Re: Acron Homes
 

iIt looksike the dream is over then....

The best we can hope for is 6 months maybe then another 6 months,etc

I'm e-mailing Acron to find out exactly how many customers (not NRI or PIO) have obtained their deeds of sale.

IF I GET AN EVASIVE REPLY,THEN WE ALL KNOW WHY DON'T WE ???

Douglas,I would like to think you are wrong,but your own story speaks volumes.

Keith

Re: Acron Homes
 

Douglas' story is fact. The same has happened to me, except I haven't been able register and haven't finally decided to go to Malaysia.

Re: Acron Homes
 

Hi leavinggoa,

Thank you for the confirmation, your username is indicative of your situation?

I presume that like us you had a visa other than tourist at some stage and that visa has not ben renewed or extended. As aresult ,you have or soon will lose residency status?

If so, welcome to the club.

Kind regards

Re: Acron Homes
 

Hi again Keith,

Ref your intention to write to your developer. Please do, but accept that registration is not the holy grail that it once was before the authorities took action.Its not only what developers say, but what they dont say thats important.

Any long term stayer who legaly registered must have had an x visa or similar at some time , in order to comply. My own experience and the testimony of others suggests that they are refusing to renew these visas , so at some stage foreign nationals will lose the residency status they once had and the privileges that go with it.

So within the above scenario, even if your property was now registered and the register was not blocked, although you technically owned it,you still could not sell your property unless you had a visa other than tourist and were deemed resident( which you no longer are).

( I believe you can theoreticaly sell with RBI express permission , but you lose the general permission when you lose residency)

In my book this predicament renders the investment virtualy worthless, although there is some utility value if you wish to continue to visit the property on a tourist visa.

Reason - throughout FEMA you will find references to residentand transfer as the requirements to enable a foreign national to conduct business in immovable property. I understand transfer in this context to mean buy, sell, gift.

This further obstacle may be a deliberate tactic or an unintended consequence of their action. Either way it doesnt get easier.

Regards to all

Re: Acron Homes
 

Dear Douglas and Leavinggoa,

I have so far only been out there on 80 day tourist visa,so my predicament is worse.

If 180 days is it,then so be it,i'll live like a long trm tripper then !!!

The next possible obstacle will be if I repeatedly leave,come back,leave,will I get nobbled with say a 28 day visa ???

I've enough friends who want to rent it so I may recoup some of my (not large) investment.

Your experiences in this area would be most welcome


Regards


Keith Rogers

Re: Acron Homes
 

Hi folks,

What do you think,would I get away with it ???

I believe I would have to register with the local police on arrival in Goa as I would not be on a package tour as such.

Can I still buy basics like furniture,have a phone,Electricity ???

I know I cant buy a car or scooter,so would I have to rent ???

I'd really appreciate your views on all of these issues.

I don't wish for more than a simple lifestyle,no frills..



Best Regards


Keith Rogers

Re: Acron Homes
 

Hi keith,

Ill do my best to answer your questions.

If you repeatedly leave and come back on a tourist visa, they may tolerate this for some time, but its counter intuitive if the original intention was to exclude long term stayers.

It is possible that they may reduce the duration of T visas to 90 days at some time in the future. Reasoning- the chief minister of Goa , Rane, last year reportedly requested central govt reduce the current T visa from 180 to 90 days.Currently those with a british passport but of Pakistani origin only get 90 days. The proposed new 5 year tourist visa (not available to Brits) is to be endorsed 90 days max. ( no signs of xenophobia there then)

If you rent out your property in India, you need a business visa.

You need to register with the police if your hotelier doesnt do it for you.

You can buy furniture no probs, but you may have to abandon it if you have to leave.

You should be able to get an electricityand a phone connection if you have a lease in your name, if not get the freeholder to do it on your behalf

To drive in India as a tourist you need an international driving permit obtainable from AA or RAC for about 6 pounds and a photo, (form available on line). It will permit you to drive the same class of vehicles as your uk licence, so if your not permitted to ride motorbikes in uk you cant in India either.

As an aside, I was once stopped by Mapusa police and asked for the pollution controll certifiicate for the pulsar i was riding ( brand new bike didnt need one until year old, whilst most of the other vehicles on NH 17 belched their black smoke in our faces)

If youve no experience of riding a motorbike elsewhere, my advice is dont do it in India unless you like hospital food and consider sharing your bed with another patient to be ok.

Almost all car and motorcycle hire in Goa is illegal.

Good luck

Re: Acron Homes
 

Douglas

Many thanks for your reply,I'm just going to have to suck it and see then !!

I thought it was too good to be true.

I've got full bike and car licences,but I can't buy one can I ??

My bank HSBC say that I can open an account in India with their international division and I can transfer funds there. Is it then possibel to extract funds via an ATM of another bank??

They told me that provided the ATM had Cirrus/Maestro symbols it would be ok ??

I'll still have my UK address which I will rent out for some income.

A colleague said to always have a back up plan in case it all goes pear shaped in the future.

I've read your account of your times in Goa and frankly it stinks !!!!

Rental income would not actually go anywhere near India,staying in the uk on an "adhoc" basis,friends coming to stay etc....

Is Malaysia ok place to live,sounds like it from your e-mails ...


Thank you for opening my eyes.


Best Regards



Keith Rogers

Re: Acron Homes
 

Hi again Keith ,

Glad to have been of help, you seem to have most of it worked out now.

You can't register motor vehicles in your name unless your resident.

Malaysia is fine, similar climate to Goa, but the monsoon is split into two periods , so you dont get months of constant rain. It also seems to rain mostly at night when it does rain.

Malaysian people are delightful and welcoming so far and the place is noticably more clean and structured after India. The cost of living is higher but still much cheaper than UK.

Re: Acron Homes
 

Hi Douglas.

Shame I didn't look at your thread earlier in my buying process !

In a weird way,it's good that I've got the 'flu this week,otherwise I wouldn't have delved into the threads as much!!

I have now drastically reduced my expectations (read:realism) and regarding furniture etc only the bare essentials will now be purchased.

It's not the end of my dream,just a bit modified....

I'll plan to try and do 6 months in Goa and 6 back at my cottage in Suffolk.

I've no mortgages or loans.so maybe i'm in a better position than others.

I only hope that other Villa Maria and other potential buyers have or are reading these posts

Once again

Many Thanks for your honesty and large dose of realism.


Keith Rogers

Re: Acron Homes
 

Hi again Keith,

Once again thanks for the recognition, it was never my intention to become this involved, just to post a general warning.

However, going over the details in this way has helped clarify my own thinking, even if i have sometimes ended up saying the same thing over again in different ways .

I agree that we should all spread the word and to obtain the best return on time and effort we should target newbies, so lets try a douglas style direct warning to British foreign nationals who are currently in escapist mode.

T IS NOT AGOOD IDEA TO CONTRACT TO PAY THE FREEHOLD PRICE FOR A FIVE YEAR LEASE TO A LIMITED COMPANY ON A PROPERTY THATS NOT EVEN BUILT YET IN A COUNTRY THATS THOUSANDS OF MILES AWAY AND HAS A REPUTATION FOR BUREAUCRACY DYSFUNCTIONALITY AND CORRUPTION AT ALL LEVELS

Re: Acron Homes
 

Hi Douglas,

I agree entirely that many like me will pay up on a post holiday frenzy (like a holiday romance ?) and when the lightbulb goes on in your brain,it's too late to get back from the commitment.

I am treating the whole episode as a very valuable learning experience and would like to broadcast this message to everyone in the Acron thread.....

Dont spend a fortune on fittings etc,because you may (will?) lose them at some point in the future.

I now view my purchase as an expensive rental home,like a flat in Docklands,except there you get a 199 year lease and no bloody visa to renew !!!


I'll keep you in the loop on developments,I love a challenge !!

PS: If my company "seconded" me to our Indian Opco,would that change things re:type and duration of visa. it may be possible...

What do you think???


Best Regards




Keith Rogers

Re: Acron Homes
 

Hi again Keith,

Sounds like you are well on board.

Regarding your last para, are you saying you work for an English Co that has a branch office in India , or could establish one?

If you already have a branch in India , you could look at an employment visa to work out of that branch. Employment visas are available for longer durations than 180 days.

If you have access to an existing English co, they could also consider setting up a branch office in India and ditto for the visa.

A business visa is also available for employees of foreign cos to visit companies in india with a view to doing business. Business visas are endorsed for a max of 180 day stay i think.

Once you have been through the loop of trying to do simple things like applying for phone in your apartment ( Indians turn simple tasks into a marathon), you may well baulk at the idea of any more complicated manouvers , i know i did.

Companies can purchase immovable property in India if its neccesary for the functioning of their business.The thought of getting permissions , pan nos , din nos etc and the money time and energy involved in doing so fills me with trepidation, also see the warnings on this site about shell cos.

If you were thinking of transferring your present property into a co ownership its curently a no go as you have to be resident( even assuming you could have registered it in your name in the first place.) Likewise problems if you want to reverse the process and transfer co owned property back into personal ownership, you have to be resident, so again a no go at present.

The commercial aspect is in area that i decided not to go in to because i wanted to have some time left for myself and retain my sanity, so i only have provisional knowledge. I have run businesses in UK but India is a whole new ball game.

If you go to india mike they have a visa and passport thread with lots of info. Also try the India High Commission website and RBI FAQ and maybe FEMA .

kind regards

Re: Acron Homes
 

I had a 1 year X and stayed continuously for 19 months. Did everything legal but could only get 180 day Tourist. I was expecting it though. I've been following the news so it's no surprise. There are still people arriving on a Tourist saying they're "buying" off plan.
I'll have to sell to one of them and save them some money. They won't listen.

Re: Acron Homes
 

Hi Douglas & Leavinggoa,

Havin now seen the light as you may put it,I've e-mailed Acron to ask for my property to be sold to another "newbie",so at least I may get back my original investment.

Surprise,no-one available at the minute!!!!

If push becomes shove (I've checked with my company and it's a no-no for a business visa as our Indian Opco only wants NRI/PIO status people),I'll view it as an expensive leasehold flat and try to do 180,leave,do 180,leave until they twig that I am one of their new "untouchables".....

I might get a few years out of it. Acron do say they will renew the lease after 58 months on the same terms,assuming they are trading as Acron then.

I feel that once more people like me realise what's happening,they may shut and re-open under a new name.

I overheard one of their sales people saying they are looking to move into hotels and upmarket developments,so maybe my words are prophetic !!!!


I think I'll just stay in my thatched cottage in Suffolk and put up wih Gordon Brown(a saint compared to Indians !! )


Best Regards



Keith Rogers