Casa Rural advice

[Liftman]

Mr & Mrs Liftman are headed out for another recce trip next month and would like to ask the knowledgeable on the forum their advice.

We would like to buy a rural house away from the tourist area.

We are thinking of either Icod de los Vinos area, or Granadilla on the opposite side of the island,

Can anyone shed any light on any serious pros or cons for either of these areas?

Many thanks in advance

[Leam_Lin]

Welcome to the forum, first thing I would think of is how secure will my property be when I am not there.

[Faraway]

I have a house with a garden in Icod and it is sheltered in the pine tres, i.e. fairly isolated. I often leave it for months at a time and its perfectly ok. Personally I consider it much safer in the north than the south. It is for sale by the way!

[Liftman]

Welcome to the forum, first thing I would think of is how secure will my property be when I am not there.

Security would, of course, be important.

I would think in a rural area, physical security would be the best bet, rather than fancy alarms.

And also, a big dog.

[cainaries]

But who will feed the big dog when you aren't there - or are you going to feed it hamburglars? Sorry, couldn't resist but not very helpful reply, sorry.

[Liftman]

But who will feed the big dog when you aren't there - or are you going to feed it hamburglars? Sorry, couldn't resist but not very helpful reply, sorry.

Don't intend to "not being there". This will be a permanent move.

Not sure they allow 20,000 volt electric fences in the Canaries. :devil2:

[Megaloo]

We love the North but people in the South may have another opinion :devil2:

[Liftman]

I have a house with a garden in Icod and it is sheltered in the pine tres, i.e. fairly isolated. I often leave it for months at a time and its perfectly ok. Personally I consider it much safer in the north than the south. It is for sale by the way!

Is it listed with any agents so I can see some details?

[cressrt]

We live in the South in a very Rural Finca above Charco del Pino, our property is fenced and we have dogs, we have had no problems for the time we have lived in this property, over 5 years. We are the only non Spanish in our immediate area, however there are other nationalities in the village. Everyone is very friendly and our limited Spanish has not been any hindered us at all. There are however few properties for sale at a reasonable price.

[languagefan]

Icod is lovely, but can be quite cold during the winter.

[Liftman]

Icod is lovely, but can be quite cold during the winter.

What is your definition of cold?

Is that a UK cold, or a Tenerife cold?

[Megaloo]

Tenerife cold I am sure

[cressrt]

At our Finca it can get down to 3C in Winter, and 50C+ in Summer, as a simple rule the temperature is 1C lower per 100m when it is cold and 1C higher per 100m when hot. We live above 900m. We have a log fire using it daily from about the beginning of December until March or April and a Gas fire as needed, Air Con is essential when it is very hot.
We have different weather to the coastal areas and living rural is is not to everyone's taste, no bars restaurants or shops to walk to, we have to drive to get anywhere.

[Liftman]

This is great information cressrt, many thanks.

How would you say the rainfall compares to the UK and to the South? I know it rarely rains in Los cris etc, but do you have a lot of rain?

[cressrt]

There is more rain the higher up the mountain you live, yes we get more rain but nothing compared to the UK. We have lived here for almost 10 years and there is more rain now then when we moved here, that's down to the climate change.
There is a micro climate on the island, which means you can have torrential rain where you are, but a few kilometres away it is sunny!
We have had a "few spots" of rain today but it is clear by the coast, anyone looking up the mountain would see cloud, and where there is cloud there can be rain.
We would never live in a tourist area again, it's not for us, but each to their own!

[emmlouise]

Hi,

We are looking at buying a property in Charco del Pino. Any advise on the area at all? The village looks nice but it would be helpful to have some opinions from people that know the area!

[garlicbread]

There is a micro climate on the west coast between Los Gigantes and Callao Salvaje which , in my opinion, is close to being the best climate in the world (for someone from Northern Europe), certainly it's the best climate in Tenerife, and I've lived there for 13 years. Living in a rural area may sound idyllic but this is Tenerife and, again in my opinion, if you stray too far from the coast and/or a village or town, you will be isolated if you don't speak the language. Infrastructure, including things like the internet(ADSL) is also likely to be primitive, and distances to your heath centre, major supermarkets and the like could well be inconvenient, transport will be a must. As others have said as you go higher up from the coast temperature variations can be great and heating and air con will be a must if you want to live in comfort. A good rule of thumb is to live "below the banana line" i.e. don't go higher than about 200 metres ASL, below this then temperature variation is a lot less.
Icod de los Vinos is a fair size town and there will be a lot of "rural" type places around it but it is clsoe to the the north coast and hence much colder and wetter than in the south or west. Grenadilla is of similar size but probably has a better climate, I know it but don't have experience of this place, so maybe someone else will come along who has knowledge of the area.

[cressrt]

See my posts, we live above Charco del PIno.