back from Fes Can anyone please tell me what the annual running costs are on the Sunset Apartments in Fes? Presumably there is a monthly or annual maintenance charge (although this may not have come into force yet if the development is not quite finished) and I am interested to learn what these charges are.
Also, are there any other "hidden" charges over and above service charge? I believe the freehold will be held by the owners so presumably no ground rent will be payable (please correct me if I am wrong) but are there other expenses such as compulsory taxes or insurances to be paid?
And one last question (for the moment, I am bound to think of more) - how do the utility costs compare to back home?
I am very grateful for the assistance to date.
Regards
Ellesbelles
Hello Ellesbelles and Seloua and the others.
I'm glad I met Seloua in Fes. We didn't see each other very much because we had so many things to do, and we apologize again for not being able to answer "the couscous invitation". But here we are back from Fes. We bought the flat and we completed the transaction and all the administrative papers thanks to the help of Bouchra at sunset properties.
Sirroco Estates didn't sell out. It's just that they asked a real estate company in Tanger to deal with it. this is what I understood anyway. There are two people now selling these flats. Bouchra in Fes and her colleague in Tanger. We spent the week in Fes. Bouchra picked us up at the airport and made everything possible. She accompanied us in every procedure. (plumber for the water tank/ contracts for the electricity and water supply/ changing of the cylinder for the door/ legalisation of all the papers in Moroccan administrations/ bank accounts/ well, a lot of things that would have been difficult without her.)
When we first arrived, we realized the place was beautiful and the gardener had made a wonderful job around. There are still things to do in front of the blocks when you arrive but I asked Bouchra to deal with it and she said she would try so that the whole place should be nice and not only the King's gardens part.
THe flat was as we expected and actually our garden was bigger than expected. THe swimming pools need a bit of cleaning but I suppose this is something we can do or at least we can teach Sulimane who is not used to European standards but who is willing to help.
The snaggings are not of very good quality and this is what didn't convince me when I first arrived. Most windows couldn't be locked which was more than annoying. But we said to bouchra we wanted it to be done by the end of the week and she called the guy from the windows and he repaired everything so now they lock properly We didn't have to pay for that as it was supposed to come with a new flat.The shutters are still a bit hard to pull down, but that should do. They re-painted the flat because they had added switches and plugs around. We are satisfied with the flat. So far only block 1 and 2 are nearly sold out. Only 5 flats in block 3 and none in block 4 have been sold. Ours is in block 3 and we are looking forward to new neighbours.
There are a few cracks in the external walls of the blocks because of the heavy winter rains (apparently the worst in Moroccan History),but it's only because of the bad quality of the coating. So to me this is superficial and again Bouchra told us Sirroco Estates had already planned to redo the coating later this year. so Wait and see.
if you want an overall idea of all what we paid while we were in Fes
-water tank+plumber (nice work) 2200 DH
-new locks and keys (impossible to copy) 550 DH
-water and electricity meter+contract- 1400DH/
- flat transaction/ 6% of the flat cost to the notary public.
-for the annual charges (until the development is finished they are paid by sirroco estates) but after that, Bouchra certified it was not over 300 DH a month which is approximately 27 euros or 30 pounds a month but it will probably depend on the size of your flat and depend on the ......./1000th you own. Our flat is 46 m/square.
For this place to become very nice. It just needs a few more people to come and buy a flat.
By the way, we had to rent a car for the week because it's a 5 minute ride to the old town (Bab ftouh) and a 10 minute ride to the new town.
But, apparently a Marjane (which is a supermarket where you can find absolutely everthing you need, even Champagne if you want to celebrate!!!) is planned to be built in 2010 in this area which would probably bring the little red taxis. Again this is Morocco and we can not take things for granted. All I can say is that we enjoy the place. Fes is a wonderful city. For the rest, inchallah
guillaume
ps: I made a video of the place but sofar it's still on my video camera. When I find the time to put it on the computer I will probably send a link or something to those interested. (but not right away).
