Building Insurance wiht Mapfre

Hi folks

Sandra and I have just joined the exclusive club of keyholders aon SG.

It was harder to get into than expected but following many recomendations from some other members we are now in.

I think I need another week off though, left Sunny Spain yesterday at 20+c and arrived back to snow!!

On the whole it all went smoothly,

Tuesday

Went to the bank, got draft etc. please note that the builder requires 500 euros for land tax for an eagle. Followed by solicitors, pretty straight forward stuff.

Wednesday

Roy at inspectahomes did his bit, snagging was quite easy and it was great to finally get inside the house.

Thursday

Shopping, got lost in murcia-great fun-not.

Friday

Notary in Elche, in and out in 55 minutes no problems at all, nipped back got keys and we were in!!!!

The water was already connected and the boys nipped round an hour later and connected the electricity.

Saturday

Bought sheets, toaster etc etc and the family stayed over in our new house....great!!!!!!

Thanks to

Sammy and Jackie, our new friends and next door neighbours for all your good advice.

Bobby and Sue, looking forward to seeing the garden ?Bobby, hope you enjoyed your trip home.

Steve and Jackie, founts of knowledge and energy, thanks again for all your help!

Ray, for showing us how an Eagle will look with time and TLC (didnt get a chance to buy the lights Ray, will let you know when theyre ready for you to fit)

Sandra the new Masa contact on the site, she really was helpfull, I told her the electricity and water were not on and she had 4 different vans at the door within an hour to sort things out!!

And Iberian our agents who were great, Ken and Kate, Brian and Heather and Damien.

(sounds like an Oscar acceptance speech)

Anyway, kids happy, wife happy, that makes me happy.

Theres a real community atmosphere on SG, hopefully as the numbers grow this will get even better.

Congratulations. We are hoping to sign next month if all goes well. 

As regards to the competion money, I notice you paid by Bank Draft. Masa have advised us to pay the money direct to their account. Did you have to pay for the Bank draft as I have been told that this could cost several hundred Euros?. Was this by choice you paid it this way or did your agent/Masa advise this?.

We have waited so long for this that I am panicing at the final hurdle. I am so glad everthing went well for you  and it  has helped to ease my fears

see you soon

Peter & Pat Hall 13.46 (nearly there)

Congratulations Chris and Sandra - at last!  I'm so envious, it must have been great walking into your own house at last. I'm very, very happy for you.

jane

Hi Peter and Pat.

Yea that was the one hidden cost we were not expecting, the draft cost  about 400 euro!! rip-off or what?

But I'm much to positive at the minute, I will have a good whinge about it later!!

Hi Jane

Yea it was brilliant, sandra mum and dad were with us and our three kids, we bought the kids bikes, they loved it!!

Hi Chris & Sandra

Welcome to the SG key holders club, so pleased for you.

Can't wait to get lots more SG'ers moved in.

Look forward to meeting you sometime soon.

Regards

Nigel & Stella

hi all new owners

can anyone give me the details of a good english speaking solicitor as we hope to complete this year!

we do not want to use the one atlas has recomended if possible

look forward to meeting you all later in the year

regards mal/pam

Try Paul at PSI Consultants who are also referenced on other areas of this forum

They know how to deal with MASA very well and are totally independant of any agent or developer

Tel 34 966 730 104  e-mail info@psiconsultants.es

Hi Chris & Sandra,

If your Bankers Draft cost you around 400 euros, I think that you should go back to your bank and query it. We paid 74.93 euros for our final balance bankers draft of 37,463.05 euros, and I thought that this was a rip-off!!

Hi Peter & Pat,

I would check to see if Masa (Agents, not Builders) are correct in what they say. As I understand it, payment is now accepted by bankers draft, prior to this, all deals used to be done in cash, but I have never heard of payment being made by transfer to the Builder direct, it should be at the Notary's Office.

We bank with Halifax ES, by the way.

Regards,

John B.

Hi John, the draft was for about 135k, I think there rate for the draft was .05 approx. Quite a hefty sum. And you can imagine what the exchange rate cost us two weeks ago!!

BUT

Were in!

Gotta look on the bright side!!

Now to get a nice we boat for the sunny Mar Menor!

Hi Chris & Sandra,

Bl**dy Hell!!! That probably explains your high charge, but crikey, that will have been dwarfed by the current exchange rate, which is a disaster to all current and near competions.  We completed on our Albatros in January, and had to make do with 1.325 - this cost us around £3500 more that it would have, if GM hadn't moved the goalposts, when we were due to complete, last September. 

BUT- as you also say, We  were in - what the hell !! We have had three good breaks there since we signed, and are back again on the 25th for another. We love the place, and sympathise with those who are having to wait for their properties to be released, and this is not being helped by the rotten exchange rate to the Euro, which is currently deflating property sales in Spain.

Hopefully, this will be resolved, and all prospective purchasers will become keyholders in the near future!

Regards,

John B.  

Yep John!

The exchange rate was 1.52 when we booked, I think we got 1.29 on our main payment. but there ya go, what can you do?

The place is great, we're very happy.

HI CHRIS / SANDRA

CONGRATULATIONS TO YOU BOTH ON GETTING YOUR KEY'S..  WE WERE PLEASED THAT WE GOT TO MEET YOU BOTH WHEN YOU WAS OUT THERE (CAN NOW PUT A FACE TO A NAME)....

WE WILL BE SIGNING ON FRIDAY NOW... SO SHOULD MOVE IN ON SATURDAY / SUNDAY........

DID ENJOY GOING BACK TO THE UK FOR A WEEK TO SEE THE KID'S AND SOME OF MY MATE'S (BUT IT WAS SO COLD)....

BE A LONG TIME NOW UNTIL I GO BACK TO THE UK  AGAIN,  AS I HAVE GOT  LOTS OF JOBS TO CATCH UP ON....AND SORT MY OWN PLACE OUT....

SO AS FROM NEXT WEEK,  IF ANYONE IS COMING OVER FROM THE UK  FOR A VISIT.. THEN YOU ARE MORE THEN WELCOME TO COME IN FOR A CUPPA  AND A CHIT -CHAT.... ( M13-15)...

REGARDS ROB / SUE....

What were the notary and solicitors costs

we are hoping to complete in a couple of weeks

steveand rosa 14.43

Hi Steeve & Rosa

Our agent charged a percentage, this included all costs so I'm not sure.

You will also need an interpreter which will probably be supplied by your solicitor.

We signed in Elche, in and out in 55 minutes.

You will need to pay the vat too, I think its 7% and about 500 euro land tax.

Your solicitor should take care of all this, give them a shout and ask them to take you through the process.

Hope this helps a little.

Chris

We were atlas clients and although fed up we have used the solicitors as recommended by them Aroco Sequeria in Punta Prima

As far as we are concerned we had no problems and are really pleased with their service we paid 860 euros when first out to them as advised.

we have completed our spainish wills with them at a total cost of 300 euros which included notary  and interpreter very straightforward .

they are holding our NIE adn title deeds and wills for us and will charge a yearly rate for us htis gives us security. The notary for the wills was in Torrevieja not elche like MASA.

Den and Trisha

 We did not jmanage to set up the house when out in Jan but have just returned after a very fantastic week feel really like SG owners and thanks for all making us so welcome.  

Thanks for your info

we completed last week

steve & rosa