Michael Harris

Just got back from our trip to Spain, where do I start..?

Below is my findings, not everyone will agree, but i aint bothered, say what you see.......
 
The new solicitor was very good (obviously until we get money we will not know for sure), and is very confident of executing the Bank Guarantees within 6 weeks or so. He is writing to Huma on Monday giving them 10 days notice to return the money as they are in breach of the contract. He is pretty certain they will not reply let alone refund the money as per he previous requests for other clients. He then contacts the banks who hold the BGs and asked them to return the money. The two banks mine are with (and the one my friend is with) are usually ok and pay out as they know the crack with ACC. If not he issues a court action against the bank, which has previously shown the banks you are determined and they bottle it and pay up, because if it goes to court they will also get hit for interest over the years they have had the money. So if they refuse and it goes to court (which he is certain you will win as its black and white - no ACC), the bank will have to pay out more money in fees and interest, so they (usually) settle out of court.
 
The solicitor accompanied us to the notary to sign the power of attourney, and walked us round to Aldea. They are a joke, they had my mates file ready, but not mine - which they said return in half an hour whilst we prepare it (bare in mind i had to pay 460 euros cancellation fee for this process), on return my file was ready - all 4 pages of it - 2 BGs and surprisingly our NI numbers. my friend only had 2 BGs - again all for 460 euros. i will be contacting them this week to say how unfair i believe their fees to be in the light of what i received. At least i have my documentation to proceed elsewhere.
 
The next day we all headed down to mazarron for a look as it was on the way back to the airport. Mazarron beach is fantastic, we sat in a bar eating pizza and tapas, cheap as chips and superb views. The beach is massive and not busy (granted it was out of season and the weather was not 100%). Then we went to Mazarron country club (Huma built). How can i say this without using the following statement?? "What a sh!t hole" Terrible, quality, layout, style, finish - you name it, it was wrong. Had a look at the communal pool (currently shut) and the pub facility, tennis/bowls etc - horrible, grotty, unmaintained, looking old.....to think this site was started 6 years ago...how long/what quality would ACC be in in 6 yrs time if they started tomorrow...i hate to think. Now i know why Parador said we had no time to go and view mazarron before buying on ACC - i certainly wouldnt have bought based on MCC. Seriously all 4 of us was in shock.
 
We then headed out to Alhama where Polaris World is being built. It is about 15 mins drive from the beach (via part motorway and normal roads, so make no mistake its a good few km's inland), about 5 mins further on than MCC. It also works out about 30 mins from the current and the new to be airports (Vera is about 1.5 to 2 hrs from San Javier airport at murcia - we used toll road - not sure if this is the fastest way?) sure parador said 45mins !!!!!
 
Anyway back to Polaris world - unbelievable !!!!!!!! amazing. the quality, speed of build, layout, facilities,security everything was fantastic. Seriously i was going to get my money back and pay off my mortgage at home, looks like its staying in spain. It is more costly than ACC, but you can see what you are getting. The first phase of apartments are being handed over to clients later this month. The site is massive (the ring road around it will be 17km when completed). The first signiture golf course and builds is all signed and sealed in terms of approvals, golf courses 2 and 3 are in the final stages of planning (even if they didnt get built this is still a superb site). All the apartmarts (2&3 beds) are in little squares with a pool in the centre. phase 1 of apartments is about 95% sold and built. the next phase (only just starting) will be complete by xmas. Course 1, clubhouse, "town centre" should all be complete by next june.Just down the road (still in the complex) is planned a retail centre with the likes of Zara shops signing up. The whole site will probably take up to 10 yrs to build/sell - this is down to the deveoplment of courses 2 and 3. Course 1 and its surrounding will be about 2-3 yrs - but these "squares" we looked at will not be effected as the building continues. The whole site is secure with cameras on the fence lines, controlled points of entry (with license plate technology). The planning consent also means they have to build a police station, fire station and sports venues (running track, football fields etc). The only bad thing i could see was that the cheapest villas did not have a good sized plot and are close together (the rep told us this), but can just get a pool on the plots. These are about 230k euros i think, the next villas up are circa 600k, out of my range, so the apartments look better buys than the cheaper villas when looking at what you get for your money.
 
If i get the money back, i honestly think the problems at ACC have stopped me from making a big mistake, compared to buying on polaris world. dont get me wrong, I think ACC compared to MCC is a lot better location/layout and hopefully will be better build quality, but you have to wonder. Polaris World seam to have learnt from their previous developments and look to have come out trumps with Alhama. Yes its massive, but what a development, and again only 30 mins from airport.

i would consider the option of Polaris World if you decide to cancel at ACC.

Like i say, some people will not agree with my findings, and i apologies to anyone on MCC that is happy with their property, it's just not for me. If you don't have BGs, then even MCC is better than nothing and once they build the golf course may have more facilities.

Oh, one last thing, I believe some people are not happy with Polaris World at the moment, as they was promised certain facilities would be ready on hand over of Phase 1 apartments (golf course, club house etc) by guess who??? Parador (so i am told )!!!!!! This weekend the rep from Polaris was quite open to the fact that they are building temporary facilities (gym, bar etc) for early occupants before the real deal is ready. Looks like Parador are still promising the world to achieve a sale, some things don't change then.........

 

This message was last edited by Jasp on 5/18/2008.

Jasp

Can't believe they charged you 460 Euros to cancel, they did not try to charge me a jot when I sacked them in November last year, but I did send them an e-mail prior to this saying " As they didn't respond to my e-mails they were incompetent and there services were no longer required". They couldn't wait to give me my file and get us out of the door when we called in.

Jasp,

I know you said everyone will not agree but I am surprised you called MCC a sh**hole. If you want to see a real sh**hole you should go to Campasol. We stayed at MCC whilst visiting Huma Offices and the bungalow was lovely. However I do agree that the facilities are terrible, the club looked more like 26 years old, not 6.

Go for it Jasp!!!! We did it a few months ago and feel soooo much better for it.. We were comitted to ACC for just over 2 years. Went out in feb this year and realized then that ACC was going to take a LONG time to be going anywhere. We'd never considered anywhere else, but as we were driving past Polaris World office in Mojacar, decided to call in. Chatted a while and arranged a visit for the following day to Condado de Alhama near Mazarron. FANTASTIC!!!! They took us to El Torre and Mar Menor (their 2 resorts which are open). Level of quality and cleanliness was incredible. Saw the apartments in the "squares" (called Jardines) on Condado de Alhama and decided it was for us. An upstairs apartnment with full roof terrace was less price than the tarifa we had wanted - with similar sizes (no private Garden... but the "jardines" with pool more than make up for it). Signed in Feb... We go out there in 4 weeks to complete!!!! Can't wait.... The dream is becoming a reality. We thought it would be impossible to walk away from ACC because of the beautiful Tarifa and the Incredible scenery around the Almanzora region. But, it is just a distant memory!!!! Fortunately for us, we were only in the position of paying the 3005Euro deposit. We haven't got it back, but....... we're weeks from the dream coming true. GOOD LUCK!!!!

Yep, I have to agree that there are loads more facilities at Polaris World than at MCC.  Just don't moan when you are paying a small fortune out each month for your community fees.  My bungalow on MCC, which is on a 160 square metre plot, costs 17.65€ per month, and a 50 square metre apartment on a Polaris World complex will cost approx. 6 times that amount (around about £85 per month).  So you're paying nearly 20 times as much per square metre in fees to have the facilities - alright if you're going to be living there permanently, I suppose.

I pay 35 euros pm at La Torre for a 2 bed front line appartment with underground parking, the FREE use of 15 swimming pools, a choice of 7 different resaurants, 5 bars, decent supermarket, health centre & security. Where do you get £85 pm from?

http://www.polarisworldagency.com/polaris-world-resorts.php

It says here that the fees for an apartment are approx. 100€ a month - and, as this is an agent's site, I would have expected them to have understated them (to make a sale look more attractive) not to have tripled them.

What have bars, restaurants, supermarkets, health centre, etc. got to do with community fees?

BTW, has the legal status of your development been sorted out yet?  How many officials have they locked up now?

You mentioned facilities first! I don't know who is saying 100 euros pm, I know what I pay. As far as facilities are concerned having been to MCC I know where I would rather be.

Yes, La Torre is legal, what else is happening with PW I don't know. But unlike ACC & so far OTCC it has been built. Also unlike MCC ALL the facilities promised at the start have been built & opened.

You may not like PW which is fine, we are all different but don't compare them to Huma.

I didn't say that I didn't like PW - there are thousands of lower status urbs. (lower than MCC and PW) scattered throughout Murcía.  My original post was to show that all the facilities (that people were 'bragging' about) come at a price (I didn't mention facilities first - but that is by the by).

If we accept that you pay 35€ a month for your 40 square metre apartment; then that is 8 times the amount that  I pay per square metre at MCC.  If we  paid that level of fees at MCC then we would probably be able to afford our own space programme let alone x amount of pools (which I hope, to satisfy the original poster, are all open 24/7 365 days a year - not just in the summer months as the pool at MCC)

I visit La Torre every month & the only time the swimming pools have been closed was for cleaning, & not all are closed at the same time.

PW is different to MCC, that is obvious. You get what you pay for in terms of facilities on the development & the surroundings, I get what I pay for. You like yours, I like mine, It doesn't make either one of us right or wrong.

You mention PW costs 8 times what you pay, you may be right, but having visited MCC, for me, PW gives me 100 times what  is available at MCC.

What have I started ????

Disneyscott, looks like you had the same enlightenment as we did, glad to here you complete soon, hopefully if the money is returned soon I might even see you for a beer around xmas time, as that is the predicted completion dates for the next phase of jardines.

The 'enlightened' ones may like to read your section (Condado de Alhama) here on eyeonspain.  What's your take on the mysteriously disappearing swimming pools?  Also, if PW are such a reputable developer; why do they act in the same way as Huma re. the return of money when they are out of contract - remember the Watchdog programme of the 7th November last year (http://www.bbc.co.uk/consumer/tv_and_radio/watchdog/reports/homes/homes_20071107.shtml)

Now, that's what's meant by out of the frying pan into the fire!!!!!!!!!!!!  - but, hey ho, I'm sure some of you aint bothered [sic]


This message was last edited by reidpj on 5/21/2008.

property developers are never saints, even in the uk you dont always get what you thought when buying from a brochure/off plan. I have started reading that forum and have seen some grievences, but having seen the show houses built (real location, real size etc), I know what i would be getting. The PW rep was quite open about facility opening times, what was standard fit etc. I think a lot of the problems are false promises by agents.

I will keep on reading then make a decision.