Moving from San Francisco to Spain, they bought a beautiful home for $50,000: Here's how they did it.

CNN - When John Flores and Michael Leitz were looking for a home in which to spend the next phase of their lives, they realized it was too expensive to live in San Francisco. Instead, they started looking for a house further away from home and ended up buying a beautiful three-story house in the Spanish countryside, old for more than 120 years, for less than $50,000. Both worked in education in the U.S. before retiring, Leitz was a high school history teacher and Flores an administrator at UCLA. They both say they loved their lifestyle in San Francisco, but realized that with their pensions well below their salaries, they couldn't afford to rent and live there. They decided that "Europe was the obvious choice for us," Leitz said. "I am part German and Irish, so I have European roots. John is part Mexican, which suggests a connection to Spain, and he speaks Spanish."

"The closest thing to the Californian lifestyle in Europe is Spain, so the choice was an obvious one for us."

The couple began their search for a home

in the Spanish city of Valencia, but thought it was too expensive. They are not the only ones, however.

One of the attractions of Spain is probably its mild year-round climate and relaxed lifestyle, combined with relatively inexpensive essentials, including high quality food and wine. Visa and residency requirements have also become much easier in recent years. Spain is keen to attract foreign nationals to counter the huge depopulation, especially in rural areas, and welcomes virtual nomads as well as wealthy individuals, retirees and vacation home owners.

Finding the right place and moving to another country was far from easy for Flores and Leitz. "We were well aware that moving was not without its obstacles," Leitz says. "I had never undertaken such an endeavor before, but many years before we met, John had done something similar in Phoenix, so he had more ideas than I did."

Inevitably, the couple had to overcome many challenges to make the move. Buying and selling real estate in Europe is quite different from the process in the United States. The entire process is much more formal, including notaries, land registries, and officials such as certified translators. And, of course, there are language and cultural hurdles.

As retirees, Flores and Leitz didn't have to worry about schools and education, major considerations for potential emigrants moving to Europe with children. Siestas and quiet Sundays.