Anyone else bought an of plan property at FortunaHill Golf and waiting on completion ?

Hi there, i payed my deposit in september 2006 and wondering if anyone else purchased here?

warm regards
Mark

Hi Yes,

I bought an off plan in Feb 2006 for this to be completed by Feb 2008 and there is still not a proper completion date available.  How did you purchase, I went through a peroperty company who have now gone into administration so I am concerned about the future of my property.

I am waiting as well. The good thing is that we don't have to worry about getting a mortgage yet, hopefully the dust will settle a bit from all this financial madness that seems

around at the moment. I bought mine from the same company as you by the sound of it, any monies paid will have allready gone to the developer and you should have

all the relavent paper work from your solicitor to show it has been received etc.

I would like to know if anyone has been out there recently to check on progress, i suspect nothing will be ready untill at least mid 2009, i keep in contact with my

solicitor in spain who in turn keeps in touch with the builder, if any problems should arise i, hopefully, wont be the last to know about it.

Dear PGEJ,

I hope you are well?  Thank you for your update below.

Did you go through Instant Access Properties? to be honest i am very confused, we are very new to this game and have been very worried.  We have had no response to lots of emails and calls to the administrator.  I am pretty sure that all of our money is with the developer as per plus advisors?

I wonderd if you received a pack from the administrators and if so do we need to claim anything back from IAP?

Sorry to ask you all of these questions but no one seems to be giving us any answers.  We are perhaps thinking of going on a trip to Murcia to check out the site, it is so very difficult without knowing exactly where you stand.

Kind Regards
Alex

Hi Alex,

Yep went through IAP, we have documents from Plus advisors showing deposits made, plot identification, builders sig etc.
Have you sorted out your NIE number yet (also through Plus advisors), if so just have to wait for further news. We will be looking
at as many mortgage options as possible both here and in Spain nearer the time.
Have you recieved anything from FUEL yet regarding this?
We have received a monster pack from the administrators, not had time to read through it yet but i don't expect any kind
of compensation, compensation for what? high charges?
I'm just going to sit tight for now, i'm still happy with everything if it all pans out ok.

We are heading out there also early next year so will keep in touch.

Good luck,
Best Regards, Paul.

Hello Everyone,

I feel very nervous about this whole buy-to-let business now, and especially as Instant Access et al have all gone into liquidation. 

I've been approached by an outfit called European Mediation (european-mediation dot co dot uk) who claim that they can get all our money back due to breach of contract.  Has anyone else had a phone call like this? Can anyone vouch that they are a credible company?

I bought another property in Spain (also through IA) which has rented for 2 months in 2 years!  Has anybody else had similar?

Does anybody use Bridge Holmes (bridgeholmes dot co dot uk) to manage their property in Spain?  If so what service have you receieved?    How many rentals/long term lets have you had?

Does anybody use Ready Rental Property (ReadyRentalProperty dot com), who provide a similar service to Bridge Holmes?  If so what service have you received?  How many rentals/long term lets have you had?

Did anyone take the "once only offer" from this website to sell any properties they have?

In short can anyone convince me to trust any company associated with buy-to-let at the moment?

Best regards,

Mark

Hi everyone

We bought on this development through IAP and have been far from happy with them.

We bought as an armchair investment as Bridge Holmes were going to be looking after the properties and they would cover everything from advertising to cleaning and they said they could achieve very good level of rentals.  For some reason IAP parted company with them but  IAP wouldn't give me a reason when I questioned them about it. 

We have also been approached by European Mediation and they say they can get our money back as the builder is in breach of his contract.  The deposits are held in an Escrow account until completion so the builder should not have any of your money.  I can't vouch for the company's credibility but they have told me they have a fair number of clients who are buying on this development.

Their fees sound a bit steep but what you have to weigh up is do you want to be landed with a property that is not going to pay its way and possibly leave you in debt or gamble by going through European Mediation and get your deposit back.  It's a lot to think about in the current economic climate.  They told us they would also claim for the reservation fee and interest ,that would have acrued if you had the deposit in a savings account , as well as their own costs.  Give them a ring and have a proper chat or email them.

When we signed up for this property, the mortgage rate in Spain was about 3.5% and is now 6% so if you were thinking of mortgaging to the so called increased value of the property so that you would have funds to pay the closing costs and towards furnishings....you might be out of luck.

Thanks for the feedback HandyLad,

Good to hear that you have been approached by European Mediation too.  I've tried to contact various official bodies to find out about them some more but no feedback as yet.  Did you take them up on their offer to fight your breach of contract case?  I have to say I'm very tempted if I can find someone else who is going through with a claim and I can gain some confidence that European Mediation are not just a bunch of chancers!

Could I trouble you to expand on your dealings with Bridge Holmes?  Are you staying with them?  How many voids did you have last year?  Are you marketing your place yourself anywhere?

Best regards,

Mark

hi, i purchased a property through atlas international for the jumilla site, but we were advised by atlas that this property would not go ahead as the builder San Jose was running into trouble. As we still wanted to buy in Spain we had our deposits tranfered to a property on the Fortunahill Golf resort which was being built when we had a look around the site. Our house should be completed for June 2009, but i cant seem to get any information on what is going on as our house doesn't seem to have been started, just wondered if anyone else was having a house built by San Antonio (euro promotins)

Hi everyone , sorry for the delay in reply to the topic that I only started ... been busy buying bargains here in the UK and doing my Autism work that pays the bills and keeps me sane HEHE

I took the bull by the horns (Spanish bull ) last night at work and booked a Ryanair flight for 26th until 28th November (£36 return)  hiring a car( £32  for 2 days) to go up and check it out for myself as its my hard earned money at stake here and I intend to see what progress there has been and whats going on since my last visit with my dad in September last year. I will visit Plus Advisors and Fuel and the developer as well as IAP in Malaga if need be.

Anyone want to join me investigating whats going on with our investments/holiday homes ?

Well its late and I need sleep I will report back soon.

Best Wishes and feel free to messege me at any time

Mark

Hi Mark,

Good luck with the visit, would love to join forces but can't get any time off until march next year!!

Would appreciate some photo's of the site, then when i visit in March will also take some of the same area's to check for progress (or lack of) compared to your visit.

Keep up the good work and lets keep this thread going.

Paul & Elaine

Hi Paul and Elaine,

Thanks hopefully I will get some pictures and as much information as possible.

Warm Regards, Mark

With reference to European Mediation, i also had a call from them we chatted for about 20 mins and was very wary of the up front money required

to pay for the court and legal fee's, this did not include their charges which would come later (not cheap either), i also checked the company records

and found that they have only just started (August this year) so no real track record to follow up on.

All in all i think it will take a very brave person to go down that route, and cost a lot of money with no guarantees.

Also they cannot reclaim any money (fee's etc.) from IAP as that no longer exists (which they told me they could do, hmm).

So i for one am not taking that route, in fact i am sticking with my property as i still think it is good value, i read in a Spanish paper (online) that allthough

some regions in Spain had been hit by declining values, Mercia had actually increased by 8% in the last year (if i can find the item i will post a link).

 

Anywho, all the best with your investment.

Paul

Hi Paul,

Its good to hear from you, I have read your reply and your feelings on this situation appear to be the same as mine, I was very much aware of my reasons for investing in the

area as it is a beautiful area with the mountains and nearby lakes etcetera when I purchased from IAP two years ago and it is maybe a good thing that the mortgage fiascos

are happening now and the delay may be a good thing BUT I got an email from FUEL wanting me to apply just now with the application and I need to see if this can be

postponed for a few months, I will get clarification when Im out there.

Like you I don't think I will be attempting any claims and just want for us all to have our investment/holiday homes to complete and for us to enjoy the process as much as is humanly possible lol

Take care

Mark

 

Hi Mark,

I also got a request from Fuel (Spain), so i replied saying that i was interested but wanted some more details of what was on offer (the details vere very vague), still waiting for a reply,

considering that key handover could still be 1 year away i think that FUEL are being a bit hasty, i know it can take time to organise these things but would

anybody start proceedings just at this moment in time when things are so very hazy on the mortgage front?

So i am going to play a waiting game unless FUEL come up with something more concrete.

Very best Regards, Paul

Hello Everyone,

I went to Spain last week (26-30 Nov) to see the Fortuna site for myself and meet with Plus Advisors a solicitor firm based in Torrevieja. As you will see I am taking the Developer to court to get back my deposit and damages andI hope these notes help you....

Mark

 
Organisation for claim
================
 
PWC (Price Waterhouse Coopers) will front the claim as they are the specialists in this type of litigation.  We will sign a Power of Attorney with Plus Advisors alone and only have to pay Plus Advisors.

 Plus Advisors is being headed up by a non-English speaking solicitor called Suzanna and both Elena and Faustina are her Legal Assistants.
 
Sequence of Events
===============
 
Week 0
- we send email to Plus Advisors requesting to sue for Breach of Contract
- on receipt of email from us they will
1) analyse our request against dates in our contract with the developer
2) lump all similar claimants together based on dates
3) send a letter to the developer asking for the money and a response within 2 weeks
 
Week 2
- developers will ignore the letter
- Plus Advisors will
1) send us a Power of Attorney to sign (this is different from a purchasing Power of Attorney if you have already signed one of these)
2) Plus Advisors will request EUR2500
 
Week 4 (or when ever Plus Advisors get EUR2500 and Power of Attorney docs back)
- Formally request the court to freeze our deposits (or assets if there is no liquid cash about)
 

At least 1 year later

- court case will be heard

- Plus Advisors will request EUR2500

 

Claim Content

==========

Plus Advisors are going after:-

- Deposit

- Interest on Deposit

- Plus Advisor fees (currently EUR5000 but could be more due to unforseen events/cirumstances)

- Compensation for damages (read loss of rental income)

 

Pictures of the site

==============

I've uploaded them to a website but I cannot give you link here as I've not made 10 posts to this website yet!

 

 

Hi Mark,

Glad you were able to get this information and sorry again for not getting out there with you, last time I rely on an online check-in and an hour before departure ;-(

Well, looks like we have decisions to make ??

As it is not a good time for decent mortgage products and the like I'm still unsure if it is maybe actually a godsend that it will take longer to complete ? Then again maybe its a case of getting our hands back on our money before the developer possibly goes bust ...who knows at this stage

I got a reply from Elena saying that I would need to wait until April 09 to begin to get my money back,  this is when they are apparently  in breach of contract as they have 6 months grace either side of the completion date and are then liable for a law suit, this is what Elena told me in a very recent email.

Was it confirmed at all Mark if Plus Advisors had a 'bank guarentee' written in the contract as is usually a MUST i have been told ?

Mark K

Hi everyone

Have just discovered this forum about Fortuna Golf.  We went out to visit the site in June this year and were concerned at the lack of progress not only in the building of the properties, but also the golf course and infrastructure.  There is a nice entrance road with some smart lights but that is all as far as the infrastructure is concerned - though we did love Murcia - a beautiful part of Spain.    We have also now been told that our completion date has been put back from Feb 08 (in our contract) to most likely the end of 2009.  We are now past the six months additional time allowed for in the contract and are speaking as Mark A is to Plus Advisors about suing for breach of contract.  The bad news is that the Developers did not ever deliver an insurance policy guarantee for the deposit money as they promised on many occasions to do (and despite many requests and despite Instant Access telling us it was in place).   What I don't understand is why Plus Advisors did not refuse to sign the contracts until these Guarantees were in place.  Apparently this is against Spanish law so should count in our favour, so we have been told.     We have also read that the most important thing to do is to ask the court to freeze the developer's assets at the level of the claim so they cannot dispose of anything (this can be done long before the case comes to court).  Thanks Mark A for your summary of the process to seek our deposits back from the developer.  It is nice to know that we are not the only ones.

We are now waiting to hear back from Plus Advisors about the Power of Attorney.   Will keep an eye on all the postings and will update you if we have anything new.

We heard from European Mediation today too - wonder how they got our names!!

Best regards, Suzie

Hi Suzie,

The thing that is concerning me is when we come to legal action I'm not sure about using Plus Advisors when they did not make sure the 'bank guarantee, was in place, they will be the cheapest but if we are successful in our claim we get back the legal expenses as far as I know , so maybe best to use the best ?

Warms Regards

Mark K

Hi Mark,

Thanks for the detailed list you gave, very helpfull.

I take it you were not impressed with the progress (or lack off) at the Fortuna site, what was it that made you decide to start making a claim to reclaim your money?

I plan to visit myself in March 2009 and would like to go armed with as much info as possible.

Is there anyway we can access the pictures you took?

Best Regards, Paul & Elaine