Fuseta Ria

[manor park]

Tavira is a good base for a trip to Fuseta, we stayed there on one of our first trips out there. Not sure if you have booked accomodation yet but below is a review I did for the hotel we stayed in and it was a good price and close to town.

Nice hotel for a base - Review of Hotel Porta Nova, Tavira, Portugal - TripAdvisor

The review is under the manor park name.

Have a good trip.

MP

 

[pollitico]

Hi MP
Thanks for the recommendation. We already have a hotel booked , but appreciate the tip. Looking forward to Tavira, have heard good things about the celebration of the festive period. Really enjoyed it in the summer, nice atmosphere. Looking forward to a good chill out.

Thanks again for hotel tip and photos
Regards
P

Tavira is a good base for a trip to Fuseta, we stayed there on one of our first trips out there. Not sure if you have booked accomodation yet but below is a review I did for the hotel we stayed in and it was a good price and close to town.

Nice hotel for a base - Review of Hotel Porta Nova, Tavira, Portugal - TripAdvisor

The review is under the manor park name.

Have a good trip.

MP

 

[manor park]

I have received an email from the developer with an option for furniture, the company they are using is "the furniture pack co".

On first viewing the furiture seems fine but very expensive, what are other people's thoughts ?

I am also in touch with a couple of other companies and will post info on anything I get that looks promising.

MP

 

[jdmat1]

Furniture Pack Co

I have received an email from the developer with an option for furniture, the company they are using is "the furniture pack co".

On first viewing the furiture seems fine but very expensive, what are other people's thoughts ?

I am also in touch with a couple of other companies and will post info on anything I get that looks promising.

MP

We used the Furniture Pack Co to buy a part pack for our villa on the Silver Coast. The quality of the furniture was first class - all solid wood and very hardwearing. The company is UK based and all the team are really helpful. We looked at some other companies in Portugal and Spain - but the cost was too prohibitive - especially given the exchange rate at the moment. Happy to provide further details/ photos on request.

 

[manor park]

Hi Jeff

The quality of the furniture looked good but I looked at the price quoted by the developer and the prices on the FP Co website and it seems we are paying a premium to purchase via the developer.

So maybe worth looking around or going direct ?

E

 

[andy cap]

Furniture packages

Hi Jeff

The quality of the furniture looked good but I looked at the price quoted by the developer and the prices on the FP Co website and it seems we are paying a premium to purchase via the developer.

So maybe worth looking around or going direct ?

E

I have no doubts re quality of furniture and service but was also a little surprised at prices quoted. I have received quotes from another reputable furniture company based in Portugal (details of which I am happy to forward). None of the quotes include fridge/dishwasher/garden furniture etc which lets face it we will all need and depending on requirements can add a further £1000-2000 to your fit out bill.
Even though we are paying for the service element, prices do seem expensive and i assume can be negotiated especially if there are several owners looking to purchase as a group
Rehards
AC

 

[JKort]

Hi MP,
we've also received the furniture option from Furniture pack co. and decided to go on with them, given our experience with furnishing our house on silver coast (and other houses in NL). On SC we looked at packs of a number of companies (SCH, local and small co's.),either it was terribly old fashioned or by far not complete or too expensive for what you got or it looked too cheap (and that in various combinations) so we decided to furnish ourselves. I wish we had gone with FP Co.(whom we didn't know at first) seeing the quality of their packs in other houses on silver coast and hearing the feedback. The furniture looks good quality, the design is more contemporary, the houses look furnished (not half empty as we saw elsewhere),and ready to 'move in' – simply hassle free. And except for the outdoor furniture it seems complete (no need to have a shopping list to finish off). Including all costs I have not seen any better alternative yet. But pls keep me posted if you do.
Hope my perspective helps.
With regards, JK

 

[manor park]

Hi

In the last couple of days I have had the chance to speak to someone at TFP Co. and also someone who has bought from them and been very pleased with the purchase, from the conversations I have had the quality seems good and they have tried to put together a quality package for this resort hence the price.

I have also recieved a package from from Leisure Launch which seems cheaper but I have no details on the quality as yet.

TFP Co. is starting to look like a good deal and I may go with this one.

MP

 

[bj_bazza]

Fuseta Ria Resort

Hi

In the last couple of days I have had the chance to speak to someone at TFP Co. and also someone who has bought from them and been very pleased with the purchase, from the conversations I have had the quality seems good and they have tried to put together a quality package for this resort hence the price.

I have also recieved a package from from Leisure Launch which seems cheaper but I have no details on the quality as yet.

TFP Co. is starting to look like a good deal and I may go with this one.

MP

Hi, we are buying on of the town houses, and are considering different options on the furnishings including the packages you have been discussing. We are going down to Fuseta at the end of January to view progress and assess when completion is most likely. We will also use this time to look at local furnishing suppliers.
Has anybody got any suggestions about where you can source quality furnishings near Faro or Tavira?

 

[manor park]

Hi bj

Sorry I cant help with any suppliers in the Fuseta area you maybe best to do some Google searching before you go and asking around when you are out there.

Have a good trip.

MP

 

[LeisureLaunch]

Hi, we are buying on of the town houses, and are considering different options on the furnishings including the packages you have been discussing. We are going down to Fuseta at the end of January to view progress and assess when completion is most likely. We will also use this time to look at local furnishing suppliers.
Has anybody got any suggestions about where you can source quality furnishings near Faro or Tavira?

Hi BJ

Have a chat to Paulo from Leisure Launch while you are out there or contact Ideal Living who are located close by. We have received excellent feed back from owners who have dealt with Nicola (english),she is friendly and very professional.


Have you set up your site visit with Paulo?

Enjoy your trip.

 

[LeisureLaunch]

Hi, we are buying on of the town houses, and are considering different options on the furnishings including the packages you have been discussing. We are going down to Fuseta at the end of January to view progress and assess when completion is most likely. We will also use this time to look at local furnishing suppliers.
Has anybody got any suggestions about where you can source quality furnishings near Faro or Tavira?

Hi MP

Leisure Launch have recommended IDEAL LIVING as the preferred option. They are English speaking local suppliers. The pack is contemporary in design and comprehensive and ready for rental. We are advising owners to communicate with Nicola (Ideal Living) directly.

Please visit the show room during you next visit to Fuseta.

Owner feedback regarding quality, design and service has been excellent.

 

[LeisureLaunch]

Hi MP,
we've also received the furniture option from Furniture pack co. and decided to go on with them, given our experience with furnishing our house on silver coast (and other houses in NL). On SC we looked at packs of a number of companies (SCH, local and small co's.),either it was terribly old fashioned or by far not complete or too expensive for what you got or it looked too cheap (and that in various combinations) so we decided to furnish ourselves. I wish we had gone with FP Co.(whom we didn't know at first) seeing the quality of their packs in other houses on silver coast and hearing the feedback. The furniture looks good quality, the design is more contemporary, the houses look furnished (not half empty as we saw elsewhere),and ready to 'move in' – simply hassle free. And except for the outdoor furniture it seems complete (no need to have a shopping list to finish off). Including all costs I have not seen any better alternative yet. But pls keep me posted if you do.
Hope my perspective helps.
With regards, JK

Hi

Your statement regarding SCH is simply not true. The furniture is contemporary and the quality including crockery, cutlery, curtains and linen is excellent. Visitors to the Silver Coast are welcome to visit my home at Pinhal Village which was furnished by SCH.

The furnishings are well appointed and complete ready for rental.

Regards

 

[pollitico]

Fuseta Visit

Hi Folks

Happy New Year to everyone.

We visited the development over the christmas/new year period and as promised this is a quick update.

We had 4 days of torrential rain and had a bit of a fawlty towers trip. Whatever could go wrong went wrong. But ..........

Managed to get on site (thanks to Paulo) but never actually got to speak to anyone on site as everyone was rained off. Once inside apartment we were pleased to see quite a bit of progress since our last visit

Most Kitchen units fitted, but no unit doors or worktops as yet
Windows and doors fitted - looking good
Most of the bathroom/washrooms fitted
Wardrobes not in yet

Took sizes for furniture etc, (interesting discussion by the way)

There still appears to be a lot of work to do both in the apartments and on the site in general. It looked to us like the end of March is optimistic, but as we never got to speak to anyone we dont know expectations. Having worked in the building game I know how quick the final works can be done, but seemed a lot.

Took some pics but to be honest paulos last update was as good as anything we took and it was no further on.

Hope this is of interest
Regards to all
P

P.S
We think we are still going to go with furniture from the UK. We have visited Ideal Living and a couple of others but so far the stuff here in the UK meets our tastes, prices better, and we have more choice. Each to their own.

Still not fully decided though and still open to suggestions/ideas

 

[lbro]

furniture packages

hi happy new year to everyone
not logged on for a while but have been following the furniture issue with interest. we are going to buy here and have everything we want sent across mainly because we want our personaniities to be reflected in our apartment even though we may decide to rent it out later on. i also think it will be cheaper to send all our goods rather than have a package that does not quite fit what we have in mind- any amendment appears quite expensive.
surprised things have not moved on much since the december pictures- i am sure the company will look to complete before any penalties are invoked ( we were told completion no later then the end of march but were given 28th February as a completion date.)
will e- mail paulo- he should know when the site is likely to be complete and when we spoke to him in october he indicated sooner rather than later!
regards
lbro

 

[Vie 10]

Hello everyone

Happy New Year to all the contributors to this forum - Let's hope 2010 is a superb year for us all. You can guess how relieved I am to find other investors for the Fuseta Ria development – I thought I was totally alone and R2i have consistently refused to recommend any forum. I have visited the development a few times and I am pleased with the progress being made – Paulo is always very helpful.

Thank you all for the interesting comments and posts since 2007 – I have read them all with interest – the same issues face us all – site progress, developer success, quality of fittings, furniture packs, rentability, lettings websites, local management, location.

I’m sure you will all agree that Fuseta Ria is a prime example of location, location, location,. The views are spectacular – not as good as Sao Martinho bay but you could not get a good view of that from the development, and I am not totally convinced on the local area. Perhaps we should consider a gated community thereby making the development really exclusive? I would be interested in hearing of other investor’s thoughts as well as the potential legality of such a proposal.

I also wish to raise the likelihood of taking advantage of the EDF (?) energy buy back offer – mentioned some time back on this forum - as a site are we going to take advantage but what are the disadvantages of it – is there any radiation risk?

I currently have 6 major concerns –

1. I am still seeking a good mortgage with a local bank – the main Portuguese bank offered is asking me for further updates given my application was over 2 years ago ; Does anyone know if they are down grading the valuations and/or reducing their exposure from 80% or increasing rates – can anyone recommend a good mortgage please?
2. I have tried to find an English based Portuguese lawyer or one who understands Portuguese property law. The Law Society and all of my contacts have failed – does anyone know of one in the UK?
3. Quality of the finish – the ‘show’ apartments look ok and the wood seems to be of reasonable standard; but I am concerned that this development will not have a wow factor (apart from the view). Eg,
i) main bathroom only has a single sink – all quality developments I have previously invested in have doubles in the main at least; quality seems good but not the best or am I being too fussy?
ii) shower trays are in but no evidence of shower cubicles – interesting concept – wet room?
iii) Kitchens – only come with a washing machine plumbed in- no dishwasher and no space or plumbing for one – surely a pre-requisite for a high end quality development?
iv) tiles are per the spec but they don’t give me a wow factor;
v) no automatic outdoor irrigation planned – needed in hot climates if you do want to develop a garden?
4. Other issues include the air con unit next to the master bedroom – surely not the most appropriate place for an a.c.u?
5. Steps to the roof are likely to be metal? Very useful in an exposed sun area?
6. Is the sewage unit across the tracks definitely redundant – or is it to support the ‘new’ community – our development and the one at the top of the lane near the main road? Has anyone’s lawyer identified this issue?

Perhaps I am being too fussy – I would be interested to learn of other people’s concerns / experience on these issues.

Finally furniture packs – for those of you new to renting – be prepared to have your furniture and kitchen provisions used and abused – renters do not give a hoot and management companies never properly check for damage so you always end up paying for replacements. Pick colours that will not show the dirt/ will accept being covered with suntan oil, coffee, tea and soft drinks – they are expensive to replace. Ideal Living tried to be helpful, TFPC as previously mentioned have a £1000 offer on at the moment; but where-ever you buy – do it on credit card for protection.

I hope you all continue to contribute to this forum – as an individual I doubt whether anyone will listen – but as a group of investors we can influence the site/development to all of our benefit.

Good luck and hope to see you all in April – if I can get my mortgage!

 

[symon]

Fuzeta Ria

Hi Everyone,

It’s been very helpful to read all your comments and good to see everyone’s progress pictures!

We visited site in Oct and were very pleased with what we saw, it was also piece of mind to see the development progressing as you do hear lots of horror stories about people buying off plan developments and the developer not building for one legal reason or another!

We will be looking to rent our apartment out with a couple of weeks a year for personal usage, for friends and family. Does anybody know of any good rental sites with no subscription fees?

The furniture packages we have been looking at seem to be way too expensive! Just a suggestion but we plan on hiring a van and taking a trip to Ikea in Seville to kit ours out. No point in paying over the odds for nice furniture that will just get damaged! We will also be looking to rent to golfers, does anybody know of what magazines or sites to advertise on?

Just a tip I strongly recommend anybody renting out not to have long term rentals with Portuguese. I have heard stories about Portuguese people renting apartments for long periods, destroying the place and not paying rent, and if it goes to court they have lots of strange rights not to pay up!!

We are now in the process of applying for a mortgage. We have had an offer in principle from Millennium. However we are yet to see the details of the offer from the bank. We have been informed that the bank has not received valuations on the development yet?? But they are requesting all our documents now? I know there are several advantages to using Millennium however we do intend on shopping around through a broker!! If anybody has any contacts for this please let me know!!

We have also been told that it’s looking like a March exchange date! However I’m not holding my breath as I know how slow things move abroad. Also in the contract the developer does have 30 months from Dec 07 to handover the property before he has to pay penalties to the buyers so it could potentially be June!!

Anyway fingers crossed and it will be nice to meet you all around the pool when the development is complete!!

Simon

 

[Vie 10]

Mortgages

Hi Simon

Now I've found this forum I will be keeping a close watch on it.

The bank I refer to is millenium so we may be both in same boat. My main problem is my UK property portfolio as they take account of my many mortgages but no benefit of the rents - fine if you don't have many properties... but not for me - hence my nerves - apparently all Portuguese banks act in this way - a few english ones are also adopting this approach.

Interesting to hear that there's an Ikea in Seville - but guess you will need a big van and loads of time to kit the place out.

I am struggling for a broker who can do a Portuguese euro loan - barclays and lloyds will consider applications at their international branches but I think at a higher rate than the Portuguese.

I must admit I'm looking forward to bathing in the infinity pool - looking over the ria!!

See you all in April

P

 

[symon]

mortgage

Hi Simon

Now I've found this forum I will be keeping a close watch on it.

The bank I refer to is millenium so we may be both in same boat. My main problem is my UK property portfolio as they take account of my many mortgages but no benefit of the rents - fine if you don't have many properties... but not for me - hence my nerves - apparently all Portuguese banks act in this way - a few english ones are also adopting this approach.

Interesting to hear that there's an Ikea in Seville - but guess you will need a big van and loads of time to kit the place out.

I am struggling for a broker who can do a Portuguese euro loan - barclays and lloyds will consider applications at their international branches but I think at a higher rate than the Portuguese.

I must admit I'm looking forward to bathing in the infinity pool - looking over the ria!!

See you all in April

P

Hi P,

I’ve tried Barclays already as I bank with them in UK and they will only loan 70% LTV so I guess this is OK if you have the spare 10% cash but we don’t we need an 80% mortgage!

International private finance dot com was helpful again they pre-approved us based on the value we brought the property for. They gave us 2 different package options but could not progress without fees and documents, as it was early days we stopped things there!

The advantage of Millennium is they have an agreement with the developer not to charge any valuation and arrangement fees. So we are just waiting for them to come back to us with a formal offer and then we will weigh up everything and see who comes out cheapest!

My mother has just brought a second place in Lanzarote and she has a place in UK. She had the same problem as you getting another mortgage and almost lost the property because of the delay in proving rental income etc. I think in the end it was resolved by an official letter from her accountant.

Good luck!

Simon

 

[pollitico]

Hi folks,

Good to see things picking up on the forum as completion comes nearer. Great to share ideas and experience. Our first time, so keen on opportunity to discuss things

We shopped around mortgage wise and eventually went through algarve based finance consultants. If you want any contact details please let me know via email and I will forward them on to you.

We have looked at IKEA furniture here in the UK and have decided to purchase some here and transit larger items over along with other bits and pieces. Didnt fancy buying off pictures alone and will have little opportunity to visit again before contract. Also more chance to shop around here in UK. We will buy some items locally, and the shopping centre in Tavira looked good for bedding, cutlery, electrical goods etc. Sure that there will be lots of other shopping opportunities locally.

Re: Golf magazines: As a golfer the main golf mags I read are 'Bunkered' scottish golf mag, and 'Today's Golfer'. Both have ads for propertys to rent abroad.

ATB
P