please forward details of property so i can see if its for us to book off in march 08.

hi everyone,
1st post on this site ,hope all the people who've bought over there are listening!
i've been going to goa since 1990(back in the days of real.. parties, prices, local charm ect)
in 2003 decided (after much consideration) to buy a old house in colva.back then not too many
dregs/farang had taken the plunge.i had no problems, was on the correct visa ie employment/buisness,
did the req 182 days got 1&14, regisration even no worries.....
so ,been living for 9 months a year there, set up a tourist related buisness, all above board taxes paid ect imagine my when i was refused to re-enter india in dehli.!! no explainations only that i had
bought property in goa.thats it.ive lost everything.this was last september!! been to see many higher
ups at hci and mr keith vaz but nothings happening...recently been told via phone calls to my neighbours that mafia have squatted my house! can only be they think they will have some rights over
it in time ? so now im stuck in uk not knowing how i'll ever get back and save what little will be left of the place.i miss my dogs the most,hate to imagine whats become of them.....
before anyone asks...i am not a criminal (over there or in uk ) i have done nothing other than buy
a old broken house and spend lacs renovating it. all the monies were brought over via proper
banking channels with all the permissions required.....
i have been told i'll not be the last! be very careful if you fancy buying anything in goa .the powers
at the home office ( ie racists) will stop you even going there......
hope you all take this advise and stop wasting time and money on these greedy callous goans.
i refuse to turn into a racist myself...im proud of the uk. we continue to provide homes & futures
for over 1 million asians and over 60,000 goan people!!
dev borum korum
the tit

Anyone planning on buying in Goa, click on this

http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20080044076&ch=3/15/2008%201:03:00%20AM

yes, in the Herald today though it said they will not be able to change this law so easily...and they havent yet,.... but still a very bad situation and I wouldnt advise any british buying here unless they have PIO status as we do, a lot of these people bought in good faith with hard earned money, a lot of them retirement money.. and may lose it all. very sad

That news made me swear.

I think the State government could make this easier by just banning Incoming flights from Russuia.

The local don't like them, the tourists don't like them and they are spoiling the resort region.

I know that is a sweeping statement, but in 30 years of brits visiting the resort, it is only recently that crime and restrictions have increased.

Doesn't take a rocket scientist

Hi,

Although I am new to this site I am not new to Goa having been visiting/living there for the passed 17 years !
Goa has as many of the repeat visitors has, over the passed few years seen some dramatic changes and, unfortunately not all for the better !
This season has been a particulary bad season out there (despite what the tourist board may say) starting with the crazy visa application situation which resulted in a 6 week very slow start for the local economy such as the shacks etc.

Next the Scarlette murder focused the worlds media attention on Goa which again ultimately will have a negative effect.

Recently a prominent MLA (MP) in Goa has suggested confiscating ALL FOREIGN OWNED properties and auctioning them off to Indians ! Again this will have a dramatic effect on the local economy as an average "long termer" spends approx £5000 LOCALLY in the 6 months season that they "live" there, coupled with the fact many "long termers" families go out to visit Goa whilst they are there and again that money is spent LOCALLY !

Next we had the widespread "shack attacks" in front of all to see (including children) again this will have a negative effect.

May I suggest that anyone who feels strongly about the current madness in Goa to make their feelings know the the leading British holiday companies(contacting the Goan tourist board is useless unless you stuff your envelope full of rupees !) as they will have the strength to at least express a major opinion.

The local Goan Herald newspaper today stated the tourist board is worried about the possible drop in tourist numbers and cites infrastructure and the airport needs up grading... they totally miss the point.. the corruption,drug culture,dog dirt on the beach, dogs and general garbage are the basic fundemental things to be sorted out BEFORE the luxury items.

There is a Downing St E-petition asking for the British Gov to intervene of the property issue and as a newby I cannot send the link in full,
but if anyone would like to view and sign its at, http: + //petitions.pm.gov.uk + /Goa-properties/ or it can be accessed via google

If something is not done soon to make Goa help itself it will become just another forgotten tourist destination and the GENUINE Goan people and their economy will radically suffer because of it

Thanks

As a fairly long term visitor to Goa , I understand , agree and sympathise with most things that you say, but what frustates me is that we are totally impotent to make things change.

We , as British tourists cannot influence anything that happens in Goa, and we have just to watch as things get worse. This was a terrible season, we had a bad holiday and I am sure that our Goan freinds had an even worse season.

Some of the comments from Goan leaders about the tourist industry and ourselves( the British) are outrageous
but what do we do??

I cannot agree with the comments on Foreign owned properties as there have been enough warnings on this and other sites about the dangers of buying property in India.

So we write to the tour companies, hopeless they are not interested , they just want your money, ever tried complaining??, the High Commision in London, after the visa debacle I am waiting for their next move to discourage the tourist for 2008/9. The Goan Government, sorry I haven't got enough ruppees to impress them.

So what can we do , NOTHING, I may sound defeatist, so I am looking for some help but I don't see the Lone Ranger and Tonto riding over the hill........

For me I cannot see any appetite from the Goan government to want to change. Corruption and bribery are rampant and tourists are simply used as scapegoats to hide from the real truth. You tell me whether you can really trust a Goan politician, a builder, an advocate or a police person!

Well there's your answer.

Hi Rokerender,

Yes you are right with the frustrations and idiocy of Goa ( is that why we love it ?)but we cannot and must not accept defeat !
With regards to Fns owning property the corrupt builders and advocates set up the agreements of sale to the "innocent" tourist in the first place and they must be held accountable by whatever means available.

What are we going to do just abandon all to their fate and forget all about them? or at least make a stand, after all there are an estimated 50-60000 Goans living,working and own property in the UK, so why not (under strict guidelines and taxation)allow Fns to own there ? The petition, http: + //petitions.pm.gov.uk/ + Goa-properties/ has attracted 137 signatures in less than 3 weeks so there are some believers calling for change out there.

Ps Will you sign ?

Look what happened when Mahatma Gandhi went walkabout in India !!

http://www.navhindtimes.com/articles.php?Story_ID=051320

Goodbye Goa: From UK to Goa and Back

Sorry to post this link to a rather gloomy story, this is not intentional. Worth a read.

Interesting article Neil, I ties in with my thoughts on the recent season. After the murder the whole atmosphere seemed to change, already the fiasco of both the visas and then the shack licences, had hit the tourism hard, then came the shack wrecking and all the rest. It's happened many times before, but this year there was a distinct edge to it, they really meant business.
Goa was always one of the most prosperous states, even before the arrival of the tourists, many of the people who are employed in the tourist industry are from out of state, and there is a great resentment to them among many Goans, As we've seen many in the tourism side in Goverment, would like to see the back of us, as would the "big boys " in the luxury end of the market.
When you couple these facts with the explosion in demand for iron ore ,both internally and for export to China, that is growing monthly, it is possible to see that mabey the average Goan, not involved in the tourism business, and the Goverment, who can see the bigger picture re their capital growth, will not view the demise of the cheaper end of the tourist market with too many tears
The biggest loosers in this will be the out of staters who fill the jobs, and send their money out of state, and the speculators who with the help of bribery have so polluted Goas coastline with illegal constructions. Alan

There is definately a foreigner go home thing going on here as the article stated when i first came here to live i had a business but after 2 years was so sick of the officials coming in and telling me i needed this needed that, insecticuters in every place, no one had them in 2002, cages outside for gas bottles, steel pipes, fire blanket yes all h&s items i agree, but go in goan/indian bars/rest no one had those. lucky if you had a toilet , but it has always been different for foreigners.
But now with the property situation and us not being able to sell and the long term visa issue that they wont extend our X visas us ex pats are finding life very difficult at the moment, what the government cant see its the rich indian companies that are buying up the land and building so much not us,we are very much in the minority but being made scape goats. i love this place but if life gets any harder new pastures will be calling, i feel for the local people who are just surviving, just making enough to carry on until the next season because i can honestly say next season will be harder still.

I thought it was very harrowing reading this article because it sounded to me very real, not speculation.

So if you are an 'English' tourist you are OK if you have loads of money and not 'scum'? It's the same story again and again it's all about money.

Yes Neil the article is very sad and very true.
The person who wrote the article seems genuinely upset and distressed about the changes. He/she is trying to make an honest living and do the right thing, but its not appreciated in Goa and they are under scrutiny and being accused off all sorts, its not on.
So .......
Why are we all returning late 2008 or in 2009

Gemma,

Why am I going back. Well I have weeks to use up on timeshare and this will probably be the last for a long time. I've totally gone off the CCB strip and couldn't care less if ever saw that part of Goa in my life although I will be staying on the Baga/Arpora Rd for 2 weeks, but the 2 weeks in South is for me the best bit.

An excellent posting by a disgruntled expat here : http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=536195

John

I saw this excellent article earlier on ex pats today but didn't know if I was allowed to post it on here.
This is how many of us feel - very used.

Unfortunately theres many expats in Goa suffering the same fate as the person that wrote the letter,i brought my property in 2002 after completing all the government rules and regs, but now i wish to sell it the government are saying no, as they are refusing to extend X visas or give long term ones.
sad thing is we all came to this place because we loved the place and the people but now they how taken or money with open arms(or wallets) they do not want us to stay long term, the government have stated "come to goa but dont stay," in other words they just want your holiday money and bu......r off.wish the british had said that and prehaps i'd still be living in the UK.

We bought our property a few years ago prior to all this bother starting. We have never rented out our property, but have allowed family and friends to stay for the cost of the cleaning and electricity, which is next to nothing. We have been accused a number of times of renting our property and making a fortune, but paying no tax in Goa. We are so fed up with these accusations, that is what we are going to do in future. However, we will not be setting up a company in Goa, but will be running this through our business account in the UK. The letting will be to Brits and the money will stay in this country. If the Goan Governement can show no consideration for people who have invested in Goa, then why should we show any consideration for them. With Brits paying up to £400 per week for apartments over Easter and Christmas, we will at least get some of our investment back.

We are lucky as we always said that any cash we put in to India is money we can afford to lose, others are not so lucky. I can predict one thing though, if the Goan or Indain Governements ever confiscate our property which was purchased legally, then neither my wife or I or any of the other 20+ family and friends who have stayed there over the last few years, will ever set foot in India again. I am sure that many people feel the same way.