Slowbee Posted September 8, 2015 Posted September 8, 2015 Can like all of the posts... but this is the most depressing thread (cause someone is actually doing something we all dream about).....so much so its actually inspirational. plans are now being put in place. lets see where they lead. Tell Mrs Bonus would be great to hear her take on things. And you know some oke, who has contacts that can make double posts disappear Gen and Captain Fastbastard Mayhem 2
Wendy Posted September 8, 2015 Posted September 8, 2015 Thank you Slowbee. My take has been so hard and easy. (If that makes sense) my beloved South Africa (and I truly love her) is falling to bits and this is so sad for me. Im rooted here. I have a daughter in New York and my son is staying put in SA. Spain is so beautiful so I will take the leap of faith and go. I desperately want to go as I know it will be good for my soul. Spanglish is becoming our second language which is hard. The rand has dropped so low we are never comletely sure we will make it but we are now at the point of no return, so its do or die. That said, its amazing how friendly and helpful these people are. They are so anxious for someone to come and uplift their villages they are all willing to help with a meal while we are building or even a handyman and left over materials for gratis. The fact we have so many home people behind us keeps me going. I dont say much but i do read all the posts. Thank you everyone. You all have me in tears wvery now and then. X barrykm, Slowbee, DIPSLICK and 2 others 5
Guest notmyname Posted September 8, 2015 Posted September 8, 2015 Thank you Slowbee. My take has been so hard and easy. (If that makes sense) my beloved South Africa (and I truly love her) is falling to bits and this is so sad for me. Im rooted here. I have a daughter in New York and my son is staying put in SA. Spain is so beautiful so I will take the leap of faith and go. I desperately want to go as I know it will be good for my soul. Spanglish is becoming our second language which is hard. The rand has dropped so low we are never comletely sure we will make it but we are now at the point of no return, so its do or die. That said, its amazing how friendly and helpful these people are. They are so anxious for someone to come and uplift their villages they are all willing to help with a meal while we are building or even a handyman and left over materials for gratis. The fact we have so many home people behind us keeps me going. I dont say much but i do read all the posts. Thank you everyone. You all have me in tears wvery now and then. XAwwww, all If the best guys. Bonus and Wendy 2
Imploder Posted September 8, 2015 Posted September 8, 2015 As of about an hour and a half ago, we are the very proud owners of a property in Spain! Yesterday we went to see our solicitor and her assistant (who is acting as translator for us) in Huesca (big town about an hour away) where we went through the purchasing contract, ironing out a few bits and making sure we understood everything. We also went to the bank to formally open the bank account the solicitor had set up for us so that we could produce a bankers cheque to pay the balance on the property. Today we all went to the local Notaries office (10 mins away) where we met the sellers of the property. We went through the contract again, signed papers, handed over our bankers cheque, received a copy of the title deeds and its "job done"! It turns out that the sellers will be our nearby neighbors, they have invited us round for tea when we come over here properly to start renovations. They will pick up any post that comes for us and hand it in to the local office of our solicitors and they will keep an eye on any materials etc that we leave here any time we're away. The Notary as offered to introduce us to the four English speaking couples that live in the area (of course he knows everybody because he's overseen every property purchase) and to the South African couple who live nearby! We are not going to hurry too much to meet up with the English speaking people, it will be nice to practice our Spanish for a bit first. As shown in the previous pictures, it's gonna take some money and hard work to fix it up - but we'll get there. Everyone we've dealt with here has been professional and friendly. The girl who has done all the legal correspondence with us since our trip in June and who translated for us this week now considers us to be her friends. She and her husband will take us out for dinner when we get over here next. The notary wants to have us round for dinner and the seller of the property will lend me any tools I need to start renovating. What a pleasure it has been! Fingers crossed that it stays that way :-)Congratulations! Once again a proper inspiration.Muy Bien! Wendy, Bonus and Gen 3
Slowbee Posted September 9, 2015 Posted September 9, 2015 You guys are going to be finished by Christmas right ? Maybe next spring might be a good time to visit - but that's a bit after Christmas Bonus, Gen and Wendy 3
Bonus Posted September 9, 2015 Author Posted September 9, 2015 Christmas is a bit close, but we really want to be running by March next year, which is early spring here. Will keep you posted on here :-) NixM, Captain Fastbastard Mayhem, Gen and 1 other 4
Gen Posted September 9, 2015 Posted September 9, 2015 Christmas is a bit close, but we really want to be running by March next year, which is early spring here. Will keep you posted on here :-)I'll be looking forward to all your updates. It's like we're all your journey with you , minus the stress of course.[emoji6] ???? Bonus 1
Bonus Posted September 9, 2015 Author Posted September 9, 2015 Today we had a meeting with our architect. I took lots of photos when we were here in June and then when we got back to SA I marked them up in MS Paint (nogal) and emailed them to the architect to explain what it was we wanted, and where. Amazingly he understood perfectly and today we went through his first draft sketches of the plans of the renovation. Now we have signed a contract to have him draw up proper engineering drawings for the building and produce a document that builders can use to quote us on various jobs that need doing. He will also get the drawings approved through the council for us. We will break the project up into stages so that we have the builders do a specific section of work and then I do what I can myself. We need them to do the proper structural stuff and then I can do the Flooring, tiling, painting and decorating, fitting kitchens etc. We fly back to the UK on Friday night and Wendy flies back to SA late next week. I'm not due back to SA until month end but I may also consider rather coming back to Spain to start some basic work, removing the existing roof etc on the property while the drawings are being finished and approved. I'm itching to get started . . . . . DIPSLICK 1
Jacques@ACT Posted September 9, 2015 Posted September 9, 2015 Will winter weather not affect the structure if the roof comes off?
Bonus Posted September 9, 2015 Author Posted September 9, 2015 Will winter weather not affect the structure if the roof comes off?No. The building has solid rock external walls and pretty much nothing inside - so there's really nothing to damage. We will do the roof first to make the building weatherproof then carry on inside. Even if it rains while the roof is off it won't be a problem.
DIPSLICK Posted September 10, 2015 Posted September 10, 2015 (edited) need a floor sweeper yet???, its best to get staff in early in the process of building a strrong venture,,,,just saying. Grow the staff together from the begining,,,sky is the limit, endless holidays flexi hours, i have mentioned before, I come with a cook and 2 well trained slaves Edited September 10, 2015 by DIPSLICK JGR, Bonus, Gen and 1 other 4
Bonus Posted September 10, 2015 Author Posted September 10, 2015 (edited) you know I'm sure we could keep two small slaves under the stairs. I'll bring them over next trip as excess baggage. . . . . Today we went and signed a Power of Attorney from Wendy in favor of me, so that I can sign in her absence. I'll be back here before her next time and would hate to get caught short if something needs signing by both of us in a hurry. We've been to see the property everyday this week - just to look at it and the garden and talk about what we'd like to see it turn into. Today and yesterday we met all the neighbors. A very nice bunch of mostly older people. I guess all retired or semi retired. And one young couple - the old owners son and his wife. Look forward to having them all around for a braai once we get this show on the road! Tomorrow is our last day here - back to the UK and then back to SA in the week for Wendy. I'll stay behind in the UK for a little while after she leaves to sort out some things. I think we will leave for Barcelona airport early enough to swing by the beach on the way there. Maybe dip our toes in the Med, depending on the weather . . . . Edited September 11, 2015 by Bonus barrykm, MacFly01, Gen and 1 other 4
Imploder Posted September 11, 2015 Posted September 11, 2015 you know I'm sure we could keep two small slaves under the stairs. I'll bring them over next trip as excess baggage. . . . . Today we went and signed a Power of Attorney from Wendy in favor of me, so that I can sign in her absence. I'll be back here before her next time and would hate to get caught short if something needs signing by both of us in a hurry. We've been to see the property everyday this week - just to look at it and the garden and talk about what we'd like to see it turn into. Today and yesterday we met all the neighbors. A very nice bunch of mostly older people. I guess all retired or semi retired. And one young couple - the old owners son and his wife. Look forward to having them all around for a braai once we get this show on the road! Tomorrow is our last day here - back to the UK and then back to SA in the week for Wendy. I'll stay behind in the UK for a little while after she leaves to sort out some things. I think we will leave for Barcelona airport early enough to swing by the beach on the way there. Maybe dip our toes in the Med, depending on the weather . . . . Hi Bonus Out of interest how does the property transfer process work in Spain. Do they also have a deeds office where you need to lodge the transfer papers?Conveyancing?How long does registration take?
Bonus Posted September 12, 2015 Author Posted September 12, 2015 Hi Bonus Out of interest how does the property transfer process work in Spain. Do they also have a deeds office where you need to lodge the transfer papers?Conveyancing?How long does registration take? This is how we did it: Looked online at different areas of Spain & France to establish where we wanted to live.Looked at property online to get a feel for what was about and prices.Visited Spain & France to confirm the suitability of the areas we liked.Spoke to some estate agents and got them to show us some properties.Chose a suitable property and put in an offer through the estate agent. Then, back in SA once the offer was accepted, we contacted a lawyers firm in Spain and asked them to act for us. They did all the legal stuff for us and kept us up to date by email in English. Then we set a date for returning to Spain to sign transfer documents. Our legal firm opened bank accounts for us (which we activated by taking in original documents (passports etc) when we got there.They also went through the document of transfer with us in English. Confirming that the person selling was the owner, there was no debt attached to the property etc etc.Then we went to the transfer meeting at the offices of the local Notary. The meeting consisted of us, the Notary, our legal representative, the estate agent and the sellers. The notary went through the transfer document again, confirming that we knew exactly what we were buying and that the seller knew exactly what they were selling. Then we all signed papers, our legal rep handed over a bankers draft cheque and the property became ours. We were given a copy of the deeds. Owners are only ever given a copy of the deeds in Spain. The originals stay locked in the offices of the Notary forever. He told us he has all the deeds for the properties in the area "for the last 150 years" This is different to the UK, where original deeds are handed over to the buyer (and then usually lodged with a bank covering the bond). In the UK, the person holding the deeds can claim to own the property. In Spain it doesn't matter who has a copy of the deeds, the ones locked in the office have the owners name on them and are beyond dispute. Possession is NOT 9/10ths of the law! As far as registration is concerned, the Notaries office will do that for us now and update the land register. Not sure how long it will take. I'll let you know when we're told it's been done. Chro Mo 1
Bonus Posted September 14, 2015 Author Posted September 14, 2015 Our property will be classed as a "Casa de Turismo Rural de uso Compartido" - which means it is a "B&B in a Rural area, with the owners of the B&B using part of the building as their home" Sounds better in Spanish to be honest! lol JGR and Gen 2
SAGecko Posted September 15, 2015 Posted September 15, 2015 T, now that you've left our shores on your big adventure, isn't it time to change your Hub name to "Out Bonus"? Wendy, Bonus, Captain Fastbastard Mayhem and 1 other 4
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