Advice sought where to consider living

[Dazlie]

Hi,

We’re Darren & Julie, looking to move over to Malta mid-2015 after our youngest has finished school.

We did have a week in St Julian’s for our honeymoon just last month, and although we didn’t see too much of the Island we do like the ‘feel’ of the place, though found St Julian’s to be too busy and ‘young’ for our liking.

We’re planning on coming back over at the end of October for a business conference and to do some more exploring of the island but are hoping that you may be able to advise us what areas may be worth is delving into a little deeper in terms of location and potential housing types.

Darren is a Company Director of a UK Ltd, and also a sole trader of another business - both online based and easily portable in terms of employment once we arrive as those would continue.

The needs are:

Stable, fast internet connection
Walking distance to shops

Nice to haves are:

Close to beach
Car parking
Own outdoor space - yard or garden
Non-apartment

This is obviously quite vague, but somewhere to start. We’re not into the hustle and bustle, and would much prefer a quieter village type to a nightlife town.

Any advice would be much appreciated.
In terms of rental budget we’d be looking up to €650-700 / month and of course be looking at a long-term rental.

[gozomark]

Welcome to the forum, and thank you for becoming premium members

I'm not sure if its good news or bad, but your criteria don't really narrow your options down much. Most of Gozo would fulfil your criteria, as would large parts of Malta. Sounds like avoid St Julians, Sliema and areas like that.

[chris green]

Hi Dazlie,
Welcome to the BE Malta Forum.

If you are planning to remain in Malta long term I would suggest you try to remain flexible about committing to any particular area initially. However, I am reminded of one previous contributor who lived with his wife and two teens in Attard, where they rented a semi. He (Pumabob) spoke highly of the Attard area and they lived there very happily. This would be a good base from which to explore other villages but I suspect you might choose that more central area and take Mosta and Naxxar into your search. Mellieha should receive your attention as the village and beach are very popular among the more discerning Brits. It is a little further north but then nowhere is far on these islands.
Keep the questions coming and we'll try to help out. c

[Dazlie]

Thanks gozomark, we think it's good news. We didn't want to be too fussy so relieved that there's plenty of options.
Looking on some of the estate agents late last night Gozo did seem to have a lot to offer. Found ourselves liking every other property!

Chris' idea sounds good regards flexibility. We'd certainly rent somewhere initially before making any drastic decisions such as a purchase before we were 100% sure we'd found the right area. Beauty of Malta of course being that nowhere is too far.

At the moment we're looking to come over for the last week of October with the intention of doling a lot of exploring!

[Kay]

Hi, welcome from me too and thanks for subscribing to Premium Membership.

Whilst estate agents' sites can be indicative of the sort of thing you might be able to find, the properties listed are often duplicates and old listings. Apparently the agents keep them listed to make their sites look busier. If you get a chance to look at some other threads here on the subject, you'll see that most people haven't been able to get the properties they identified on the agents' sites.

That said, we've never had a member yet with realistic expectations who was unable to find what they were looking for. Good luck!

[Dazlie]

Thanks Kay.
We've booked flights and an apartment for a week at the end of next month into November.

Looking forward to doing some more exploring

[Dazlie]

Well we're now here for the third time!
Staying in Qawra until the end of this week then back home to England for what will hopefully be our last English winter!

[Dazlie]

Time for an update...

Recently back from our 4th trip and now on the countdown to moving....
We're officially moving to Malta early July

[gozomark]

congratulations

[SandT]

Which town did you decide to settle down in to start with, Dazlie?