advice buying a new apartment

Hi to everyone

I'm buying a 2 bed apartment in Duquesa Village and have handed over a deposit only at this stage. As a first time buyer in Spain I'm a little nervous. The flat is in block 22 to the left of the security hut as you enter the village. The services are off but they promise they will all be on before I complete.

Can anyone give me advice as to any problems they had or are aware of and what I can do to reduce any risk. I would really appreciate any help before i hand over my cash and find out things when its to late.

Looking forward to meeting you all.

Thanks

Mick Hunter

Hi

We have an apartment in DV and love it.  I'm not talking specifically about DV but as a general rule its best not to rely on any promises on anything and it best to ensure everything you expect, or have asked for, is in place before completion.

Steve

Steve

Thanks for the reply. Glad you love it. I take that to mean that the community is run well and that not to many issues there which ruin everyones enjoyment.

Is the community well looked after as it appears to be.

Hi Mick,

We bought our apartment about two years ago, and likewise we were not connected to water, electric etc.

Our solicitor dealt with this for us, and arranged connections etc.

Maybe ask your solicitor if he can do the same, then at least you will be 100% sure everything is on before you complete the purchase.

Regarding the maintenance and management - yes, it's pretty good. Since we bought there have been several marked improvements, including repairs to pavements and roads, removing temporary electric cables, and the painting, of course! which is making the place look so much better. Gardens are well managed too. Overall, we're very happy with our purchase.

cheers,

Martin

Hi can somebody inbox me as to where these properties are.Thanks

Martin

Thanks for the reply. Another question has come up. The developers want me to sign for the purchase as seen. Obvioulsy without the services being on and without really checking for snagging I refuse to do so. I have asked for time to check when Im out in 10 days.

Did any of you have any problems which proved hard to get corrected after purchase.

Thanks

Mick

Mick

We had a few minor things crop up which were missed in the original snagging survey, which were all quickly sorted without fuss. The buiders were still on site at the time though, which might have made it quicker/easier to sort out. Have not heard of anyone though having a genuine problem with their apartment which was not sorted out.

Ros y Falcon (the developer) still have offices next to the Marina, so you can easily visit them if you do have any issues. I think most owners will agree that the orignial build quality at DV was good and it certainly influenced us in making the decision to purchase. If it has not already been done state you want the floor polished as a condition of purchase.

John

Mick,

Have you inspected the apartment yet?

Notice that the bathrooms do not have shower screens and other fittings.  It was a surprise to some of us that we had to purchase and have fitted shower cubicle, shower screens, shower heads and similar stuff. 

Of course you'll also need to arrange for curtain rails, toilet roll holder, bathroom mirrors and lights fittings for all the lights !  So that's an extra cost you need to include in your budget.  I was fortunate to use someone locally who purchased these items and had them all fitted for me before I got there.  They did a great job. If you want their contact details let me know.

As for snagging - if you are like other discount purchases its sold as seen and it seems to have to take a risk on the freezer, washer, boiler, air conditioning.  These are all out of warranty of course.  But few people reported any serious issues with these items.  

Problems I had were :-

One WC flush was leaking water - a rubber washer needed to be replaced.

Door latch to laundry room need attention / adjustment.

Cooker had a wiring fault internally - but easily fixed by the suppler - just a loose connection.

Main Door Lock was faulty  - key would jam in it - had to be replaced eventually  - a small expense.  Best to switch the lock anyway as a security precaution.

We had lots of paint on the balcony tiles and it took hours of scrubing with wire wool to get up to spec,

We only have one outstanding issue with the apartment - the strong smell of cigarette smoke in bathroom - it appeared to be coming from the apartment below.  It happened every morning when the chap got up for work.  Fortunately he left so the problem has gone away.  We had the builder come to check it out - but they refused to admit it was an issue. And of course the builder would come in the middle of the day when the issue was not apparent.  I think its an insolvable design fault and the builder knows this too.

We have 7 years of highly enjoyable vacations.  But we would NEVER go there in July and August.  I often read of horror stories concerning some rental users disgusting behaviours.  Only today I had an email from AEA regarding the state of a swimming pool.

With temperatures of 24C at home - who needs to be in Spain.

Don't be put off by the last persons post 

there is always people negative all doom and gloom and wanting to complain

every house need jobs doing from time to time in every country.

yes July and August are busier but not crazy on DV

bit more noise around the pool but just people having fun on their holidays never any trouble just friendly excitement.

as for the pool incident mentioned I was in Greece when a little girl had an accident in the pool a dicky tum and cold water I am sure that would be all it was .

We live here full time and have done for 5 Years and it's a lovely place to live no complaints no serious complaints or lifestyle issues.

if you have a problem the Maintainanace men around DV are excellent as are the gardeners and the ladies who clean it's a well run Development and the Security men are great too .lots of Develpoments don't have the security on the gates as we have 24 Hours .

If you need any help or advice or jobs doing people are always ready to help on this Forum or on Manilva Life Forum check that one out.

you always get one person who loves to revel in the bad bits 

go ahead and buy it's a lovely place to live 

Good Luck Sue and John

Very well said Sue & John!!!

We too live here full time, although dont own - we rent - but can also confirm that yes, July & August is busier but we too have never had a problem with the noise, apart from two lots of holiday rentals next door whereby a suitable word of advice solved the problem with one, the other related to screaming kids - but that can happen any time of the year!!

The swimming pool mentioned was exactly that - child - cant be helped, and at the end of the day there are five pools here to choose from so wheres the issue??!!

The gardeners and maintenance guys are all on the ball, and the security guys do a good job too. Now the blocks are gradually all being painted its looking better and better.

There will always be negatives to anywhere, nowhere is perfect, but here is lovely.

If you need honest reliable comments to year-round issues speak to people who are here permanently, where the temps are reliable and sunshine is guaranteed for months not a few days here and there!!!

Good luck - and enjoy!!

Hey. the "last person" has a name - he's called Paul.

Mick did ask what kind of snagging issues he might expect on buying the property and that's the main point of the posting - settings his expectations on the kind of things he might discover.

If I wanted to be negative I could have written a much longer list.   I didn't mention dog dirt about the place (even found in the pool area), dog barking through the night, under spec air conditioning systems,  garage parking spaces  that are too small for some owners,  parking on the double yellow lines,  cars sounding horns to access to parking area, some buyers on ground floors complaining of damp, electricity supply accidentally get cut off, lifts not working, wiring puzzle for TV reception...

The above issues don't affect everyone and they don't bother me but they've all been mentioned on this forum by other owners a number of times but they are not relevent to snagging so I didn't mention them. 

So but back to the subject of snagging,  It's helpful to give a broad list of what to look our for when they inspect their 'new' appartment and what additional purchases they need to make to get it habitable. Many buyers have been surprised to find they needs to buy and fit stuff in the bathrooms.

I think you're still getting a bargain Mick.  I'm sure every development in Spain gets all these kinds of issues.  We have a superiour build to most developments.  And we now have a good active management committee and an excellent on site President who's really made progress on items that tended to be delayed when the president was an employee of the Developer.

As some who lives in a rural countryside in the UK, it's a bit of a culture shock for me when staying at DV.   Sometimes I wish I had bought a small remote villa in the mountains.

Hi

Thanks to everyone who answered my questions both positive and negative. Its good to hear what everyone has to say so I can have a look at whats been said and make up my own mind as to what I find.

It appears obvious that this community has some really good things going for it and you have helped me to feel less nervous about buying abroad.

I was due to come out and sign for the property in the next week or so but unfortunately delayed now due my son breaking his arm yesterday which needed an operation and pinning.

See you all soon and again thanks to you all.

Mick

Hi Mick,

To answer your question - we too had to sign for the apartment 'as seen'. If its a repossession, then that's pretty standard.

However we had very few problems - everything worked once power and water were connected.

We did have to install a shower enclosure but I think all the apartments came like that, repossessed or not.

Hope all goes well for you.

Martin