van and driver needed

Hi Guys,

I thought we should let you know how our first stay in our apartment went. We arrived late on 15th December 2007, our furniture had been delivered from Furniture Express in Estepona (good quality furniture with ZERO hassle) on the previous day, we had seen it in their showroom but we were eager to see what it looked like in our apartment. We were not disappointed, the installers had done a great job and apart from moving a few decorations around the room we were very impressed. 

For those of you who are still unsure about purchasing the heating / air con units, DO NOT HESITATE if you intend using or renting your property after October each year. We spent  three nights with one double and two single duvets on our bed. The tiled floors look great and are very easy to keep clean but you are in for a very sharp shock if you get up in the middle of the night for a "visit". The floor is freezing !!!!!

Carrefour sell a very reasonable priced oscilating fan heater for €19.99 which worked well, in conjunction with a bottle or two of locally produced wine to keep out the winter chill.

On a more serious note, be careful when you light your water heater. After around ten minutes of muttering and mumbling I managed to get the pilot light to stay on and all appeared to be going well........ we had hot water in both of our bathrooms, however, after about three minutes in the shower (just enough time to get 'soaped up' ) the water ran cold. I spent the next two mornings standing out on our balcony watching the water heater while my wife had her shower so that I could warn her when the heater switched off and avoid the scream as her shower ran cold. 

On the third day I had a brain wave, as I remembered that I had seen a small bird fly out of the flue on the day we arrived.              I unbolted the flue from the top of the water heater and its brackets on the wall, inside the flue pipe was a nest approx three feet long which was obviously causing the unit to overheat and cut out. I found two very helpful Hardware stores in Arcos where I purchased some wire mesh which I fitted around the end of the flue to prevent the birds nesting in there again. Happily, my wife had a scream free shower on the last day of our visit.

There are a few 'snags' which Lynda from Sunset Estates is currently sorting out for us and we are looking forward to our next visit so that we can be ready to rent out the apartment for the summer.

 

 

Good to read a positive email with recommendations for future purchasers, keep them coming.  The last few I have read were a bit on the down side.

By the way do you recommend visiting that time of year, what is weather like? is there mant people about?

Helen & Jay

Yes, I agree. Great to get a first hand report. I am a bit envious to be honest...you are so far ahead of us... we can't wait to spend some more time in Arcos. Please keep the reports coming. Are there any photos of the apartments? Are you happy with the colour scheme, is there anything you could have changed? Are you going to rent out commercially or just friends and family, etc?  Did  you go up to  Plaza del Cabildo? They moved the web cam over to cover the square at that time - the car park was  turned in to some kind of nativity scene... looked amazing. Did you do the TapArcos route? Easter looks to be another fascinating time for Arcos. Keep the posts coming.

Regds

Nigel & Diane

www.arcos.me.uk

This message was last edited by nat-lads-dad on 1/18/2008.

This message was last edited by nat-lads-dad on 1/20/2008.

Hi Guys,

                   Glad you enjoyed the update,

                   Yes it is fine  to visit in the winter, naturally there is not as much going on as there is in the summer but it still made a nice break from the British headlong rush into Christmas, but as we said before, just make sure you have heating in your apartment !!!!!.

The days were dry, sunny and generally warm enough to walk around in a fleece or jacket and jeans, but as soon as the sun goes down you will need to seek sanctury in one of the local bars.                                                                                                           We found an excellent one about 200yds from the apartment. If you walk up the hill into town (steep, but worth the effort) you will come to a fork in the road with a bar on the corner directly in front of you. We haven't tried this one as it was closed at the time, however, if you keep that bar on your left and walk down the road past a shop selling toys you will see a phone booth about 20 yds ahead, if you turn left at the phone booth you should see  a bar / cafe called "Posiedon". We arrived at about 11.00pm and they were still serving "bar food" (enormous rolls, ciabatta bread and  buns filled with allsorts great sounding treats). I had Roquefort cheese and Salmon, sounds a bit odd but tastes great !!! We had a big roll and 2 beers each which came to a very reasonable €11 and this was followed two complimentary local liqueurs (to aid digestion). Despite being very busy due to the Nativity Festival which was going on in the town, the staff there could not have been more helpful.

                  The Nativity Festival is staged in December every year and several of the local houses are turned into Nativity Scenes, with the locals dressing up in costume.

                  As far as Easter (Samana Santa) is concerned we cannot comment on the festivities in Arcos, but Easter week in Cadiz (approx 30 mins drive) is something rather special, with parades most days, but the Thursday before Easter weekend is the best.

We want to rent the apartment semi-commercially, but we hope to be spending several weeks / weekends there ourselves, we purchased in Arcos as it is still very 'Spanish' and not very commercialised unlike the Costa's !!!                                                          It helps if you are willing to at least try  to speak a little Spanish, you will be surprised how many of the locals know some English but as always there must be a little give and take.

We had a problem with our Digital Camera and had to resort to a disposable one, once we have it developed we will post the pictures here. The apartment walls are painted white throughout and with  the pictures and wall ornaments supplied by Furniture Express it was pretty much done, after a visit to Ikea in Seville for a few 'essentials' (coat hooks, pots with bits of coloured straw in them etc. ) the apartment is just about complete. (Sorry chaps, but you cannot escape Ikea even in Spain !!!).

If you have any other questions we might be able to answer please let us know.

 

Regards,

Eric & Christine

Hi Manuela....thanks for sharing you thoughts with us on your appt...I was getting a bit concerned that phase 1 folk were reticent about their purchases!!

I'd be intrested to hear your impressions of the standard of finish & decor generally.Also whether the apppt feels spacious etc.Lastly is there a route into town centre that can be done in few minutes (8 I believe) that the promo material suggests & is it fairly flat ??many thanks for your response...mallj.

Hi ,

        I too had noticed that there were a few 'bad vibes' in the earlier postings, I think this partly due to the purchasers expecting verything to go like clockwork and to have definite dates when things are going to happen. When you purchase a property in the UK you are given a date when you can move and this is usually 'set in stone'. Unfortunately, the Spanish  property system does not work that way ! We took the view that as property prices in Spain are still rising, not as fast as the have previously, but still rising.  All the delays meant that as the purchase price was fixed, we were getting a even better deal. I appreciate that for anyone who has had a mortgage arranged since the original completion date given by the developers may now be running out of time, but for us we just sat back and watched our investment grow. When the time came to complete on the deal, we found that we were getting a far better rate by adding the outstanding balance to our UK Mortgage, even though there were many companies in Spain offering 'The Best Deals'. But as always, it pays to shop around and the deal they offered was the best for us at the time.

As far a how the apartment 'feels', I am not sure how Furniture Express manged it but the apartment appears larger with the furniture installed !!!!!!. When we first saw it empty we we a little disappointed about the size of the rooms, but with the furniture in place feels much better. There is not a lot of furniture in the lounge but there is enough, (if that makes sense !). We have a two and three seater sofa, table and chairs for six, TV unit and lamp table. We are even considering putting an additional wall unit in the corner as well.

Unfortunately, the developers used a little 'poetic license' when they described it as a easy walk into town. Yes, it is only a few hundred yards, but you will need to have good legs muscles especially if you have a pushchair or wheel chair. We also found out that due to the amount of construction going on all around the area, there is a fine covering of sand / dust all over the pathways, which almost had my wife sitiing down on a couple of occasions.                                                                                                                                                                                             

Having said that, I guess when the final phases are completed at the top of the development, you could probably walk through the 'estate' and into town. But even then I think you will be happy to see the first bar as you would have worked up a good thirst.

 

Hope this helps.

Buenos Dias

I think the best way to get to our houses is drive through the Village stay on the main road through a series of new roundabouts and go down the hill where there is a big roundabout.  Football Stadium on the Left hand side, go all around the roundabout and there should be a Furniture shop on your left hand side, go up this small road and you should be there. I remember we use to go through the Village and get lost everytime. I wounder does anyone know when all the Development is going to be finished it will be great to see it all finished off.

By the way Buenos Dias means Hello. At least i'm trying. Adios 

Hola, (Hello),  Buenos Dias (Good Day), Both work well !!!!

                       An alternate route to the development we have found is as follows:

From the new motorway you take the second Arcos exit (Exit Number 26 ) and then follow the road into Arcos (approx 2km).            

At the first roundabout turn left (3rd exit) go past the BP petrol station on your right 

At the next roundabout (100m) follow the road ahead (2nd exit)                                                                            

At the next roundabout (250m)follow the road ahead (3rd exit) Football stadium and Municipal swiming pool is on your left.

At the next roundabout (150m) turn sharp right (1st exit) Bright orange 'Gator' store will be on your left and Hotel / Restaurant Lago is on your right, as you drive up the hill.

After approx 200m you should see a narrow, dusty road fork off to the left. Take this road and it will lead you straight into the development. Beware of the kerb on your right as you pass the Romanber Ofiice as it is very high !!!

Hasta Luego, (until next time)

Eric & Christine (Manuela)

I wanted to add my thanks to the other guys who have posted here. I'm sure, like me, they are desperate for news of the progress, the final finish and also Arcos itself. It's really good of you to post some detailed updates. It makes it all feel a lot more real, and gives me hope that my own completion date will finally arrive one day.

I'd appreciate a quick note on how you went about dealing with Furniture Express - at what point in the development did you see them? Did you pick out every item, or did you give them artistic licence?

The other thing I'm getting quite frustrated about is the Euro rate - as time goes by our property is becoming more and more expensive to purchase. It's fine if you've already paid the whole amount, as you are then gaining with the rate moving as it is. If, like me, you have paid the 30% and waiting until completion to pay the rest, then it's currently getting more expensive by the day.

Thanks once again - let's all keep up the healthy discussion.

Adam & Emma

Hi,

         We visited Furniture Express about a year ago when we were told the apartment was nearly ready. However, as you are aware there were a lot of 'false starts', but when the solicitors started asking for the balance we knew we on on the home straight. Liz at Furniture Express was very helpful and talked us through the Mexican Pine range that we wanted, she talked about the style of beds which she thought would best suit the apartment. We chose the colour and style of bedding and curtains and then decided that we would like to have a leather suite rather than the cloth option. There was an extea charge for the Leather suite, a dining table that sits six  rather than the standard four and the extra bedroom as the package price was for two bedrooms and we have three. This came to a total of €7835.

We had looked at driving a van from the UK with the furniture on board as we found we could save about €2000 by purchasing in the UK. However, when you take into account the cost of Van/Truck hire (hire price doubles when you tell them you want take the vehicle abroad), ferry fares, fuel and hotel bills on the way down. Also, remember that you will have to unload your vehicle and carry all your furniture up two or three flights of stairs as the lift is very small and not working at the moment !!. Furthermore, Furniture Express will also install your light fittings (we had fifteen), pictures, mirrors and curtain poles etc. all included in the price. When we took all this into account, we decided that an email to Furniture Express and a call to HiFX (01753 859159 or www.hifx.co.uk) to arrange a transfer of funds was the best option.

Furniture Express require a 25% deposit to secure the order and the balance by credit card or Balance Transfer a week or so prior to delivery, generally they would like about 4-6 weeks notice to get the package together.

We had given them an idea of what we wanted and left the details to them, we arrived the day after they had delivered the furniture with a little apprehension as to what we would find. But we were delighted and with a few personal touches courtesy of IKEA, we feel the place is pretty much where we want it to be.

On a slightly different note, does anyone who is fortunate enough to have already completed, want to rent out your apartment  for a week or two in June as we have have a group of friends who want to travel together and there are about ten of them. So we will need two apartments to accomodate them. If so can you let us know how much etc by using the Private Message option if you would prefer.

Regards

Eric & Christine

Eric/Christine

Once again many thanks for the detailed postings. The Furniture Express price does sound a lot when you first hear it, but I can see how it actually becomes quite economical once you take everything into consideration.

Adam

This is to answer Johnp-o-neills question on the completion of the development.  We were led to believe that is would be November 2008.  My sisters solicitor has informed us that the development will be ready between March 2009 and July 2009 - no earlier.  We purchased an apartment in block 2 in November 2006 so I must say I'm not too happy!!

Has anybody else purchased in Block 2??

Gilli Martinez

 

 

 

Hi Gilli,

We are in Portal 5 (behind Portal 2)

If you check out the pictures I was sent (taken December)

www.arcos.me.uk - Building Plot

and you will see Portal 2 is much further advanced. Looking at it they are still doing the underground car park on Portal 5.

I was lead to believe we would have the keys for ours by the end of this year. If you are in Portal 2 I hope your solicitor meant July 08 not 09

Hope there are more pictures of the development here soon so we can see the rate of progress.


Regds

Nigel
www.arcos.me.uk

Hi Nigel, Thanks for the reply, I emailed Sunset Estates when Fays solicitor first informed us of the completion date asking them for their comments....they never replied to my email.   Fay's solicitor said the date for completion is March 2009 with a possible three month run on.

Did you buy from Sunset Estates?

 

Gilli

 

Hi Gilli

Yes Sunset are the sole agents for the development, apparently.

We will just have to wait then!

Regds

Nigel

www.arcos.me.uk

Hi  reading all messages re completion just wondering what date was put on your contract?

We bought in Aug 06, Apartment -1A, portal 5, Block 2 and our contract states that ' the dwelling will be handed over on 31st December 2008, but the date may be brought forward or extended for a period of 4 months'.   No doubt there will be get out clauses if it goes over this time but  that is the date stated.

Jay & Helen Levene

 

Hola,

           Does anyone have any details for a cleaning company who can clean / check our apartment between rentals ?

           Better still is there anyone living in Arcos who would like to earn some "pocket money" ?

 

Eric & Christine (Manuela69)

Hi

Have you contacted Lynda @ Sunset, as I seem to remember in one of the newletters she mentioned that they could arrange this and to contact them for a price.

Helen

 

 

Dear Manuela69,

I have sent you a PM but if anyone is looking for a property management team or cleaning services a company called Spanish Sol-utions will be able to offer these services.

For further info please send me a PM