flashyblade

Hello,

I was looking at the possibility of buying a two bedroomed apartment in the Costa Esuri estate just north of Ayamonte. I must say that on the face of things, the value available at the moment (apologies to those who bought pre crash) is superb. But I wondered what the situation is with the fees, given that I guess there are quite a number of apartments that are empty.

Any other bits of advice would be very welcome. I've got some friends who live close to Faro who I'm going to ask to take a first look for me, and then I plan to come over myself and have a look.

bxpuser24710519

Hi and welcome, flashyblade Fire blade ?

Apartments in Esuri seem a good price yes but ask plenty questions as it seems they pay way more up there ! I don't live there but have friends who do.

EsuriJohn

If the apartment is on a Manzana built by Fadesa you will have high on costs. There are three community fees:-

The Manzana community fee

The intercommunity fee

The EUC fee

All this on top of your IBI (rates) plus your Basura (refuse collection) plus your water rates which will include waste water disposal fees.

I have it on very very good advice that the IBI is like for like 40% more expensive than in the town of Ayamonte where you could find a property with no community fees.

There is no doubt that the current administration at the Ayuntamiento is milking Esuri for every penny it can bleed from us!

EsuriJohn

I'm a friend.

flashyblade

Thanks. That's good to know. I'll try to get a sense of what the various fees start to amount to. There's clearly no point in buying an inexpensive apartment if the fees make it very expensive to run.

EsuriJohn

Also be careful that whoever you are buying from has actually paid all fees up to date. The debt for all property costs stay with the property so you will cop for the lot if they have not paid.

bxpuser24710519

Aye you are that

Kath Las Colinas

Me too

bxpuser24710519

Yes when are we meeting up again ?

flashyblade ... it does sound like what looks like a bargain could be a bottomless money pit. Good luck with your search, lots of good advice on here.

Kath Las Colinas

As far as I understand it, most of the empty properties are owned either by the developer or by the bank. The fees are calculated by a multiple of your square footage, so the bigger apartments pay more fees. We bought from the bank and although the property was probably 2 years old it had never been lived in and we did not have to pay fees for any time before we bought so presumably the bank pays the fees on their empty properties.

EsuriJohn

Some banks do some banks don't it is important to check what they propose as part of the deal.

Domino

and to get your solicitor to ensure that the seller knows that the deal will collapse unless they can prove they have paid all IBI/estate fees up to date.

raised this with an estate agent yesterday and she said she would also be looking for the same assurances to protect her clients from additional expense.

guesswork

Have a look at these people
http://www.vinculosdelsuroeste.com/

A Place in the Sun Show is on at the NEC in late September and I believe Viniculos are exhibiting. The couple who run the business have worked around Esuri for about 8 years and sell property on behalf of the banks.

flashyblade

Thanks everyone. This is all very useful info. Clearly fees are key, so I'll be fully on my guard about those.

I'm like Donald Rumsfeld. I can cope with Known Knowns (that is to say stuff I really ought to know about if I do my research) I can accept that sometimes there will be Unknown Unknowns (that is to say stuff no one could possibly have predicted). What I want to avoid is Unknown Knowns (that is to say, stuff I should have known about, but forgot to ask!)

I read somewhere else in the forum, complaints about the state of the roads, and that the roads haven't (and won't) be adopted by the local authority in the near future. Is that correct, and should that be a major concern?

I'm conscious that as the prices are currently so low, there are likely to be some financial costs which part explain the low capital price. I can cope with that so long as I'm fully informed in advance how this will all play out. Every review I've read about Ayamonte is really positive. I realise that CE may be fairly quiet at the moment, but as I'm not planning a permanent move, I can cope with that. The local expat community is clearly very vibrant, and I guess the lower prices at CE are likely to start to attract local Spaniards (Portuguese?) who can afford property where previously they couldn't.

Please keep the advice coming. It's really appreciated.

EsuriJohn

The outstanding problems with roads, drains etc is why the EUC WAS SET UP BEFORE IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN. It also seems to be paying for things which would be covered by IBI. They have outstanding bank guarantees which they will not claim for spurious reasons.. But that means no adoption in the foreseeable future.

The Spanish and Portuguese have already worked out the value and have been buying in large numbers but they are taking advantage of amazing mortgage deals as well as cheap prices.