Just bought a home on the Costa Blanca: the first 90 days

Week one: take control of the house

Start with the things that are hard to reconstruct later. A few hours on the first day save weeks of guessing.

• Count every key you received and replace the cylinders in the outside doors. You do not know how many copies are in circulation.
• Photograph the water, electricity and gas meters with the date visible. Those readings settle any discussion with the previous owner or the supplier.
• Make a photo inventory of every room, including the furniture and appliances that were part of the sale.
• Find the main water stopcock, the fuse box and the electrical panel of the pool, and label them.
• Collect the alarm codes, gate remotes and Wi-Fi details, and change the codes.

Month one: contracts, taxes and paperwork

Electricity, water and internet have to move into your name, each with a bank account that can be used for SEPA direct debit. Water is usually handled by a local supplier per town, so the procedure in Jávea differs from the one in Dénia. Check the contracted electrical power as well: many holiday homes are set too low for air conditioning and a pool pump running together, or too high for a house that stands empty half the year.

The town hall and the tax office also need to know who owns the house. The annual property tax (IBI) and the refuse charge are easiest by direct debit, and non-resident owners file a yearly tax return even when the house is not rented out. A local gestor can take this off your hands. We are not tax advisers, so for this part we point you to one.

Insurance: read the vacancy clause first

Take out home insurance from the day of completion and read one clause before anything else: what happens when the house is unoccupied. Many Spanish policies limit cover for water damage or burglary after 30 to 60 consecutive days without anyone there.

If you will not be in Spain all year, you need either a policy that allows longer absences or documented visits that keep the house within the terms. Our guide on insurance for an empty home explains how that works.

Get to know the systems in the house

A house here has installations that many homes further north do not. Have each of them explained or inspected once, and write down what you learn.

• Pool: pump, filter, timer and dosing. Ask when the filter medium was last replaced.
• Irrigation: where the controller is, which zones it waters and whether anything leaks.
• Hot water and heating: boiler, heat pump or solar thermal, and the date of the last service.
• Air conditioning: clean the filters and test every unit in both heating and cooling mode.
• Roof, gutters and terrace drains: have them checked before the first autumn rain.

Your first stays: arrive at a home, not at a project

The first visits after the purchase set the tone. If every arrival starts with airing, cleaning and a trip to the supermarket, the house turns into work. It does not have to.

We prepare the house before you come: cleaned, aired, beds made and the pool ready. With our grocery service the fridge is filled from your list, and with an airport transfer the ride from Alicante or Valencia is arranged too. You land, you arrive and the holiday has started.

By day 90: a routine that runs without you

After three months you know the house and its weak spots. That is the moment to turn the list into a rhythm.

• A fixed schedule of visits for the periods you are away, with a report after each one.
• A seasonal maintenance plan for the pool, the garden, the roof and the installations.
• One list of trusted trades with phone numbers: electrician, plumber, pool technician and locksmith.
• A key holder who can let people in and who gets the call when the alarm goes off.