Hi guys,

I wonder if any of you have any experience or ideas with the following?

I don't know anyone here in Madrid who owns their house/piso. My g/f and I are now thinking of moving out of La Latina and Madrid to find a house/chalet, or even land within a 1hr drive of the city (and Barajas).

She will be working in Alcobendas (north of Madrid) so we are thinking of somewhere from Tres Cantos all the way over to the Guadalajara area.

The idea of commuting an hour by car into work is now a reality in Spain so house prices are sky high in this region...€300,000+ etc We preferably would like to live in a village or small town with plenty of countryside nearby. I'm not going to list anything more otherwise it will sound like a Christmas list! (I'm sure you get the idea).

Can anyone here recommend any places to look? Any hidden or up and coming locations?

I feel we are driving around areas every w/e with the naive hope that we will come across a "perfect" village!

Does anybody here have any experience of buying land and building a home around Madrid?

Please post here if you have any input. I would really appreciate any constructive advice.

Cheers,
Mark

Hi Mark--

While we don't own our own flat yet, we are in the process that you are right now.

Our idea is to buy land and build (outside of Madrid) or look into buying a chalet in the sierra.

As far as great villages... We lived for 1.5 years in El Espinar (Segovia) which is about 65km up the A-6. My husband made the drive to Madrid in 40 mins. I would take just under an hour because I drove a smaller car and preferred to stick closer to the posted speed limit. . El Espinar/San Rafael is the first village you come to after leaving the Madrid Community and passing through the Guadarrama tunnel. I loved living there. However, with the hours that I keep at work, it makes sense for us to live in the city for now.

Other areas where we have been looking include La Cabrera which is about 60km up N-1 and the surrounding villages.