Gecko Towers
An essential of the New Normality is that your home needs to have a “home office”. A space where you can Zoom/Skype/Team call your clients and colleagues that says something about you with its furnishings, art and personal objects. During more usual times it likely that only your close professional colleagues and may be the occasional client gets to see the inside of your property. Now impressions can be made and lost through a poorly considered location for your laptop that already struggles with an unflattering built-in camera.
An essential skill to add to any CV is the ability to engage and communicate effectively during lengthy periods when being in an office is not a viable option. It may be more challenging when children or partners appear off screen to distract your attention.
It is understood that team building when participants are at physical distance is not ideal but such challenges will be confronted. Post-COVID 19 my suspicion is that many people who have already satisfactorily proven to their employers that they can work highly effectively from “home” will continue to have non-office days built into their regular schedule.
To best achieve that slick quasi-commercial environment in your version of domestic bliss, your home will need a great WiFi service that delivers your VOIP calls, images and attachments with speed and crystal clarity. It will also allow you and your family to enjoy IPTV across several rooms. This will usually be delivered into the broadband Internet connection of the house and no longer relies on unsightly satellite dishes.
I have painted a picture of your indoor space but the location of your home is really just as important. It’s not all about the weather. A rich, well-lived life is not evaluated by the temperature gauge or the number of annual hours of sunshine. It’s about what engaging things that you and your family enjoy that makes returning to your home such a complete pleasure.
Many who live in the Marbella region explain their “difficulty” associated with “going on holiday”, leaving their home and its innumerable benefits, to go to another location to enjoy a break. A break from what? Prior to moving to Marbella, when you went on holiday, where did you go? To the beach, the golf course, tennis courts, jet-ski outlet, favourite stables, preferred resturant, beloved kite surfing beach or beach bar. Having settled in Marbella you are surrounded by, and enjoy on a daily basis, all those things that you craved from a holiday. So the challenge is to now seek out new forms of vacation with less typical climates in lesser known countries.
The decisions that fueled your last property purchase in the UK may well have involved proximity to travel links and possibly schooling. When deciding the location of your home in the Marbella region for those with children access to great schools is a must. The area delivers at least three schools that boast astonishing results in British and Spanish competitive examinations – so that box is ticked. In addition, given the excellent travel connections you will be relieved to know that the school run could take significantly less time that the UK equivalent. Allowing Mum and/or Dad a game of padel tennis, a gym work out, a run or an early morning’s horse ride before starting a day in your home office. Just try doing that in the Home Counties or the majority of other desirable locations in the UK!
Several years ago I was in Nice and talking to a member of the then Mayor’s staff. He explained that the local authority had recently concluded an arrangement whereby Microsoft would move part of their European operations to the South of France. Why? Well, incentives in the shape of re-location grants were available but the key driver, for this forward thinking employer, was the quality of life being offered to their Human Assets would be exponential. Members of their creative, marketing and programming staff would swap some Northern European dullness for a wonderful region in Southern France full with bio-diversity and a range of positive impacts on the lifestyle of their team members.
There are many initiatives both at the Malaga Science Park facility and within the Town Halls of the municipalities along the Western Costa del Sol, broadly from Malaga to Gibraltar, to extend the hand of welcome to relocating individuals and companies who seek to better the quality of their life in the California of Europe.
Of course, life is not always entirely democratic. Not everyone can afford a multi-million Euro home in one of the beautiful gated communities of Marbella itself. The opportunity of rubbing shoulders with a billionaire might still be achieved by living in one of the many adjacent regions, or even a little inland, that deliver great potential to have your own slice of this wonderful environment for far less than you’d think.
In an era when air travel has become a little restricted, the Internet provides the would be property shopper with ample opportunity to view a lot before making a trip to settle upon their preferred region. During that journey we hope to be able to provide the comfort and security of objectivity along with a helping hand.
Should you be interested in discussing the legal process involved in buying a property in the Marbella region, we would be delighted to assist you. Our team of bi-lingual, highly experienced and wholly independent team of Abogados are ready to help you.
Please call me, Mark FR Wilkins, during usual business hours on +34 600 343 917 or, if you prefer, please e-mail me at mark@roslegal.es
Please note that our posts are for general interest. They are no substitute for proper legal advice tailored to your specific circumstances as provided by a qualified Abogado who is experienced in the application of the Spanish Law.
© Mark FR Wilkins 2020 All rights reserved.