Living in the sun

[scarlet]

what Whats barkis

[concorde]

Obviously I need to get a life, I'd heard that phrase before somewhere and googled it.
this came from 'The Hindu'
They do ask some funny questions in India!


What is the meaning and origin of "Barkis is willing"?


(L. Sundaraiya, Arakkonam)

The expression first appeared in Charles *beep*' well-known classic "David Copperfield". Barkis is the name of one the characters in the novel. He keeps sending a message through David to Clara Peggotty, the maid of David's mother. The message that David is to give Clara is "Barkis is willing". In other words, Barkis is willing to marry Clara. The expression is used nowadays to indicate one's willingness or readiness to do something.




S. UPENDRAN

[concorde]

Please don't ask who Charles Beep is

[Campo Kenny]

Ahhh, it must be Charles kn0bbins

[swerve]

concorde you can download the episodes you have missed on bbc iplayer but only if you are in the uk at the time.

[concorde]

Thanks Swerve, but I don't want to admit to being that sad.

We usually take bets on who will buy/not buy. I also like shouting at the telly. I know that the programme makers edit these probably for that very reason. However, it doesn't do my blood pressure much good at 10a.m.

I really need to get out more

[patricia]

I am finding it very entertaining actually I am full of admiration for some of those people who are gambling with their money, at least they have got some "get-up-and go" and more than a few have been successful with their chosen enterprise. I just wish the program was at a more suitable time of the day.

Also it makes interesting viewing from my point of view because I am looking to relocate in land and I can see from the luxury of my arm chair what some of the villages and surrounding countryside is like where they are looking.

[katy]

Do you really know if they have been successful though? Have only seen one this week but I know most of the projects shown previously aren't around anymore.

[katie]

I tape it cos I am at work whilst it is on I enjoy it, The only Spain I holiday is CDS but I enjoy seeing the places inland and thinking once I master driving in Spain I could live inland

[patricia]

The water sports business appeared to be thriving and they were in their second year and expanding, the diving club seemed to be going well, also the yachting people were in their 3rd or 4th year. The two young woman who set up a business furnishing new villas and apartments were rushed off their feet. Not all of these people were from the Marbella area, some where on the Costa Blanca and the woman who opened up the second hand shop, cafe etc, I cant see that type of person with such bags of energy and enthusiasm failing. She looked like she would get up dust herself down and he off again, and good luck to them is all I can say. Obviously some will fall by the wayside, like the snail farm for example, but people who do their homework will be successful, there are lots of successful ex-pats operating business all over Spain, I don't see why just because they appear on Living in the Sun they should be unsuccessful and all deemed to be a bunch of wallies.

[ICCSL]

I don't see why just because they appear on Living in the Sun they should be unsuccessful and all deemed to be a bunch of wallies.

The woman with the cafe/second hand shop etc has benefited by being on Living in the Sun. However she has now started a property shop with no qualifications or experience of estate agency other than the purchase of her own house. I wonder what trouble she will get into with that? As far as being deemed a bunch of wallies, the first programme Living in the Sun made about her had Steptoe and Son music playing behind it and it was clear that the programme makers where taking the p**s. People living locally to the shop say that her language is atrocious and she is not as successful as the programme makers would have us believe. Whether she is or not is irrelevant - Living in the Sun does not present the full facts about starting a business in Spain. The programmes tend to paint a picture of everything being so easy to do whereas in reality it is very hard to get licenses for anything in Spain and takes a very long time to achieve. When the Baza woman opened her shop she had no license at all. I presume she has one for the cafe now but it takes just one denuncia in Spain and she could be closed down if she does not have relevant licenses for all that she is doing.

[scarlet]

You dont always need an opening licence before you open, as long as you have applied for one, I have always opened businesses before being granted a license. Being a real estate agent is not a hard job to do, if you know the area and the way it works, anyone can do, hardly brain of britain stuff. I prefer more of a challenge personally.
The lady you are talking about is a tough cookie and would not give in easy, It seems to be the favourite British pastime, knocking people who start businesses. if I had a penny for every -oh she wont last- or other negative comments I would be rich. If you live in that area, dont knock her, support her. sometimes this negativity can come across as jealousy, all I can say is what do you do thats so interesting , probably nothing.

[patricia]

The woman with the cafe/second hand shop etc has benefited by being on Living in the Sun. However she has now started a property shop with no qualifications or experience of estate agency other than the purchase of her own house.

Of course people benefit by being on Living in the Sun, otherwise what is the point of being on it and as for the lady who opened up a cafe and who has now opened up an estate agency without any experience she surely is only one of many in that respect.

[ICCSL]

I don't see why just because they appear on Living in the Sun they should be unsuccessful and all deemed to be a bunch of wallies.

It was because of the comment above that I pointed out that the woman in Baza had been successful - "because she had appeared on living in the sun".

What I dislike is all those people who have set up so many businesses with no intention of contributing to the system at all. The reason - because it costs me a fortune to run mine. If it is someone's opinion that a business will fail I don't think it matters whether they are British or Spanish, they are entitled to that opinion. I remember when I moved my business from Torrevieja to where I am now that everyone I knew told me I must be mad. Eight years later I am still here but I think having lived as long as I have in Spain, with the experience of two businesses, it isn't hard to recognise those who will succeed and those who won't.

And it is those people who believe that estate agents don't need experience, brains, knowledge or qualifications that usually get ripped off in Spain. Shall I give you a test on inland property law Scarlet and we'll find out if whether you need to have a brain or not? If the agents, who sold all the new houses that are deemed to be illegal, had known anything about property law perhaps there would be less people in possession of them.

[scarlet]

ICCSL . you know as well as I do agents will sell any house to anybody that wants to buy it, wether they know the law or not, after the sale is agreed legalities are then out of the agents hand, you do not have to know the law when selling property, the chances of it coming back on you is unusual.
You can test me all you like on the laws in the campo,I think I have had ample experience in campo laws or lack of them. from my experience of local agents and on the coast, most dont know very much, dont bother to promote their propertys, and the ones I know think they just have to sit on their a,,,,, and just wait for buyers to walk through the door, and then get paid 5 per cent for driving a few people around, not so easy now, I shall be selling my houses privately everywhere I can think of. I have even had to explain the laws to agents . my daughter worked for real estate on the coast,
and attended a sales talk, she was told, buyers are liars, sellers are benders.
nice....

[ICCSL]

Well that will be where you are wrong Scarlet. REAL agents do know about the law and shortly new laws will be passed to make agents responsible for what they sell.

It would be an absolutely fabulous world if we could always sell our own houses, mend out own washing machines, fix our own computers etc etc and then we probably wouldn't have to pay anything to anybody. In fact perhaps we could extend that to physically building our own houses, manufacturing our own washing machines, computers and televisions and then we wouldn't need anybody at all would we?

As I have said many times before the type of people who have been walking through my door over the last couple of years has changed considerably. I was so annoyed on one occasion that I told the client if we had a house on our books he wanted to buy, I wouldn't sell it to him. The same goes for the "know it alls" who want to place their properties for sale with my agency. If they are "know it alls" they don't need me and they are told so.

This generalisation that all agents are the same infuriates me because it is not true. No one can generalise about any profession, there are good and bad in all of them.

Anyway, let's get back to a "Place in the Sun" shall we?

[katy]

Saw it today. I thought quad biking was illegal on most country tracks I wondered if the last house they showed the couple would be legal too. Out in the sticks but only 2000m2.

[scarlet]

ICCSL. I did not say they did not all know the law, but I dont think they worry about it if it means a sale. and a lot of them coudnt even read an escitura let alone know whats actually on it and if its legal. any joe soap can open a real estate agents, it used to be a way to earn easy money.

[Cassandra]

That the last house they showed isn't as in the sticks as it looked. It's just on the edge of Bedar pueblo but they did a great job of disguising the not so pretty surroundings, like the half built house next door but one to make it look rural. It still might not be legal though, unless they've had the paperwork sorted very recently. It's been up for sale for about 2 years to my knowledge and about 18mths ago I was told, by a local agent, that they were having problems selling it because the permission was only for a piso!!

[pmb]

Cass - that's the one at 320k I take it. Looked to be a lovely property. There seemed to be properties around it.