# Kiwis in Cyprus?



## Golfa (Mar 3, 2014)

Hi everyone,I am a New Zealander and my wife is English and we are newbies to this forum.We are itching to visit Cyprus in the near future (Aug,Sept)with a definate view to moving permanently if it ticks all the right boxes, and so far if what i have read on these forums and in other areas or research we are heading in the right direction.We are in our earlier fifties and will be in position purchase a home mortgage free.Our problem is we have no idea where would be the best place for us to set up home.....our wish list is community living near the sea if possible away from the hustle and bustle of city life.
The next question is a matter of employment I am a landscape gardener with better than average building skills and my wife is an artist.
Is there much demand for landscapers and would I be upsetting the locals if I were to be self employed?
Thanks for any advice:


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## PeteandSylv (Sep 24, 2008)

What the hell do you want to leave the stunningly beautiful New Zealand for?

I'd be there tomorrow if I could!

Pete

P.S. Read the other threads re people moving here. The employment situation is dire and you will not be welcomed by the locals or indeed any ex-pats who you intend to rival in business.


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

PeteandSylv said:


> What the hell do you want to leave the stunningly beautiful New Zealand for?
> 
> I'd be there tomorrow if I could!
> 
> ...


Very few of the expats who do gardening and landscaping etc are doing it legally. Most don't register with social or for tax and as such can't object if someone comes and does it properly. So the answer is to register with the social as self employed, register with the tax man, then anyone who is jealous can't do anything to hurt you.
However if they give you trouble you can just tell them you'll report them

I do however agree with Pete, New Zealand is such a beautiful country so I can't understand why you would want to leave it.
Having said that I often wonder why there are so many Kiwis and Aussies in the UK

Veronica


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## PeteandSylv (Sep 24, 2008)

Veronica, I was reading recently that the days of the large Australasian population in the UK are now over. Even in it's heyday it was mainly youngsters doing their "European trip" before settling down.

Pete


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## Golfa (Mar 3, 2014)

Wow..Thanks Pete and Veronica for your feedback.Yes New Zealand is a beautiful country,but it is not without its problems we have a high crime rate and where we live in Christchurch we have had several large earthquakes in the past three years which we lost our house,art gallery and landscaping businesses.
They say a change is as good as a holiday.Just wondering is Cyprus not a beautiful country as well?As far as I can tell it has decent consistent weather, friendly locals,low crime and a slower more relaxed attitude to life.


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## Pam n Dave (Jun 11, 2007)

Come for a long holiday and have a look at the Open Studios event if you can, in previous years I think it's run during October.

Please have a look at the other threads about attempting to settle here if you need work to survive. The UK is a 5 hour plane ride away. If you start to sink then it's much longer and probably much more expensive to get home.


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## Golfa (Mar 3, 2014)

That sounds like a good idea and one that we will probably undertake..thing is the money we spend renting whilst on a long sabbitical will eat into the money we will have budgeted for buying not only one appartment but possibly two.We are wondering if we could live off the rent from one appartment and is it possible to have it occupied all year round.


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

If you rent long term you can have it occupied all year round. The general rule of thumb is long term rental is roughly the same per month as holiday lets are per week in the high season. 
Holiday lets mean a lot more work but you can sometimes also let them out for lower prices for say 3 months duration in the winter to people who want to escape the British winters. However we know many people who have holiday lets which these days are not making them anything like the income they used to get.

You would need to be earning through jobs but rental income from an apartment would certainly help to supplement it.
Hope that helps

Veronica


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## PeteandSylv (Sep 24, 2008)

Golfa said:


> Wow..Thanks Pete and Veronica for your feedback.Yes New Zealand is a beautiful country,but it is not without its problems we have a high crime rate and where we live in Christchurch we have had several large earthquakes in the past three years which we lost our house,art gallery and landscaping businesses.
> They say a change is as good as a holiday.Just wondering is Cyprus not a beautiful country as well?As far as I can tell it has decent consistent weather, friendly locals,low crime and a slower more relaxed attitude to life.


Cyprus is a beautiful country but in a different way from NZ. It is a rugged, harsh beauty that not only changes throughout the day as the light alters but also changes drastically through the seasons. At the moment the countryside is very green and huge amounts of the yellow weed that occurs each year are appearing just as the almond blossom is falling.

Do not be under the illusion that it is hot here all the year round. Although summers are hot and very hot winters can be cold and wet. This year has been rather mild with little rain reminiscent of the recent drought years.

Locals, on the whole, are friendly but like any society there are still old prejudices that remain. In particular you can find the EOKA descendants who still harbour a hate for the British. In general I would say that you might sense an attitude at first that seems hostile but the social tradition here is to greet people as you enter a coffee shop etc. If you don't you will find they may disregard or just stare at you. As soon as you greet them the smiles will appear. I'm afraid the normal demeanour of most Cypriots is a gruff, harsh exterior rather than a smiling friendly one. A quick read of the history of the island may serve to explain this.

There is little crime here as you observe but like anywhere in the world it is gradually increasing. There are occasions of feuds, rather too many animal poisonings and you may find some of the attitudes to animals distressing.

You will not be free of earthquakes here as Cyprus sits at the end of a fault line. Tremors that you can feel occur from time to time, there was a big one whose epicentre was a few kilometres from my home recently, but damage is rare - we had a picture fall off a shelf. However Cyprus has had major, devastating earthquakes in the past and a big one is overdue. All building has to meet an earthquake safe standard and sit on a concrete raft. Even without the tremors land movement is clearly observable although much of this is caused by water rather than tremor. 

The attitude to life here is certainly more laid back, less stressful and enjoyable. Socialising is simple, you will meet people all the time and with a few compromises along the way you can enjoy a wonderful lifestyle here.

Pete


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## Golfa (Mar 3, 2014)

Veronica... thankyou very much...finaly some positivity about a possible move to Cyprus.Seeing as its appears to be all doom and gloom in the economy at the moment has this affected the prices of appartments and are there alot to choose from in the Paphos region?


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

Golfa said:


> Veronica... thankyou very much...finaly some positivity about a possible move to Cyprus.Seeing as its appears to be all doom and gloom in the economy at the moment has this affected the prices of appartments and are there alot to choose from in the Paphos region?


Yes there are plenty of apartments for sale in the Paphos region but to make the most of rental potential you need to know which areas are best for either long term rent or holiday lets. For example you would not want to have the apartment you intend to live in in the same area as the rental one if you intend to do holiday lets but if you intend to rent it long term to it you might be happy to have it next door to you so you can choose your neighbours Some areas are predominantly holiday lets so can be very noisy in the peak season.


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## Golfa (Mar 3, 2014)

Oh wow..thankyou Pete for your words,we are now inspired to continue with our quest rather than pursue another.I have already started to learn some of the Greek language.Evharisto.


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## Guest (Mar 5, 2014)

Golfa said:


> Veronica... thankyou very much...finaly some positivity about a possible move to Cyprus.Seeing as its appears to be all doom and gloom in the economy at the moment has this affected the prices of appartments and are there alot to choose from in the Paphos region?


The prices on property has for sure gone down, but not very much if you compare with f.ex Spain where property prices in many regions has declined more then 50%, probably because the banks has flooded the market with property they have taken back as foreclosure. This has not happened here, even if I read that the banks now are allowed to sell off their stock of these properties. The banks here also seem to avoid a foreclosure as long as possible. 

Anders


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

Sorry Anders I have to disagree with you. There are many apartments now for sale at half of what they would have been on for a year or two ago.
Villas are a bit different and have not gone down as much but still there are many which have been fairly drastically reduced.
Also often the asking price is very much negotiable. We have had offers of 100K less than the asking accepted on 400K properties. It all depends on how desperate the vendors are.


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## sacha1 (Oct 14, 2014)

Hi, does anyone know the current status of the Cypriot foreclosure law ?


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## PeteandSylv (Sep 24, 2008)

This might help:

Eurogroup: no more money without foreclosure law | Cyprus Mail

Pete


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## sacha1 (Oct 14, 2014)

Many thanks Pete.


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