mortgage approval

In follow up to the last message posted by Damon, I wanted to let people know that we have cancelled our contract with little complication and we have actually made money, what with the exchange rate being favourable for Euros to pounds and the interest earned by the account they put the deposit in.  The alarm bells rang for us just after Christmas and the firm we were dealing with went out of business.  The solicitors in Spain have been great.  I hope this gives encouragement for people who are frightened of the process.  For those of you who stay in, good luck and I hope all works out well.  It was an idyllic setting and it was upsetting that we had to withdraw from the purchase.  It was always a dream to own in Spain.

Yes we did the same thing and I fully agree with Cos. It was a bit of a time consuming process (2 months or so in our case) but the guarantee worked like a charm once we elected to exercize it. We hesitated for a couple of months but after a site visit in early April we saw that all the work was stopped. We could not get any details. Finally when we managed to get thru to someone from sales office we were told that Interlaken's plan was to complete a couple of more advanced buildings then put all others on hold until market picks up. We were also told that when the apartments would be completed the prices would be "readjusted".  That sounded strange because we were not sure that the prices of current buyers would be revised as well.
Sure enough, when we elected to exercize the guarantee our solicitor told us that Interlaken was offering us to retract our decision if they would offer us a "discount". We had then moved on, so we declined.

So best of luck to all of you guys more patient than we are. I agree with Cos that the fundamentals have not changed, it is a superb location and will be great in a few years. Also a Cos, I will be happy to entertain any separate request for further info,

Guys - our position is the same as yours, exercised the guarantee and within 2 months we had our money back. We are very fortunate, reading some of the forums some people are having to wait years and throw loads of money at the process. Frankly we were always very concerned about Interlakens ability to produce a development anywhere near the advertised quality and so were prepared for a long battle even if it did complete. I  paid a visit last October and took a critical look at the CDS site, my word what a depressing site that was - outer walls that didn’t meet the floor, damp, water stains, raised manhole covers dotted around, weeds everywhere - made my heart sink to think we were involved with the same developer. The only saving grace was that it was an Apartmentos Touristicos (excuse spelling) development which meant certain government regulations had to be met including - Management contract (Apart Hotel), guaranteed rental scheme, complex meets stringent standards etc. Also IVA was reclaimable for buyers which was a nice bonus. However because it was Interlaken we were convinced they would not have the ability to produce the goods and this seems to be the case. I'm a little surprised that the deposits were handed back so easily. I wouldn’t be surprised if the developer is going to re brand the complex and sell as basic individual apartments free of the Apart Hotel tag, to do this they have to pay off all the original contracts. Just a guess but I cant see how they can stick to the original plan.

I would be very interested to hear from anyone that has chosen to stay with this development and for what reason.    

I am another buyer that just got my money back, I had to go via a notary which cost me more money but it was worth it in the end, it took me one month to get my money back

I am another person who claimed on my bank guarantee.  It cost quite a lot in fees however - apparently my lawyer is now chasing Interlaken for compensation with respect to these.  Did anyone else incur hefty legal costs?  Is anybody else suing Interlaken for them back?

Any thoughts welcome.

Thanks.

Our process cost nothing in legal fees (were included in original contract). Notary fees were about 100 Euros. I'd suggest you guys check your initial contract with solicitors to insure there is no double-dip.

I have had real issues with my solicitor who is not responding to any communication and has not done anything we have asked him to do. We have found him of no use to us whatsoever and we have paid him upfront the full fees. We have asked that our files get posted to our home addresses but still nothing. Could someone who has exercised the bank guarantee give me the name of your solicitor please or let me know the process to go through. I would appreciate it thanks.

This message was last edited by adriankane on 7/18/2008.