Branson, Blesson, Bladerunner and Beauty

DUBAI

Following the recent Worldwide property show at the grand Hyatt - green shoots or are they perhaps golden palm trees?! – we’ve been advised that despite the downturn, there is over 900 Billion US still invested in Dubai! It would appear that people are still looking to buy in the UAE. Our contact in Salford has assured us that even Kai Wayne has already purchased in the Jumeirah!

Whilst out and about we popped into The Art lounge at the Grand Hyatt which was recently opened by the Oscar nominated and critically acclaimed director ( and business associate of Richard Branson with Virgin Comics ) Shehar Kapur
Talking of which, Dubai has the perfect comic book BladeRunner ( so was he a replicant?! ) setting with its spectacular futuristic buildings, stunning waterfronts, lunar landscape and the intoxicating smell of heat, humidity, spices and the exotic. You can often see the vapor trails in the air which is consistent with the temperature changes. – just check out The Burj (Which only means he Tower, so no prizes for naming their!) which was due to open its first phase next month. As the world’s tallest skyscraper it’s just slightly more elevated than Nikolay Valuev!

The air temperature combination has raised questions concerning humidity within the propertities we have been inspecting. In general, items identified require re-plastering and repainting with some sealant locks around windows allowing air movement.

We are currently working in Al Hamra Village Resort which blends in extremely well with its setting (ie spectacular!! ) A hybrid of Luc Blesson’s Firth Element meets Beverley hills! We’ll keep you posted.

Have a snag free week….!

Oscars-Shehar Kapur-Hyatt-Al Hamira-Richard Branson-Kai Rooney- Luc Blesson-

Where Eagles Dare - Portugal

……….WHERE EAGLES DARE..........


We are also currently snagging high above Albufeira at Cerro D Aguia.

Loosely translated as “the hill of the eagle” and commonly referred to as” Millionaires’ Row “it was one of the first residential areas lived in by the professional and wealthy classes.

Here, overlooking the Albufeira Marina – or Trumpton as we prefer to call it! - Eagles did once soar and dare and Iberian lynxes hunted without the fear of extinction.

Their habitat has slowly decreased over the decades but still the surrounding area is a blaze of all year round fauna from canary yellow mimosa to the white almond blossom – even in the height of summer the foliage still maintains a green glow despite the warm and temperate climate.

IT’S THE ALBUFEIRA MARINA ….!!!!!!

Historically, the Eagle crest has been closely associated with various important shifts in matters over the centuries with the Spanish using it on their Shield to signify their road towards democracy to Napoleon Bonaparte using it as a symbol of his new French Empire.

Incidentally, if you ever visit the historical second city of the country – O Porto – check out the huge statue of the French eagle crushed by the lion of England and its allies to commemorate Arthur Wesley’s stunning capture of the city from General Shue. Mr Wesley as you know later became more famous as the Duke of Wellington and faced Bonaparte at that one fateful meeting in Belgium.


THE REAL ALBUFEIRA MARINA ….!!!!!! ( and the view from Cerro D’Aguia )

Spain is on the up!

The UK press is responsible for so much, or totally irresponsible, depending on your viewpoint!

For example, many people mention the Spanish land grab. It was hyped in the press. Yet of the 800,000 Brits who purchased in Spain there are only some 55 cases of the LRAU (The law in question) being used against them. And there are strong arguments to support the fact that they, the Brits, may not have been in the right.

So why do we begin with this? Mainly because we have seen a big upsurge in snagging in Spain over the last few weeks and this is an indicator that the UK market is buying there again.

Yet the press would have us believe we were all mad to buy anything anywhere at the moment. Even nipping down the corner shop to buy a bag of crisps could put you in all kinds of danger. So don't do it!

Anyway, if you really are an extraorindary character and have decided to buck the trend and purchase a property in Spain because, well let's face it, it's the absolute best time to do so, please remember that before you go to deeds you should have this property snagged, or inspected for faults, and have the snag list that we produce sent to the vendor or developer.

Where are we snagging at the moment?

Well, in Spain's Costa del Sol we currently have clients who have purchased in El Campanario (The Belfry for those of us who don't speak the lingo). Paraiso Hills (Very nice too!) and Oasis Cala de Mijas.

On the Costa Blanca we have seen some action in Polaris World sites El Valle and also some movement Punta Prima.

Bu of course we will snag anywhere in Spain. We have even done some snagging in Galicia. Hence the photo. This property was sold for something like 55,000 Euros! Not bad, but it's a bit nippy up that way!

Anyway, have a snag free week and don't forget to contact Snagging Overseas for any proerty inspection or advice.

Snagging Overses at A Place in the Sun Live 2009

Well, we all know that Serafina our intrepid, knows-no-boundaries Group Marketing Director, believes that Snagging Overseas should go everywhere for all marketing opportunities. And so she prepared a trip for herself and then fell ill!

Laughed?! We were ever so worried about her health as we changed the tickets from her name to ours and got on the plane for Birmingham.

As you may know A Place in the Sun Live! is held twice a year, once in Earl's Court, London and once in the NEC in Birmingham. Being September it was in Brum.

So we duly packed up all of Serafina's marketing material and jetted off. Turth be told, we did sort of leave a lot of the leaflets in the suitcases but hey, we wanted to look at the public response and attitude to overseas property. We know they will choose us once they have bought something. I mean, why choose anyone else?

We did not, as it appears, and also as some people have tried to insinuate (Not Serafina, of course), just hang around star struck to get photos with Jasmine and Jasmine and Jasmine the three presenters of A Place in the Sun!

So what was the feeling in this edition of A Place in the Sun?

It seems the general consensus from the agents was that there was a good abundance of quality leads. What was interesting, was that this show had the highest ever ratio of visitors to exhibitors.

So, with all this talk of "Green Shoots" and "We're on the road to recovery", let's hope that the results of this show are what everyone wants - that buyers get a great deal, that sellers feel the return to confidence and that whoever buys whatever wherever that they choose Snagging Overseas to get the very best out of the proerty.

The best thing here is that we have got through an entire article about A Place in the Sun without mentioning Amanda Lamb! Oops!

The Bucket And Spade Blue Flag Brigade ……

Ever wonder how a beach obtains a “Blue Flag “– No, not by voting for Biff Baff Boris! We at Snagging Overseas have our sources in all the smallest places that not even the fees office would notice.

Our Algarvian contact rises at 04.00am on a Monday morning and divides the province into 2 half’s. Over the next 2 days between 05.00 until 15.00 his team of “ little helpers “ navigate every beach in the Algarve and physically enter the water waist high to scoop up samples of the ocean into small test tubes. These are then returned to the HQ in Lagoa where the water is tested for quality, chemicals, bacteria, minerals and Viagra.

Once the all clear is given the information is passed to the various authorities tasked with looking after the beaches from the marine police, lifeguards to the local council and tourism offices.

The Algarve is world famous for having some of the most impressive beaches in the world from the “ Caribbean “ like sand banks on the islands off Faro and Tavira to the stunning rock formations and caves around the Lagos area. Recently snagged properties in the western Lagos - Oceana Apartments, Vila Ancora and Quinta Da Palmeris- all have the opportunity to relax on the Porto Do Mos beach.

Indeed Lagos itself is one of the most cosmopolitan of Portugal’s resort with campsites and backpackers inter railing to the most western train station in Europe. Infamously home to Europe’s first slave market – now a fantastic art house gallery – it also showcases Portugal’s incredible history and attractions with quaint cobbled streets, paved walkway’s with open air cafes, lively bars and restaurants with surfers and bucket and spaders all mixing harmoniously – and remember the beaches!

Recently the Lonely Planet published its guide " Travel with Children ". Included in the " Top 10 Beaches in the World for Families " is the island off Tavira. They quote that it is "a magnificent untamed beach that goes on for miles "...and as somebody that's walked it with " she who must be obeyed "........it most certainly does!

This, along with the World Health Organisation Report that the Algarve and the Costa Del Sol enjoy TWO of the healthiest climates in the world, only strenghtens these areas when the market decides it's had enough of gloom, doom and cloud and gets back on track!

Update on Turkey

We have been snagging some developments in Turkey recently and have come across some unique approaches to customer service!

Anyway, to protect the guilty we won't be giving any names, suffice us to say that if you have purchased a property in Turkey ensure that you get your paperwork sorted by a qualified local solicitor and that you approach the whole inspection of the property subject in writing.

At Snagging Overseas we can help with this because, quite frankly, we have seen it all before! What better reason to employ the services of a professional company like ours?

Remember that we can also take photos of your property, even if it is not ready for snagging yet. There seems to be great apprehension in the overseas property world as to whether developments will be finished on time or not. The best way is to see for you own eyes!

More on Cape Verde

Serafina, our exotically attractive Marketing Director suggested we spend a few days with the boys on Cape Verde "checking things out".

Now, normally adverse to such mad junkets across the seas, we decided that perhaps this was a good idea to do a Cape Verde update and meet with all the relevant powers that be from Tecnicil.

Now we wanted to address a couple of ongoing concerns that have been raised by clients.

Surrounding Areas

The surrounding areas of Vila Verde Santa Maria are the pool and gardens and road areas around each block or community. Now it is fair to say that these areas are not finished although we have seen workers on the site - our photo here showing one of them!

Tecnicil say that these areas will be finished off in the order of the original completions per community. Should you sign title deeds with these areas as they are? Should companies like Snagging Overseas sign an apartment off with the areas as they are?

The short answer is yes, not only that, we should and we have to. Why? We have studied the promissory contract and it is very clear that the compleiton of the surrounding areas is NOT linked to the contractual completion of the property. Now this may sound like we're nit picking but imagine if we advise you not to complete on the grounds of there being no grounds (Sorry, couldn't resist it) and you then lose your investment because you have fallen into breach of contract. Where would we be then? Liable.

As it stands, we sign all units off that are complete in and of themselves. We do not make any pronouncements regarding the surrounding areas because we do not want to risk, even in the smallest way, that someone misinterpret this and use it as a pretext not to complete.

Water and Electricity

You may remember that we had received an ssurance from Tecnicil that they would correct any defects in the electrical and water installation. As a result we have been unable to test any of this and do rely on Tecnicil's assurance to be able to test once everything is connected.

Now there seems to be some delays with connecting not just individual apartments, but the resort as a whole. Tecnicil tell us that the infrastructure is in place and that it all works and the ball is now in Electra's court, Electra being both the water board and the electricity board (Not Jennifer Garner, unfortunately...).

Who's to blame? Difficult to say taking into account the multitude of players and complexity of laws involved - With normal conveyance processes a habitation licence is issued only after water and electicity inspections have been passed. In Vila Verde Tecnicil have the habitation licence though appear to be waiting for the utility licences! Africa eh?! You do not get that with Barret and Wimpey!

Now we don't want to get involved in who's to blame here and should underline one important difference between Europe and Cape Verde: in Cape Verde a habitation licence CAN be legally issued even if the water and electricity is not yet connected. It is enough that the installation is complete to gain the licence.