From San Francisco to Spain: How they bought a stunning home for just $50,000

When John Flores and Michael Leites were looking for a home to spend the rest of their lives in, they realized it was too expensive to live in San Francisco. Instead, they began looking for a house in other neighborhoods - opting for a beautiful three-story, 120-year-old house in rural Spain that cost them less than $50,000. Both Flores and Leites worked in education in the U.S. before retiring - Leites was a high school history teacher and Flores worked as an administrator at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). They were both happy with their lives in San Francisco, but realized that living in rented housing in retirement would be unaffordable on a much lower income. "Europe was the obvious choice for us," says Leites. "I'm part German and Irish, so I have European roots from my family. John is part Mexican, which explains the connection to Spain, and he is fluent in Spanish. " The closest place to the California lifestyle in Europe is Spain, so the choice was easy for us.

The couple started looking for their future home in the Spanish city of Valencia

but they thought it was too expensive. Flores and Leites aren't the only ones who have made the decision to move to Europe in recent years - according to a report by migration consulting agency Global Citizen Solutions, more and more Americans are choosing Spain as a business and retirement destination. One reason is probably Spain's mild year-round climate and relaxed lifestyle, as well as relatively cheap essentials including high quality food and wine. Visa and residency requirements have also been greatly simplified in recent years. Spain is keen to attract foreign nationals to live and work to cope with a huge urbanization slump, especially in rural areas, and is happy to welcome digital nomads as well as rich people, retirees and vacation home owners.

But finding the right place and moving to another country wasn't easy for Flores and Leites.

"We were well aware that our move would not come without obstacles," Leites says. "I had never undertaken such a venture, but John had previously done something similar in Phoenix, so he had more ideas than I did." They faced many obstacles in making the move.

Buying and selling real estate in Europe is very different from the situation in the United States. The whole process is much more formal and involves notaries, land registries and officials such as sworn interpreters. And, of course, there are language and cultural barriers. As retirees, Flores and Leites didn't worry about schools and education - an important factor for those planning to move to Europe with children. Michael Leitz After much research, they chose the charming market town of Hativa. Due to their profession as teachers, they had many vacations and used them to explore Spain and Europe before their move. Spain is a huge country with many different regions, from the snowy mountains in the north to the beaches and islands of the Mediterranean. There are rural valleys, cozy romantic villages and major cities such as Madrid, Barcelona, Seville and Málaga. Flores and Leites traveled across the country for several years, surveying cultural changes such as long siestas, numerous public holidays and the fact that stores are not open on Sundays. Having decided on Spain and with retirement still ahead of them, they began to prepare by refreshing their knowledge of the local language, which they were already familiar with from living in California. Since the work phase of the home purchase was completed in the summer of 2022, they were able to move in and say they were fully integrated into the new community. They have made many friends, including locals and other foreigners, and say they love the way everyone greets each other on the street. They are also already used to living in a small, quiet town where everything closes from two to five p.m.