Best Posts in Thread: Marina Spatial

We have no intention of buying a condo here but as I had some spare time while waiting for my wife I asked the saleswoman at Hypermarket about the monthly dues for this project that covers the security guards and all other maintenance.
She told me that there was no figure on that yet and it would be explained at the orientation after purchase.
The reason I asked was that in 2014 we signed up for a condo in Manila, we were told the same regarding dues but as is was a 52 floor building and the cost of the dues would be divided between a large amount of people we were not too concerned.
On completion in 2018 the cost of the dues was revealed to be eye wateringly high
On completion the property management is handed over to be run by a private company.
I would advise anyone investing in this project to take this into consideration.

 

Simply put you would want to be off your rocker to buy anything that resembles a condo, unless you make the rules and set the fees you are on a loser in every way possible, every decision is out of your hands, we have all been around the Philippines stayed in condos as part of hotels or airbnbs or otherwise, sub standard at best, most of these units are bought off the plans, by horny fiancees and OFW looking for some breed of an investment that could get them home quicker to their families, Condo purchasing should be added to the "Diseases to avoid" list

 

If you stand in front of Cafe Racer (are the units sound proof incidentally?) look up at the units facing and see how many have curtains/aircons, on that basis there's a lot of empty units. Bought to speculate. Buy when they came on the market and sell for a quick profit when complete, I guess was the philosophy. But are they selling on?
They are far too expensive for what they are; tiny, flimsy rabbit hutches, no view, most have no balcony and if I remember correctly, P800,000 for a parking slot. A 3 bed with 2 baths of 68m2. That's about the size of my living room FCS.

 

I had enquired about this development, a long list of questions at hand and got only vague answers...Service charge, parking space, laundry drying area on rooftop (1 m2), number of elevators, backup power supply, garbage collection, quality of materials and workmanship, south facing windows making it too hot, proximity to sea causing foundations issue and premature building deterioration, proximity to noisy late nigh music venues, tiny size but at a very high price...total put off!

 

I have several years of property buy/sell & renovation on 3 continents.....I looked very closely at this project ...and RAN AWAY ....At the time I inquired,the owners will not allow anybody to see/read the "association" rules until AFTER purchase...& would not allow me to see the financials of the lending or building corporations....ADD that NOBODY will tell H.O.A. Management fees limitations ....BUYER BEWARE :(...if you missed the INITIAL BUY-IN....TO FLIP....stay away

 

Any idea what went wrong?

When I lived in Bahrain there were a bunch of apartment building near me that were condemned after only 10 years of occupancy. The contractor wanted to save a few Dinars and used sea water instead of fresh water to make the cement.

Okay back on topic. If there is rust on the re-bar, it needs to be removed before it is encased in concrete otherwise the rust will continue to expand and break the concrete.

 

I had actually paid the deposit and purchased 10th floor 2BR corner unit facing over the boulevard (one next to Gerry's Grill that is still under construction going on 5 years). Took the refund in 2018 after they failed to complete according to contract. My guess it will never finish. Price wasn't bad at the time I bought, it was 4.2M, I think it was 55sqM. The design was nice, a lot of glass walls looking out to sea. Happy with the refund.

 

It's going to be noisy too, Basketball court all those yelling kids screaming, Karaoke/disco, Tourist who don't give a flying F'xxx, banging doors. I'll stick with the roosters.

 

You don't need to think of renovation if you buy an apartment at Marina Spatial, it's p*ss poorly built IMHO and will fall apart before it's 20 years old

 

I was looking at that development today as I passed by just about the time you were posting here.

I also enquired, about 5 years ago, and was told by the sales 'lady' that the price was not fixed but would be decided when it was completed! When I told her I would not be happy with an open-ended price she said "You can afford it". End of conversation, thankfully.

But the site seems well located and so if there are financial problems I am surprised no one has taken it over - I wonder if the problems are something else (e.g. ground or other structural issues).