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.