Communal areas change of use

Hi

I am closing in Du Quesa village phase 3 in late Feb.I was wondering about a few issues that are concerning me.The original property agents Mac Anthony Realty are only interested in charging through the roof on all fronts or alternatively trying to sell me another property in some other far off destination.So if anyone who has closed recently could guide me on some of the following I would be very grateful.1) Is the complex completely finshed i.e roads in and out, pools,gardens etc.2) Is the commercial centre that has been promised started yet.3)What are the maintenance charges on the complex.4) Who is a good reliable non rip off letting agent close by.5)Can anyone recommend a good locksmith.6) Are the buildings insured under the maintenance charges or do I need to take out buildings and contents.7)Who is recommended for installing satellite TV ? 8) Any taxes or other charges likely to be incurred.9) Who is recommended for furniture packs and installing same at a reasonable cost.10) Is there a specific on site contact who deals with general day to day queries who acts as a liason  between builders and buyers.

I would greatly appreciate any info on the above

Marc

Hi Marc

Welcome to Duquesa Village forum

A very Happy New Year to you and good luck for February 2008 - may it be a good year for you.

We completed in October and had heaps of good advice from people that had completed a while ago.  I could answer the questions you ask, but I think it best to leave it to Jeff, Paul or Steve who have a lot more experience and expertise.  I am sure they will be in touch soon.

Regards Mimmie

Hi Marc

welcome aboard.

I can answer some of your points but a good place to start is this site ....http://www.duquesavillage.wetpaint.com/ which we have started between us to concentrate on our location.

1) Is the complex completely finshed i.e roads in and out, pools,gardens etc. - no not yet . planned to be finnished mid year this year, the roads are not tarmacced but most of garden and planting is complete. The building work is concentrated around the entrance and the blocks there.  Three pools are open and 2 are in construction.  - you can get a good feel for the site by looking at the photo section here.

2) Is the commercial centre that has been promised started yet. - no and i suspect it never will. and judging by the late delivery of DV i wouldnt expect to see it for at least 3 years

3)What are the maintenance charges on the complex. - if you mean community charges then it depends on your plot size. eg for a 2 bed apartment about €380 per quarter

 

4) Who is a good reliable non rip off letting agent close by. - not sure as i dont let but will pm you with some contacts

5)Can anyone recommend a good locksmith. - yes , the guy who did mine, its in the pm.

6) Are the buildings insured under the maintenance charges or do I need to take out buildings and contents. - you will need your own insurance...my bank sorted that for me.

7)Who is recommended for installing satellite TV ? Sat TV is cabled into the apartments but there is a cabling fault which usually catches peo[le out. its in my PM

8) Any taxes or other charges likely to be incurred. - as an owner of property in spain you will incur wealth tax and renta tax , both payable during the following calendar year. your solicitor can sort that for you but will charge you. I have just done mine myslef online. If you need any details let me know.  you are also liable for community charges, IBI tax ( like local rates ) and something called macro community charge.( macro community is called El Hacho , the hill, and is all the properties from the port upto to DV) This last one is the subject of some debate regarding its legality but in the last 2 years RyF , the developer, has paid this charge on our behalf. in 2008 that charge will come down to us to pay and there have been some instances of the charges being given to residents personally and the police being in attendance.

 

9) Who is recommended for furniture packs and installing same at a reasonable cost. _ i Used Furniture express for most of the heavy goods. I am very please. They advertise on here.

 

10) Is there a specific on site contact who deals with general day to day queries who acts as a liason  between builders and buyers. - This will be AEA the community management agents.

 

Hope this helps.

John

 

John,

Very interested to here more about the Sat TV cabling fault.
I've purchased a freeview Sat box but not yet decided on the TV so not yet tried the connection.

I can endorse Furniture Express - they provide me with a flexible, prompt and friendly service.


Marc,

Look our for some new photo's I'll post shortly showing the state off construction around the site entrance.

Some concerns I would have at this point if completing:-
a) site security is not good particularly if you are on the ground floor
b) we rarely get to see any mail (e.g. service invoices). It generally goes missing (or maybe gets thrown away by the post office if not collected within the month).
This is because the site has no post boxes.

If I was completing today and knowing what I know now I would certainly  be pressing the developer on these points before completing.

regards,
Paul

Paul...It was my pal in block 3 , JohnH, who found this fault and how to fix it. I will be meeting with him later so will try and get the details.

 

Hi, we were told by the con artist who was going to let our property that we really need a tv.  Whilst this was an item we planned to get we were not sure about using sky.  However after shelling out 1000 euros, we now not had any signal since November and AEA are reportedly trying to rectify the problem - should be done anytime now so we are told! pigs might fly too...........

Regards M

Mimmie

sounds like you have the same problem as i described. It seems all apartements have been wored incorrectly. its not a big job to fix.

Thanks John, thats a relief!

Hi all

Sat tv was definitely a problem with the wiring - and from what I can gather with most people in DV.  Mark, who installed our sky box, knew what was wrong - wiring had to be swapped or something like that - but on top of that we can't get a picture from ours unless the "normal" antenna cable is plugged in to the aerial socket!!  Definitely some dodgy cabling/wiring going on at DV!  Mimmie, 1000 euros seems an excessive amount for your sky connection!   I hope they included the TV and home theatre system for that too!!

Hi Marc - I would definitely endorse what John and Paul have said.  If the promotional literature given to you by the developer/agent states "childrens play areas" and "waterfalls", ask where they are before completing!  Because there aren't any - and from what we are told that literature forms part of your contract with the developer (unfortunately, found that out after we completed!!).

Those are minor points, though, I know, but security isn't and there have been several break ins at DV.  AEA and RyF don't seem to be able to get a handle on it and, bearing in mind your community fees cover security, it seems nobody ever sees any!!  (And don't forget to add 300 euros to your first community charges payment to include the sinking fund amount and make sure AEA apportion the quarterly fee to take into account you are completing in February and not 1st January!!).

The mail is also a very serious concern.  How is this disposed of if not collected within a certain period of time?  Who gets to know which apartments are not regularly occupied through viewing uncollected mail????  Another security concern that should be dealt with.

Sorry to harp on - I suppose with us being so far away, I get a bit anxious as to what is going on and why AEA/RyF aren't pulling their weight!!

Hi yes we have got a tv for that but alas not home theatre, surround sound would have been nice though, but alas nothing so grand!!! Mim

Its not exactly a fault. Nor is it faulty wiring. They have used a proper filtered socket, the digital signal does not go thru the filter as its too high a frequency or will only pass analogue signals.

On a double TV type socket one side is often marked TV and the other marked Radio, within the socket is a filter board that separates the two signals sent down the same coax cable.  

Of the two sockets in the lounge you have to identify which one has the sky SAT signal, the other socket is Spanish sat and Spanish terrestrial.

You can get a drawing from the RyF office to help identify. Without the drawing so you can identify which is which try your TV in each and try to tune Spanish Terrestrial TV when you have tuned in Spanish TV you know its the other socket. (I will get a drawing when I am there in end Jan and publish.)

Having identified which is the correct socket remove it from the wall and take out the coax.

a) either add a length of coax to this lead with an F type connectors and a joining blck (from Leyroy Merlin or other DIY) and put the lead into your SAT box

or better still

b) Remove the filter you will need a soldering iron to do this and join the input tag to the output tag with a short piece of wire. You can then replace the socket onto the wall for a neat job and connect as normal coax to F type connector.

PS I have done mine and have all the tools.

Paul ........Using a freebox ........do you mean Spanish freeview I.E. DVB from SAT or Terrestrial, you may need to do something with the filter on the Spanish side.

In my house the antenna distribution system will not pass digital signals. Sometimes its the filters that block dirgital or it can be the aerial amplifiers only do analogue amplification.

This message was last edited by manilvajl on 1/4/2008.

In our apartment the engineers sent by Maria found that the inside of the socket and wiring in the wall were broken and wrongly connected.

They advised us that they had already found this to be the case in a number of apartments. They hard wired the socket, connected the Sky box and it worked fine. Do not think they removed any of the filtering components.

Michael52

This message was last edited by michael52 on 1/4/2008.

I think the hard wiring would bypass the filter.

Marc,

Two other points I would check if completing today as part of pre-contract enquiries/confirmation

1) That that guarantees with all the included equipment are still valid.  e.g. Washing machines, boiler and air con.
Some buyers found that these had technically run out or were close to expiring before they had time to really test them.
Some suppliers are more flexible than others but you end up having to negotiate with the supplier and depend on their goodwill.

2) Can the Developer confirm that the size of the air con unit that has been fitted is the within manufacturers recommended spec for the size of  apartment.
One or more buyers have found their air conditioning unit is  ineffective and when having it inspected by a third party they have been told that the air con unit under capacity.

regards
Paul

Hi Paul

Thanks for the info.Yes I will check both of those issues with the property company immediately.

Thanks again

Marc

 

Dear John

Thanks very much for the info below dated 4th Jan which has been a huge help.I will be questioning the relevant individuals on all points before I close.

Can you tell me if I'm allowed to put off the close as long as the development has not been completed to my satisfaction i.e the surrounding areas /pools etc.I asked the property agents today and it was all a bit vague as usual.The lawyers mentioned something about not closing on time may result in losing the property.This seems draconian.! Any info will help.

Regards

Marc

 

Marc

That is draconian to say the least, they are desperate to close as many as possible as there are many not even sold yet. To put it another way of all those apartments in phase 1 and 2 , the developer still owns more than 50% ie they remain unsold. The developer has dropped his prices in some instances to try and shift them. As a potential buyer you are in a strong postion this day and age as supply has outsripped demand.

 

Marc,

You need to check your contract (Contrato de Compraventa) which I am sure will be the same as ours. Basically once yours is complete and the license of first occupation is granted your contract is such that they can insist that it is your obligation to complete, because they have completed their side of the contract.. I will try to find the clauses in my contract that effectively state this. I will do this tomorrow.

Now if the garage door is not working or something like that is not available to you can ask for this to be completed first.

Marc,

In clause 10 of mine (Decima) it looks like I was contracted to pay remaining amount (by mortgage if needed), sign and receive the keys within 7 days of Ros Y Falcon asking for it. I.E. after they have completed their side of the contract.

I don't think its Draconian its simple contract law, they agree to deliver an object, stuff or service by a certain date and you agree to accept and pay for it when it was complete.

I don't believe the site has to be complete because there is a clause ( Duodecima 12th) that relates to R Y F having the right to aggregation, subdivision, grouping and segregation of the promotion under Horizontal Law, and I think this allows them to release phases or parts of phases as needed for completion.

Pools don't have to be complete etc. they are not mentioned in the contract.

You may have a grievance if they delivered late (and did not inform you, as I think there is a clause that relates to informing of a change of delivery date)  and you could ask for a discount based on say rental lost.

I know its not what you want to hear but I didn't read the contract or get an English translation I left it to my Spanish solicitor, I used him 7 years ago on another property, and he was okay.

Since then my Spanish has improved and so I have been reading my contract and it's a contract that protect both parties as you would expect.

This message was last edited by manilvajl on 1/9/2008.

This message was last edited by manilvajl on 1/9/2008.

all,

just posted to pictures of the status of the two blocks at either side of the main entrance.
The builders very busy on the external rendering today.

All other blocks appear to be completed from the outside.

Paul