When is a pushy developer not a pushy developer?

We have now been back from our trip for nearly two weeks. This isn't a complaint, i'm just trying to get my head around why some purchases are so laid back while others are so frantic. They haven't even had our money yet!!

The trip itself was very informative although the agent and developer "played their games" with us and we eventually decided to purchase a key ready property. The developer's last words to us were "the contract will be with your solicitor by Wednesday". Have the contract reviewed and then he will send the 6000€ deposit once all is good. To date, no contract from developer!!! The purchase seems to have reached a stalemate, hope they haven't sold it on again!!!! We can't proceed any further in getting a mortgage without the contract and are in a bit of a limbo. With the upcoming shutdown of Spain, that is another month we are going to have to wait before we can get our hands on the property, I hope the wait is worth it .

Mark

How very odd, Mark. I'm surprised it's this laid back as it gives you time to change your mind, doesn't it ? I'm sure you'll be able to part with your money soon enough. Hope all goes well for you.

I'm waiting to complete on a new property that is finished and just waiting for the LFO. I spoke with the developer today and asked what the state of play is. He reckons maybe end of September/ early October, since obviously nothing is going to happen at the Town hall over the forthcoming month. I asked if there was any chance of signing and/or getting the keys before the LFO is issued , and was given a categoric "No". Hooray for law and order and honesty and doing stuff the right way - boo hoo for me, because it's only a bl**dy storage room for Crisakes, and I'm desperate to get my tools out of our spare shower finally!

Incidentally, if anyone is interested in a brand new 2 bed apartment with garage in the centre of Torremolinos, I know of a very reputable developer (not at all pushy) who still has 5 available in a nice block of 21!

My solicitor and I are wondering if it is taking so long because it isn't "one of the usual" solicitors being used and are therefore taking their time to make sure it is correct? I had some contact with the agent yesterday who seemed concerned that no contract had yet been received and said they will chase the developer on Monday. Meanwhile......... Ho hum.

Mark

Almost 3 weeks now and still no contract . It's getting a bit tedious now. This is a key ready property for goodness sake and surely the developer would be wanting rid to stop making payments on the builders mortgage??? MRI have said they wil send someone from the Mojacor office to "lean" on Key Mare, but they obviously aren't doing a very good job. My solicitor has rung them several times and I have also emailed them. What the blinkin' flip is going on????

Mark

Could just be a case of Augustitus - nothing happens in Spain during August (even some supermarket shelves become empty due to a lack of deliveries) and some companies start getting in to practice for August in the last couple of weeks of July! I've been pushing on behalf of our community to get the builder to come and do some minor repairs (under guarantee) since early July. I now don't expect to see anybody until September, and will not even waste a phone call chasing them until then. I hope for you it's just a similar problem, and all will come right in the end. Patience is a virtue - doubly so in Spain.

I knew about the August thing which is why I had hoped the contract would have been ready by now. Bear in mind, the €6000 still hasn't been handed over to Key Mare yet and will be sitting nicely in my solicitor's Escrow account (do they earn interest?). It is just annoying that nothing can be done without the contract. No valuation for the mortgage, no searches, no nothing!! My biggest concern is that Key Mare sell it to someone else although we have a reservation contract with them via MRI.

It makes me laugh to read about how pushy developers/ agents are, yet once they have you!!! Again, I could understand if it were a plot of land that wasn't due to be finished for another two years, but it is finished!! It is so infuriating as it will be deteriorating (not much I know, but it is the principle) all the time meaning that potentially we have more work to do on it when/ if we get out there. We were hoping to complete sometime in September, but I think that may be pie in the sky!

Mark

Looks as though the builder has not got all the paper work sorted otherwise he would get you in straight away!!

Your lawyer should be able to advise you on this...perhaps he has asked for a habitation certificate and they have'nt got them yet!

Your agent should be looking after you......clearly you want in asap but if you end up getting no action you will just have to [a] wait or [b] find another key ready

You can move into a new or re sale property in Spain in the same time scale as you would in UKi

This message was last edited by rowlandsbb on 8/1/2007.

[quote]Looks as though the builder has not got all the paper work sorted otherwise he would get you in straight away!![/quote]

That is what we thought as we have independent solicitors and not the usual tied in ones. I would imagine all the licenses are in place as there are now only 2 or 3 empty units of the 150 odd on the site.

We don't want in ASAP, but we would like some sort of confirmation (in the form of a contract) that we are going to get in sometime soon.

Mark

It could be the "August" factor but there is another factor here - the "MRI" factor!!!

Our NIE paperwork was lost by the subdelegacion but it took MRI 4 weeks to tell us & then another 3 weeks to find them & get it sorted.

You have to realise that unless you keep up the pressure on MRI, they will do nothing.

You might try enlisting the help of Phil Bowers at Key Mare - He is very knowledgeable & helpful & just might be able to point you in the right direction.

Noreen

Some people do move in without the habitation licence on builders electric and water!!

[quote]You might try enlisting the help of Phil Bowers at Key Mare - He is very knowledgeable & helpful & just might be able to point you in the right direction.[/quote]

Tried him. Initially very helpful when looking for someone to maintain the property, but no response since asking him to "kick some butt"

[quote]Some people do move in without the habitation licence on builders electric and water!![/quote]

I realise this, but I spoke to the couple downstairs when we were viewing (both times), they are from Manchester and said that they had their own supply and all the licenses.

Mark

 

Just been re- reading the reservation contract, there is a clause that states:

"Once this offer and reservation receipt is confirmedby the vendor, the reservation deposit will become non- refundable except non- fulfilment by the vendor. In this event, the deposit will be refundable and the buyer representative may obtain legal compensation".

There is no time scale shown as to what constitutes non- fulfilment, but another clause states:

"If the buyer fails to prove transfer of the amount specified in the Terms of Payment (Section A) within 1 month from date of this document to his/ her legal representative, the seller will be fully entitled to reslove this agreement and the reservation deposit will become non- refundable"

So if 1 month is good enough for MRI/ Key Mare to be breach of contract, then it should work that way for us, or am I being a bit too naive?

Mark

From your previous post you have only paid the reservation fee of 6.000 € to your lawyers and not to the builder or MRI

So it would seem that you can back out at any time

Why did you have to pay a 6.000 € reservation fee?

The people I deal with in Spain and the builders we deal with only want 3000 € which is normal

Then you pay 30% deposit on off plan and balance on completion [ with bank guarantee] or if ready now or re-sale 10% when you sign the contract and balance when you complete [ like UK] which can be 4/5 weeks from signing the contract

Seems to me you are getting 'p....d off' with everything

Myself and I think others on this forum could get you sorted in 6/8 weeks with something as good if not better

I am only involved between Alicante and Mojacar where you do get the best value in Southern Spain [can not help with C d Sol ] so e-mail me or PM   

 

Like many other things in Spain, the reservation fee seems to depend on the company.  My new builders asked for a €3000 reservation which I am now told is standard.  However, when I went with Atlas about five years ago, the reservation fee was 10% of the price of the property.  I paid £66,000 therefore the reservation fee was £6,600.  Atlas asked all those on the inspection trip for 10% reservation.  At the time, I was under the impression that this was the norm.  You live and learn.

(Aren't Atlas and MRI joined at the hip? or have I got that wrong)

If I ever tried speaking to MRI about Atlas, they quickly changed the subject. the office manager wouldn't even mention their name, which I thought to be a bit childish. I even took my Atlas brochure to the MRI exhibition, that went down like a lead balloon .

You are correct rowlandsbb, the deposit was only paid to our solicitor and not the builder, he still has it in his escrow account. Yes, I suppose we could back out at any time, but money has already been spent on some of the legal fees (not a great deal granted), but I don't really want to take the risk of me being at fault and forfeiting.

The €6000 is all we pay now until completion, it is straight to mortgage. The solicitor didn't seem concerned that we were paying to much, i'm sure he would have said as he is an independent. So far we have done everything the solicitor's way and I am sure this is what is holding things up. Doesn't stop you thinking that there is something wrong with the property/ development though! Also doesn't do much for the builder's/ agent's reputation that it takes them so long to issue what should be a pretty generic contract, after all, everyone else on the development has a valid contract don't they????????????

Mark

Mortgage may be part of the problem

whilst there are good terms available [ up to 40 years [ paid off by 80!] and up to 15 years interest only the property does have to be valued at or near your asking price

Also it is a good test to see if the development does have all the permits as independant banks will not lend if it does not

Woo hoo!!!! the contract has arrived today . Wonder if it will have to go back for alterations, I hope not???? Coincidentally, the power of attorney reached the solicitor today as well, now we're cooking with gas!!! I believe the mortgage side of things shouldn't be too much of a problem, looking at resale apartments in and around the area (one exactly the same with a huge asking price) I think it is priced realistically somewhere around where it should be taking  into account that many people are out for the most they can get.

Now to try and persuade the banks to hurry up over August, ha ha .

Mark

Great news, Mark.

Two phone calls from our solicitor today, both from the builder's office. First was to confirm the fittings and second was to tell us the contract was signed and all being well with the mortgage, it will be ours at the end of September . The solicitor has also put in a 15 day extra cluse "just in case!!!"

Mark