09 Oct 2008 2:15 AM:

I hope you won't mind the intrusion - you can e-mail me separately if you wish after this e-mail if you don't want to get into a discussion with hundreds of others.  Get your money back on this Off-Plan right away if you have any sense of self preservation.  The off-plan sales are a disaster for most people who have gone that route.  I am one of them.  We bought off-plan in October 2003 and the property was completedf in October 2007 but the site was not finished but we had to complete otherwise lose all the money we had already paid to the developer.  To this date the property still has issues and site is not completed.  In our off-plan site we have 277 properties with only very few sold or being used throughout the year.  On the other site again only 14 sold.  Burglary has been a big issue on these sites as well as people being in them illegally and using the facilities without permission.  It has been a nightmare setting up the services on both sites which we are only getting to grips with one year later.  My best advice to you would be to buy something which is already built and has someone living in it and they have no issues with their documents, etc.  Most solicitors in Spain are only conveyancing solicitors who you deal with and they are not equipped to take your developer to court there in Spain if anything happens to the off-plan buying.  There are currently hundreds of people in England and other countries in Europe who have nothign for the money they have paid for their off-plan properties and are trying desperately to get their money back from someone.  DO NOT use any solicitors to convey this property in England or Spain who have been recommended to you by the Off-Plan Sales Person.  They are franchise operators who walk away with your money having sold you a lemon.  Most of them are in financial business usually advisors of some kind and the only person they are interested in is themselves.  You will not get any follow up from them.  Sincerely, C. Frayne



This message was last edited by carolfrayne on 10/9/2008.
Thread: Agents Commision

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10 Sep 2008 5:00 PM:

You must be devastated by what you have found out and pretty much it is the same story for most people who have bought offf plan. Maria de Castro is great at helping out and you might have to seek her out to start some proceedings to get your money back. We were told that if we didn't complete we would lose all our money not just 50%!! Our Spanish solicitor was not able to help us in the event we had to complete before snagging was done and before the site was complete. We also had no water or electricity hooked up because of fights between the developer and those people about documentation! I am not sure what is worse - take a 50% loss and move on with your life or wait until completion and then take them to task using more of your hard earned money. A lot of people who are trying to get their money back also have mortgages on their properties and cannot pay them because they either cannot rent their properties out because the market is terrible or because the properties are incomplete, too small, etc. that they cannot sell them either. In relating this story I have to tell you that we purchased in October 2003 and delivery wasn't until October 2007 and even then we could not use the apartments because they were incomplete. All sorts of reasons why they didn't complete on time and we didn't seem to have any recourse against either OVPI or developers. Hopefully others will write back with a view to giving you some furher advice and then you will be able to make the necessary decisions to protect your money.

Thread: rental

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14 Aug 2008 12:00 AM:

Does anyone on these message boards know of a person actually getting any money in their hands as compensation for non-build, late build, bad conveyancing, bad building construction, wrong specifications?  If there is anyone I would be interested to know not necessarily all your private details but who you used to obtain the compensation and how long it took from start to finish and if you actually did receive money or just the promise of a settlement.
 

Thread: MONETARY COMPENSATION FROM ANYONE INVOLVED IN LOSING THEIR MONEY

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09 Aug 2008 9:15 PM:

Are you kidding us!  No wonder the rest of the world is going broke!

Thread: grace period for mortgage defaulters

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29 Jul 2008 3:53 PM:

Palm Estates are good folks to deal with.  Viva Estates a little more expensive at 7% and Unicasa (who have shut down some small branches but still have their major offices).
We have been trying to sell our two apartments in Spain on Costa del Sol, Estepona area for the past 8 months using all methods from estate agents to web sites, etc., etc. and have spent some considerable time and not a little money doing so but have absolutely no replies.  Friends also don't have money for them and renting them out doesn't seem to be an option with the rents now being so low.  I am told by our rental agent that because of the amount of empty property out there now in Spain that this is the reason rents are so low.  If you take into account rent you receive and then all your expenses somehow they don't get paid once tax, etc. has been paid.  Sorry also to be gloomy about this situation but I am in USA and we are also seeing the same here with our properties.  Can't sell, can't rent!    

Chin up and keep trying that's my advice to everyone.  Don't give up until the fat lady sings!!


Thread: Hello

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