CHOOSING THE VILLA OF YOUR DREAMS | Find a good lawyer

find a good lawyer

So you have found the villa of your dreams and paid your deposit. Now is the time to get serious and find a good lawyer. It is important to find a lawyer in the country where you are buying your villa.

Do not use your home based lawyer as he or she will not be familiar with the law in that country, unless you are using your own lawyer to look after your interests and communicate, on your behalf, with the lawyer in that jurisdiction. Note, if you do that you will be paying two fees instead of one. Also, do not use the developers lawyers, as there will be a conflict of interest, nor use a law firm that has been suggested by the developers, again there may be a conflict of interest.

Always go for the top law firms, do not try to cut costs by appointing a small private practice, they are unlikely to have the specialist knowledge or the backup and clout that the big law firms will have.

Look for large law firms like Clifford Chance and Allen & Overy. These firms have branches in lots of the major cities and most of the lawyers who work for them are top in their field, professional and have many years experience.

Except for a part payment up front, most law firms won’t bill you until all the paperwork is finalised and you take possession of your villa, even though this may be several years away.

Tip. If you get to know other buyers in the same development you could all join forces and use the same lawyer. This would save you money as the paperwork would be the same for each villa and therefore, the costs would be amortised.

Off-plan location, location... exhibitions recce LAND TITLE developer lawyer VILLA Design

property developers

When it comes to choosing the right development you have to look at who the developer is and their track record. Seek to answer the following questions:

If the developer is foreign in that country, has he done a major development and completed it, like the one you are considering, in a foreign country before?

Is the developer cash rich or heavily leveraged with large bank loans?

Has he got the money to complete the project without selling any of the properties or does he have to sell a certain amount beforehand?

Is he familiar with the labour laws and practices in that country?

Which construction company is he going to use and have they done construction in that country before?

Is he using a renowned firm of architects?

All of this might seem unnecessary, but it may make the difference between the development you have chosen being finished in a way you had expected and on time, or not at all.

One word on finishing on time, do not expect the construction of your villa to finish on the date the developer tells you. There are always delays.

The developer is not intentionally trying to pull the wool over your eyes. Delays do happen for one reason or another, such as a delay in the supply chain of materials or some of the workforce not returning to work after a major public holiday, also unexpected weather conditions can affect progress.

Obviously, the developer tries to plan for all of this, but an unexpected event such as the rainy season coming early before the construction of the roofs is finished can cause big disruptions and delays.

Try to be patient and always ask to be informed of the progress. This is important because all developers require stage payments throughout the construction and you need to know when the next payment is due so you can factor this into your budget plans.

changes

I know developers will not like me saying this, but changes to the design of your villa are inevitable for reasons I mentioned earlier in buying off-plan. As long as the changes are small there is no need for concern. Where changes are most likely are in the interior finish of your villa, which I am coming to next.

CHOOSING THE VILLA OF YOUR DREAMS : interior finish...

Design Changes

Obviously, if you are paying, let us say, US$150,000, you would not expect to see a finish that you would see in a villa costing 1 million dollars. However, apart from size, this price difference is often in the quality of what goes into the villa such as the kitchen and electrical appliances, bathroom fittings, flooring and tiling etc. One would reasonably expect, for example, the interior walls to be straight and smooth and the tiles on the floor to match, and there is no excuse for shoddy workmanship, whether you are paying US$150,000 or 1 million. continue this story...

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