Buying property in Duquesa

We're currently going through the painfully slow process of buying an apartment in Duquesa Village. Any advice anyone? All words of wisdom are welcome!

Hi Welcome to DV.  I'm sure a number of us could go on for ours with lots of lots of advise and share our experiences. 

Is there anything in particular you would like to know a bit more about?

I can't beleive its a slow process buying at the moment, I would have thought the buyer would make sure it went through as soon as possible, whats taking so long?

Steve

We have made an offer on a property in Duquesa Village and we were shocked at how quick it is going to take.  We were told about 4 -5 weeks. 

We thought this was very fast!!

Does anyone have any experience of Richard Lewis Interiors, they do furniture packages I believe at really good prices.

Also please could someone explain about the pre installation of DTT - Digital TV I think.  How do I go about getting UK BBC and ITV and some Sky channels.  Unfortunately my husband wont survive without Corrie and my son needs kids TV to keep him quiet for an hour.  I also think it would be good for the people who I hope would rent it!

What is the pre-installation of the alarm?  Does it mean the buzzers on the Bloque? 

Any info would b great, thanks Steve.  And thanks again for all your help so far.

Em

Hi Em

You can get a sky box, with free view card, quite easily (well it was a couple of years ago!).  I can recommend the same person who installed ours, who also knows about the quirky wiring in some of the apartments here at DV!

The pre-installation for the alam system is a little more complex.  I recall someone posting about it some time ago, but it's basically in the apartment and has to be set up - maybe someone else could explain it.  There are buzzers for the apartments at the entrances to the blocks but don't think they are used much (unless you want to save yourself a short trip to the front door to see if anyone is in!!), as there are no gates to each block.

All the best with your purchases Em and Maryluv!!

How do the alarms actually work though?  I dont recall seeing a keypad in the apartment, only a phone which I guess enables you to speak to the person who buzzed you at the Bloque entrance.

Yeah, if someone knows anything - please let me know!

And good luck maryluv - at least I wont be the only one asking questions - I will probably be the one asking silly ones though!

Emma

The "pre-installation for alarm" is exactly that.  Eg there is wiring installed for your own equipment to connect to - if I've got it right!  Best thing is to ask the developers when you complete.  The phone in the apartment is exactly as stated - just an intercom from the bloque entrance.

Thanks pitby!!

Thanks pitby!!

Thanks folks for the replies and thanks John for the very helpful e-mail. Our delay is being caused by the bank who are extremely cautious about lending to non-residents at the moment. They have requested enough information to clone us both and we're expecting them to ask for a pint of blood next. Stil, they have now set up the current account, so that must be a good sign!

Once the valuation is back, things should speed up a little. Although it is now August, so Spain may be on holiday....!

We are the same maryluv.  We thought it would just fly through as the value of the property and what we need to borrow is low - ish if we get a Spanish Mortgage.  Also if we raise money on our property in the UK, (we have a fair amount of equity), we thought it would just sail through. 

What a nightmare!

I agree, they could clone my husband and I too.

I put on the bottom of one of the emails the colour of my living room carpet and my inside leg measurement just incase!

If this doesnt go through I think we will wait and save up more pennies because the issue seems to be the amount of deposit they want us to put down, even though either equity or LTV % is healthy!

Take care, speak soon

Em

In this current climate I am glad to see some people are still trying to buy in DV. You will not be disappointed.  Yes the alarm is just  pre wired ..you need a system to connect to it.

As Jan says you can get a Sky box with free to air channels..lots of channels in fact but no sport ..  and BBC and ITV channels are available.  Let me know if you need one as I know the same guy jan knows who can fix the wiring fault around the arial.

Phew! what a relief that you're getting the third degree too, em - we were starting to feel a little paranoid particularly when they asked for details about our kids, ie ages, school fees etc! I must admit that we got a little shirty with them at that point!

We are also borrowing a very small amount, so they have now seen sense!

Hope to meet everyone when we eventually get over there! We're buying in block 1. Anyone else in there?

Mary

Hi Mary

We are buying on bloque 13 - hopefully!!

Will let you know how it all goes.  We should hopefully know for definite one way or another in next few weeks.

Take care

Em

Regarding the Sky, we just took an old Sky box we had from when we upgraded with the old card and could get all the free to view stuff with that.  Now when we go out we take our current sky cards along for the holiday and get all of the channels we pay for at home in Spain.  Just have to remember to take them back with us!!

Em, we are in bloque 13 (ground floor).  We are very happy with our apartment and recently had the site foreman out to repair and repaint some small settlement cracks and he came the next day, completed the work the day after and also replaced our shower tap and a light bulb for free (we completed about 2 and a half years ago!)  Can't complain about the aftercare at all!  Hope to see you out there.

Caroline

Well, folks, a minor miracle has occurred and we are due to exchange contracts on our Duquesa property at the end of this week! We need to pop over around the 27th Oct for a few days to furnish, clean, etc(it's never been occupied). Does anyone have an apartment available for a few days rental around then?

Congratulations, Mary!  Great news for you.

welcome to the DV club, Mary. let me know if you need anything...my place is not available at that time ..sorry

Hi Mary, welcome to the village!  Hope to see you around.

Caroline and neale

Hi Maryluv

Congratulations!!!!

Ours didnt happen in the end.

Contact 'slacey', he is called Steve Lacey and has quite a lot of contacts at Duquesa.  He is on here and posts a lot so you should find him easy enough.  If not his website is something like www.duquesa-village.com.  Contact him via that.  He got us our apartment to stay in last minute when we flew out in July. 

It is a shame it didnt happen but everything happens for a reason I say!  Gonna have another look around next year.

Adios!

Em

Hi Mary

Congratulations and welcome to DV.  I have sent you a pm. If you are still looking for somewhere to stay then our apartment is available from the 25th Oct onwards.

Regards

Steve

Hi Emma, thanks for the recommendation and i'm sorry it didn't work out for you in the end?, are you still looking for something around Duquesa?