The details included here are relevant to the purchase of our property in Nuevo Horizonte in 2002.
We first saw the property in March 2002 and decided then and there that it was suitable as an investment or to use in our retirement.
The property is a 1 bedroom bungalow with a basement that we are converting to a further bedroom, bathroom and dining area. It also has a small garden, balcony (south facing) and a roof terrace. It is at the end of a terrace of bungalows so is semi-detached. The development consists of 162 units with 2 swimming pools, (a pool bar and tennis courts are planned).
The price included furniture for the main bungalow. The cost of the conversion and kitting it out was separate.
On agreeing to purchase the property we needed to put a deposit down 10% of the purchase price. This was done with a nominal sum €1,500 by going to the local bank, where we opened a bank account and then drew cash on either a credit card or a UK bank. We were then given a receipt and asked to send the rest of the deposit within 10 days of arriving back in the UK. The property itself was virtually complete and the completion date envisaged was to be June. Throughout the process the selling agents have been excellent, particularly as our Spanish is poor.
Whilst still on holiday we also agreed to have the conversion done and arranged for a quote for the furniture.
On return to the UK we arranged to pay the remaining deposit. We did this through our local bank – probably a mistake. Currency conversion vary between banks, travel shops and money brokers, we have found that using a money broker is the best way. See later for details.
Communication with the selling agents has normally been through e-mail, fax or telephone. When using the telephone utilise one of the many cheaper telephone suppliers we use Quip an Internet based international telephone. www.quip.co.uk please quote 1107350915 if you sign up.
The transaction seemed to be going reasonably well and we arranged to buy enough Euros to cover the expenses. We did this by opening Euro accounts with a High Street bank and then purchasing the Euros through a money Broker who transferred them to our Euro deposit account for no charge. When we were arranging to buy the Euros the exchange rate had taken a dive and so we put a "watch" on the exchange rate and asked to be informed when it reached a certain level. Remember this can add thousands to the purchase price so be careful.
Unfortunately after we bought the Euros it then rallied and although we had accepted the original loss it was rather galling to know that if we had held off then we could have reduced our costs.
The other area that affected the transaction was that although the building work was completed about July the local authority were not in a position to give a habitation licence this was because everybody takes August off and that they were inundated with requests from builders due to the impending moratorium on building. Eventually the habitation licence was issued in October and we were able to complete in early November.
To be able to enter into a contract in the Canaries we had to appoint a Power of Attorney. This involved finding a solicitor in Fuerteventura – the selling agents recommended one – arranging for a solicitor in England to handle the document and translation and then signing the document in front of a Notary Public. This all adds to the costs.
We then went to Fuerteventura in November. Although we were the owners of the property it still had to have the conversion done and so we decided not to stay in the bungalow and stayed at a hotel in the nearby resort of Caleta de Fuste. Whilst on the island we visited our solicitor 3 times in order to transfer the utilities into our name and to arrange to get NIE registration – something that is required if you own property or reside long term in Spain. This also required a visit to the local Notary Public. We did spend some time at our bungalow to do some measuring for curtains etc.
We have now moved out permanently to Fuerteventura and bought another house in Caleta to live in. We have now sold the house in Nuevo Horizonte.