Wednesday 21 February 2007

Mar Menor Golf Resort


Another short visit last week to the Mar Menor Golf Resort which as you are all no doubt aware was brought to life by Polaris World. This resort has been open for about a year and a half now, and each time I visit, it impresses me more and more.
What impressed me/us most was the number of buyers at the office of Polaris World. With property still available at what I believe to be an unbeatable 80.000 GBP / 120.000 Euros (albeit with a two year wait), this will be a surefire winner in the future.
Also worth noting is the fact that one can see for real all the additional features of the resort. I'm talking(typing) about all those additional features which are supposed to be included on the resort and sound great when you're buying off-plan but sometimes don't make it to reality (especially a problem for a friend of a friend in the Costa del Sol who was expecting a gym, sauna, spa and instead another block of apartments appeared instead).
The long and short is that Polaris World really are doing something right with their resorts. Of course their customer relations leaves something to be desired but for the most part, all the buyers I've spoken to appear very satisfied with their purchase.

Thursday 8 February 2007

Tax fraud in 85% of Spanish property transactions


The Spanish cadastral office has introduced a new system to clamp down on tax fraud. The new system enables the tax authorities to identify when buyers and sellers under-declare sales values to avoid taxes. According to Jesus Miranda – head of the cadastral office – the sale value recorded in the deeds is only correct in 15% of transactions. In the remaining 85% of transactions, property values are under-declared by 30% to 40%. The Spanish tax agency has also started to compare asking prices in classified adverts and internet portals with final sale prices declared in deeds. Differences of up to 50% have been noted in many cases. The Spanish tradition of under-declaring property values and part paying under-the-table in cash to avoid taxes is getting riskier. You have been warned.

Wednesday 7 February 2007

High ranking Embassy official drops by

It has been revealed that a high-ranking official from the British Embassy in Madrid is currently in Alicante investigating complaints made by British residents over the local land laws.
With the number of British residents on the Costa Blanca now numbering 92,000 (double the total of British residents on the Costa del Sol - as most are not registered there I would add), these types of complaints have been proliferating.
Yesterday, the official had a series of meetings with Juliet Maric, the new British Consul in Alicante, who was appointed at the end of last year. Juliet has incidentally been looking at property in the Alicante area with my trusted colleague Steve.
Anyway, the fact of the matter is that with the BBC program the other week highlighting illegally built property in Catral it certainly is now causing ripples. Watch this space!!!

Thursday 1 February 2007

What tardiness

Apologies for the lack of effort on my part in updating the blog this last two weeks buy to say that I have been occupied with the 'mother' of all resales which completed last Friday would be an understatement. Regardless here we are starting over once again.
Moving on I note that the BBC ws showing another documentary - Real Story: Pain in Spain. The familiar problem of people buying (being sold) property which did not have all the correct licenses in place. Read more on the BBC website here.
I can't really stress how important it is to use a reputable agent (you know where we are!!!!) that can help you along the way.
Anyway thats all for now.

Tinsa €/m2