What would YOU do?

Chris


Joined: 26/03/2008
Posts: 454

Message Posted:
26/06/2008 23:02

Bought off plan lovely villa just past Tatlisu...

Saw solicitor, had contract made up, met with builder and estate agent, everybody happy with terms, everybody signed....

Three payments later, builder decides he doesnt understand English, and cannot complete on time ..........

The final payment is indicitive on wether you sell your house in England, and you have put a major clause in stating you are allowed 4 weeks grace time.....

Builder states he wants money now, and as far as he is concerned you can live in a cardboard box, its not his problem........

Oh, and although he said it would be ready August, it wont, and there will be no electric and water, roads, pool etc...

Back to solicitor who suggests writing up new clause and giving him another £40.000 because he has financial problems, to complete the villa, even though it still has no electric and water........

Builder suddenly finds builders electric which is 3 times as much as normal and is payable to his company.........

By now, you have decided to remortgage your house in England to finance the builder, even though he has not honoured the last contract, because the housing market is flat in England at present and you cannot get the price you want, bearing in mind you have already paid said builder £53,000 and are not sure if he will honour this next payment.........

So, do I throw another £40,000 at him and hope he honours this agreement, or cut my losses and stay put in England, £53,000 poorer, but not £93,000! with mortgage going through the roof that I will not pay off in my lifetime!!



Answers on an A3 please, with flow charts, diagrams and get out of jail card, for when I kill the builder ,thrown in please!



Chris

morty


Joined: 24/03/2008
Posts: 141

Message Posted:
26/06/2008 23:41

Chris,



I and everbody else on Cypruss 44 must feel for you, the dream fast becoming the nightmare !!! It makes you realise we are all, and I mean all, so vunerable if things go wrong.



I wish you a BIG change in luck & ask you to keep your cool at the moment. If need be remember revenge is a dish best served cold.



Morty

Susie


Joined: 06/06/2007
Posts: 87

Message Posted:
26/06/2008 23:58

So sorry to hear your tale Chris. There seems to be more and more of this sort of thing happening. My instinct would be to not give builder any more money as you have no guarentee that the money will be spent finishing your villa. Have you spoken to HBPG and registered a complaint with PCO? Keep us informed



Good Luck

Aga Buyers A G


Joined: 04/10/2007
Posts: 488

Message Posted:
27/06/2008 00:18

start a blog...............



http://latchfords.spaces.live.com/



and a website........



http://www.trncpropertywarning.freewebsites.com



and wait....................................................4 ever



xxxxxxxxxxx

ABAG

tonyhickey



Joined: 13/06/2007
Posts: 413

Message Posted:
27/06/2008 02:39

What would I do ? firstly meet him(the builder) with is bank manager and your solicitor and a interpreter work out number of weeks work remaining and drip feed the remaining payment . Make payments to the bank direct ,Only to realised on a weekly basis if work is progressing at a satisfactory rate. Keep friendly with the builder at all costs Take him out for a meal give him complements on is high standard of work (more bull s hit the better) remember the important thing is getting the building finished. Make it clear no work no money ( but be very very nice)

Tony

li n lee


Joined: 09/10/2007
Posts: 144

Message Posted:
27/06/2008 02:47

If its any consulation my sister in south has been ripped off for £300k sterling...and wish she had come north trying to battle it out having to be there every month or so with no planning permission yet they have moved their goods in so not great, with no water or electric so its happening everywhere, i bought in north from a builder who builds to your own spec..for you only...I have done ok by him and nothing has gone wrong, it was finished in 9 months and snaggin as an when I am there, If I can help in anyway, I will....do contact us....wishing you all the best to get this sorted and I think try avoid complexes!

take care

spook


Joined: 23/01/2008
Posts: 244

Message Posted:
27/06/2008 03:08

Have you paid stamp duty & reg contract, you may be better trying to agree a cut off point with your excisting builder and using your cash to employ another company to complete the work, you should be getting this advice from your "solicitor" if not consider going elsewhere. Good Luck

Chris


Joined: 26/03/2008
Posts: 454

Message Posted:
27/06/2008 15:46

Thank you everyone, yes, I have paid stamp duty and registered contract.

My solicitor is suggesting another contract (at £150 a hour for work done)



I use to discuss major problems with my mum, but she died 3 years ago, so I thought I would ' ask the audience' !



Thank you again, will probably see you in the Ship one day!!



Chris

koronion


Joined: 09/05/2008
Posts: 20

Message Posted:
28/06/2008 11:42

Chris ---- sorry to be a pessimist but you're not between a rock and a hard place --you're between a rock and a rock !!!

I cannot agree with Tony Hickey (message 5) that "yavas yavas" and be nice to the builder will pay off . That way you may see your house finished I agree but what guarantee then of (1) being connected to electricity and water (2) obtaining your Kocan ---- without more demands for money.

The 93,000 you contemplate paying could rise even more if this builder you are dealing with senses desparation on your side . Sorry mate --- my advice is to get out with your minimal loss, not much consolation I know but at least you'll sleep at night

Chris


Joined: 26/03/2008
Posts: 454

Message Posted:
28/06/2008 13:41

koronion

Thank you for your reply, and I am considering all options at the moment, my main concerns are the electric, water, kocan etc, just like you are saying, I have no guarantees whatsoever!

Also my estate agent is not replying to my e-mails, and if I e-mail my solicitor she is going to want money from me, as I feel she is getting fed up with all my queries!!

I dont think you are a pessimist at all- I needed realistic replies, and I got them.



Chris

livethedream


Joined: 12/04/2007
Posts: 455

Message Posted:
28/06/2008 14:31

Chris



Bite the bullet and get on a flight over here, that way you don't have to wait for replies to your emails - you can see them face to face. Surely it's worth the price of a flight to get some answers.



ltd

lovingcyprus


Joined: 02/03/2007
Posts: 1272

Message Posted:
28/06/2008 15:41

There is a lesson to be learned from this story and that is do not purchase off plan.



There are more than sufficient resales around.

cocos


Joined: 04/04/2008
Posts: 129

Message Posted:
28/06/2008 17:23

Noone should buy off plan anymore but that is too late for Chris and many others in similar diabolicle situations. Get in touch with Marion at Homebuyerspressure group she will give you lots of info and advice.

joandjelly


Joined: 24/02/2008
Posts: 2953

Message Posted:
28/06/2008 17:29

Chris I agree with Tony Hickey and with LTD. You have (presumably) paid your "solicitor" a large amount of money and her job is to answer your queries and help you with your purchase. I would strongly recommend you come here and demand a meeting with her to try and get to the bottom of this. It is a very good idea to try and get back on track with the builder under the sort of conditions that Tony described because even if the house is late finishing (aren't they always anyway) at least you will have something at the end of it. We have been on builders electric for a couple of years so you are not alone. Is this a development and if so what are your neighbours doing about the situation? It would probably help you to have a Turkish speaking friend who can accompany you to any meetings. Methinks the builder thinks you are a silly women who can be bullied into walking away and he can then sell your house on and pocket the £53k.



Good luck.



Jo

Chris


Joined: 26/03/2008
Posts: 454

Message Posted:
28/06/2008 18:11

The site is 13 villas, and I have decided to fight on and get whats mine!



I cant understand why I have to have inflated electric, wont a generator be cheaper in the long run, than the exorbitant prices some builders are asking

- even with the rising price of fuel?



Chris

Turtle


Joined: 28/05/2007
Posts: 2669

Message Posted:
28/06/2008 19:32

Chris, I feel sorry for you and can speak from experience as we are going through simular.

Its time that this corrupt industry and govenment did something to clean up its act before they drive even more people away.

ROBIN HOOD


Joined: 26/05/2008
Posts: 238

Message Posted:
28/06/2008 19:40

Been in the same situation. Two ption niether guarantee success. a) Bludgeon it out cut off the contract and get some one else in. You'll probably have to make a payoff , but you'll sleep better. b) If you trust your solicitor (which doesn't actually come over) the put cash in escrow account to drip feed and only pay on proven prgress. You may get a poor build quality as a result (look at mine). It's a ppor situatio where the courts are toothless wastes of time (and money) I've never seen or heard of an injunction being enforced. Rogues being dispossessed or assets confiscated. A blog to name and shame is a method of putting pressure on. It seems to have had an effect in my case. You want to mail me I'll see if I can do anything recommend a lawyer or some such. Good luck

come_on_aylin


Joined: 14/06/2008
Posts: 908

Message Posted:
28/06/2008 20:17

You might want to take a look at this thread on the villa owners website. The author managed to find a competent solicitor in Lefkosa who got the matter to court and had a reasonably successful outcome.



http://trncvillaowners.phpbb3now.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1850&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&hilit=Tony+elk

Chris


Joined: 26/03/2008
Posts: 454

Message Posted:
28/06/2008 20:37

Excellent outcome for him!!



And just goes to show it can be done.



Chris

raybo


Joined: 06/08/2007
Posts: 175

Message Posted:
28/06/2008 20:55

jo,

I have bought on this same site 1st to purchase,feel sorry for chris on here contract problem hope she gets it sorted, all i can say is we have had no problems at all, builder has done everthing we have asked our villa should be finished in 2wks 4months ahead of schedule, we were told no electric till february 2009, and that water connection would not be a problem, we will wait and see but i can only report on what has happened to us so far, ray.

Pugsey


Joined: 22/03/2008
Posts: 173

Message Posted:
28/06/2008 21:03

You are not alone in this situation. Not that that helps much I know. We are still awaiting the outcome of ours but remain hopeful that it will be resolved in time. At the end of the day all we want for is what we paid for, not too much to ask surely?

I don't think I could walk away without a fight and we did exactly what LTD says about getting on a flight. We did that and felt more in control of the situation once we had spoken to lawyers/estate agents/HBPG face to face.

It was worse trying to guess who was telling you the truth via e-mail/phone. Lawyers have been paid to do the job and should by now (given how many people this has happened to) understand the stress these situations cause.



Are you in touch with the other purchasers on the site? That may be an area of support available and more bargaining power with a united approach.



There is always a constant source of support on this forum for which I have been very gratefull.



good luck

Pugsey

janjin



Joined: 10/04/2008
Posts: 488

Message Posted:
28/06/2008 22:10

Hi Chris met you in May just before you signed for your beautiful Villa.

Sorry that you got a 1 yr contract instead of the 2yr contract all the other buyers got. This was a big mistake and Bahcier was very upset by this. Given the delays in getting Kibtech to transform and build in Electric supplies, the 2 yr contract is more realistic. You might find you need the extra time to sell your house in England, it can take so long and the housing market is so depressed. Our straight forward sale, cash buyer, took 9 months!!

As for the other buyers properties they are coming along really well.

I can't understand the lack of communication with your Estate Agent as we have the same Agent and thier tremendous.