keithwalters

I think as mentioned earlier it is to do with the incline. Some of the manzanas are on completely flat land - they tend to have the gates. Others are slightly inclined and others are VERY inclined. Some houses have retaining walls at the back of their gardens and for them it would be physically impossible to have a gate installed.

Fadesa obviously have to comply with H&S rules otherwise they could be taken to court. Perhaps a residents community is not subject to the same set of laws?? - a bit like the Human Rights only applying to public bodies rather than private ones. I´m only guessing though.

keithwalters

We used SolCanela opposite the marina in Ayamonte centre. Came to about 50 euros per window including fitting.

andreaandcol

Thanks Keith

Carol&John

Hola! Buenos dias a todos!

Just catching up on the reading and writing (not to mention the laundry!) after spending nearly 3 weeks in Spain. New word I've learnt for the warm weather: Bochorno or bochornoso. Baking oven hot! Can be applied to the UK too!

Well, mis esurianos, I was fairly pleased with what I had seen at CE! Yes, happy indeed! But, before I start, I apologise for not having any photos. Simply, because I (still) am not digitally endowed/equipped.
First hotel building site to the left of the fountain on the approach road has a sign saying "Winterra", which I guess are the builders. The commercial centre is a large hole in the ground - a very large hole indeed. And, as mentioned previously, there is a list/plan at the Fadesa shed of some shops signed up to open in the new complex (eg. Eroski, Burger K...) The sprinklers were out in the late afternoon for the greens (spectacular views towards the river and Portugal). Lots of construction work in the distance for what I can guess are phase 2, and other companies. There is a sense of space/openness with the golf course in between all the construction areas. The big sky/river panorama I feel has remained the same. Some may argue that CE is a carbuncle on this face of nature, but I would disagree. As long as the open spaces remain open, and building does not exceed the present height limitations. Of course, time will tell...

The Marina Esuri (a.k.a. Pueblo Andaluz, RMA 1) was very quiet (not unpleasantly so), and the gardens were coming along very nicely with planted orange trees at the entrance porticos, bouganvilla along the fence line, and palm trees just waiting to bend in the breeze beside the pool areas. The communal areas were locked, but lunchtime/siesta is a good time to visit if you can stand the heat. (I did spot a "mad dog and english/irish/scots/welshman" taking a stroll out in the midday sun. He looked happy enough. ) Several parking bollards were knocked over, maybe by lorries or perhaps by unlucky drivers if there are no street lamps? (I never went late enough at night to find out if there is/isn't street lighting within the complex.)

Paula took us to see our place. We previously arranged an appointed time, and Paula explained that Fadesa allow only one viewing for snagging. The reason being there are so many people wishing to view/snag and for security reasons only the people at the shed are allowed access to the keys. Well, Paula simply may be following Fadesa instructions. I do not wish to place blame on her. However, this "one viewing" rule of Fadesa is ludicrous. Be prepared with camera to take your photos, because for certain you'll forget what each room looked like once you're outside again. And, a tape measurer, too.

I noticed from seeing other showhouses on RMA 1 (used by local management/furnishing companies) that not all apartments/duplexes are alike. Some have recesses at the windows, others have flush/smooth walls. Or, an unusual corner (as though it were boxing in some pipe) which might effect the measurements of the room when considering where to place headboards/night tables, etc. I realise that the plan of the apartment is not meant to be exact (see the small print), however, it matters when sizing up floor area, especially in the bathrooms. Toilet/bidets are arranged differently from the plan, and corners are boxed in (hiding pipes, I guess). I am not complaining, just pointing out what I had seen.

Re: duplex a/c unit on the terrace, I'll post on the other thread. Suffice to say that there is work in progress to correct this problem, at our manzana at least.

Re: Communal gardens/pools: I had not noticed if the ground floor apartments on RMA 1 had access via a gate from their garden to the pool area. Certainly a few of the ground floor apartments on manzana4 RMA1 have gardens that are below the ground level of the communal areas. (They have a nice walled area.) They would perhaps need steps built to gain access to their own personal gate, if they so choose.

I see from the above posts that H & S has reared its head again ( ) There will be many issues to discuss with the community representatives. All in good time...

Hasta luego,
Carol

jdr

You will find out H+S applies to everybody
The community that you will be part of is liable for the health and safety of everyone in your community whether owner or visitor. This will be covered by insurance, as long as there are no breaches of the regulations.
This is also probably why Fadesa dont like everyone mooching about on their building site, as at the moment they would be liable and allowing you to be there they are breaching the regs, so no ins cover for them if you had an accident. Spain has one of the worst building accident totals, and thats only the ones that get reported.

robinandjan

Hi, there is also a guy called Steve Brown at Let and Care who I think offers to supply and fit screens - email [email protected]. Let and Care offer a full property management service and Steve and Katherine are great.
regards
Jan

CAROL ELIZABETH

Will someone please help us get our heads around the currency stuff. Just to recap. We have made our first payment direct to Fadesa in London so did not have to deal with currency converting - no idea what sort of deal we got. We have been advised to get an HIFX account (which we have done) or something similar to make the next set of payments and I vagually understand that they would like you to sign up to the whole lot and they play about with it for a while (or at least the 10% you provide up front). This guarantees the rate or so I understand. Unfortunately we feel nervous about this as we really have not decided about the mortgage side yet. So we are probably going to PAYG etc as it means less commitment - will they still want an extra 10% for each payment - how does it work? Will they pay it direct into our Spanish bank and then our lawyer pay Fadesa? Still seems rather hard to get a clear answer on how we manage all this. Oh and what happens if you do not sort it by the payment dates you have been given? Is there a penalty?

matt begley

- how does it work? Will they pay it direct into our Spanish bank and then our lawyer pay Fadesa? Still seems rather hard to get a clear answer on how we manage all this. Oh and what happens if you do not sort it by the payment dates you have been given? Is there a penalty?[/QUOTE]


Normal practice for Phase 1 was for Fadesa to send us 6 promisory notes which were drawn on our Spanish bank account. We signed them and sent them back to Fadesa who then placed them with the bank. The balance of the 40% deposit was spread over these payments and then taken every 3 months - so after 18 months the 40% was paid and then funded the rest with the mortgage they have in place. So during the process it was our responsibility to ensure there was enough money in our account to meet the stage payments. The money did not touch the solicitor.

Thinking back it was a bit daunting....our hard earned cash going to a 3rd party for a promise of a house, to be delivered at some stage in the future! Well we now have the house, and everything went as smoothly as buying any new house does. The one thing we are glad we did do was to buy from a large company like Fadesa for peace of mind. OK, they have their communication skills to work on but at least they proved trustworthy with our money.

I do not know what the payment plan is for Phase 2 but I would imagine something not too different.

If in doubt ask your solicitor to confirm.

If you default then usually you forfeit the property and deposit already paid.

Good luck.

Dave Smith

[QUOTE=CAROL ELIZABETH]Will someone please help us get our heads around the currency stuff. Just to recap. We have made our first payment direct to Fadesa in London so did not have to deal with currency converting - no idea what sort of deal we got. We have been advised to get an HIFX account (which we have done) or something similar to make the next set of payments and I vagually understand that they would like you to sign up to the whole lot and they play about with it for a while (or at least the 10% you provide up front).

Hi Carol

Originally I was going to open a HIFX account but in the end declined as like you I was unhappy given them money up front. In the end I used my own bank HSBC for all transactions. I opened a Euro account with them and just added money to it when the rate was good, the higher the amount the better the rate, I then transfered it to my Spanish account when required. To be honest I ended up getting better rates then HIFX offered me. On the issue regarding late payments, this happened to me as my bank transfered the wrong amount leaving me short in my Spanish account to pay one of the instalments. Fadesa charged me 600 euro in administration fees, as there was insufficient funds in the account to pay !!. I was lucky as my bank admitted it was their fault so they paid the cost, but its one to be aware of. I would say that all in all it did go very smoothly apart form that. Hope this helps

Dave

CAROL ELIZABETH

Hi Dave

Re opening a Euro account with HSBC - did you buy euros for this account at the financial rate or at the tourist rate and how do you do this? Did you not get charged any transfer fees by your bank or the so called landing fees. We have a Barclays account that we have opened in Ayamonte that apparently will not charge us landing fees (we pay about 50 euros a quarter for this) - if what you have done works out it might be more straight forward for us. HIFX have told us it is a good time to buy euros at the moment. Does anyone know?

Thanks for the advice about the late payment - still not sure how we make sure this does not happen to us - we have just been sent payment dates from Fadesa but no information about where and who to pay to - we have been told by our solicitor he will organise this for us.

Thanks

Carol

Dantill

Hi Carol

You will receive the payment notes from Fadesa for the stage payments. Its so long ago we did our stage payments I cannot remember if they came from our solicitor or from Fadesa.

We signed the originals and returned them and we were given copies.

Fadesa then present them to your bank account on the due date and you have to ensure the cleared funds are in your Spanish account.

We are with Bancaja in Ayamonte and transferred the funds from our Lloyds UK account 10 days in advance and never had a problem.

Our Spanish Bank Manager told us at the beginning that if we phoned him to tell him funds were on their way he would look out for them and not make any landing charges and so far he has stuck to his word.

We have our last payment to make for our plot which should have been December 2005 and we still have no idea when completion will take place. We dont even know how long we will have to get funds in place once we have been notified all a bit unsatisfactory.

Once you have the payments notes to hand it will all be self explanatory.

Good luck

Regards

Lynn

Dave Smith

Hi Carol

I got the euros at the financial rate. If you go onto Barclay's website you will be able to see what rate they are using, this is just a guide and normally you get about a point below this, so if its advertising 1.45 to the pound you normally get 1.44, but it will depend on the bank. I would phone the bank to confirm the rate, and they would book it for me. It was realy straight forward, I never got charged any handling fees (I'm with La Caixa bank in Ayamonte).

The reason HIFX are saying its a good time to buy is the rate is about 1.46 to the pound, which is good. Regarding how to pay your monthly slips, you will get them sent to you by Fadesa to sign and send back. They will then send them to the bank account you opened in Spain as required (I take it they know this account). It's up to you to make sure you have the relevant funds in this account to cover the payments. I sent mine over about 2 weeks before each payment to ensure it was all cleared before hand. It does all seem a bit confusing at the moment, but it does work.

Regards

Dave

tonyp

Keith,

We have a townhouse and would like to fit mosquito screens to patio doors upstairs and downstairs.Would this be possible.Excuse my ignorance but if they were fitted would you have to lift them up every time you entered or exited the house?


Regards


Tony

P.TINKS

We have a townhouse

Hi Tony,
if you use Sol Canela he will fit either permanent or retractable on your windows & a concertina type on your patio doors.We find it best to leave the nets in place on the windows whilst we are there, then give them a quick clean before pulling them up as we leave. The patio door type you open & shut as required. Beware of the wind though, it`s strong enough at times to blow the netting out of the frame (easily replaced)

Cheers
Pete

Carol&John

Hi folks,
Re: mosquito blinds.
Pete, do you know if anyone makes the type of mosquito blind/screen that is like a fly curtain, or, to be more precise, several vertical lengths of mesh with light weights at the bottom? I think these are easier to manipulate (in and out, especially with a drink in one's hand) for single doors.
The concertina type patio door screens look very good, appear sturdy, and they are very easy to handle - more costly, however. They are less "transparent" (maybe not the correct word?) than the single layer mesh of a roller blind. People/pets accidentally tend to poke their way through the fragile single mesh (maybe because they haven't seen it?).
The roller blind type mesh is fine for a window. To cover a single door, you have to pull it down and attach it to the floor clips, which I have found to be a real nuisance. Either one clip is broken, or the blind zips back up in your face, and you have to start all over again...
Thanks in advance,
Carol