIP: A good real estate agent will provide you with the all of the research and reports on the property. They will also facilitate all of the contracts, and even recommend a local lawyer, notary, etc. when you find the property you want to buy. A good real estate agent is your guide to finding and realising your dream!
#2. Get a Tax Number in the country you want to buy in - (once decided). Do this before you put in an offer, when you start looking at properties. You never know when magic will strike and you may want to put in an offer immediately.
My real estate agent helped me with this. While we were visiting properties, we took a quick stop in the tax office to get my tax number. I did this in person, but in some countries you may be able to do this online. I just needed my passport and the details of my permanent residence.
TIP: Tax numbers in the Med are not just needed at tax filing time or for your Bank. You also cite your tax number for everything you buy - from paying for groceries to booking services like contractors.
#3. Study up on the Real Estate and Tax Laws in the country - so that you don’t have any surprises and you know better the questions to ask. (You can search online, information is country specific. I haven’t tried this service, but it appears that you can also ask a lawyer specialised in European laws online.
Some of the things I had to learn were about rural vs. urban land plots, the amount of land you can build on, and to check that the house and any additional structures on the property are legally registered with the local authorities.
TIP: This step is important for your mortgage, as the bank will only grant you a mortgage based on the value of the legally registered structures on the land. (While the seller’s price of the house/property may include the value of all structures, registered or not). Pools, guest houses, and ruins on the land separate from the main house should be checked especially. Your Real Estate agent should be able to obtain for you the legal registrations of the house.
#4. Get a Mortgage Broker in the country you want to buy in (you can find one online, that is what I did) - and a bonus if they also know something about your home country or country of residence.
This is an important step if you have no history or financial track record in the country you want to buy in. The mortgage broker knows the local banks well and can find one that lends to your financial history profile. Again you can interview different mortgage brokers online before you choose. I chose the one that was very responsive and had a lot of experience brokering local mortgages for foreigners. I got lucky as that local mortgage broker was actually from my country of residence originally. Get pre-approved for a mortgage before you put in an offer - this will save you much anxiety.
This article explains what mortgage brokers do and provides some tips on how to select a mortgage broker (it is not Mediterranean specific however).
TIP: An important note for foreigners looking to buy a property in the Med, you will need to be prepared to put down 30-40% of the agreed price in cash. Banks will only lend 60-70% of the price of the property to foreigners (and that 60-70% is based on the bank’s valuation of the property, and not the seller’s price).
#5. Get to know the Banker negotiating your mortgage personally. Once I was pre-approved for a mortgage with a local bank via my mortgage broker, I also introduced myself to the manager of the local bank in person. This turned out to be super helpful as the bank was also able to pre-approve me for a line of credit for renovations, a local credit card, and helped me add local house insurance, and a local phone and internet plan to my monthly pre-authorised payments.
TIP: The Med is a convivial place for a reason. It is very local-centric. People want to know who you are, and believe me you want to know who they are. Getting to know the locals has been the un-lock to discovering the secrets of the Mediterranean lifestyle.
How to become a Semi-Retired Digital Nomad
It wasn’t my original plan to live in my dream house immediately. It was meant to be a long term project. A house that I would renovate over time as I planned for my retirement, and a holiday home to enjoy in the meantime.
A few years after buying my dream home in the Med, COVID 19 turned many people into digital nomads and remote professionals. This fast forwarded my plan to “retire” to the Med instantly - and has allowed me to semi-retire early by becoming a digital nomad, working remotely while I enjoy this Mediterranean paradise.
More about becoming a digital nomad at 50 in a future blog…coming soon!
Discovering the Mediterranean - Finding My Med Style
Welcome to my new blog!
Med Style: Boutique Chic
My dream is that when family and friends come to visit my little piece of the Med, they experience the essence of boutique hotel and garden chic, with a 5* chef. This would be the ultimate compliment for me, as I regularly troll Tablet for boutique hotel design ideas.
I do love DIY modern home design, beautiful gardens, experimenting with recipes, casual elegance fashion, beauty and wellness tricks!
Having had the opportunity to stay at many boutique hotels around the world over the years, I have tried to bring my favourite things about boutique hotels and wellness from different parts of the world to my Med home, garden, food, fashion and beauty rituals.
Med Style: Tips & Tricks
When I relocated to my part of the Med, I had a hard time finding shops and restaurants that matched my “boutique chic” style at first. And I had a lot to learn about living in a hot climate.
In my weekly blog, I share my latest Mediterranean discoveries from recipes to restaurants, and my favourite Med home decor shops to DIY home renovation tips. Plus all that I am learning about Mediterranean “desert” gardening, elegant fashion that keeps you cool in the heat, and hot climate beauty and wellness tricks for ageing young people.
I hope that my new blog series provides a source of inspiration for those planning to retire in paradise - no matter how young or old you are - for other fellow foreigners living in the Med or Mediterranean climates, and anyone who wants to bring a bit of the Med to their home, garden, table, and lifestyle.
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Jade
Lewon
Med
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