CAROL ELIZABETH

Chris - can you explain please - we may be going ahead and are over 50 and got the distinct impression that if we take the builders deal we have to take a 25 years mortgage which we then intend to pay off when we hit 60 and retire - they seemed a bit vague about possible penalties.

Do you know any more - we still have not committed - need to know the answers before we do.

Carol

EsuriJohn

Hi Carol Elizabeth,

Lets start with the pics, go to Reply or New Post and below the box for your message scroll down you will find additional options, choose Manage Attachments from Attach Files ,click on this and a new box appears which will allow you to browse to find the pic you want to up-load click on that. You then return to the browse window where you can collect up to five depending on file size, then up-load. Job Done.

Choice is a very personal thing and don't let any one tell they were not nervous about their own personal decision we all have been and I still am.

The Fadesa mortgage is an extremely good offer as you will find if you research on this site Matt Begly & MichaelH had some useful comments a while back you can search their postings.

But you do not have to take it nor do you have to take a Spanish Mortgage Both Natwest and Halifax offer mortgages on Spanish properties in both Stirling and Euro. You could as an alternative raise funds against equity in your UK property.

The main point is that you do not have to decide which at this stage just understand the costs and process's, the Fadesa mortgage is already there on your plot or property and the offer to you is to take it over. If you choose not at the Escritura stage (about 12 months away) it cost nothing to say no I have made alternative arrangements.

The value of anything you buy is what somebody else is prepared to pay to buy it off you. There is not to my knowledge a second hand market in CE properties so it is difficult to judge if the putative valuations given for Fadesa first release property against later releases will hold up. If second hand properties come on the market below the new price set by Fadesa for later releases you may well find the "English" system of offers comes in such as legal fees paid or stamp duty paid etc. The only certainty is that the property market in the whole of Europe is slowing down so you need not rush into decisions.

Fadesa are unique for a building company in that they close their accounts each month so they pressurise you to make a decision at a set point relating to the month in which they have apportioned your property being sold. If you don't close the property will still be there and will then go into the next accounting period so you can come back again for it.

When we were negotiating for our plot we placed our deposit and held the plot from Jan to April against all the Sales reps blandishments. The most powerful being that there were "only" 900 plots and they "only" had 20 left, and God and the council were not making any more so when it had gone it had gone for good. That was 3 years ago. There was a Fadesa advert last week that said there were still plots for sale! So don't give in to the pressure. Make the right decision for you when it suits you to make it!!!

This project is huge it will be 10 or more years before it is completed and there may be further phases such as the Marina after that, But individual bits like the first Townhouses will be complete and handed over within a couple of months and are already starting to look great. The first apartments were handed over last September and at the end of this summer they will look well sorted.

No plots have yet been handed over so individual villas will not be around until mid 2007 and will stretch on after that to suit buyers timetables. So although the pressure seems to be on breathe deeply take your own time and reach your own decision.

Buy direct from Fadesa unless you can get a genuine discount by using an agent and use a lawyer independent of both the agent and Fadesa.

Here endeth the lesson.

Regards,

John.

PS Kath and I are both scared and delighted by our decision to go ahead and buy but it is such a nice place and the omens are good for it being successful so we are ploughing on.

PPS We are both over 60.

keithwalters

We have just been out to visit our apartment in the first phase to do the snagging list - we were a bit nervous about how it would turn out, but are delighted. No nasty shocks. We took the mortgage from Fadesa, and like you asked to have the number of years reduced from 25 to 15. Initially they told us they didn't know what the terms of the mortgage were going to be, but then they came back to us and said it was possible. It was a fairly painless exercise and we didn´t have to pay any penalties.

My only (slight) regret is that we didn't get the apartment we really wanted. I would have loved a top floor with views over the golf course, but at the time they were all taken and we had to settle for an apartment on the middle floor with not such great views. I suppose what I´m saying is that if you have fallen in love with something that is available NOW, then why not take it now. Otherwise you may find yourself settling for the best of the rest like we did.

And if our apartment has also gone up 40,000 euros over the last couple of years then I think it's time to open up the bubbly stuff! Was that really true??

Keith and Anne

keithwalters

I saw the advert about the plots of land too, and took a look whilst we were out there. They had about 4 or 5 left and there were in the most diabolical positions imaginable....over looking a water deposit, or down in a dip with views of absolutely nothing. There was only one decent plot location wise, but it was so enormous that i doubt anyone would ever be able to afford it. No wonder they can't shift them!

keith and Anne

Loco

Hi and welcome,

It is hard to say how long it will look like a building site. I guess in two years it will look a lot less like a building site but major construction will still be going on for at least 5 years and probably for 10 years and more.

Be careful about reading too much into claims of properties going up by say 40, 000 euros for a two bed over two years. They are based on the headline rates the developers use. Also be careful as I could get a free lunch most days in certain restaurants just for happening to mention how much my properties at CE have gone up at CE, how wonderful it is here, and how moving here was the best thing I ever did.

Today two beds on CE are easy enough to find advertised at 160K E to 170K E and can sometimes be found for less than 160E. AFAICR around two years Fadesa wanted about 140K for a 2 bed.

On the basis of purchasing at 140K two years ago and selling today at 165K when the acquisition, holding and selling costs are factored in at say 10% for acquisition , 0% for holding, and 5% for selling the gross gain works out at 2,750E. Once travel, time, phone calls and all the other expenses are factored in I guess even this "gain" could result in a loss.

Best

Loco

[/QUOTE]
I met a couple who had just moved in and their 2 bed had gone up 40, 000 euros in the 2 years or thereabouts.

How long do you feel it will be before it starts to look less like a building site?[/QUOTE]

chrismortley

Hi Carol
Sorry I can't help about the penalties,but it seems to me that there is a penalty or charge on most transactions so I would be surprised if there was not.How much do they intend to charge you to set up the mortguage,I think that can vary from the various lenders
We initially was offered a 25 year deal by IC & when I went to the bank (Santader) they informed me because of my age (48) they would only offer me a 15 year deal.
This was 2 years ago I have since had a few PM'S saying that various banks are offering longer contracts,maybe they are relaxing there terms ,British building societies tend to have there own conditions.
Have you asked your solicitor there opinion ?
Being as it is a very important decision to make it is probable worth getting proper advice,I would hate to to give you miss-leading information.
Reading some of the information coming from Fadesa i.e completion dates I think I would take any thing they say with a pinch of salt,especially where money is concerned
Chris

Loco

As you are over 50 I doubt you will even be offered the "builders deal" 25 year mortage by the Lender let alone HAVE to take one out whatever you have been told by the sales person. You will be hard pressed to find any lender willing to offer you a 25 mortage here as you will over 75 when it is due to be paid off. That said this being Spain all is of course possible.

As for early cancellation Spanish mortgages commonly have an early cancellation fee of 1% of the value of the mortgage. Partial cancellation is often cheaper so it can be worthwhile to pay off most of the mortgage but leave a small balance outstanding.

Best

Loco

EsuriJohn

Hi keithwalters,

Did you see any evidence of a second hand market in plots whilst you were over there. The only plot I have seen as a resale was in an agents window with an artists impression of a villa on it and a price tag of over €500.000 for the complete package.

"Rumour" has it that a good few plots were sold as investments and that they would appear back on the market at inflated prices. Not seen any. However with the general slowdown in the housing market across Europe and the gradual increase in interest rates everywhere some speculators must be hurting and there may yet be some good bargainso be had for those with the nerve to play the long game.

Regards,

John.

keithwalters

Yes, I did see some resale plots in one of the agents windows - don't ask me which one though because I didn't really pay much attention. I seem to remember the ball park figure for the plot alone was about 200,000 euros. They were much nicer in terms of size and location than what Fadesa has left, and they are now charging 120-126 euros per square metre.

Presumably if those who bought plots as an investment offer them for sale at the same price as Fadesa charge now, they would have no problem selling them as you really wouldn't want to buy what Fadesa have left, even if they were offering them for free!

amanda&charles

Carol,

Re the mortgage, I think you would only run into real problems if you actually wanted the 25 year mortgage and were already 50+. As this is not your case and you want significantly less than 25 years I can´t see a problem. I bought an off plan house about 3 years ago (not Costa Esuri) and there was no developers mortgage available, so I had to shop around. These days there are so many products available on the market that you should be able to find something that meets your needs, even if it isn't with the developer. What Chris said is true about there usually being a 1% cancellation fee, so I would suggest that you don't take a 25 year mortgage and pay it off early, but rather decide beforehand the length of term that you want and fix it from the outset. We have a 15 year mortgage with Caja Madrid. Of course the beauty of buying off plan is that you have all the time in the world to sort these things out. No pressue to make snap decision.

With regards to the "should I buy now or later" scenario....when we were looking for our house we were a little bit late in the day and it seemed that most of the good houses had already been taken (naturally!). We hummed and aaahed about whether to reserve one, or to hang on and wait for the next phase to be released and be the first through the door. Well, we decided to wait. A few months later the next phase came out and lo and behold the prices had gone up about 5%. Not only that, but it seemed that everyone had the same idea as us and "pounced" on all the best houses, so we didn't even get the house that we wanted. Ended up paying more money for no reason. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, isn't it? So Carol, if the apartment you have reserved is a good apartment, well located and ticks most of your boxes, I would say go for it. Ask yourself precisely what you might gain if you wait a few months. If you don't have a good answer to that question, then why wait?

We have just bought an apartment in the new phase of Rago at Costa Esuri for 172,00 euros. Would have loved to be one of those people who paid about 120,000 euros for their apartment a couple years ago, but would hate to be one of the ones who pay 280,000 in the future (which is the current asking price for a 2 bed 2 bath at Isla Canela - shocking!). If Isla Canela is anything to go by, we can look forward to a healthy growth in the value of our apartments at CE, as they still appear to be well under market value.

I was nervous before, during and after my purchase..who isn't? but if I am honest I think it is nervous exitement. You hear people talking about CE as if it is the worst investment anyone can ever make, and then you hear the exact opposite somewhere else. At the end of the day you have to make your own mind up.

I for one, am increasingly confident about my purchase and increasingly cynical about the scaremongerers. If you look at the amount of money and facilities that are going into not just CE, but also the area in general, it all indicates that Ayamonte is still set to boom (or at worst, grow steadily). Heard about the new airport somewhere near Huelva??

Amanda & Charles

EsuriJohn

Hi keithwalters,

The price for all Fadesa's plots has been and still is €120.03 per sq m they have not increased the price at all.

Again rumour says that resale plots are available at €160 and up per sq m but not seen any and not priced in that way.

Regards,

John.

amanda&charles

I just wanted to respond to this comment at the end of John and kath´s helpful thread.

If you hunt around in this forum you will find plenty of threads about dodgy developers who allow the estate agents to fix their own prices for properties - AVOID. However, the big boys like Fadesa are more transparent. Their prices are standardised across the board -ie, regardless of whether you go to Fadesa direct, a UK agent or a Spanish agent, you pay the same price. I for one have seen CE advertised in many different places and the prices have thankfully been uniform. There´s nothing I hate more than shopping around for the best price, or worse - haggling.

Carol&John

Buenos dias,
Thanks John & Kath and amanda&charles for your reassuring posts. Even many months down the line, it is good to read again such information, and to have peace of mind. I don't like to haggle either, and I look forward to CE in ten years time!(That's not my completion date, by the way !)
Hasta pronto,
Carol

shirley and anthony hide

Whatever your on backwards MORRIS you really should try and cut down
and maybe get a life

EsuriJohn

Hi Carol&John,

Are you really really sure!

Regards,

John.