Great Trip To Gran Alacant....Honest!

[dleafy]

Well then, it seems my last post has vanished.
Nowt to do with me. I’ll try again. Can’t remember what I wrote, but seeing as how I was only there a few days ago I should be able to have a stab at it!

We flew in late last Tuesday and thanks to google earth, the fact that the bridge was out wasn’t a problem and we arrived via Arenals around midnight, staying up the hill.

Our first morning we had breakfast (English) at La Piedra and it was really nice. We went back for lunch one day too. Very nice.
After that we met Andrea Burns for some advice and info. If you didn’t already know, we were in GA to look for a holiday home which would eventually become a ‘semi’ retirement home.
Andrea was really helpful and set us up with an appointment with Maria at Sabadell bank on the Friday. She too was very helpful.

After that, we met our agent who showed us around a few houses and apartments. Our original plan was to buy an ‘Aurora’ style town house. However, the last properties we saw were the Masa new builds down near the Gabe market / dog park. We loved them!

Although I knew from a lot of investigating that we wanted to be in Gran Alacant, we’d been looking at properties all along the coast. So on Thursday, we went to have a look.

First we went to Sierra Golf Resort, which was an absolute ghost town. This must’ve been the last resort Polaris were working on went the crash hit….and they seem to have just given up and walked away. Apparently, a new builder has it now and is trying to do something with it, but the information office wasn’t even open so not sure how well that’s gonna pan out for him!

Next we went to La Torre Golf Resort, but whilst it had more people about, it was still sparsely populated and quite a distance from the coast.

The last ‘Golf Resort’ was Mar Menor. This was much nicer and quite near the coast. The main problem with these golf resorts is the high communal fees (around €280 per month) and also the fact that if you don’t play golf, you’re surrounded by a lot of golf bores.

We had a look around Alcazarez, Torrevieja, Villa Martin, Benijofar and La Marina.
We also saw some fabulous new builds in Formentera del Segura with all the bells and whistles but it’s in the middle of nowhere!

So, Gran Alacant it is. Friday was spent looking around more properties and meeting up with some friends who live there ***waves hand at computer screen***
They showed us around and we had a very nice dinner at La Palleta.

Saturday was spent in Benidorm. The place has barely changed since we were last there.
Whilst I’d always seen a huge police presence there, this time they were busy actually dealing with crime….and stag and hen parties. Bit of a shame.
Still, Benidorm is what it is and we have fond memories of it.

What really surprised me about Gran Alacant was the amount of people there…which was great to see…..and also the amount of things to do there.
The properties we are interested in won’t be built for around 2 years. Masa’s policy seems to be to not start building until they have a sale. They want €6,000 deposit, followed by 30% two months later, then another 20% six weeks later.
It seems a bit steep to me to pay 50% of the price before they’ll lay a brick, but I guess they got burned before and don’t want it happening again.
I noticed they had some unfinished Auroras behind Gabe market which they seemed to have abandoned!

We’re gonna speak to our UK bank and take things from there.

Cheers

Davy !!!

[Blue and white stripes]

We bought in 2000 and from memory had to pay similar stage payments. Ours was completed in a year.

[dleafy]

One year wouldn't be too bad. We're not in any desperate hurry, but two years is a bit of a stretch.

[Tony Gillam]

I remember the early days of the original forum with people moaning about delays to projected build time, sometimes running into a coupe of years late. Given that it is a buyers market out there at the moment, you may do better to go for a resale.

[dleafy]

There's always the option of a re-sale, then move later on.
There's certainly plenty out there for sale

[John H]

Only problem there Davy is the cost of buying and selling here.
A few years ago we thought about downsizing, after investigating it we would have downsized and released sod all equity
Get what you want first time rather than lining the tax mans and others pockets

Regards all

John


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[Up the iron]

Hi Dleafy, there might be plenty out there for sale but choose wisely.

[dleafy]

Fair point John.
I'm sure the wait will be worth it....and we can always rent a few times for holidays. It's cheap and lets you try different properties and areas.

And yeah...some of the properties we viewed were awful. Not everyone looks after their property as they should. We viewed an apartment which was awful....and they wanted €148,000. We were gobsmacked.

[bobw1956]

we bought from masa in 2005, >:(wouldn't buy from them again,
when they have your money they are the most uncaring builders you will ever imagine.
Promised the earth,but delivered nothing.
Think long and hard before committing your hard earned cash to them.

[dleafy]

we bought from masa in 2005, >:(wouldn't buy from them again,
when they have your money they are the most uncaring builders you will ever imagine.
Promised the earth,but delivered nothing.
Think long and hard before committing your hard earned cash to them.

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[dleafy]

Unfortunately they're the only ones building there!


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[John H]

Great experience with TM Torreblanca.
Plot selected, from a drawing and looking at a plot of land, €3000 deposit paid, given a completion date of 54 weeks.
After 3 months we had to pay 50% of the balance, we received regular updates and photos of the build
12 months after paying our deposit we received a call saying our house was ready.
We put the completion of the sale back a few weeks to tie in with when we could get time off work, no problems with TM accommodating this request.
The house was perfect with very minor snagging to do and I'm pleased to say has remained so.
TM are also receptive to structural changes within the build as long as agreed and signed off in plenty of time, quite a few of our neighbours have had alterations to the internal layout.
Wholeheartedly recommend them, currently building in Arenalas

Regards all

John 


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[Andy L]

We bought from MASA off plan, stage payments, we had heard some horror stories so we were a bit worried but the house was completed a few months early, they had subbed the building work out to another company though.

[puddy-woo]

We bought our first property through Masa as well. Few teething problems and was in the Masa office a few times, but all sorted eventually.  Our communal pool was pretty poor compared to others and a play area for the kids never materialised.  Build was a couple of months late which wasn't a problem. I wouldn't say the quality is as good as the apartment we are in now but no major horror stories from me.  If they show you a fab plan of what the complex will look like when completed I wouldn't take it as gospel.


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[gunner]

Well the good news is Masa dont build Houses any more . They only sell exclusively for the builder who has brought the land from masa. Which is a great thing as most people who have brought from masa in the past will tell you,they were one of if not the worst builder in Spain.