amanda&charles

Carol - You have obviously bought an apartment very near to us. We have bought in block 1 of Rago 1. No need to worry about the air conditioning units. This problem only relates to the Pueblo Andaluz apartments down near the commercial centre. I checked!

On another note - is anyone an expert on inheritence tax? Should one of us die (without doing a spanish will) what would happen to the property? And if we both die, do our children have to pay inheritance tax? Sorry to ask such a morbid question, but we have been wondering.

jdr

Still cant find anything, but this..... "Bearing in mind that most members are absent for most of the time, it is very difficult for most Presidents to do their job democratically. As decisions often need to be made that should be put to a vote but need more urgent action. Such as replacing a lift. Or introducing new rules about lifeguards around swimming pools. All pools over 1.45M deep must have a lifeguard. There can be no swimming while the lifeguard is absent and lifeguards do not come cheap even if you can find one."

Quote from here http://www.spog.org/Living_In_Spain_...ommunities.php

CAROL ELIZABETH

Hi John
Thanks for all this information - how have you gathered so much info - perhaps I have not been assertive enough in trying to get my questions answered - certainly we were told nothing really about the area although some mention of the area to the back of Rago 1 being farmland was mentioned and that there would continue to be a track at the back leading up to the farmhouse. We`were not told it was on the market. It would seem the farmer is hoping to make a killing - do they designate land like we do in the UK - i.e. for building etc or is this farmer just a chancer? The agent did not know what was happening with the track from the entrance and I think it seems a little daft to have all traffic coming over that one bridge. We will have to explore the other entrance you mentioned when we next get across in June.

Very basic question to ask - Banks - we have to sort out very shortly and I cannot even remember what local banks there were. We have been advised to choose one of the big banks with a local branch in Ayamonte. Which banks have people gone for.

jdr

I dont think anybody can be an expert on it, but you or your children will have to pay, and unfortunately it would have to be paid before the takeover of ownership or sale of the property.
Helpful guide ? http://www.marbella-lawyers.com/inde...nheritance-tax

CAROL ELIZABETH

Glad you put a question mark after the helpful guide - I know it is getting late but I would need a translator to help me follow what the article was trying to say.

Carol

jdr

Typical Spanish red tape, cat 4 pays 81.6%.... ouch

EsuriJohn

Hi Carol Elizabeth,

Banco Grupo Popular (Banco Andalucia) in the Plaza Laguna right next to the Town Hall. So far very good indeed but do your own research and think about the British banks with chains in Spain such as Halifax, Barclays and Abbey it often makes money transfer easier and often at no cost if you also have an account with them in UK.

Regards,

John.

PS yes they do designate land and that land is not permitted for development at this time, hence "hope value". See plan for road layout.

EsuriJohn

Hi amanda&charles,

Have a look at the attached article on IHT.

Regards, :scared:

John.

PS also this article I prepared for my Kids to encourage them to make wills, since following the advice in the first article we are buying jointly between the five of us. Third there is also this article

amanda&charles

Thanks to John and Kath for the articles. V. useful.

Re banks, our solicitor recommended Solbank to us. It has just opened up a new branch in the main square - Plaza Laguna. There are 3 members of staff who speak English very well. He also said that given that the branch is new, they don't have many customers yet so you get a really good service and most importantly - no queues! They also have a few handy gimmicks like free internect access for customers. Plus it´s very swanky - looks a bit like the starship enterprise.

A & M

Hi Amanda & Charles

We have used Solbank in Ayamonte, partly because they are affiliated to our UK bank (HSBC), and partly because their information pack made them seem very user-friendly, as indeed we have found them to be. Staff very laid-back, friendly and speak excellent English (we dealt with Adolfo). The branch we went to was in Calle Isla Cristina - though it would have met with the approval of Capts. Kirk and/or Picard.

We're at the same stage as you, I suspect (by the way, nice to hear of other Rago 1 Block 1 buyers) and have found the whole exercise of transferring the money for the first payment from UK to Solbank and from Solbank to Fadesa painless .(Especially with the help of HIFX as currency brokers - no "landing fees" - qv many helpful past posts from John & Kath etc on topic of currency brokers). It can all be done online from Uk very simply, and there are more levels of security than with our UK internet banking facility.

The one thing to be aware of, which I don't think they told us (or we weren't listening) is that you can only transfer Eur 12,500 at a time from your account electronically. Not a problem as you can transfer the same amount again the next day if needed.

Are you going out there again soon? we are visiting the area in the first week in May and will post pics of Block 1 if we can take them. Are you front -facing(West) or back - we're front. Not much chance of getting close to the front but we''ll see what we can do.

Adrian and Miranda

jdr

Even banks with lots of clients are q free when they first open at around 8.30

EsuriJohn

Hi amanda&Charles,

I seriously considered changing to Solbank after visiting an exhibition in London where they had a representative who greatly impressed me. They were just fitting out the branch in Ayamonte when we were there in February right opposite our branch. Forget Space travel its the English speakers that you need, if you are not fluent in business Spanish banking is too important not to understand every nuance.

Most Spanish banks operate online systems which seem much more sophisticated than those available in British banks but don't forget they charge for everything which comes as a shock at first and explains why they are some of the most profitable banks in the world.

The Prestige account looked tailored to a new buyers needs and was so they said cheap to operate.

Choosing a Solicitor is also very important and great care should be exercised. The rules seem to be:-
1. Never use a solicitor recommended by the builder
2. Never use a solicitor recommended by an Estate Agent
3. Your Abogado should be personally fluent in English and understand the impact of your purchase on your English estate and successors.

Regards,

John.
PS Your solicitor will get a commission for the introduction thats the way the Spanish system works.

EsuriJohn

Hi A & M,

Love your real stone faced retaining walls they add prestige to the site if you enter by the Eastern route over the ridge line.

Regards,

John.

amanda&charles

I´ve read in other places too that you shouldn't use a solicitor recommended by the developer or the agent. But on a practical level, exactly who would that solicitor be? I was recommended MP Solicitors, MJ solicitors and another one that I can't remember the name of now by my agent. In a small town like Ayamonte, are there actually any english speaking solicitors that aren't recommended by agents? I certainly wouldn't be interested in going to Huelva or Seville to look for one. If an english speaking solicitor REFUSED to accept recommendations from agents, then how would they get clients?

I understand that there have been scams on certain other coasts (like Costa del Crime, surprise, surprise) where clients have been introduced to a ´solicitor´who wasn't actually a qualified solicitor, or someone who was in fact employed by the unscrupulous agency, etc. But do you really think these scams are taking place now in Ayamonte? I was very impressed with both the solicitors companies that we met, and were assured that no monies were handed between the agent and the solicitor (between solicitor and bank I don't know because I didn't ask). Both agent and solicitor were completely independant of each other, but that doesn't stop one recommending the other.

The fact of the matter is, I didn't know any solicitors in Ayamonte prior to going there and a recommendation came in very helpful. We are still going through the purchasing process, but have no reason to complain so far about the solicitor that we eventually chose (Pelayo, from MP solicitors). (Although I suppose at times he is a little slow at responding to calls, but I can live with that).

Of course I understand it is important to try and protect yourself from the scammers, but this isn't the Costa del Sol and there just simply isn't the same level of crime and fraudsters in Ayamonte. Nor is there the same quantity of english speaking solicitors.

If I were a solicitor in Ayamonte, I would be going to all the estate agents to introduce myself and try to drum up recommendations. What is sinister about that?

JohnandCarol

Hi Carol Elizabeth,

We are using Pelayo as our solicitor who we have to date found to be excellent and very helpful, I also understand he is buying on Costa Esuri. With reference to the bank we are using Santander Central Hispano who are the owners of Abbey National. They are also very helpful with two english guys in Ayamonte and also a local guy who speaks excellent english. At present we transfer cash by cheque via their London office. We also have access to our account on the internet to help keep track of any movements. The only thing to watch is a 1200 Euros per week limit on expenditure (for security reasons) but you can request and extension to this for a short period if needed. The other way round this when buying furniture is to pay by cheque (Santander cheque book).
Hope this helps.

PS We are not too far from you in the UK as we live in Wakefield!

Regards

JohnandCarol