24 Jun 2007 12:00 AM:

A friend visited the site last week and informed us since my last visit nothing had been done in Block 8.

I have asked for a breakdown of the charges on the rental programme and are listed below:

Cleaning £60.00

Key Holding £55.00 per month - At the start we were told that Ocean View were to have an office on site to pick the keys up.  Now they will be left at the Airport.  This means that you will have to queue up to collect your car and then queue up to collect the keys.  Knowing how long you can wait you could be at the Airport for sometime.

OPV will take commision between 10 to 25% of the rental

If the holiday maker goes for a week they get a car and guess who pays for that us £80.00 aprox

Then there is electricity used and guess what if the holiday maker leaves and they leave the air con on that will push up the bill.

I have worked out that we will be lucky to get £34 per week in the off season and £297 per week in high season.

Also in the small print Ocean View say that the rentals will only cover the interest payment, only just picked that one up.

With the above figures in mind we are pulling out of the Rental programme and furniture package as I have been talking to local providers.  Cleaning 12.00 Euros per hours They say 2 hour to clean the apartment.  Laundry 12 euro for a 8 kilo bag,  no charge for holding the keys.  They say that they will manage and supply the furniture and that includes air con to a required standard.

Ben from Ocean View first told us that our kitchen would be stripped out and replaced and then we were told no they will put in extra cupboards.  I can only see one location for the cupboard and that will be wall mounted at the far end,  so again you will not be able to reach it without a pair of steps (lets hope they are thrown in).  Like others I think the kitchens should be taken out and redesigned and before they are refited the design is sent out to ALL buyers to approve.

We are very happy with the apartment (except the kitchen) and our location.  We are very disappointed with the build time 4 years and reading other comments another year for snagging.  I would say there is little or no rental protential this year.  As we are pulling out of the funiture package has any one got their deposit back.

Community thread: Furniture For Sale

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26 May 2007 12:00 AM:

Made a visit to the development and file the following report.

 We have purchased in Block 8 and found the following.

1.  Kitchen is a joke.  There is only one cupboard below the sink and 4 very small drawers, so we could not understand where items are going to be stored.  There is no drainer so water will get into the worktop will rot within a few years.  Also the sink is about  4 inches from the electric hob, so be careful when using the sink and hob.   There js no room to prepare food as the work surface is small.  There are 3 main sockets by the serving hatch which cannot be used as nowhere near the work surface.  

2.  Small Bathroom,  The shower is located by the corner of the room as shown in the plan, only one problem here when the shower surround is completed you will not be able to open the window as it is half in and half out of the shower.

3.  Front door on the day we visited it was raining and the rain was coming under the door as there was nothing to stop the  water.

4.  Common areas,  Lifts not installed,  halls need to be painted,  door entry system not completed,  gardens will look nice when they have been weeded.

5.  Surrounding area,  There are 3 developments and looks like there will be a fourth (diggers are there and looks like they are clearing the site for building.  First site is at the top of the hill and is well under way, next down is the Manilva Gardens looks about half done and the last is a 5 storey block of apartments for residential. which look nearly complete  As I see it we will have lorries up and down the hill for sometime yet.  This will have a major effect on the rental value as the client will have to be told that there is building works in progress.

Conclusions.  The main building works are completed, but there are a lot of small outstanding jobs to be finshed.  I feel that if you like us are going into the rental scheme you will be lucky to get any returns until next year.  I have spoken to Ocean View and I was told that it will take 6 to 8 weeks to get the furniture in and fitted.  The state of our apartment needs a good clean that should only take a day as it is only surface dirt.  We have not checked the water or electrics as not connected.  One last point check the front door as everyone we checked the brass furniture looks about 20 years old (cheap).  My lasting impression is it ok for a 3 or 7 day stay and no longer.  We will be looking at stripping out the kitchen and getting in our builder from the UK to design and build it for us.

If any one has any questions I will be happy to answer them from what I have seen.    

Community thread: Site Visit to Manilva Beach 26th May 2007

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