Relocation & Expat Coach

Cabin Fever!

The last week has been a very interesting experience.  On our return from New Years Eve in Wales, where we celebrated our achievements in 2009 and the start of 2010 with friends, we left on very snowy roads and returned to Kent, still on very snowy roads.  The Sunday we returned saw the start of the winter we were to experience this week.

Today, a week later, we are still 'snowed in'.  It's interesting as one of the reasons for our move back to the sub-tropics was to ensure that we could spend a lot of time out doors, but here we were being forced by the weather to stay in-doors.  The South East of England is not the best place to live when it snows, as we are not prepared for the unusual weather - airports close, planes are delayed and/or cancelled; railways battle, trains are delayed and/or cancelled; and roads become impassable. 

Download 2010-01-08_snow experiences  Now we are suffering from 'Cabin Fever!' 

I received an email from a friend - Download 2010-01-08_Extracts from the diary of A Man from Kent!  Having sent it to a range of friends, the responses have agreed with the sentiments.  My only change to this is changing 'Australia' to 'Madeira' - and if only I could rely on planes flying in the direction I would be on one now.

This week has really highlighted one of our reasons for wanting to move away from the South East of England.  The frustrations that come with cabin fever show how much we are now missing the opportunities to get out and about.  Yes we can go out now, but it is with risk as the roads and pavements are very slippery and unsafe.  This frustration is added to, by the experiences and knowledge that in other countries this type of weather does not bring everything to a standstill. 

Roll on next winter when we will be in Madeira and experiencing their winter for the first time!  

Want to get out of the snow? 
Convert your dreams/aspirations to achievable goals and start to plan your move! 

Take this opportunity to work with someone who will not judge the reasons you want to make your move, who will not guide you down a specific path, who will motivate you to make the right decision!  You have this opportunity to work with a qualified and accredited coach who has done it!  Sign up to coaching with Barbara on http://nyasa.coachinginteractive.com - select 'click here for a free session - My Life'

Find Barbara's biog on http://www.internationalinstituteofcoaching.org/coach_referral_service/display_detail.php?trf=91

Paperwork!

'Although it has been subject to strong criticism for a long time, bureaucracy and its variants can still be found in a large number of organisations.'

As we work through the 'selling process' we are find out just how many pieces of paper we have to submit, review, agree, sign ... !  I'm not sure whether the information about the complexities of selling have been pubished, as we are finding out step-by-very slow-step.

Not only do we have to complete and sign forms that we don't understand - the new process is not to use a legal firm that can support you in the process.  So how do you move forward? 

We've been lucky with the Estate Agents that we selected and that have sold the house - they have one person allocated to supporting each sale.  Not only did it take a couple of days to work through the paperwork, recently we were asked to sign the contract - the sale contract.  The challenge with this is that it is written in bureaucratic legalese with references to a 'standard contract'.  When we enquiried as to what the clauses were in the 'standard contract', the Estate Agency didn't know, so we contacted the Conveyancing Agents.  They sent us the original paperwork that we completed.  We explained that we were looking for clauses 'x' in the 'standard contract' and they send us a very old frequently photocopied copy of the 'standard contract'.  With great difficulty we battled our way through this contract in line with the sale contract and found that we were now doing the legal work!  It's a scary position to be in ... but we have been very lucky with the Estate Agency representative - they have supported us.

Now we are in the position of having returned the paperwork ... and know no more!  We have put in a request for an exchange date and a completion date, but these new processes don't allow you to get confirmation.

Towards the end of last week we found out that the VAT rate to be charged on these services is dependant upon when we exchange and that in the UK this goes up by 2.5% on the 1st January, 2010; but that our Conveyancing Agents don't seem to worry about the additional charge that will be made to us.

So although we found the purchasing process in Madeira an unusual one, we were supported all the way through the process with clear understanding of what was happening when.

Planning ... what a challenge when you are unable to find out the dates that are required for planning!  Watch for the next challenge in organising the moving companies. 

Your Relocation & Expat Coach.
Spiritual Coaching designed to suit your requirements.

The next step ...

... or is this the final step?

As we work through the process of selling our house in the UK, the question came to me ... is this just the next step or the final step in the process of emigrating?

For a number of people I would guess it would be seen to be the final step, as working through the process of emigrating, is a long and in some cases very slow process; and those seeing this as the final step will be celebrating their success in moving.  For others it will be seen as the next step, with many more small steps in front of them!

For me I'm seeing this as the next step in the exciting process of leaving one environment and moving into a new environment.  There are still a number of immediate steps that have to be addressed, but I've just finished filling in the paperwork to sell the house and it feels like a huge step forward.  Is it?  After agreeing to sell the house this does feel like a huge step forward.  The paperwork is now with the solicitors and we are in the waiting game - paperwork and legal processing!

So the next step has been started and we are working through what now needs to be done to move out ... re-directing post, changing details on services, organising packers ... to mention just a few.  Watch for the list - I'll publish it under Hints and Tips.  Any suggestions added would be gratefully received.

Want to convert your dreams/aspirations to achievable goals? 

Take this opportunity to work with someone who will not judge the reasons you want to make your move, who will not guide you down a specific path, who will motivate you to make the right decision!  You have this opportunity to work with a qualified and accredited coach who has done it!  Sign up to coaching with Barbara on http://nyasa.coachinginteractive.com - select 'click here for a free session - My Life'

Find Barbara's biog on http://www.internationalcoachinginstitute.org/coach_referral_service/display_detail.php?trf=91

Interesting place to be ... !

We are just negotiating the sale of our house in the UK - yes our dream is coming true and we are moving - but I've suddenly remembered that the outstanding items on the house in Madeira are still just that - outstanding!

Thankfully the house is in a state in which we can move into it, but it will mean that areas of the house we would like to have completely finished before we moved - won't be.

How does this impact what we are doing now?  It doesn't.  We had to make the decision that we would move and sort these little things out once we are there.

Where does this leave us?  In a very interesting position ... we are in the process of selling the house in the UK around Xmas and New Year.  We are just waiting for the final moving date to allow us to truly plan our move.  What are our options?  When it comes to moving from one country to another you must truly understand what you need in the house/environment you are moving into, before you finalise your plans.

We are just working through what we need - electricity, running water, gas (for water heating), internet connection, telephone, mobile, and the list goes on.  If you are in this position, what do you need? 

Once we have the actual moving date from the Estate Agents, we will be able to create a plan of each step that we need to take.  I'll publish these as we create them.

Want to convert your dreams/aspirations to actually moving? 

Take this opportunity to work with someone who will not judge the reasons you want to make your move, who will not guide you down a specific path, who will motivate you to make the right decision!  You have this opportunity to work with a qualified and accredited coach who has done it!  Sign up to coaching with Barbara on http://nyasa.coachinginteractive.com - select 'click here for a free session - My Life'

Find Barbara's biog on http://www.internationalcoachinginstitute.org/coach_referral_service/display_detail.php?trf=91

New service to be offered by TNP

After 25+ years in Project Management - we are about to launch a new service for anyone buying a property in Madeira.  One of the challenges I have been made aware of is that when you buy a property somewhere like Madeira, more often than not, you are not there when the builders are working on your property.

The service we are developing is to Project Manage the building work on your behalf.  Although this programme is not completely defined, we will include holding a meeting between yourself and your selected building team - architect, builder, etc.  In this meeting we will clearly document all your requirements.  We will work with the building team to ensure that all elements are included in the initial quote. 

Once you have accepted the quote and signed it off, we will work with the building team to understand their build plan.  At specified points during this build plan we will visit the property.  This will allow us to work closely with the building team.  As part of each visit we will fully photograph the progress to date and eemail you this information.  For all decisions that may need to be made while you are not on the island, we will call you and discuss the alternatives. 

Where you may select to have different people involved at different times, we will work with each team and co-ordinate the efforts of each.  This will ensure that they are all working productively at all times they are on site.

Want to make a success of your build?
Take advantage of our new offering and book our service now!

Take this opportunity to work with someone who will not judge the reasons you want to make your move, who will not guide you down a specific path, who will motivate you to make the right decision!  You have this opportunity to work with a qualified and accredited coach who has done it!  Sign up to coaching with Barbara on http://nyasa.coachinginteractive.com - select 'click here for a free session - My Life'

Find Barbara's biog on http://www.internationalcoachinginstitute.org/coach_referral_service/display_detail.php?trf=91

Phase 2 finished? Phase 3 started/finished?

As I was checking the building work on my last day of my June, 2009 visit I realised that there was no hot water fitted.  What happened?

I went back through the paperwork and one of the things that became very clear was that in the original paperwork we had requested hot/cold water systems, but had not expressed exactly what we meant - TRANSLATIONS!  More and more I was beginning to appreciate the importance of working with the building team on a day-2-day basis; and that the decision I took in June, 2009 not to do any further development until we were living there was the right decision.

So phase 3 became the hot water system, storage for gas cyclinders, and confirmation of where the electricity meter should be placed.  Although the electricity meter had been discussed many times, legislation had changed and we needed to make further decisions.

Returning in September, 2009 was interesting.  A friend joined me for the first I was there - a week that should have been relaxing, recouperating, and fun - at times was just that; but at other times was challenging.  Business challenges in the UK struck with no warning - it just provided how important it is to be absolutely clear about where you are with your own technology.  Thankfully I had set up my technology to the extent when a client bounced a cheque, I was notified by a text message/SMS to my mobile.  Although this was challenging, we were able to deal with it over a couple of hours.  So many things to be aware of before you make the move ...

Back to the house ... this trip was 'exciting' - as this was the first time that I had not received photographs between my visits.  So we went to the house the day after we landed with no idea of how much or how little work had been done.

Phase 3 - much easier to see from the outside of the house.  Download 03-01_2009-09_hot water and electricity meter  The original storage area on the car terrace had been extended to fit the geyser.  The reason for gas hot water and not electric, is that our plan is to go solar power and heating when we start the next development.  A new storage area has been added for the gas cylinders.  On our initial viewing we were very concerned that this new storage area had been put in the wrong place (again another challenge highlighting the decisions that need to be taken when you are not around to help make them).  A couple of days later we were able to understand the reason for the positioning, but then raised the concern about getting two cars parked on the car terrace.  Our architect said that he was 97% sure that this would still work; but when I left I had not been able to test the driving way and car terrace with one car - let alone two!

So where had we gone wrong with this whole design.  We have never developed a property before and were advised to work with a great team.  I identified very quickly in this trip that what was missing from this team was a Project Manager and a Client Manager.  This just confirmed my decision about no further development until we are living there!

Want to make a success of your goals?

Take this opportunity to work with someone who will not judge the reasons you want to make your move, who will not guide you down a specific path, who will motivate you to make the right decision!  You have this opportunity to work with a qualified and accredited coach who has done it!  Sign up to coaching with Barbara on http://nyasa.coachinginteractive.com - select 'click here for a free session - My Life'

Find Barbara's biog on http://www.internationalcoachinginstitute.org/coach_referral_service/display_detail.php?trf=91

Final review of phase 1 and start of phase 2!

It isn't the easiest thing in the world, re-building (or even building) a property abroad.  You are completely reliant on the photographs that you receive along with the very occassional report.  So my trip bback to Madeira in June was a trip of real highs and real lows.  I had planned my trip thinking that phase 1 would be complete and that phase 2 would be started and nearly finished (more on phase 2 later).

Although the builder and architect that we are working with are very conscientious my expectations were that phase 1 would be completed and that phase 2 would be nearly complete.  It may sound very strange, but I was hoping to 'take ownership' of the property during this trip.  One of the things that I was aware of was that we had never been on the property on our own, so having that time and space was something that I was looking forward to.  I was hoping to put the first coat of paint on the storage room.

When I arrived at the property it was a real low moment.  It looked as though nothing had happened.  It wasn't completely true but that's just how it appeared.

Phase 1 - was nearly complete as I expected.  See a few of the final phase 1 pictures -  Download 01-04_2009-06_bedroom, bathroom, storage room, car terrace, lavada.

Phase 2 was putting the ceiling boards into the storage room and bathroom, fitting the overhead lights, tiling the bathroom completely, and fitting all the bathroom fittings.  Phase 2 - wasn't really started and my expectation was that it would nearly be complete.  When I walked into the bathrrom and saw that two walls had been build (one was wrong) and nothing else - it was a really low moment.  After a few minutes of reflection I realised that actually we were lucky - this just proved the standards of the building team that we were working with.  They were unsure of a number of elements, so had stopped working until I arrived back in Madeira.  This allowed me to organise for the wall that was wrong to be corrected before the work could continue.  Download 02-01_2009-06_fitting of the bathroom and storage room.

As I was on my own on this trip, I was able to spend a lot of time reflecting.  I found a fabulous place between two villages (on a path along the shore line) to learn my Portuguese (yes I started my lessons during this trip) and just reflect.  During this time I realised how lucky we were ... we were working with a unque team of builders - they really wanted to do what we wanted even if it meant the whole project took longer.  So from a real low when I first saw the house to a real high, when I realised that although we were not in the country during this phase of building - we were getting the quality of building you could only dream of.

Want to make a success of your goals?

Take this opportunity to work with someone who will not judge the reasons you want to make your move, who will not guide you down a specific path, who will motivate you to make the right decision!  You have this opportunity to work with a qualified and accredited coach who has done it!  Sign up to coaching with Barbara on http://nyasa.coachinginteractive.com - select here for a free session - My Life'

Find Barbara's biog on http://www.internationalcoachinginstitute.org/coach_referral_service/display_detail.php?trf=91

Summary of Phase 1 development!

As we were leaving Madeira after a quick 10-day visit to return to the UK, we returned to the property to take the last few photographs of the progress to date.

This really shows that when you take the advice of your local contacts, how you can select to work with the most fantastic team.  Not only did we see incredible progress on our arrival, we were making decisions and seeing them implemented within hours or days - wow!

We were leaving the island knowing that the progress on the house was going the right way.  This showed that later in 2009 we would be able to stay in the house.  Our plans were moving forward!

A summary of progress todate can be found by Download 01-03_2009-04_bedroom, bathroom, storage room, car terrace, lavada document to see the summary.

Want to make a success of your plans to change your environment?
Want to make a success of your emigration?
Want to make a success of your repatriation?

Take this opportunity to work with someone who will not judge the reasons you want to make your move, who will not guide you down a specific path, who will motivate you to make the right decision!  You have this opportunity to work with a qualified and accredited coach who has done it!  Sign up to coaching with Barbara on http://nyasa.coachinginteractive.com - select 'click here for a free session - My Life'

. Find Barbara's biog on http://www.internationalcoachinginstitute.org/coach_referral_service/display_detail.php?trf=91

Progress with Phase 1 after our first visit!

Work on the rebuilding in Phase 1 - bedroom, bathroom, storage room, car terrace, water storage/store area, levada (around this phase) - started on the 17th March, 2009.  

We arrived on the 15th April, 2009 and although we had been seeing photographs, we didn't fully appreciate how much work had been done in such a short period of time.  At this time we were so appreciative of the advice and recommendation we were given to the team of builders we were now working with.  

This photograph was just one of the ones that I took that confirmed the decision we had taken with the design of phase 1 was right - imagine waking up to this view everyday!  I know that after a period of time we'll stop seeing it, but the opportunity to sit on the terrace that will be in front of the bedroom will give us the chance of quiet relaxing evenings in this evironment!

You too have the opportunity to living where you choose to live.  With the internet and virtual office facilities that are available to each one of us, gives you the same opportunity I have.

To see the changes we saw when we arrived, Download 01-02_2009-04_bedroom, bathroom, storage room, car terrace, lavada document to follow the progress. 

Want to make a success of your plans to change your environment?
Want to make a success of your emigration?
Want to make a success of your repatriation?

Take this opportunity to work with someone who will not judge the reasons you want to make your move, who will not guide you down a specific path, who will motivate you to make the right decision!  You have this opportunity to work with a qualified and accredited coach who has done it!  Sign up to coaching with Barbara on http://nyasa.coachinginteractive.com - select 'click here for a free session - My Life'

. Find Barbara's biog on http://www.internationalcoachinginstitute.org/coach_referral_service/display_detail.php?trf=91

Progress with Phase 1!

Paperwork, red tape, bureaucracy ... it's unbelieveable how much paperwork the Financial Services industry in the UK can create!  It's not surprising the fees are so high - computers, paper, staff!  Reems of paper later we had freed up the finance to be able to start!  Our frustration here was that we had started this process to allow us to start the re-build in January, 2009 ... then it was February, 2009 ... then into March, 2009 ... finally we started on the 17th March, 2009! 

Managing a build from another country is not easy!  There they were starting to rebuild and we couldn't see it.

It really doesn't matter how fabulous the building firm is that you are working with, not being there is frustrating.  I was very lucky - a friend and our architect were sending photographs, but it is not the same as standing there when they start.

There we were watching from the sidelines ... taking phone calls ... making decisions!  All this time being based back in the UK.  The only advantage we had was that knew we were flying back on the 15th April, 2009.

We followed this phase with interest through photographs - Download 01-01_2009-03 & 04_bedroom, bathroom, storage room, car terrace, lavada document to follow the progress.

We were due to arrive back in Madeira soon ...   

Want to make a success of your plans to change your environment?
Want to make a success of your emigration?
Want to make a success of your repatriation?

Take this opportunity to work with someone who will not judge the reasons you want to make your move, who will not guide you down a specific path, who will motivate you to make the right decision!  You have this opportunity to work with a qualified and accredited coach who has done it!  Sign up to coaching with Barbara on http://nyasa.coachinginteractive.com - select 'click here for a free session - My Life'

. Find Barbara's biog on http://www.internationalcoachinginstitute.org/coach_referral_service/display_detail.php?trf=91

Progress - Phase 1 starts!

After many months of working through and wading through paperwork - we started the rebuild of phase 1 - Bedroom, Bathroom, Storage room, Car Terrace; with all elements of requirements in this phase.

It's a strange position to be in ... knowing that this phase is the start to our own rebuild - our dreams, our aspirations, our goals, are now starting to take shape.  It's at this point you suddenly wonder if what you've planned will work.

We were recommended an architect and builder and met with them in December, 2008.  We pulled all our plans together, had them printed at the hotel, and went off to the property to meet them.  It was an interesting experience - a friend had recommended this firm.  He was with us as we met them - the architect spoke fabulous English (makes you realise how much you will rely on friends until our own Portuguese is at that level), but the builder only speaks Portuguese.  Fabulous meeting - they were open to all our ideas and asked many questions.  After this meeting we left them to work through the plans, the design and let us know the feasibility and of course, the quote. 

We were then presented with a full specification and quote in Portuguese!  Thankfully Google translator was available.  We worked our way through the quote and then went to meet with them.  We have been lucky with the friends we have made - he was with us in this meeting.  We talked through the quote and agreed with what had to be done.

We left this meeting feeling as we were really on track!

Want to make a success of your plans to change your environment?
Want to make a success of your emigration?
Want to make a success of your repatriation?

Take this opportunity to work with someone who will not judge the reasons you want to make your move, who will not guide you down a specific path, who will motivate you to make the right decision!  You have this opportunity to work with a qualified and accredited coach who has done it! 

Sign up to coaching with Barbara on http://nyasa.coachinginteractive.com - select 'click here for a free session - My Life'. 

Find Barbara's biog on http://www.internationalcoachinginstitute.org/coach_referral_service/display_detail.php?trf=91

Financing phase 1 rebuild!

Something to really focus your mind.  We knew how we would finance the rebuild of phase 1, but we didn’t fully appreciate the challenges and timeframes that this would take.

 

Working through the bureaucracy of the financial services took up a vast amount of time, paper, and money to release the finances we needed to start the rebuild.  Without the support of a colleague who fully understands the financial industry in the UK, we would have taken a lot longer.

 

We reflected back on the process so far.  In all things relating to buying the property in Madeira – residency, tax references, legal representation, notary requirements, opening bank accounts – it had all seemed so simple.  We recognised in our reflections the support and guidance we had received from Madeira Property Centre – it was fantastic.  We cannot recommend them highly enough, especially when you start to talk to others on the island and understand their experiences.  We were just very lucky in our choice of organisation to purchase through.  The challenges we have experienced to do with the purchasing and not to do with the rebuilding of the house were all based in the UK and the restrictions imposed on the financial industry.  At times I felt as though this industry was supporting the paper industry on it’s own.  The volumes of paperwork we’ve gone through – the time this has taken for us to read it and understand it (not that we really understood it at all), the background processing involved – it’s a huge paper and bureaucratic driven industry.

 

Eventually we were able to negotiate exchange rates and send the money over to Madeira to start the phase 1 rebuild!  Again we’ve been extremely lucky to be able to work with Tom Trevorrow (for all your foreign exchange dealings just email him on tom.trevorrow@torfx.com) – Tom and Tor FX have made the process of exchange rates and conversions so straight forward and easy to do.   

 

Our learning from this is to really make sure that you’ve got your finances in place before you find the property to buy.  We know that we were incredibly lucky to find the exact property that we wanted to purchase on our first trip, but it has left us finalising our finances after the event rather than being clear about where we are with them in advance.

Want to make a success of your plans to change your environment? 
Want to make a success of your emigration? 
Want to make a success of your repatriation?

Take this opportunity to work with someone who will not judge the reasons you want to make your move, who will not guide you down a specific path, who will motivate you to make the right decision!  You have this opportunity to work with a qualified and accredited coach who has done it!  Sign up to coaching with Barbara on http://nyasa.coachinginteractive.com - select 'click here for a free session - My Life'

Find Barbara's biog on http://www.internationalcoachinginstitute.org/coach_referral_service/display_detail.php?trf=91

Madeira - Porto Moniz!

It is believed that the name 'Porto Moniz' is related to that of Francisco Moniz who was married to one of the grand daughters of Gonçalves Zarco, the discoverer of the island. 

Porto Moniz is in the most north-western point of the island.

One of the attractions of Porto Moniz is its beautiful natural salt-water swimming pools.  These pools are filled by the tide with crysal clear salt-water and are surrounded by lava rocks.  They are a favourite bathing venue for the locals and the tourists.  An experience to try.

Porto Moniz's main source of industry are agriculture and fishing with a small number of tourist type businesses the downtown area.  At one end of the promenade is a Aquarium (the 'Living Science Centre' or 'Centro de Ciência Viva').  The promenade connects the two natural salt-water swimming pools, with seating areas, coffee bars, snack bars, restuarants, and view points.  Our restuarant of choice here is 'Orca' - fabulous menu, great views and a superb atmosphere.

Getting to Porto Moniz could be an interesting experience - it features a helipad.  Other routes include driving along the north coast road via Santana from Funchal; or coming up the rift in the middle of island from Ribeira Brava; or driving around the island past Ponto do Pargo.  You could also select to leave Porto Moniz and drive up to Paúl da Serra - a 1,600m high plateau!  The rocks and seas at Porto Moniz are incredible, but the views from Paúl da Serra are spectacular!

Want to make a success of your plans to move?  Want to work with someone who will not judge the reasons you want to make your move, who will not guide you down a specific path?  You have this opportunity to work with a qualified and accredited coach who has done it!

Just email Barbara on barbara.dalpra@nyasa.co.uk!

Find Barbara's biog on http://www.internationalcoachinginstitute.org/coach_referral_service/display_detail.php?trf=91

Phase 1 - the start!

Now that we were able to actually see the property we had bought, it was our opportunity to work out how to start the refurbishment.   How were we going to start this?

We were given a lot of advice and guidance on how to work with the local specialists and builders; and we made the decision to take this advice.  The first step was for us to work through our design.

We decided that we needed to start with our plans for the first half of the house and not try and design it all.  So we looked at what we actually needed to be able to stay in the house.  We decided that the first area of rebuild had to be the bedroom and bathroom.  OK, so why no kitchen?  Well in the climate that is there, a small fridge and a preparation area would be all we need with fresh vegetables and cold meats.  So we looked at the house and finalised our thoughts and made the decision that the single story part of the house becomes the bedroom, bathroom, storage room and car terrace.  Once we had made this decision we felt on top of the world. 

Now we had to sit down with our plans and really decide what we were looking for in this space.  After 10 design ideas, all drawn out using Microsoft Excel, we came up with our agreed plans.  December, 2008 saw us discussing these in detail with a recommended building company.  We gave them a copy of the plans and walked them through our ideas.  We then met up with them a week later and discussed the details of the quote.  One of the things we had become aware of was the lack of storage space in these houses - no lofts!  So adding a storage space to our design became very important.

As part of this process we also looked at and pulled an outline together of our design for the two story part of the house.  Building regulations allowed us to put a third level on this structure; and we included this in our design. 

In our exploration of the property in a lot more detail we found a hidden treasure - we found a wine press with only one piece missing.  We ensured that this building was locked up safely before we came back to the UK.

On our return to the UK, we then had to look at funding the first phase.

Want to make a success of your plans to move?  Want to work with someone who will not judge the reasons you want to make your move, who will not guide you down a specific path?  You have this opportunity to work with a qualified and accredited coach who has done it!

Just email Barbara on barbara.dalpra@nyasa.co.uk!

Find Barbara's biog on http://www.internationalcoachinginstitute.org/coach_referral_service/display_detail.php?trf=91

Madeira - Paúl do Mar

 

Until the late 1960's, Paúl do Mar was a fishing village that you could only access by boat.  For the next 30 or so years,the only way down to the village was driving carefully down a slow and dangerous road - an interesting way in/out of anywhere, as the funnels on this road were created by hand.  These show the challeneen bges of accessing all areas of Madeira.  More recently an easier road has built to allow you to explore this wonderful village!

Wending your way down the cliff face throught the twists, turns and hairpin bends of either road, takes you through a number of tunnels (hand carved or machine made) until you come out into the village. 

Paúl do Mar is one of the most important fishing villages of the archipelago of Madeira.  The ocean in this part of the world, provides this village with an incredibly rich variety of fish, to such an extent that Paúl do Mar is frequently referenced in the gastromic world.

Coming down the 'new' road (from the Funchal, Calheta side of the village) brings you out to the option of turning left to drive down to the harbour.  Arriving at the right time of the morning or evening allows you to see the fisherman leaving to go fishing, or arriving back with their catches!

Continuing along the higher road allows you to turn left to the road which runs along the sea-front.  This road runs you along the front of the village, where you can select to stop and have a coffee or meal at Lago Mar!  Sit in the sun and watch the waves role in as village life continues around you.

Further down this road you'll find the Paúl do Mar Apartment Hotel.  Here you can sit on a terrace above the road, have a coffee or a meal and watch the sea roll in.

It is true to say that providing roads to allow you to visit Paúl do Mar has not changed the romantic aspect of this village.  Whereever you select to go in Paúl do Mar you are sure to find authenticity, peace, and tranquility. 

On the upper road in Paúl do Mar you come across a gem of a B&B called Aquela Banda!  Staying here allows you to experience life in the village first-hand.  You cannot ask for a more perfect place to stay!  Rooms are roomy, very comfortable, and extremely clean.  Breakfast is the freshest continential breakfast served with a relaxed and professional service!  Spent the evening sitting on your balcony, listening to the waves, watching life in the village, with a glass of wine! 

Vila Amore (next door to Aquela Banda) offers you the opportunity to experience the most perfect coffee and cakes!  The banking is done on the premises using the freshest of ingredients.  Sit outside on the verandah/patio, overlooking the sea and experiencing the comings and goings of village life.  Next door to this most wonderful coffee shop is a small supermarket.

Looking for property on Madeira, spend some time over a coffee with Martinho Silva of Madeira Property Centre discussing your property requirements. 

Paúl do Mar is found on the West-South-West coast of Madeira, just below the village of Prazares found on the top of the cliff, in the region of Calheta (Calheta includes eight parishes spread over a total area of 116 square kilometres.)  For the visitor Paúl do Mar offers relaxation, walks along the levada's, the sea, surfing, body boarding, snorkling, and diving!  The sea is never too cold and the under-water geology makes experiencing the water-activities a very special place to be.  Many professional surfers in Europe consider Paúl do Mar one of the top European surfing spots.

When you leave Paúl do Mar and slowly climb the cliff to the main road, using either road, you leave behind you a paradise that you will never forget.

Want to make a success of your plans to move?  Want to work with someone who will not judge the reasons you want to make your move, who will not guide you down a specific path?  You have this opportunity to work with a qualified and accredited coach who has done it!

Just email Barbara on barbara.dalpra@nyasa.co.uk!

Find Barbara's biog on http://www.europeancoachinginstitute.org/coach_referral_service/display_detail.php?trf=91

Phase 0 - clearing!

As part of the work we organised after we bought the property was to have the foliage at the front of the house completely cleared.   

Although we had a clear picture in our minds of what we had bought, all the photographs that we had taken couldn't show the actual house due to the vast amount of foliage surrounded the house.

As part of the demolishing of the bathroom/toilet block, we also organised for the foliage in front of the house to be cleared.  One of the interesting challenges we had, which we had not appreciated, was that all the properties we saw - we took the photographs.  So if you didn't take that one photograph, you didn't have that 'aide memoire' once you are not at the property.

As we were planning how to refurbish the property, we were using our photographs as our reminders of what we had bought - not being able to see it, make this task a little harder!

Our trip back in December, 2008 was a fabulous surprise.  We suddenly realised how big the property was.  Being able to take more photographs of the actual house made our planning thoughts and discussions a lot easier.

Download Foliage to see the details of the change.

Want to make a success of your plans to move?  Want to work with someone who will not judge the reasons you want to make your move, who will not guide you down a specific path?  You have this opportunity to work with a qualified and accredited coach who has done it!

Just email Barbara on barbara.dalpra@nyasa.co.uk!

Find Barbara's biog on http://www.europeancoachinginstitute.org/coach_referral_service/display_detail.php?trf=91

Phase 0 - demolition!

As an add-on to an old property a toilet/shower block had been added to the front of the single story building. 

To allow us to really see what we had purchased we organised, in the period between our purchase of this property and the next visit in December, 2008, to have a lot of foliage removed and this block demolished. 

Originally we had thought just to have the foliage removed, but as the equipment required to demolish the foliage would also be used to demolish the toilet/shower block for the phase 1 of refurbishment, it seemed sensible to organise for this to be demolished at the same time.     

Too see all the photographs of this phase of development, select this document. Download Toilet-Shower Block  

Want to make a success of your plans to move?  Want to work with someone who will not judge the reasons you want to make your move, who will not guide you down a specific path?  You have this opportunity to work with a qualified and accredited coach who has done it!

Just email Barbara on barbara.dalpra@nyasa.co.uk!

Find Barbara's biog on http://www.europeancoachinginstitute.org/coach_referral_service/display_detail.php?trf=91

Phase 0 - building the driveway!

We arrived back in Madeira in December, 2008!  In our absence we since purchasing this property we had organised for a range of work to be done ... the first was the building of the driveway.  Part of our purchasing negotiations was that, to allow us to part our cars off the road, we needed a driveway.  This was to be built by the previous owners on completion of the purchase.

This property ticked all of our boxes, but one of the challenges we saw with this property was the vehicle access into the property.  We had decided to take both our cars with us, and on first appearance the only place to park these was on the road - a narrow road!  As part of the original discussions, the previous owners had offered us a space on the left hand side of this pathway as car parking.  Our only concern was that this would provide no space for visitors, or could be used by the people who purchased the property next to this space (which is also up for sale).

All pictures demonstrating the driveway before we started any work on the property and a couple showing the driveway after the work was completed are found in this document. Download Driveway   

Want to make a success of your plans to move?  Want to work with someone who will not judge the reasons you want to make your move, who will not guide you down a specific path?  You have this opportunity to work with a qualified and accredited coach who has done it!

Just email Barbara on barbara.dalpra@nyasa.co.uk!

Find Barbara's biog on http://www.europeancoachinginstitute.org/coach_referral_service/display_detail.php?trf=91

Purchase day arrives!

The legislation in Portugal is such that from exchange you much complete within 90-days from exchange date.  If you select not to complete or are unable to complete you forfeit your deposit, but if the seller/vendor decides not to see you gain twice the value of the deposit.

So to be complete on our purchase we returned to Madeira early September.  This date was driven both by our holiday commitments at the end of the September and our requirement to complete within 90-days from exchange.  As always we flew easyJet, left Gatwick at 7am and arrived later in the morning.  Martinho was at the airport to collect us and dropped us off at our apartment for the long week-end. 

After a couple of hours we went out to the property, wandered around and just reminded ourselves why we had made the decision to buy this particular property, in this particular location, on this particular island.  After a 4am start, we had an early dinner, watched the sun set and went to bed.

The next day was the start of an interesting process.  We worked our way through the paperwork that we had, to ensure that we had everything we needed to take into the Notary Office.  We spent the day with the paperwork, wandering around in the sun, reflecting on our decision, making notes on our thoughts of our move.

Monday dawned bright and cheerful.  The full day that we had planned was changed, and some of the running around that we needed to do was reduced.  We left Paul do Mar and drove into Funchal to complete the buying process.  We met at the Notary's Department and at our appointment time went into the Notary's Office where the contract was translated and read out to us in English.  Once this was completed the contract was read out in Portuguese.  Although the whole process was conducted in Portuguese, Martinho (Madeira Property Centre)  kept us informed of each step of the process as it progressed through. 

Once all the contracts had been signed and the bills paid, we left Funchal for Ponto do Pargo and the bank.  Here we collected the cheque and handed it to the previous owners. 

Celebrations! 

After many years of dreams, discussions, research, investigations, paperwork, highs and lows, we now owned our own property in a country, environment, and area in which we know we will happily live!

Want to make a success of your plans to move?  Want to work with someone who will not judge the reasons you want to make your move, who will not guide you down a specific path?  You have this opportunity to work with a qualified and accredited coach who has done it!

Just email Barbara on barbara.dalpra@nyasa.co.uk!

Find Barbara's biog on http://www.europeancoachinginstitute.org/coach_referral_service/display_detail.php?trf=91

Bureaucracy!

The next couple of months were time consuming, stressful, worrying, and exhilarating!  Meetings, envelopes full of paper, forms to sign, bureaucratic  language, paperwork ... all kept us very busy while time was marching onwards.

As we had not expected to find the property of our dreams on the first trip to Madeira (or maybe not expected to want to live there) we felt unprepared to actually progress our dreams, our plans, and buy this property.

Some days we nearly gave up!  When dealing with the Financial Investment industry in the UK, we found that the paper trail, the expectation that the client talks the same language, the volumes of information that we could not understand, the frustrations at delays through no obvious reason, all brought up the feelings of stress and worry! 

At all times, we kept positive - the photographs were available for us to look at, the typography we had ordered and paid for, the exchange contract - these were available at all times to remind us of our decision!  The benefits that we were looking for, and the constant communication from Martinho, meant that we weathered this process.

In hindsite (always a wonderful thing) we would have been more prepared if we had gone to Madeira with our finances sorted and in a position that we were ready to purchase a property.  The reason we didn't - we had done so much research over such a long period of time, that at times we believed that we would never find the environment or property that we would want to buy.

Want to make a success of your plans to move?  Want to work with someone who will not judge the reasons you want to make your move, who will not guide you down a specific path?  You have this opportunity to work with a qualified and accredited coach who has done it!

Just email Barbara on barbara.dalpra@nyasa.co.uk!

Find Barbara's biog on http://www.europeancoachinginstitute.org/coach_referral_service/display_detail.php?trf=91

Exchange of Contracts ...

The end of June saw Barbara returning to Madeira to exchange on the purchase of the property at Ribeira da Vaca.  I travelled on my own and was met at the airport by Martinho.  It was during this trip that we truly realised how lucky we were in our selection to work with Martinho (Madeira Property Centre).  He collected me at the airport, had found me accommodation in Paul do Mar, ran me around to all the appointments he had organised for me:

• residence papers for both of us
• tax registration for myself
• opened a local bank account
• exchanged contracts to purchase the property, with contracts in both Portuguese and English.

We are on our way to owing the property we have dreamed of owning for the last 5 years!  I flew to Madeira for a long week-end, and it was a week-end of highs and lows - being on my own made the experience un-nerving; but moving through the process with the help and support of Martinho made all the difference. 

Over the same time I was able to re-visit the property to confirm that the decision we had taken in our first trip there was the decision we wanted to take.  Another beautiful day found me wandering around the property and the buildings, finding bits and pieces that we had not seen before.  The most important part of this trip was to really confirm that this was the property we wanted to buy before I signed the contracts (in both English and Portuguese) and paid the deposit.  We had a long conversation before the appointment with the couple selling, the solicitor, and myself.  Martinho was a fabulous support, explaining each moment of the process as it occurred.  I found this a huge benefit.

What a simple way to work through a process made more complicated by the fact that I still didn't speak the local language. 

I flew back to the UK, arriving at London Gatwick at midnight, on a high! 

Want to make a success of your plans to move?  Want to work with someone who will not judge the reasons you want to make your move, who will not guide you down a specific path?  You have this opportunity to work with a qualified and accredited coach who has done it!

Just email Barbara on barbara.dalpra@nyasa.co.uk!

Find Barbara's biog on http://www.europeancoachinginstitute.org/coach_referral_service/display_detail.php?trf=91

Back in the UK and decision time!

Having spent many hours investigating a new environment, on our return to the UK we knew that we had found the place we wanted to move to.

So in June 2008 we spent time with our Financial Advisors, reviewed our financial position and made a decision that we would buy the property in Ribeira da Vaca.  We had the deposit in our bank account but had to be absolutely sure that we would be able to release the balance within the required timeframe.  One of the things we knew was that from the exchange contract date we had 90-days to complete.  If we were unable to complete the couple selling this property would have been able to retain the deposit.  On the other hand, if they withdrew from the sale, we would be paid double the value of the deposit.

We negotiated for the purchase and arrived at an agreement with the couple selling.  This negotiation was done through our agent - Martinho of Madeira Property Centre - and took a week or so to complete.

As was expected, this period for us was unsettling - after 5 years we had suddenly found somewhere that we wanted to move to.  Through the research we had done in all the countries we had believed we could live, very quickly we had made a decision.  Some told us that we should visit several times before we made a decision, but we went ahead.

Want to make a success of your plans to move?  Want to work with someone who will not judge the reasons you want to make your move, who will not guide you down a specific path?  You have this opportunity to work with a qualified and accredited coach who has done it!

Just email Barbara on barbara.dalpra@nyasa.co.uk!

Find Barbara's biog on http://www.europeancoachinginstitute.org/coach_referral_service/display_detail.php?trf=91