Hey Dave and Snippy,

I visited the site in April and they had then laid all of the sand and were marking the site out.

My solicitoe has just advised that the foundations have just been laid.

Not heard if everything is on schedule or not.

Re the plots between the site and the beach-Hans Leistedt advised that they had been sold (not sure who to) but expected bars/restaurants etc to be built.

However, local law would indicate that buildings can only be single storey.

Regards

Peter

Hi my partner and i are purchasing a one bedroom apartment on pdc , we have just paid the first installment and are very excited about the project(not been out there yet,but everything seems in favour of it being a good investment).Anybody just got back with anymore info or photos of the site would be appreciated.

thanks Dave.

I too am buying a villa in PDC.  Do you have any more information about this or any other lawyers please?

- what's your experience been with them?
- what services do they provide?
- what do they charge? 

Please pm me if you'd prefer not to share this pubicly.

Many thanks.

Sanjay

June,

Thanks for your reply.  We've put a deposit down on a C type villa - so the ball has just started rolling for us.  I would dearly love to visit the area, but due to our circumstances the chances are quite remote (for a couple of years anyway).

Thanks for the info.

John

Hi John

Apologies for taking a while to respond to your posting - I tend to spend most of my time on the Channel4Homes forum and forget about this one!

Magnate is, of course, absolutely right.  If it is at all possible that you could visit Brazil I expect you'll find it'll put your mind at rest and you'll have a fantastic and inexpensive holiday.  It's undoubtedly true that we all want different things from a holiday/investment and what suited me and my situation may not necessarily be the same for you.

Regarding the lawyer we used, her details are as follows:

Adriana C. Magalhaes, Mendes Cunha Advogados Associados

Tel: (0055) 84 3221 1363.  Although Adriana herself speaks perfect English not everyone who answers the phone there does so you may need to persevere.  You could try emailing as well: acmagalhaes@yahoo.com.

If there are any other questions I might conceivably be able to answer, please do ask!

Glad to hear you're considering joining us.

Many thanks for your response Magnate which portrays to me that you have a good idea what you're talking about.  My wife and I are full time police officers and as you've probably guessed my research into property investment isn't vast.  I believe however that we've 'missed the boat' at home and that's why I'm looking abroad.  It seems to me, that Brazil has overall, an up and coming market with great potential.  We wouldn't be looking to use the property ourselves for holidays and would probably sell in 5 - 6 years time.  I would be interested to know why you think it may not be an appropriate investment for a first time investor and what would be.  The chances of us getting to visit the area (or anywhere else for that matter) are pretty remote due to our circumstances (young children, shifts etc) and so any investment abroad would be 'not as seen' as it were.  Some very interesting comments from you.  Thanks for the response.

PS. We live and work in the beautiful county of Conwy. 

My wife and I are going to bite the bullet and put a deposit down on a villa at PDC next week primarily as an investment.  We've never done this type of thing before but can clearly see the potential with this development and country.  Some of the equity in our home in Wales will be realised to purchase the villa outright.  That being the case we won't have to rely on the rental to help pay the mortgage.  Do either of you know in percentage terms what all the deductions will amount to? i.e management letting fees, local tax, income tax, insurance etc.  By my calculations it seems to me that the net monthly rentals could be as low as £200.  I would be grateful if you could give me an idea what your thoughts are.  By the sound of things, it might be a wasted journey out there to see the development as the area is described beautifully and everything appears to be going well.  Any chance of letting me know who the female solicitor is June?  All the best.

John Rich.

Hi Magnate,

So pleased to hear you're also purchasing at PDC!  We've just returned from a 7-day trip and pretty much everything well exceeded our expectations.  The Natal area is lovely, very busy with (mainly Brazilian) tourists.  The people are amongst the friendliest and most obliging I've encountered and many in the tourist industry are learning English in anticipation of the tourist boom.  Maracajau beach is nothing short of stunning.  The development is located very close to the beach and to the village.  The village itself is small but lovely and is already showing the benefits of a small but established tourist industry.  There are a few pretty restaurants and small craft shops as well as an established diving school with restaurant and swimming pool.  While we were there several coachloads of Dutch and Scandanavians arrived for Scuba and Diving and the area is popular with Brazilians for Pony Trecking and Beach Buggy tours.  We also saw the Ma Noa Water Park.   I must admit I didn't like the sound of it - I envisaged the usual plastic monstrosity - but it was charming and tasteful - more of a rustic beach club with the addition of a few slides.  It too seemed pretty busy.  Hans Leistedt from Brazil Homes spent the day with us taking us around the area, driving along the beaches and access roads etc.  That really gave us an overview of the location and we were hugely impressed.  There's clearly a lot of infrastructure going in (we saw the new bridge across the Potengi - almost complete) and we noted that the Natal section of the main road that runs from the South to the North of Brazil is being substantially widened North of Pipa - again, presumably, to cope with additional tourist traffic.  Local newspapers carry stories of substantial hikes in property prices.  So it would appear that the positive economic indicators are all there and - although there's always a risk with any investment - early signs are that the overall area is really on the up.  Add to that the particular beauty of Maracajau, the reefs, proximity to the beach and to the village and it's hard to imagine that we won't gain in the fullness of time.  

We had originally planned to just buy and flip but quickly realised that - mainly due to the short build time - it would be beneficial to hold on to the property for a couple of years, at least till the new airport is built (currently predicted as 2010).  Brazil Homes are apparently in discussion with some major international tour companies with a view to establishing rentals for a substantial portion of the season so if this comes off that would be good.

How are you getting on with finding a lawyer?  We were initially advised by our agents to consult a firm called Costa Barros but we quickly discovered they're the developer's lawyer.  Not so good!  We were given the name of a very competent-seeming lawyer who speaks excellent English by the British Embassy.  We met with her and were impressed.  She charges a great deal less than CB and has the undoubtedly huge advantage of being genuinely independent!

Re the trip - we organised it ourselves as our agents didn't offer inspection trips.  We went with Thomsons and stayed at the Serhs.  Everything was excellent - despite it being technically a business trip we had a really lovely time.

I'm not sure if we're able to do this on this site but I'd be happy to share the site photos we took with you.  If there's no facility to do this or we're forbidden from sharing email addresses, I also contribute to the 'Buying Property Overseas' forum on Channel4Homes.  I'm currently corresponding with another purchaser called Eddie who's buying two units on PDC.  We're trying to get as many buyers together as possible so we can share information so it would be great if you could join us.

Again, lovely to hear from you!

June R.