Beware of dodgy printers / printing companies

Someone, who has since apologized, recommended an Argentinean printer called Fernando to me.

He had a shop near the vegetable market on the Cartama road in Alhaurin el Grande.

I ordered 2,000 for sale and for rent signs which he assured me were water resistant and once he had mounted them or whatever he planned to do they would be ready and I would be joining the growing list of his happy customers.

After many, in fact innumerable telephone calls and emails ( the shop had closed down) he finally delivered the signs which I paid for in full. Once subjected to the infrequent rain the aforementioned water proof signs bubbled up and got soaking wet. They looked awful and not something I could ever send to my customers. He had kept half of the signs to continue working on them but once I complained it took me three weeks of ringing to get him to come back with my merchandise.

I am writing to warn any business in the Alhaurin el grande/ Coin area who may come across a jolly Argentinean printer called Fernando driving a Veterinarian pick up truck to beware.

For reputable service providers go to www.servicesdirectspain.com

Property.... A Calamity???

Some people see an opportunity in every calamity and others see a calamity in every opportunity!

At the moment the property market is experiencing one calamity after another…apart from those people who have a few bob put aside, and are able to grab this opportunity to purchase there very own villa on the Costa del Sol for half the normal price. Check out www.propertiesdirectspain.com for cheaper property direct from the owner with no commission or hidden charges.

This morning I heard a radio panelist calling the fee paid to Ronaldo by Real Madrid, a disgrace. He said that given the economic situation it was an insult to the unemployed fans. Another panelist argued that it was a sign of economic recovery that would start a chain reaction which would benefit every one in the football world and beyond. I just turned the radio off and am about to send an email to Ronaldo offering him a villa in Marbella where he can relax with Paris Hilton and friends after the matches.

To all Sellers a plea from a frustrated Agent

I had my first serious clients for quite some time a couple of weeks ago.

They had emailed me with specific requirements and had bothered to come to Spain twice in 3 weeks to see the properties that I had chosen for them. They were looking to buy around the Alhaurin el Grande, de la Torre and Mijas area.

In order to have the best properties available I recruited the help of other reputable agents in the area and I feel we did a professional job. Unfortunately to no avail. The clients have not even made an offer although there were lots of favourable noises towards at least three of the twenty four properties they had seen.

On talking to my colleagues, we came to the conclusion that the way properties are priced at the moment and the behaviour of some of the owners is not very conducive to happy sales.

To show someone a property priced at 800,000 € and to be told by the potential buyers that the same property is on someone else’s web page for 600,000 € is a high hurdle to jump over. This practice of giving different prices to different agents is detrimental to the seller as well as the handicapped agents because the buyers will start to doubt everything. Even if the lower price is actually genuine in the end they will very likely change agent and start the whole process again.


To all would be sellers a plea from a frustrated agent. Please make a list of all the agents to whom you have given your property and when you decide to change the selling price please let everybody know without exception. You will benefit in the end I promise you. Piero Repetto www.propertysearchspain.com

Direct from Owner Properties: Why direct advertising makes sense for homeowners

Direct from Owner Properties: Why direct advertising makes sense for homeowners

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WHY ADVERTISE ON THE INTERNET?

If a man can write a better book . . . or make a better mousetrap, than his neighbour, though he build his house in the woods, the world will make a beaten path to his door.

[Emerson]

That was true at the time of Emerson, now if you do not advertise on the internet no-one will beat a path to your door.

It is a must for everyone to be ‘out there’ where google bots roam the invisible space. There are clear signs that the property market is picking up especially in inland Andalucia. We have had a couple of enquiries with people looking for 2/3 bedroom fincas with pool for around 325,000 euro. So if anyone on the Costa del Sol wants to sell upload your property on www.propertiesdirectspain.com . Niki Taylor

Poetry & property go hand in hand

A time to smile, time to cry,

Time to sell, time to buy.

Now is the time to invest,

Property market sure is the best.

Prices are low but will soon rise,

Is it the middle men you despise,

Contact the owners avoid a con,

http://www.propertiesdirectspain.com

COURT RULING FOR LOS LLANOS DEVELOPMENT, COIN

The court case brought by Caja Granada and a promoter against Coín Council for impeding a fully approved development to go ahead, opposite Las Delicias in a place called Los Llanos, was heard on Tuesday….


The judges ruled that the council was acting in good faith and to the benefit of Coin’s residents because the development would take place on top of Coin’s main water table, thus threatening the main supply to the town itself. Of course, the judge left the door open for the bank and promoter to appeal to Andalusia’s Supreme Court of Justice, ‘whatever that means’ so watch this space sometime next year.


Personally I think the present council should not even be in court. To use a metaphor, it is equivalent to putting a person who stops another from abusing a child in prison. The court case should be against the very clever architect who bought the land in the first place. And who then with his generous and all persuading purse convinced the not so bright but all powerful mayor at the time to push the project forward to the regional government as an emblematic and necessary one.


If there was ever a perfect example of “In the world of the blind a one eyed man is King”, this was Coin at the time. At regional level at the time things were not faring much better. The Socialists needed the Andalusian nationalists to run the region so they were prepared to throw a few crumbs at the right time and in the right places. It took an association of ecologists and the then socialist candidate for mayor to stop the whole thing and ask for further environmental studies. These subsequently confirmed the need to stop the folly of building on Los llanos. The then candidate is now the mayor of Coin who was brave enough to go against his own party for a cause he believes is just.


I don’t know who will win in the end but one thing I am absolutely sure of is, the people who devised and approved this dodgy project are not sitting in the docks, the people who bought it are guilty of naivety and the mayor who stand to loose his own house should the Supreme court rule against him should be given a medal for fighting this battle on behalf of his fellow citizens. Piero Repetto

http:// www.propertysearchspain.com