I got burned too!

G

Golfingworld

New Member
Well having been the prophet of doom for 2 years, my own destiny came to fruition so it seems! Some will delight in the news. I also made what one would think as a safe investment in Natal and now it has stopped and communication with the developers has dried up. I can only assume but the gut feel is not great and trying to communicate with anyone at arms length is not easy.

If anyone knows of or has an interest in...Residencial Atlantic View, Constructora Conera Ltd, Ponta Negra, then please contact me or declare an interest. In fairness to this Developer it is not yet terminal but getting info on the delay is somewhat difficult. If anyone knows how to run a Company search in Brazil or lodge an interest or an injunction, then advice welcome. As I said, not yet terminal but the signs don't look great. Just goes to show how this Credit Crunch has hit the safest of bets...allegedly!
 
R

robh

Administrator
Staff member
Premium Member
Well having been the prophet of doom for 2 years, my own destiny came to fruition so it seems! Some will delight in the news. I also made what one would think as a safe investment in Natal and now it has stopped and communication with the developers has dried up. I can only assume but the gut feel is not great and trying to communicate with anyone at arms length is not easy.

If anyone knows of or has an interest in...Residencial Atlantic View, Constructora Conera Ltd, Ponta Negra, then please contact me or declare an interest. In fairness to this Developer it is not yet terminal but getting info on the delay is somewhat difficult. If anyone knows how to run a Company search in Brazil or lodge an interest or an injunction, then advice welcome. As I said, not yet terminal but the signs don't look great. Just goes to show how this Credit Crunch has hit the safest of bets...allegedly!
I had heard about your predicament quite a while ago, but I am sorry to hear it has got this bad. Have you talked to the lawyer that you used for the purchase?

If you want the name of a lawyer in Natal that should be able to help just ask.

Regards,
Rob.
 
G

Golfingworld

New Member
Well there are two issues here Rob. 1) If you knew about my alleged "predicament" some time ago why didn't you alert me? and 2) Why was it they were fitting the kithcens only 2 weeks ago if they were in trouble after you had heard? I had a person inside who was watching..so what did you know that you couldn't reveal?
 
R

robh

Administrator
Staff member
Premium Member
Well there are two issues here Rob. 1) If you knew about my alleged "predicament" some time ago why didn't you alert me? and 2) Why was it they were fitting the kithcens only 2 weeks ago if they were in trouble after you had heard? I had a person inside who was watching..so what did you know that you couldn't reveal?
GW,

What was there to tell you that you didn't already know? I heard that there were delays in building which would have been pretty obvious to you, if I had known specific details I would have have told you. It was also pretty obvious that you had paid in full for your apartment before it was finished.

Regards,
Rob.
 
G

Golfingworld

New Member
Lehman Brothers also experienced delays in completing deals too! I actually think these developers are good guys and have experienced nothing more than millions of others round the world, a sudden downturn in the market which nobody could have believed, even though I predicted myself, I didn't believe it would be this bad.

Of course the purpose of my post is to Solicit info, market awareness is about intelligence and it got a result....thanks
 
G

Golfingworld

New Member
Was this one of the ventures that had building permits put on hold?
On 26/10/2008 there was the following piece in DNOnline:
Construtores estão aliviados
O setor da construção civil recebeu com alívio a aprovação pelo Conselho Municipal de Planejamento Urbano e Meio Ambiente (Conplan) da resolução que libera a Prefeitura de Natal a expedir o alvará de construção a cerca de 139 empreendimentos em Ponta Negra paralisados em função da falta de esgotamento sanitário do bairro.
I don't know to be honest, still researching..I doubt it as my place is in the middle of an existing residential area, but you never know..all info is good would appreciate the link to research it. Yes I know there have been water delivery delays. But everything is always so ambiguous in Brasil. Oddly, if this is the case it is less of a problem than finance. But thanks for the info all the same.
 
jeduardo

jeduardo

New Member
The hold for many ventures was due to lack of sufficient sewer capacity.
Go to site www.VilaPontaNegra.Com and click on Menu item "Manchetes".
This page has Links to 2 years of every local news clipping I could find concerning Ponta Negra. Scrolll down to 26/10/2008 and you should see the Link to "Construtores estão aliviados".
There is also other interesting stuff with zoning maps, etc. The site is in Portuguese but most pages have a Google widget at top of page that can translate into English.
 
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J

JMBroad

New Member
Hi GW - sorry to hear about your predicament, I'll send you a PM with my phone number and if you want to give me a call later I'll be happy to help however I can.

It is important however that other people reading this thread know that the most important part of buying property in emerging markets is the research and checks done before the actual purchase so while it is unfortunate, it's not impossible to avoid. Back when you first told us of this purchase you also said you had done no Due Diligence checks at all on the developer or on the development before putting money down and we all warned you back then to be very very careful as there was a risk the developer wouldn't complete.

Call me later
 
G

Golfingworld

New Member
Firstly, I did do my what you call "Due Diligance" checks on this developer and secondly nobody warned me that there may be a problem as I never spoke to anyone on here or any Agent about this purchase..I only ever raised it after I have purchased...so it is not correct for "those reading this thread" to assume that any checks were not made, nor wouuld have those checks made any difference to the end result. There is one simple fact, for which I knew I was taking a risk which is....if you buy something that is not finished then you are taking a risk. Simple as that and there ain't no "Due Diligance" check anywhere in the world that can tell you the winner of next week's horse race!

As for my alleged "stupidity" I made 2 mistakes, first was not to cool off after my "honeymoon period" in Brazil and second was to originally mistrust the person that I thought I couldn't trust, whilst all those I thought I could trust, all those so called "experts"have gone on the missing list!

What "Due Diligance" really means is human nature and making a decision to place a bet..I made mine and it seems got it wrong...I have been told otherwise now, but frankly not sure I believe it.

What is for sure is that the Overseas Property Market is doomed and has been for some time...all built on the perception that what goes up cannot go down....wrong!
 
R

robh

Administrator
Staff member
Premium Member
Firstly, I did do my what you call "Due Diligance" checks on this developer and secondly nobody warned me that there may be a problem as I never spoke to anyone on here or any Agent about this purchase..I only ever raised it after I have purchased...so it is not correct for "those reading this thread" to assume that any checks were not made, nor wouuld have those checks made any difference to the end result. There is one simple fact, for which I knew I was taking a risk which is....if you buy something that is not finished then you are taking a risk. Simple as that and there ain't no "Due Diligance" check anywhere in the world that can tell you the winner of next week's horse race!

As for my alleged "stupidity" I made 2 mistakes, first was not to cool off after my "honeymoon period" in Brazil and second was to originally mistrust the person that I thought I couldn't trust, whilst all those I thought I could trust, all those so called "experts"have gone on the missing list!

What "Due Diligance" really means is human nature and making a decision to place a bet..I made mine and it seems got it wrong...I have been told otherwise now, but frankly not sure I believe it.

What is for sure is that the Overseas Property Market is doomed and has been for some time...all built on the perception that what goes up cannot go down....wrong!
GW,

The worst thing you can do is nothing and the faster you do something (other than ranting on here) the bigger the chance you will resolve it in your favour, so go and talk to the lawyer I sent you the details of.

Regards,
Rob.
 
D

Dotty

Banned
Golfing World,

Sorry to hear about that.I will go and make enquires for you and try to find out as much info as I can.

Keep intouch D:)


Firstly, I did do my what you call "Due Diligance" checks on this developer and secondly nobody warned me that there may be a problem as I never spoke to anyone on here or any Agent about this purchase..I only ever raised it after I have purchased...so it is not correct for "those reading this thread" to assume that any checks were not made, nor wouuld have those checks made any difference to the end result. There is one simple fact, for which I knew I was taking a risk which is....if you buy something that is not finished then you are taking a risk. Simple as that and there ain't no "Due Diligance" check anywhere in the world that can tell you the winner of next week's horse race!

As for my alleged "stupidity" I made 2 mistakes, first was not to cool off after my "honeymoon period" in Brazil and second was to originally mistrust the person that I thought I couldn't trust, whilst all those I thought I could trust, all those so called "experts"have gone on the missing list!

What "Due Diligance" really means is human nature and making a decision to place a bet..I made mine and it seems got it wrong...I have been told otherwise now, but frankly not sure I believe it.

What is for sure is that the Overseas Property Market is doomed and has been for some time...all built on the perception that what goes up cannot go down....wrong!
 
J

JMBroad

New Member
Didn't mean to say you were stupid - sorry if it came across that way.

When you mentioned your purchase way back when in the "Must and Must Nots" thread we had this same debate about what Due Diligence is and if it was or was not important.

If you can go to the races with the details of each horse and jockey, you may not know which horse will win but you'll have a much better idea of who doesn't stand a chance of making it out of the stalls.

Hope it works out for you and my offer still stands - anything I can do to help I'm available
 
D

Dotty

Banned
Hi Golfingworld,

I have sent you the lawyers email and they can do that for you to find out what is actually going on.
Sometimes building work stops for a while and then gets moving again,but until they do this search for you we really will not be able to get a clear answer.

Regards D.
Well having been the prophet of doom for 2 years, my own destiny came to fruition so it seems! Some will delight in the news. I also made what one would think as a safe investment in Natal and now it has stopped and communication with the developers has dried up. I can only assume but the gut feel is not great and trying to communicate with anyone at arms length is not easy.

If anyone knows of or has an interest in...Residencial Atlantic View, Constructora Conera Ltd, Ponta Negra, then please contact me or declare an interest. In fairness to this Developer it is not yet terminal but getting info on the delay is somewhat difficult. If anyone knows how to run a Company search in Brazil or lodge an interest or an injunction, then advice welcome. As I said, not yet terminal but the signs don't look great. Just goes to show how this Credit Crunch has hit the safest of bets...allegedly!
 
J

Joachim

New Member
Golfingworld,

I am really sorry to hear this. Another one that bites the dust but you can take some heart that you are not the only one, at least you did not have a company with a partner that robbed from you (like me).

About the project, to be honest, never heard about it. It could be that I don't really care for Ponta Negra but I can't even find information on it on the internet. Have you tried going to the 7o cartorio near Nordestao Roberto Freire to find out if their are any problems concerning the "incorporacao" or any legal protests against it?

Cheers,
 
M

mitico67

New Member
Golfingworld,

I am really sorry to hear this. Another one that bites the dust but you can take some heart that you are not the only one, at least you did not have a company with a partner that robbed from you (like me).

About the project, to be honest, never heard about it. It could be that I don't really care for Ponta Negra but I can't even find information on it on the internet. Have you tried going to the 7o cartorio near Nordestao Roberto Freire to find out if their are any problems concerning the "incorporacao" or any legal protests against it?

Cheers,
I'm familiar with this project as I was interested in buying one unit as well. I had a local estate agent not related to the developer have a look for me and she expressed a positive opinion about the location and the project. The main problem for me is that the developer didn't market the development properly and as many he didn't forecast a big slowdown in the market and should have accepted to sell some unit at a lower price and he has now run out of money having secured only few sales
 
B

Brazilinvestments

New Member
I'm familiar with this project as I was interested in buying one unit as well. I had a local estate agent not related to the developer have a look for me and she expressed a positive opinion about the location and the project. The main problem for me is that the developer didn't market the development properly and as many he didn't forecast a big slowdown in the market and should have accepted to sell some unit at a lower price and he has now run out of money having secured only few sales
Have there been a slowdown in the real estate prices in brazil coastline?
 
A

ADAA

New Member
I also am experiencing problems with a developer who has stopped returning my calls. I purchased a land plot in the Belmonte Resort & Residences project in Bahia, Brazil in september 2006 with a company called Someplace Else, run by Ben Mason. They never got the required planning permission passed and I was promised a full refund plus 5% of of monies paid by February 12th, 2009. This deadline has passed and I am having great difficulty contacting Someplace Else or Ben Mason. I would be gratefull if anybody can ofer any information.
 
J

JMBroad

New Member
Hi ADAA - sorry to hear about your problems. Although I've never had any dealings directly with Someplace Else, I just received a newsletter from the organisers of A place in the sun and funnily enough, Someplace Else is listed as an exhibitor at the "A place in the sun live" exhibition in April in Earls Court.

So, worst case scenario you could probably get hold of someone there.

Best of luck
 
R

robh

Administrator
Staff member
Premium Member
I also am experiencing problems with a developer who has stopped returning my calls. I purchased a land plot in the Belmonte Resort & Residences project in Bahia, Brazil in september 2006 with a company called Someplace Else, run by Ben Mason. They never got the required planning permission passed and I was promised a full refund plus 5% of of monies paid by February 12th, 2009. This deadline has passed and I am having great difficulty contacting Someplace Else or Ben Mason. I would be gratefull if anybody can ofer any information.
Try contacting the AIPP: AIPP: the industry body, the industry voice, the industry standard
 
A

ADAA

New Member
J M Broad & robh thanks for the advice.

I`ve found half a dozen investors who are in the same situation but would like to hear from a lot more. The AIPP have been contacted and are looking into it.
 
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