Interested in this property

Hi there, 

I'm new to this forum. I have never posted but thought I would give it a go. My husband and I are interested in this development. I have read through all the threads I could find on UGR (good and not-so-good) and would love feedback from current owners on an agent to work with. Would appreciate any feedback. Thanks! 

Hi,

I have just come back from a weekend and went to this resort a couple of times to view. The apartments are an excellent price but i was very worried about what will happen in the long run with the golf closed, I am worried that the club house etc willbe left to go to ruin...no one can say if there will be a buyer or not. I also worked out that that the apartment we prefereed was 38,500 with no offers accepted this works out to be 740 per m2 of the apartment, at the Hacienda Del Alamo reosort we could get a 2 bed apartment for 56,500 which are much bigger apartments so work out at 715 per m2. The Hacienda Del Alamo resort is a luxury fully established resort with loads of facilities so if you want to rent your apartment out you can straight away, the community fee also works out 62.50 per month whereas La Tercia is 85 per month for what??!!!

Speak with Hilary or Nicky at White Coast Properties on 0034 968 370281 they are lovely and very helpful.

I wanted to invest and my biggest worry with La Tercia was that the resort will crumble around me and my apartment would be worthless.....and bear in mind that really the Hacienda Del Alamo actually works our better value for money and is a lovely resort.

Best of luck 

Marie

Hi Marie

I thought about your posting overnight and just thought I would respond now rather than earlier as I was a little upset at the way this great little hideaway was discussed on a cost per sqm basis.  It is such a pity that you have dismissed La Tercia but at the end of the day you have to go with what you think best.  I am an owner there and am certainly not contemplating a "crumbling away" of the development  - in fact lots of properties have been sold as the apartments and villas do have a very good reputation (despite the alleged poor reputation of the developer).  We have a lovely 3 bedroom 3 bathroom top floor apartment with stunning views, a 90 sqm solarium with views over to La Manga, beautiful gardens and great neighbours. We think it is lovely, of great quality and very spacious for our needs.  The pools are just gorgeous and the resort well kept and the gardens will be the envy of the area (great plans there).  

Re community fees - just want to clarify matters on this point so you and others contemplating buying in Spain do understand the concept of community fees.  Normally none of those "facilities" (golf course, clubhouse, shops and restaurants and other sports facilities) are run by the community and community fees therefore do not normally contribute to their provision or maintenance.  Those "facilities" are normally run by the promoter or owner of the resort who lease out shops and restaurants and the sports facilities are normally manager by the Golf Course managers.  True in the case of La Tercia our Club House and golf course is currently closed (and I see the property agent you are advocting says these facilities are available together with a restaurant and I have written to them to point out their misleading advertisement).  They are also using 2 photographs of a Phase 1 area when trying to sell phase 2 property which is completely different in landscaping and outlook.

So back to the question of fees - Community fees normally cover the following - a not exhaustive list but fairly comprehensive - so to give you an idea, these expenses are resort gardening, street cleaning, rubbish removal, street lighting, buildings insurance for the apartment blocks, swimming pool maintenance, security, communal lighting,cleaning of communal hallways, pest control, security, administration fees, lift maintenance and emergency telephone provision, maintenance of the common parts,  legal fees to represent the community in various matters and so forth. Unusually In the case of La Tercia the community do run the tennis courts,5 a side and football pitches,  the bowling green, the community room, have a thriving social club and participate in many local activities.  There are supermarkets in the village some 2km away and in Balsicas 5 km,   Unlike Hacienda de Alamo we are only 15 - 2 0 minutes to the beaches of the Mar Menor and only 20 minutes or so into Murcia and beyond to the great national parks and  only 20 mins to San Javier Airport and just over an hour to Alicante El Altet airport.

There are numerous local restuarants and bars - huge choice from traditional Spanish, to Italian,Chinese, Indian etc.  Tapas at the Teleclub in the Village or at DyVanne for a great night out or a social event at the Central Community Centre always great fun.   For shopping there are various local markets, the great centre of La Zenia Boulevard with 200 plus shops).   Regarding golf - there is a course just 5 minutes away at Sierra Golf and just 5 minutes more the courses of Hacienda Riquelme and Peraleja or El Valle, La Torre and just 20 minutes to Mar Menor or Roda Golf and a few minutes more Lo Romero and Villamartin and Campoamar.  So not far for the serious golfer.  There is an expat Community on and off resort so plenty of life to tap into.t

I am not packing my suitcase just yet and if anyone is interested in what I think is a great resort -then please do get in touch.  Yes I am a tad biased in favour of La Tercia and if we knew then what we know now then we would have saved ourselves a small fortune.  But now is so so so the time to buy if you are going to do it but make sure you buy a quality property that ticks all of your boxes and do your research and ask people who actually live on these resorts their views.  You will get many differing views but it is up to you at the end of the day to make up your own mind.

Oh and rentals -its blooming hard work - I shoudl know as we have another property on another resort and it really is not so easy as people seem to think.  Yes, you can sell it 10 times over in July and August but the rest of the year you still have costs to cover so please do not carried away by the "you can easily rent it out line" - we got caught on that one ourselves!

I hope a little insider insight has helped and as I say if I can help then please do get in touch.

Sandra

Sandra,

I dodn't want to upset anyone and I spoke to owners there that are happy with what they have. I have 2 young children so wanted to have somewhere which has good bars & restaurants etc in walking distance so i can easily have a glass of wine or 2 without having to drive. Whilst there we went into a few of the towns close by and I love the area but I want on site facilities so if i do come for a weekend i dont need to hire a car.

I am a Quantity Surveyor so working out on m2 comes naturally to me and I found it an easy way to see if I was getting better value for money at La Tercia or the Hacidenda Del Alamo. I understand what the community fees are for but I wouldnt be happy paying more money out for a resort that doesnt have much to offer me, even though im not paying for the facilities I will still be paying more money each month.

I just wanted to let someone know that La Tercia is a great price but you can also see some other resorts that in comparison have better failities and although may seem a higher price are in fact not when worked out on m2.

Also as i said to me this is an investment as well as a holiday home. I want to see that in say 10 years I could sell the property and make a good profit, if there isnt an owner for the golf in that time the buildings and golf course may well be in a bad state. The bank apartments for sale are also close to the blocks that need to be demolished, also around the blocks that need to be demolished is a fenced off area with building supplies inside, a childrens playground that someone seems to have removed some of the steps for the children to climb up, what could be a nice picnic area that you walk up to but that is not being taken care of so is going to ruin. I loved the apartment and the fact that I could get an apartment with a swimming pool just outside but I couldnt take the risk with losing my money. The front of the resort seems much better.

I really hope that they find a buyer for the golf course as I think La Tercia is a nice resort and would be a fantastic resort with the right management for the golf course.

Marie

I am althogether certain if this could perhaps be, based on a firts post, an advertisment for a propety company but I would make the following comments

If the propertty on HDA is in the Pueblo, the village then there are no communial facilites available, pools etc and no plans agreed to ever build them, perhaps a reason for the lower community rates

Again they tried to sell the village apartments on auction and tehre were no bids or interest because to have a holiday property without a community pool really doesn't work so please advise oif this is a village property

Another consideration for HDA has to be the airport, if it ever happens, but I would STRONGLY advise that any potential buyers should visit the local Town HHall and look at the submitted flight plans and operational heights

This message was last edited by inspectahomespain on 09/07/2014.

This message was last edited by inspectahomespain on 09/07/2014.

Hi Roy

Thanks for this - that was my thought too - good job I checked their ad and found all sorts of "misleading" information and photos.   I bet the potential buyers have also been told about "Paramount" as well. 

Still glad we are at la Tercia.

Sandra

Rob,

Im not sure if you are trying to say that I am from a property company, but I just want to confirm that I am not. I live in the UK which is where I am now and I work for a construction company in the UK that is solely UK based. I was just in Spain looking for a holiday home investment.

Someone asked a question so I thought I would let her know my thoughts as no one else had replied. It was my personal opionin as that is all i can give and if you can see from the original start of the thread she asked for a contact that is why I gave the contact of White Coast. White Coast took me to La Tercia and did not in anyway try to put me off of the resort, it was my own personal opinion that put me off.

I saw La Tercia as it is now not how it was when Sandra may have bought, so based on my viewing last weekend I just dont want to buy there, other people still are buying there.

I thought a forum was where people gave their own opinions??

Marie

Hi Marie

You are right - it is a forum where people swap and discuss opinions and I didn't mean to imply you had no right to your opinion.  All I wanted to do was give some factual information about the resort and yes we are well aware of one block that has issues and thatot being sold and is being dealt with (I am a president of one of the communities there so am aware of all the issues)

We are in a transitioning period and I am confident that although we have a long way to go,  people who invest on this resort for the long term (10 years plus)   will eventually benefit as will those who invest in low cost property compared to the boom year prices)  properties on other resorts.  Let's face it once the national surplus has been soaked up by foreign investors and no new property built the laws of supply and demand may well kick in as one thing is for sure, Spain will nto run out of sun and sand.

I wish you well in your investment search - can I suggest that Roda Golf in Los Alcazares would probably meet your criteria although property on that resort is not so cheap as on other locations - but bargains can be found!

Sandra

Hi Marie

First of all my name is Roy

Next I always would want to present a balanced and informed view really looking at things in isolation doesn't present that especially when there are othe resorts that may stack up even better

I did ask a couple of questions the first ,ost crutical was are these apartments in the Village, The Pueblo where Kennellys is, because if you are there are no communial facilitues, pools etc, that were originally promised, and continue to be promised and it could be difficult to rent without these facilities and once addeds it will made a big difference to community fees

Did the agent explain to yo the impact of the airport, both good in terms of rental but possibly bad in terms of the noise and the flight path

Did you actually buy and pay a deposit on a property while you were here are are you just sharing your experiences on the United forum

Using the logic of your argument perhaps you should have also considered Condado or Le Terrazes, did you visit these site when you were over

Absolutely a forum is the place to exchange views but sometimes an agent may not tell you everything, the facts are that All of the local resorts have their fair share of problems and any purchase has an element of risk and hopefully, based on the low prices, potential long term rewards

Hi Marie, I really would like to know if these properties are the ones in the village and if the agent made aby promises about the facilities.

I actually have people interested in these properties but they were put off by it having no pools and I could not get the banks to commit to a build date so I would not risk it

Roy you ask ( Did the agent explain to yo the impact of the airport, both good in terms of rental but possibly bad in terms of the noise and the flight path) it clearly diid not bother yourself when you bought a property on Corvera golf. Also do you tell people these facts when do your inspection trips .( Airport flights path running over  Corvera & HDA ? )

Actually not true we have sold a number of properties on Corvera and we explain and are able too show the actual fight path for the airport, where they have to turn out over HDA, because they cannot overfly Corvera because of the height of the surrounding mountain ranges, they will not overfly Corvera

We also explain that there will be some background rumble from the aircraft as they take off and landing but many people see the eventual rental potenntial of being close to the airport a benefit

I am happy to provide this datre too buyers so that they are able to make an informed decision

Sandra, thank you for defending our resort UGR La Tercia. We are so happy with our apartment on Fase 2. Yes, I ' m sorry, but we could purchase it last september for the price of a new middle-class Chevrolet. After all it was the best thing we could do, because I've got two kinds of reumatism. Living in wet and humid Catalunya, it is so much better to be in La Tercia during the winter. We love the place. You described it so well. But there is more, we can take our bikes to go to the tenniscourt and to the village because there are cycle paths. The hospital in San Javier is only a 16 minutes drive away. The views are absolutely fabulous here on Fase 2. We do not miss a clubhouse nor the golfcourse, Yes, you ''re right,  there are so many golfcourses nearby. There is so much more for example the social activities during the whole year especially in the summer. you are one of organizers, so thank you that, Sandra. My husband, Ben and I will be back in september and I really hope we can meet each other. We want to help as much as we can to stimulate activities, we just want to be good neighbours, helpful and caring. Our neighbours are so lovely, so nice and respectful, we really just want to be like them. Gerda

Roy,

The apartments i was speaking of were in the spanish village, they did not make any promises of a pool. At present you have to use the community pool in the next little area (not sure what that is called) but we went across and saw it. The idea is that the spanish village community will have to come together and decide on a pool in the future.

We havent paid any deposits but have made an offer on one of the townhouse/villa type properties over in phase 4/5 area.

I understand that each resort will have good and bad points and yes we did go to La Terrazes and we also stayed on Hacienda Riquelme. I like HDA because of the property prices and the facilities. I have a 4 and 5 year old so want some where that has a number of places on site for us to venture to.

Everyone has their own opionions and preferences, I was just providing the originator of this thread with my opionion.....although everyone else seems to have forgotton about the originator of the thread!

Hi Marie

I actually pm'd the originator of this particular thread offering more information and support before you posted.  Todate I have not had a reply so assume she is happy with what she is reading and hearing.  

I hope your purchase on HDA goes well and you get all the facilties that have been promised.  

Gerda - thank you for your kind words and congratulations on your purchase.  We are out in September for 6 weeks and I will drop you a pm with my email so perhaps we can meet up.

 Best wishes to one and all

Sandra

Marie , thabk you for the qualifucation and now I know that the property is in the village I would strongly advise you to do some due diiligence, as I tried to explain at the time when they tried to auction these propertyes I had a nmber of potential buyers who were put off by the findings

First of all be very careful with any commitments regarding pool use, they may metion use of another pool however they would not put this into any written agreement and it can be revoked by anothet community leaving the phase with no pool which I underdstand happened previously

The pool being discussed is a 15 minute walk away, you will not rent a property for holidays without a pool close by, I know because via my holiday websites I book hundreds of bookings a year, this just isn't practical for families

I understand that in order to even consider a pool, and for that number of properties, youy would need 2, that an occupancy rate of more than 75% is required and currently it is closer to 20%. In the current climate this will take a lomg time and the bank selling the properties will not commit to dates in a contract, so it will be years away

The community fees you quote will increase significantly when other facilities are added, decent pools are expensive to build and maintain

What I would also advise you to do is perhaps post a query askiong for feedback on the HDA section of this forum and visit and speak to some of the less than happy owners in the village, this would be enlightening for you

As i have always said there is an element of risk attached to all of these resorts but the basices still remain for the investment facilites combined with value

Marie , thabk you for the qualifucation and now I know that the property is in the village I would strongly advise you to do some due diiligence, as I tried to explain at the time when they tried to auction these propertyes I had a nmber of potential buyers who were put off by the findings

First of all be very careful with any commitments regarding pool use, they may metion use of another pool however they would not put this into any written agreement and it can be revoked by anothet community leaving the phase with no pool which I underdstand happened previously

The pool being discussed is a 15 minute walk away, you will not rent a property for holidays without a pool close by, I know because via my holiday websites I book hundreds of bookings a year, this just isn't practical for families

I understand that in order to even consider a pool, and for that number of properties, youy would need 2, that an occupancy rate of more than 75% is required and currently it is closer to 20%. In the current climate this will take a lomg time and the bank selling the properties will not commit to dates in a contract, so it will be years away

The community fees you quote will increase significantly when other facilities are added, decent pools are expensive to build and maintain

What I would also advise you to do is perhaps post a query askiong for feedback on the HDA section of this forum and visit and speak to some of the less than happy owners in the village, this would be enlightening for you

As i have always said there is an element of risk attached to all of these resorts but the basices still remain for the investment facilites combined with value

Thank you everyone for your replies. I am the originator of this thread and have been away on vacation and unable to reply in a timely manor. Sandra, thank you for the pm. I replied to you as well.  I appreciate all do the responses and feedback and think we all agree that one must move forward with what they believe is best for their home and family. My feeling is that La Tercia may not currently have all the amenities that some other resorts are offering, but they may in the future and it is up to the potential buyer to determine if they are willing to wait for that or not.  I believe we are, so I would still like to explore more. We did the same in Florida two years ago and it has worked out well for us. 

Thanks again and best wishes.