Has anybody heard anything

dear copex5  

                         i have to ask did you get a floor plan of your apartments ?

as for mable floor it has aliways the case from day one. i asked about floor plan as we looked at a two bed at  87m and

one bed at 82M . cost be45.000euros for two bed more = 9000euro per metre for 5m. so we took one bed , seems good when

sales person says two bed  but we looked at space no way we pay that. you should of got information on your apartment,ie

it has air con,white goods etc.

                                                                     good luck

copex5,

Did you purchase the 3 apartments on the one complex? I realise it is like a ghosttown at the moment and the rental offers are excellent with people desparate to rent.  But the area is at its very early stage. plans to build a 5* hotel with casino are in progress and the extension of the marina.. golf courses are underway (have not have proof of the marina plans at the moment) but was informed of this verbally... must check it out...

Once infastructure is all completed we should see a change but i would not expect this within the next year... probably about 3 i would be looking at? We will be over in Vera in August and will pop down to see the showhouse and have a good look around the area during the day and eveing to see if there has been a great change since we were there last.. and will update

We are also based in N. Ireland Newry direction.

M

Hi All,

The property market in Almerimar is pretty flat and that includes rentals. Unfortunately, Almerimar has had its boom and is now suffering with very little tourism.  Of course thats great for people that own their properties that want to keep the traditional spanish feel and enjoy living in such a wonderful place, but for those that have bought properties for investment and rental its going to be a tough time for you and although the property market always does a full circle, I doubt whether it will be for at least 5 years yet.

I have watched Portofino develop from a tiny parcel of land into a huge complex that now looks crammed between the marina and road, its such a shame that proindal overdeveloped this site as from the original drawings it looked quite pretty, also the prices of the apartments there are very expensive, at the moment you can pick up some bargains in Almerimar so dont be sucked in by the builder or MRI, after reading some of your posts, there seem to be a lot of people disappointed with their apartments in Portofino and with MRI.

For those that are moving in soon, be careful, you will have to pay a community fee every couple of months which is normally shared out between all the apartments once occupied, if you start to move in gradually, you will be expected to cover the community fees regardless of how many people have taken occupancy so these will be really high, they will of course go down once more people move in, but that takes time and some owners in another Proindal site 'Alta's Entina's' in Almerimar are suffering quite badly with horrendous community fees.

Also, nobody has mentioned the police station and cells that will be below your apartments, I hope its not going to be sirens and flashing lights all night for you all,  does anyone else know about this?

hi losa

             are you saying if only 50% apartments sold we have to pay double community fees ..on a new build what costs will

there be . as for the police station , we too were told back in06 also counil departments. do they help with costs? as they will be part off the compelx

.at  what  time are you informed about fees?  i hope i am not the only one to buy a apartment  as portofino has over 700 apartments. this will mean me  paying

700 fees  ( no way)  i  will  be the first  in the police cell as i can  not  afford  it.( not jokeing)

                                                                                                                                                                                         HELP.

http://www.almerimar24.com/index.php

check out this site gives a little information onthe area and developments etc.....Losa we realised when we were over the rental market was not great but the opportunities would lie with the capital growth of the apartments... you really have given us food for thought on this one.. re prison, police etc and 55555 or did you say 5 years.... MRI are a joke they are ***** not for the public domaine.

I will be out on the 13th August to the 28th in the Vera playa area and i will make a point of trying to find out as much as possible re the future developments in the area.

Will update on my return.

M

There seems to be lots of doom and gloom being posted. Whilst I remain a realist I do still feel that there some very pessimistic people out there. We have just returned from a week at Almerimar and the place was buzzing with tourism. Most bars and restaurants were full each night and it was a very pleasant place to be for the week.

The property prices have slowed but they can't go on rising forever or you get boom and bust. The days of a fast buck in spanish property are long gone and if you have to be prepared for the long haul.

I agree that Portofino is pricey but not excessivly so, judging by all the local estate agents windows. Anyway you do need to consider it's location and the quality of the build. The show flat is impressive by the general standard of spanish holiday apartment.

Just an addition to the below. We were in the Proindal office last week and were told that 176 apartments remain unsold. That means that over 400 have been sold to date, so not too bad at all considering the size of the development.

Not so good that we were also told that the prices have remained static but over the next few months they will probably introduce discounts or offers to get the place completely sold. This will affect the price of all the apartments in the short term, which is not so good if you want to sell before completion. Good though to get the place fully sold for community charge issues etc.

We were angry to say the least to find that our apartment price has not moved at all in 18 months when MRI told us 8 months ago that it had gone up by about 70,000 Euros since we purchased.

Also, We bought in block 2 and MRI have been telling us since day one early last year that completion was on track for Feb 2008. We were told by Proindal last week that Feb 2008 has never been the completion date for blocks 1 and 2. The time table is October 2007 for Blocks 5,6 and 7. February 2008 for blocks 3 and 4. Summer 2008 (probably July) for blocks 1 and 2.

These are two examples amongst many others where MRI have mislead us.

We rented through MRI for our week in Almerimar and without boring all with the detail the whole thing was a fiasco. We have no confidence in their rental management and have learned over the past 18 months that their other services suck as well.

You all need to make their own minds up about MRI but we will certainly never recommend them.

Having had a good moan I still want to make it clear that I think Portofino is a good longer term investment. The area is lovely and well looked after. The ongoing other developments are tasteful with plenty of greenery and open space. I have seen the longer term plans for the area which includes an Olympic rowing lake and two more golf courses.