# Moving to Cyprus.



## Isaac Hunt (Aug 7, 2012)

Hi all, :wave:

Apologies if this or anything like it has already been covered, but I`m new to the Forum, having joined on the 7th of August 2012. 

I`m in my early 50`s, and Ill Health Early Retired from my previous job in England with a Local Authority as a Contracts Manager. There is just my partner, (same age), and myself, with no Dependant Children, Pets or any other ties. I suffer from a number of "Arthritic" type Health Conditions, and do also have a degree of Restricted Mobility. For some time now, I have been looking at Cyprus as an option to re-locate to on a permanent basis. From what I know, and have been told, it would "hopefully" do me the world of good compared to the year round Climate here in the UK. I have a transferable UK Former Employer`s Pension Income, which is currently worth around 1,850 Euros per Month at todays exchange rate, and obviously this would also rise in time when I/we eventually qualify for our UK OAP Pension`s. I could also theoretically afford to buy a Property outright, up to the value of around £200k, (Sterling), and still have a decent amount of Savings to fall back on if necessary. I would very much like to know your honest and frank opinions as to ; -

1/. Do you think that a move to Cyprus would be beneficial to me/us in general ?.

2/. Given that I would be unable to Work, would my level of Income sustain us, and give us a "reasonable" Lifestyle in Southern Cyprus ?. (Paphos Area).

3/. Would I be able to receive a "reasonable" level of Healthcare, given that I already have certain on-going Medical conditions ?. I would have no objection at all to paying in to a Private Health Care Scheme if necessary, to cover both my partner and myself.

4/. Would it be wise to look to buy somewhere asap, or take my/our time and rent for a while, and get a feel for our new surroundings ?. I have never liked Renting, as I see it as "dead" money which could be better spent elsewhere, but I do understand that such a big move could mean that this may possibly be our best initial option.

Thank you all in advance for any advice that you may be able to offer, and I look forward very much to talking to you more as time goes on. :thumb:


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

HI Isaac,
Welcome to the forum.

Firstly I would definitely say that the climate here is far better for arthritic conditions than the UK. I know a couple who came here on holiday, both using sticks and by the end of their 3 week holiday they no longer needed them. On returning to the Uk they were back to their sticks so they sold up and moved here permanently. 

You would need to get private health insurance until either you or your partner are in receipt of government retirement pensions at which time you would both be eligible for healthcare at the state hospitals.
If you have no mortgage or rent to pay you should get by on your pension although you might find for the luxuries your partner might need to get a little part time job. Once your retirement pensions kick in on top of your work related pension you will have a very good standard of living. 
I can understand your view that renting is dead money but make sure that you get to know some areas before making up your mind where to live. Don't jump into the first thing you see. 
If possible try to buy something with title deeds or at least an AX number.


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## PeteandSylv (Sep 24, 2008)

As an addition to Veronica's reply I would say that you can live perfectly well on €1,850 per month including paying rent providing you don't have an excessive lifestyle.

You should certainly start out by renting to give you time to get to know the different areas and decide where you want to live as well as the type and size of property. I would then suggest a long term rent unless you are really intent on buying. Rent is not always dead money as my calculations indicate that a reasonable rent is unlikely to be more than the current drop in house prices.

If you do buy make 100% sure you can obtain the Title Deeds immediately and that you have a reliable, honest lawyer. Believe nothing you are told unless you see the proof, this includes vendors, lawyers and agents.

Healthwise I am sure you will benefit but check out the different areas you can live in. We live up in the hills where the humidity is substantially lower than down in town.

Be aware that although you should be able to obtain health insurance it will not cover any of your existing conditions or any future conditions that might relate to them. To deal with these you are going to have to pay but private medical charges are far more reasonable than the UK.

I hope this sounds cautious rather than negative.

Pete


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## Isaac Hunt (Aug 7, 2012)

Thanks very much for the replies so far, frank and forthright is what I prefer, no need to think you are being "terse" or whatever, its good old fashioned honesty I`m looking for, as moving to a completely new Country is obviously a Monumental and Life Changing Decision !!. 

The issue of Title Deeds seems to raise its head a lot from what I can see, and at first glance does look a little off-putting, but do please correct me if I am wrong here, but I would have thought that buying Re-Sale as opposed to New Build, and where a property is actually advertised by the Selling Agent as having Title Deeds, "should" in theory be a fairly safe bet, as wouldn`t the Agent/Seller be guilty of "Misrepresentation" or similar if intentionally seeking to deceive with the property description ?, hence leaving themselves open to Legal Action, or doesn`t it work that way in Cyprus ??!!.


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

Isaac Hunt said:


> Thanks very much for the replies so far, frank and forthright is what I prefer, no need to think you are being "terse" or whatever, its good old fashioned honesty I`m looking for, as moving to a completely new Country is obviously a Monumental and Life Changing Decision !!.
> 
> The issue of Title Deeds seems to raise its head a lot from what I can see, and at first glance does look a little off-putting, but do please correct me if I am wrong here, but I would have thought that buying Re-Sale as opposed to New Build, and where a property is actually advertised by the Selling Agent as having Title Deeds, "should" in theory be a fairly safe bet, as wouldn`t the Agent/Seller be guilty of "Misrepresentation" or similar if intentionally seeking to deceive with the property description ?, hence leaving themselves open to Legal Action, or doesn`t it work that way in Cyprus ??!!.


If an agent claims a property has title deeds when it dosnt then he/she is certainly guilty of misrepresentation.
Your lawyer will check for you that the property has indeed got deeds. 
You should be aware though that you will have to pay a transfer fee for the title to be put in your name and new deeds issued in your name.
You must factor this in to the cost of buying a propeerty. It is amazing how many people don't realise this and find that when they get to the lawyers and suddenly are presented with the cost of the deeds the property they have fallen in love withis suddenly out of their price bracket. Many agents don't bother to tell their clients about this, obviously hoping that once you have fallen in love with a place you will somehow find the extra money needed for the deeds.


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## Isaac Hunt (Aug 7, 2012)

Veronica said:


> If an agent claims a property has title deeds when it dosnt then he/she is certainly guilty of misrepresentation.
> Your lawyer will check for you that the property has indeed got deeds.
> You should be aware though that you will have to pay a transfer fee for the title to be put in your name and new deeds issued in your name.
> You must factor this in to the cost of buying a propeerty. It is amazing how many people don't realise this and find that when they get to the lawyers and suddenly are presented with the cost of the deeds the property they have fallen in love withis suddenly out of their price bracket. Many agents don't bother to tell their clients about this, obviously hoping that once you have fallen in love with a place you will somehow find the extra money needed for the deeds.


Thanks for that Veronica, at least that goes some way to allay my fears, and is pretty much what I had hoped to hear !!. Is the fee for the Transfer of the Deeds into the new owners name etc worked out on a "Universally Agreed" Fixed Percentage of the sale cost in Cyprus ?, or can it vary ?.


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

It's based on a percentage of the sales price. However if the land registry think that is far too low they sometimes suspect some money has changed hands under the table and will bump up the price.


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

This is how it is worked out.

VALUE OF PROPERTY (EURO) TRANSFER FEES
up to 85,430.07 3%
between 85,430.08 - 170,860.14 5%
over 170,860.15 8%

However if a property is bought in 2 names. ie husband and wife, the calculations are based on assumingeach one buys a house for half of the value. This reduces the total amount payable by quite a lot.


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## Isaac Hunt (Aug 7, 2012)

Veronica said:


> This is how it is worked out.
> 
> VALUE OF PROPERTY (EURO) TRANSFER FEES
> up to 85,430.07 3%
> ...


Wow !!.  I see what you mean now Veronica, if for example I "were" to look at a property @ circa £200k, thats around 254, 000 + Euros, so there would be an extra 8% to pay on top of this straight away !!. Definitely worth knowing and taking into consideration. Thanks again. :thumb:


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

Isaac Hunt said:


> Wow !!.  I see what you mean now Veronica, if for example I "were" to look at a property @ circa £200k, thats around 254, 000 + Euros, so there would be an extra 8% to pay on top of this straight away !!. Definitely worth knowing and taking into consideration. Thanks again. :thumb:


no not 8% 
Lets work it out like this
If you buy a property for 250k in two names.
Half that and say you are each buying a property for 125K
For the first 85.430 you pay 3% = 2.562
that leaves you with 39.5070 on which you pay 5% =1.978
2.562 + 1.978 = 4.540
You do not come into the 8% bracket.
So double 4.540 as you both have that amount . you have 9.080 to pay

If however it is in one name then it is 3% on the first 85.430, 5% on the next 85.430 and 8% on the remainder.
Hope that makes sense.


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## Isaac Hunt (Aug 7, 2012)

Veronica said:


> no not 8%
> Lets work it out like this
> If you buy a property for 250k in two names.
> Half that and say you are each buying a property for 125K
> ...


Right, got you now. Many thanks for the breakdown, its all very useful info. Do you have your own Agency in Cyprus by any chance ?.


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