moving to GC

[the great lex]

hi my partner and i are loking to move to GC asap with my two dogs and i just dont know where to start. as far as i am aware we need to get jobs and an apartment before i cant up sticks and move over there. I have a house that i intend to rent while i am living in GC but there seem to be few guarentees that i will get either a job or an apartment before actually being on the island.
Any suggestions please would be very welcome.

thanks. x:rose:

[2-islandangie]

You could advertise for work in Tips & Info (a fortnightly magazine in english)
You can visit their website on www.tipsandinfo.com (http://www.tipsandinfo.com) . It would be better to come out on a holiday to check things out first. Otherwise it would be dificult bringing the dogs out.(As well as being expensive)
Getting an apartment isn't such a problem but the jobs are the prime concern. Hope you are able to achieve it soon.

[mary]

You need to be on the island to get a job really - people dont tend to hold jobs for people.
Angie's right - tips and info advertise jobs or you can put one in there. It really depends on what kind of work you are looking for, wether you speak spanish etc etc
Book a holiday and knock on a few doors might be a good way to start

[the great lex]

thanks for the advice. :banana:
We recently went for a holiday and visited my sister who is a tour operator in puerto rico. So we stayed in apartments with her and some of the local spanish people, we both speak poco spanish (really not alot). Do you think we would survive if we got some cash together and came over in november this year. Are we likely to find work that time of year?? Any kind of work will do although until we have a handle on the language i suppose it will need to be bar or cleaning work!! the dogs arent too much of a propblem i have some information on bringing them over but i obviously dont want to do it unless we can stay. i really want this to work. thanks for ur advice anything comes to mind please reply.
thank you, fabulous people.:grin:

[mary]

November is a really quiet time of year and everyone struggles a bit. Its much quieter through the winter and people dont tend to be taking on staff. Bar work etc is available but the pay is poor and so you need to have a bit of cash to pay the rent, bills etc to carry you through until the summer, when you would be more likely to get work.
Its a lovely island and I try and encourage everyone to come over and try it - you only live once - but its not like being on holiday and is hard work.
If you came over for a couple of weeks hols and then looked for somewhere to live you will find something, but leave the dogs behind until you're sorted out. When renting, the agents often ask for at least one months rents as a deposit, equivalent of a month rent for their payment and then 2/3 months rent up front. So if you are looking at somewhere for 600 euros a month - thats 3000 euros for 3 months - and in PR that would only be a 1 bed flat.

Sorry its bit doom and gloom but at least you have some facts - they are only my view and others may give you a different slant.

Renting your house in the uk is a good idea, so at least the mortgage is paid or you get a little cash from that