Painting a villa

[Farol]

I think the questions that you have asked and concerns you have shown indicate that you really know you should be walking away from this. If you were buying a property in your home town would you touch it with a barge pole? Add in that you probably don't speak Portuguese nor know their laws then I'm sure your heart is ruling your head.

Before we bought our property we rented in the off-season and got to grips with what you could buy and where, together with trying to understand local laws and taxation.

Take your time and unless this one is the bargain of the year walk away from it.

Get it right and you will have years of pleasure. Get it wrong and it will be years of grief.

[ConfusedBuyer]

Thanks Farol. Certainly something to consider.

I didn't realise I was able to upload photos until now, so hear goes...I will now attempt to upload the crumbly wall picture, swimming pool and the North side of the property which is a little "tired"

[ConfusedBuyer]

Swimming pool

[ConfusedBuyer]

and North side of the property....

[Farol]

The blistering I have seen and it's not uncommon. It is damp related but I think can be caused by several factors: damp penetration, rising damp (given that most Portuguese properties do not have a damp course) and structural failure. While I've seen the blistering it's not normally linked with the structure behind crumbling as seems to be the case here. What I've seen is the external paint blistering away from the render coat underneath but the render coat is normally sound (except on very old cob builds).

From the picture of the swimming pool it looks as though there is a slight colour variation in areas of the lining mosaic tiles. If that is the case I'd want to try to see if it's from more than one repair. Looking at the state of the water it's been "empty" for a long time. I'm sure the advice normally is not to leave a pool drained.

The dark state of the north side just looks like it's not been decorated in a long time. There are places on the development where we are that are like that on one side but they have not been decorated in 10 years. I last had mine done 5 years ago and it still looks like new so I would not believe the 6 years that you have been told. That staining would lead me to think that the property has not been well maintained and this fits with the state of the pool and the air con.

I think you need deep pockets to bring this up to scratch and then to maintain it.

On another point you mentioned rental. If you read other postings on this forum you will see that for most people the best you can hope for from rental is to off-set the cost of your own usage and nothing more.

[EMM]

What ever decision the OP comes to one thing is clear that any buyer should consider.
Do not pay a euro cent until you are 110% satisfied that the property meets all your requirements and standards.
If the OP withdraws what assurances are there that they will get their deposit back.
Under Portuguese law the seller can claim this.
Is the money in the lawyers client account or has it already gone to the seller ? and to pay part of the agents commission ?.
I agree that emptying a tiled pool is a recipe for problems, you also have to consider the costs of refilling it.

If I was buying and had as many questions and concerns about a property then I would still be looking, there is no shortage of good quality villas on the market.

[DVBRO]

Do not pay a euro cent until you are 110% satisfied that the property meets all your requirements and standards.

If I was buying and had as many questions and concerns about a property then I would still be looking, there is no shortage of good quality villas on the market.

Absolutely spot on EMM. Don't let your heart rule your mind and dreams.
Looking at the pictures from CB, I would not go anywhere near that Villa, as it would cost a fortune to get it to ones requirements.
Don't understand as to why one would buy a Villa facing North. The Winters are long and wet and you need as much sunshine as possible.
Save your money till you find your dream!

[ConfusedBuyer]

Thanks to you all for the posts. It has given me a lot to think about. I will see what the survey digs up when it is published on Friday, and if it looks like it will need serious amounts of work doing to it, then I will walk away and consider one of the others on my shortlist. It is at the top end of my budget (315k Euros), so I wont be able to afford to spend lots of money on it.

Thanks again for taking the time to post advice. It has all been very helpful and very much appreciated.

CB

[sunman]

What ever decision the OP comes to one thing is clear that any buyer should consider.
Do not pay a euro cent until you are 110% satisfied that the property meets all your requirements and standards.
If the OP withdraws what assurances are there that they will get their deposit back.
Under Portuguese law the seller can claim this.
Is the money in the lawyers client account or has it already gone to the seller ? and to pay part of the agents commission ?.
I agree that emptying a tiled pool is a recipe for problems, you also have to consider the costs of refilling it.

If I was buying and had as many questions and concerns about a property then I would still be looking, there is no shortage of good quality villas on the market.

well bugger my dog, me & EMM agree on something

[sunman]

Thanks to you all for the posts. It has given me a lot to think about. I will see what the survey digs up when it is published on Friday, and if it looks like it will need serious amounts of work doing to it, then I will walk away and consider one of the others on my shortlist. It is at the top end of my budget (315k Euros), so I wont be able to afford to spend lots of money on it.

Thanks again for taking the time to post advice. It has all been very helpful and very much appreciated.

CB

OK CB, this wraps it all up, I'd have guessed €225k tops from the photos, you just made me literally nearly spit out a mouthful of tea, this is tantamount to an abandoned wreck of a property.
put your money back in your wallet, fire the agent & start again, there's no need at all to rush, take your time, I'm sure some of the nice folk on here will be able to suggest some quality agents to you

[ConfusedBuyer]

Oh - I forgot to mention that the deposit is currently sitting in my lawyers client account, and not the agents.

By some bizarre coincidence, the sellers lawyer works in the same office, but I have been reassured there is no conflict of interest, as my lawyer is an independent entity within the company. He has also assured me that no money will be transferred across until we have had time to digest the findings of the survey and come to a decision as to whether to proceed or not.

[ConfusedBuyer]

Ha ha! Just seen your post Sunman. Sorry for almost causing a potential tea spillage!

I have used every agent in Carvoeiro. I thought India at Vernon, Paulo at ReMax and I think it was Nelson at EDL where all particularly helpful, but the property isnt on withthem.

[EMM]

Sunman this may surprise you but the advice I posted is the same as we give to clients when we show properties.
I also agree that the property we are discussing is typical of far too many where the seller has let things go .
Gardens unkempt. weeds growing through drive ways and terraces, walls unpainted, pools left to stagnate, internal damp problems etc etc.
You sometimes have to ask your self does the owner really want to sell.
Carvoeiro has some really nice properties within the OP,s budget there is no need to buy anything that has potential problems.

[ConfusedBuyer]

Funnily enough, the garden is actually very tidy and well kept!

Apart from the one crumbly area (which was a small patch), the interior was very nice and there wasnt any whiff of damp that I got in some of the other properties I saw, and the South facing part of the villa looked well kept.

[widge]

Thanks to you all for the posts. It has given me a lot to think about. I will see what the survey digs up when it is published on Friday, and if it looks like it will need serious amounts of work doing to it, then I will walk away and consider one of the others on my shortlist. It is at the top end of my budget (315k Euros), so I wont be able to afford to spend lots of money on it.

Thanks again for taking the time to post advice. It has all been very helpful and very much appreciated.

CB

OK CB, this wraps it all up, I'd have guessed €225k tops from the photos, you just made me literally nearly spit out a mouthful of tea, this is tantamount to an abandoned wreck of a property.
put your money back in your wallet, fire the agent & start again, there's no need at all to rush, take your time, I'm sure some of the nice folk on here will be able to suggest some quality agents to you

Solid advice sunman, you can buy a very nice property for €300k in the current market. You could try adopting the Russian Oligarch approach briefing agents to supply a list of suitable properties €400 to €600k. Start with the most expensive & offer €300k unseen, keep offering sellers this amount until somebody accepts, then go & look at it!

Just a thought but - you know what- there are some sellers out there desperate for cash.