# Confused Ex Pats to be.



## Ken and Valery (Jan 17, 2014)

Hello All!!. We are both new to the Forum. Infact just a few hours))))!. We recently have finally decided to leave the Rain swept West Country and make the move over to Cyprus in June. We have been reading many posts made by all the helpful people on this forum. Believe me they have helped us out in all cases so far. We are looking to rent a home or villa in a place called Secret Valley region. We visited this many years ago when they were building it. The problem we have at the moment is that we are caught between holiday lets or long term lets. Sadly all the agents have that we are in contact with are long term lets for over 6 months. Whilst we are looking for initially 3-6 months maximum just to see if we wish to make the move permanent. To rent a holiday let for anything more than a month, would be hugely expensive for us as a family. My question then is does anybody have any clue how we could contact an agent or persons who are willing to let out for short term???. Trying to organise such a place from the UK is almost impossible for us. Anybody have any ideas?.  Without breaking the rules maybe a PM would be better?.


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## PeteandSylv (Sep 24, 2008)

Have the agents actually said you can't have a short term let? If not ask and start negotiations. It is a buyer's market here and many landlords will be thankful for a short term let with possible extensions rather than an empty house with no income.

Alternatively come out into a cheap hotel for a couple of weeks and give yourself time to look around and see what private (non-agent) rentals you can find. Face to face negotiation works best here.

You will also then have the ability to check out other areas if you find Secret Valley is not what you hoped for.

Pete


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## Geraldine (Jan 3, 2009)

a cheap hotel, but maybe things could have changed, was the Veronica Hotel, we stayed a couple of times and used as a base while hunting around. It has the advantage of being in Kato Paphos so walking out and about is easy to do.


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## PeteandSylv (Sep 24, 2008)

You may want to be aware of the latest developments at Secret Valley. It seems that Secret Valley//Ha Potami/Venus Rock have been sold to CHINA GLORY INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENT GROUP.

If this brings investment money in to complete and develop further it could be a very good thing.

CGIG Cyprus

http://www.dolphinci.com/downloads/files/rns/2013/130520_vr.pdf

Pete


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

Yes the Chinese group bought it last year and plan to develop big style for Chinese clients. I think Cypriot developers will be cheesed off as most Chinese buyers will in future be buying in the Secret valley area from this company.


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## PeteandSylv (Sep 24, 2008)

Veronica said:


> Yes the Chinese group bought it last year and plan to develop big style for Chinese clients. I think Cypriot developers will be cheesed off as most Chinese buyers will in future be buying in the Secret valley area from this company.


I don't know why they should be cheesed off other than prejudice! Surely most Chinese are buying existing properties rather than new build. I would imagine there should be good sub-contract and employment opportunities at Secret Valley and the surrounding expansions. Possibly Secret Valley will become Little China just as Peyia is Little Britain. Who cares as long as money is coming in.

Pete


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## buster12 (Oct 9, 2012)

I have to say Secret Valley would be a long way down my choice of places to live - mostly unfinished and a bit like a windy desert at present! probably be better in years to come? The advice to rent a cheap hotel or apartment for a little whle and look around is very sound.......

Once you are happy with a location there are many many properties available to let for short/mid/long term - whichever suits you best.

Whatever you do - - ggod luck and enjoy the country! We will all help wherever we can.

Regards,

David


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

No Pete, the Chinese group are going to be building loads of properties specifically aimed at their countrymen. The Chinese no longer trust Cypriot developers so very few are now buying from them. 
Also to make sure that they get their residence they have to buy new build now. That is why an almost certain sale we had lined up last year to friends of the Chinese we sold to earlier fell through.


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## PeteandSylv (Sep 24, 2008)

Veronica said:


> No Pete, the Chinese group are going to be building loads of properties specifically aimed at their countrymen. The Chinese no longer trust Cypriot developers so very few are now buying from them.
> Also to make sure that they get their residence they have to buy new build now. That is why an almost certain sale we had lined up last year to friends of the Chinese we sold to earlier fell through.


That's interesting. My guess is that the Cyprus government must have had a hand in brokering the deal with the Group. In which case it is a pretty shrewd move bringing lots of money into the country and hopefully creating lots of jobs.

Pete


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## Guest (Jan 18, 2014)

PeteandSylv said:


> That's interesting. My guess is that the Cyprus government must have had a hand in brokering the deal with the Group. In which case it is a pretty shrewd move bringing lots of money into the country and hopefully creating lots of jobs.
> 
> Pete


And a lot more angry EU members. Selling residence permits is not popular in Brussels. Latvia is doing the same for 100000 Euro investment. 

But good for Cyprus ofc

Anders


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## Ken and Valery (Jan 17, 2014)

Thanks for your help Pete and Sylv. Yes most agents have said that no landlords would be interested in short term??????. I thought the same as you. But I am sure the agents know best do they not?. If you want maybe you can Pm me. I am not so sure that it is allowed to ask for agents on here that would be willing for short lets. I would be so appreciative for any information. As being in the UK its almost impossible to work out from here. We currently are taking care of elderly parents so it is impossible to just fly out and find if such lets are available. Thanks to all the other replies also!!..


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## Guest (Jan 19, 2014)

Ken and Valery said:


> Thanks for your help Pete and Sylv. Yes most agents have said that no landlords would be interested in short term??????. I thought the same as you. But I am sure the agents know best do they not?. If you want maybe you can Pm me. I am not so sure that it is allowed to ask for agents on here that would be willing for short lets. I would be so appreciative for any information. As being in the UK its almost impossible to work out from here. We currently are taking care of elderly parents so it is impossible to just fly out and find if such lets are available. Thanks to all the other replies also!!..


We have a long let. But we have only 1 month notice to cancel the contract. I am sure many owners would be interested to the same. Still 3-6 months rent is better then 0 as Pete say.

Anders


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## PeteandSylv (Sep 24, 2008)

Ken and Valery said:


> Thanks for your help Pete and Sylv. Yes most agents have said that no landlords would be interested in short term??????. I thought the same as you. But I am sure the agents know best do they not?. If you want maybe you can Pm me. I am not so sure that it is allowed to ask for agents on here that would be willing for short lets. I would be so appreciative for any information. As being in the UK its almost impossible to work out from here. We currently are taking care of elderly parents so it is impossible to just fly out and find if such lets are available. Thanks to all the other replies also!!..


I think you need more posts to be able to send and receive PMs. Even so I cannot help with rental agents as I've never used one.

As for them knowing best my comment is Absolutely Not. They are motivated by their commissions only in return for minimum work. (Sits back and waits for ASF to hit - Agent Support Flack!)

As for the concept of agents willing for short lets, it is the landlord that should decide not the agent. If they are not willing to genuinely ask the landlord on your behalf, they are of no use whatsoever.

It is all down to negotiation. In our case the selling agent was asked if we could rent in order to decide whether or house was suitable in a number of areas we could not know without living here. We rented, found the house ticked all the boxes and then purchased. This was before it became a buyer's market.

Don't forget that not all rentals use agents. Many are direct with the landlords and you can see signs offering rentals this way as well as word of mouth.

Pete


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## nemo1843 (Sep 27, 2012)

Hello

We were in the same position and unable to come over prior to us arriving in November last year to look for a long term rental. I managed to contact a company who do holiday lettings here, who had a couple of landlords who were willing to rent a fully furnished property on a three month let - one of which we did rent. The only problem I can see for you is that you are coming in June and maybe most landlords who rent to holidaymakers will see that as the start of their holiday period and not wish to have a lower three monthly rental for that period (some can charge for a week the amount you pay for a month), but I guess it depends if their properties are booked for the holiday season yet.

It's worth contacting the holiday lettings companies just to enquire. I'm not sure that the company we dealt with have any properties in Secret Valley if you are set on that area.


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## Guest (Jan 19, 2014)

I would propose Smartrentz. Becky only deal with long lets, and I am sure she can arrange a contract shorter then 1 year

Smart Rentz, Paphos - Rental Property in Cyprus - Cyprus Rental Property 

Anders


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## soppik (Apr 30, 2012)

buster12 said:


> I have to say Secret Valley would be a long way down my choice of places to live - mostly unfinished and a bit like a windy desert at present! probably be better in years to come? The advice to rent a cheap hotel or apartment for a little whle and look around is very sound....... Once you are happy with a location there are many many properties available to let for short/mid/long term - whichever suits you best. Whatever you do - - ggod luck and enjoy the country! We will all help wherever we can. Regards, David


We rented in Secret Valley from Oct 2012 to Oct 2013, and in the time we were there (1 year) 8 new properties were built around us. It was extremely noisy and dusty, it affected holiday lets too. Although we loved the area the noise and dust was a pain. Unfortunately, we had to move back to the UK as my husband needed an operation, but may consider moving back out later. We had a good rental deal with the property but the letting agent was awful and really unhelpful. 😟


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## Ken and Valery (Jan 17, 2014)

Thanks Andres and thanks too PeteSylv and Nemo and all who have answered my post. I do agree with the agent part PeteSylv. The unfortunate part is that we are unable to come earlier than June. This is due to having looked after a parent with dimentia for quite some time and they are going into a care home. So it is impossible for us. But what I really needed was someone who I could contact from the UK and it seems that it has been given as Smartzrentals. I will try with them to ask if they have any landlords that would consider a let between 3-6 months. Once again thanks to all. If anybody else has any other ideas it would be great. If I was there of course I could go around placing adds in local newagents etc. Or literally through knocking doors and asking. But that is impossible. Once again thanks!. If anyone else of you have any other companies or know of anybody who is up to let then please let us know.))!.


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## Ken and Valery (Jan 17, 2014)

Hi)) As I understand there are so many new developements there. I guess that the trick is to get into the older side.


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## madcow (Jan 10, 2010)

It might be worth going onto one of the holiday letting sites and emailing a few owners to see what price they can offer you for a 3 month letting . The good thing about the letting sites is you can see which property's have a lack of bookings at the time you plan to come over?


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## Kaymd (Jan 15, 2014)

We've been doing 8 to 12 weeks winter/spring lets for the last few years and get considerably lower rates by doing so. We use Owners Direct and HomeAway and, with both of them, you correspond directly with the owner. Although it may be hard to wait, you may find it better to come after the height of the holiday season, when I would think that owners would be more interested in 3-6 month lets. But, as you probably know, you need to make sure you rent a place with decent heating!


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## Rema (Aug 12, 2012)

By chance I happened to be in Secret Valley this very morning - prior to reading this thread. I decided to have a look around and out of curiosity and went into the sales office there.
The lady sales agent did not have too many properties available and explained about the Chinese buying the whole place but apparently as yet no money has materialised so things are a little in limbo.
She did have a few new build (completed and almost complete) plus resale properties available up to around €350,000 but said any new building starts would be under the Chinese and they expected the starting price would be at least €1,500,000


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