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Please do not deal with this estate agent, they are very expensive, dont care for their clients after the purchase and treat their staff like sh*t. At this moment they dont have any money and are not paying the salaries for their staff. This knowledge is taken from the inside....
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Quote.........At this moment they dont have any money It couldn't happen to a "nicer" company!! YIPPEEEEEEEE!!! This message was last edited by Tish on 1/18/2007.
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We purchased our apartment through ocean estates and so far they have been very good. we are meeting up with the after sales team in march and hopefully all will go well
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Oh! they are THE best....(that's what they will tell you) until ; a) they have their commission from your purchase OR
b)things start to go wrong. Let's hope you are not disappointed! (that is if you are not an employee...that's how much I trust anyone who has a good word to say about this company.) Too many people have been s*****d by them.
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Ocean Estates have a stand at this years expo in Dublin booked for this may so they must have some money! are they part of Medsea or is that a different company?
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But it seems not enough to pay their staff.! I wonder if there will be anyone left to work the stand?
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Ok they may not be perfect --- but do we really think that agents are there to just help us buy a property!!!! They are there to make as much money as they can, as anyone who has worked in sales, or has relatives/friends in sales knows. Did your last car salesman really sell you the car you wamted to buy when you set out to buy a car!!!! How many people in the UK have have agreed to have their gas/electricity/telephone services changed by agressive sales people in the supermarket/PO/or at home. They are selling a dream to most people, and it is up to individuals to be careful that what they buy is the best for them. You do not have to buy a property.... you can say no. If you cannot say no you should not be buying abroad. I have bought through OEI and yes there have been issues that could have been handled better, but I used an independant solicitor as everyone should. We had a major problem with some of the furniture we bought through with an OEI customer service rep, (our bed and bedside tables & headboard would not fit into our bedroom) and as I had written confirmation that evrything would fit from OIE they arranged for the bed to be changed and paid for a new headboard. I am not connected with OEI in any way and yes given the time again I may have used someone else... but would they have been any better????
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Void This message was last edited by Tish on 1/19/2007.
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Could it be that the bed did not fit because your apartment was built smaller than the orignal plans? This is a common complaint!!!!
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Hello Tish, There are diferent ways to measure apartments in Spain... some are the "built square meters", which includes the thickness of the walls , covered terraces count for 50% of their surface and they add also your share of the common areas.. Some others give you the built surface of the apartment... for the "usable area" substract some 10% to compensate for the walls and substract the terraces unless you consider them living space, as I do and you are okey for "enclosed living space" I hope this helped...... Juan.
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"I knew a lad that went to sea and left the shore behind him, I kne...
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Yes Juan as a knowledgeable agent I assume that you explain to all your clients that built area includes thickness of the walls and that they lose 10% of the superficie utile - however I reckon that a significant number do not tell clients that - usually because they do not know. The independents without flash offices, cars, telesales teams to support etgc who offer a more personalised service will tend to (not always I grant you) be more likely to inform on this type of thing because they are more hands on and likely to know this type of thing.
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Smiley - patrick@marbellamortgages.com www.marbellamortgages.com www.comparetravelcash.co.uk
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We used Ocean Estates in 2003 and bought off-plan in Duquesa Village, Manilva and, to date, everything is fine - save for the building delays, which can hardly be blamed on Ocean Estates. We did, however, check out the area extensively, checked out the developers, and knew exactly how buying off-plan worked (and the room sizes have turned out fine!) and are very happy with our apartment (although haven't had the snagging done yet!!). Ocean have, on the whole, kept us informed and we did not experience any "hard sell" from the guy who dealt with us (who has since set up his own business). Maybe because we knew the area and knew what we were looking for. Personally, I don't know Ocean's financial situation at the moment, and wouldn't help to promote any company that I wasn't fully acquainted with, but neither would I try to put them down without fully knowing their circumstances and reliable details - although I'm sure the original post would not have been made without such!!!
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Hi Pitby - I am led to believe that Ocean are finding it tough - they have lost a lot of the old hands as they are not making sales. Think the bad publicity they suffered in The Times a couple or so years back is having a far reaching effect. Would agree that agent has no control over delays with developer in most cases. Situations where I believe they are just as culpable (perhaps I will be more specific in another thread) but generally not to blame. Just for info a client of mine buying at Duquesa village went up there for a visit last week and was very impressed by the standard of finish. There was an observation that exterior was perhaps not as might have been liked - I understand the rendering is rustic effect - ie random and the colour terracotta is not a preference. However on the practical side of things white gets dirty very quickly and soon looks a mess and a rustic finish is very common over here unlike the UK. This was the first time she had accompanied her husband to visit the complex and I think overall the impression was very good.
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Smiley - patrick@marbellamortgages.com www.marbellamortgages.com www.comparetravelcash.co.uk
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Hi Smiley, I think we were very lucky with the agent we had showing us around - he was a really nice guy and, as I mentioned, he has since left Ocean and set up on his own. I did, in fact, read the Times article and, in all honesty said then what I say now, that one has to take responsibility for their investments to a greater extent and not put all the onus on one agent, who is on a commission! I think it did help that we did actually do a bit of research and I had spent some time on the Costa del Sol many years ago, so we knew exactly where we were looking to buy and what to expect. I do think that alot of the time - and this isn't directed to anyone who has posted on this forum - people don't do enough research themselves and put too much trust in an agent, who at the end of the day is just trying to make a buck! They are in business. The developers of Duquesa Village did, in fact, change the rendering of the village from white to mixed shades of "rustic", but, for us, that was fine and it actually blends into the hillside very nicely! Not that we will be viewing it from that angle!! This message was last edited by Pitby on 1/20/2007.
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Totally agree with warninggirl, Awful Estates as this company is also known, are, NOT TO BE TRUSTED.
Exhorbitant add-on commissions that the buyer pays, dodgy recommended lawyers, zilch after sales service or contact, false promises about the market and re-selling, staff always moving on (no continuity), API No. that belongs to their in-house lawyer F. Franco, White Whale scandal involvement, at least 5 exposes in the S. Times on Spain, and, (including Turkey), and Mail on Sunday, Irish TV exposes, showing developments where B. money is required (eg Green Life, Elviria), etc etc.
They are still at it in Spain, Bulgaria, Turkey, S.Africa, Portugal, U.S. etc etc
Steer well clear of this Company, for the sake of your health AND wallet!
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One thing about buying through Ocean/Awful Estates, is that if you wanted to re-sell you'd find that it would be difficult just getting your money back for many years because of their huge added on commission included in the purchase price, in the past this has been as much as 30% on off-plan development. People are simply paying way over the odds for property off-plan bought through some of these agents, they are losing money the day they are handed the keys, especially now in this poor Spanish .market.
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Smiley, you are probably right and, as I said, we were very lucky to have one of the decent ones! Maybe I've become a little cynical (plus we haven't actually encountered a problem with Ocean to date!), but here in the UAE, anyone renting and now indeed purchasing, always has to pay the agents fees (usually 5pc) up front, not the lessor/vendor. I think if I were to post stories about estate agents in this part of the world, Ocean would look like Angels of Andalucia!! And let's not start on developers here!! Delays, build quality, etc., etc.
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Right now a lot of companys are in trouble, the market has slowed down and with investments in other countrys such as bulgaria and turkey, Estate agencys have been hit hard.
I have worked for 3 of them on the coast, the best one was Livingstone estates, great company to work for, cared about the staff and the clients, paid well and on time, offered contracts ect ect only down side they make you pay for the bottled water!! Ha ha
Getting out of realestate made some good money but going sour very fast.
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