Hi,
Im building a Villa in Ibiza.
It is 80 per cent finished.
The roof and windows are in.
The property is plastered inside and out and painted on the outside.
The house looks like it is finshed on the outside but i still need to paint the inside and put in the Kitchens and bathrooms and finish quite a few bits and pieces.
The problem is I have run out of money and I have to finish it in the next month, (which I could if I had the money but I dont)
I am quite happy taking my time finishing the house as I dont want to rush it and I want to get it right but everyone I speak to in Ibiza including the Gestoria and the Architect and the Lawyer say its really important that I finish it on time.
I would prefer to finish it on time but without the money this is difficult. I have applied for extra money off the bank and they may give it to me but it is not certain.
My mortgage is only 200k and I have had two independant valuations to say when the house is finished it will be worth 3-3.5m Euros. I know there is a financial crisis in Spain but Im not exactly in danger of going into negative equity. Ive only asked for another couple of hundred thousand to finish the house and the landscape etc.
My earnings in the UK are very high and I have a very good credit rating but despite all of this ive tried everything to get a loan in Spain but cant due to the credit crunch. When I bought the plot they gave me a loan for the land and told me they would fund 100per cent of the construction but then a few months later they said they had pulled all construction loans for foreigners.
I have a recruitment company in the UK so I have managed to fund all the construction myself from money I earn to get it 80per cent complete.
This has been a real struggle but In the long run it should be a good thing. I would even prefer it this way as I dont like borrowing too much money but it is the deadline that is worrying me.I can afford to finish the house but as i cant borrow money I can only do it with earnings which obviously takes longer.
In Ireland where my family come from you get 5 years to build a house. You can say you have finished the house once you have one toliet and a sink and washing facilities. Even if it is a five bedroom ensuite house. It is up to you whether you want to take advantage of the extra bedrooms. Also you can claim you like minimilistic style and say for example that you are not interested at the moment in tiles etc and prefer concrete floors!i asked my Architect in Spain about this strategy but he did not think it would work. He said the best thing to do would be to finish the house on the outside and then send in the docs to say it is finished and then chip away on the inside for a bit before you book the appointment for them to come around. Do you think this is OK. I dont suppose I will run massively over the deadline but I just wonder how much leeway they will give you. I orginally had two years to build the house but I have already had one extentsion. I think it is because I have already had one extension that they are saying that it is important that I finish it. I was wondering what is the worst cast scenario if I dont finish it on time. Someone told me that this could be knocking the house down but that this was very unlikely. Even if it is very unlikely it is still very scary.
Someone else told me that lots of people were late getting their final de obra for similar reasons and that it is not normally a problem and that it should be ok providing I communicate with the Town Hall. The views I have had on the same subject from a variety of sources have therefore differed fairly widely. I have applied recently for permisssion for the swimming pool and someone told me that If this permission gets accepted a month or so before my planning lapses (which it should) then this could give me a further extension to finish the house. As I would then have an open license to be still working on the site and I could finish the house at the same time. I was wondering about all these things. Obviously my main focus is getting the money together and trying to finish the house as quick as I can but it would be a relief to get some more concrete answers or views on a few of these questions. I would imagine there must be lots of people in similar circumstances. I have a water well now but I dont have the electric connection yet. I am still waiting for this.I was wondering could this buy me more time too as I cant see how you can finish it properly until you get the electric connection anyway. I will be able to get the eletric its just its taking ages to get the appoinment with the local electric supplier.