# new member



## wrampling (Sep 3, 2013)

Good Morning
I have become a member of this site, so i would like to say hello, and im hoping you lovely guys out there will be able to help me.
My husband and i are looking to re locate to cyprus, we are a couple off years off the big 60, so want to do it now while we have the finances etc.
i will give a little background
We live in north wales, so property is not at the prices it is in london say, but our morgage is all paid off and we have savings, at this time i wont put a figure on that , but will say we have enough to buy outright a small property, i work from home, so if i want to work i can still do that from cyprus, husband may have to stay full time in uk for a bit to finish working , but not sure just yet, we have a son almost 20 yrs old who has just 1 more year in college , then hopefully he will go off into the big wide world, then the new chapter in our lives begins.
We thought we would like to buy straight away, but after reading on here, maybe we should think of renting for a bit to get the feel of the place etc, as we have no idea if the area we want to be in, but with renting the place it's never yours so you cant do things with it,when we say what we want it doesnt sound like a lot but maybe it is
We would like a detatched property if possible but semi will do,
dont want to be in a tourist area , or especially a beach , that would be a bonus
dont have to have a pool, that also would be a bonus, 
do need at least 2 bedrooms, more if we can afford it, a good size kitchen and the property does need to be in good order, as modern as possible, 
the big thing is we need to have a good size garden, as my husband wants to potter about, not one for sitting around, and also in an area we can walk dogs.
would like to be in a little community to meet new friend and get to know the locals, and learn the lingo

We have seen property in nothern cyprus, but we dont know why is it so much cheaper there, it is the area we can afford outright, but is it an area to live full time,

If anyone could get us started to thinking on the right road as , your experiences etc we would both be most grateful
Kind regards
Ann


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## jamesellis (Apr 22, 2013)

Hi Ann, welcome!

I will give my two cents but perhaps someone closer to your situation might be able to tailor their advice to you better! Unlike many others who have posted about wanting to relocate you might be a slightly better position given that you'll be without children and I imagine won't be coming here to seek work but (I assume) rather to retire eventually. Renting might be a good idea at first until you find your feet - as you've probably read it might be a good idea to let your property in Wales to provide income to fund that before deciding to go all out and buy a place. In regards to where you might want to live you could look at somewhere like Peyia (a little inland from the coast and not a huge tourist hub, 20min drive from Paphos but still on the west coast - big British expat community region) or Pissouri (small town on the south west coast between Limassol and Paphos, roughly a 30min drive). Do remember that it is a buyers market in terms of property and I believe I saw Veronica say somewhere that you could get up to 10-20% off of the asking price - she might be able to confirm this. I did a quick little scout on the web for you and many of the properties have pools. You are unlikely to find a big expat community to engage with in Northern Cyprus as like I said most are based on the west coast of the Greek half.

I hope this helps at least a little!

James


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

The reason property is so much cheaper in the North is because many of the properties are built illegally on Greek Cypriot owned land. The illegal Turkish government in the North issue fraudulent title deeds claiming the land is Turkish Cypriot owned but many Greek Cypriot owners are now trying to reclaim their property and many foreigners who have bought in the North are in danger of losing their homes.
So if you decide on the North you should under no circumstances consider buying there without first getting title deeds checked out in the land registry offices in Nicosia to make sure the land is not Greek Cypriot owned.


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## PeteandSylv (Sep 24, 2008)

I would suggest a little research and reading so that you understand better as to what Northern Cyprus means as opposed to the Republic of Cyprus which is what this forum is for.

I am so pleased that at last someone has suggested that although they want to buy they understand the advice to rent first.

I do think you should come out and rent a temporary place while you look around the different areas and lifestyles available and then move towards your preference. This is because many people don't have any idea what life can be like outside of the main towns and gravitate towards the places they hear about. Others cannot be away from English style pubs or never try any traditional tavernas feeling only safe amongst other ex-pats in tourist areas.

There are a lot of choices available and none need be forever so you can look and learn what lifestyle suits you. Always remember that nothing is very far over here, it's a small island and you can drive from one side to the other in 3 hours.

You seem to be at a good time and situation in your lives to be able to implement this adventure and I wish you every good fortune.

Pete


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## Guest (Sep 3, 2013)

wrampling said:


> Good Morning
> I have become a member of this site, so i would like to say hello, and im hoping you lovely guys out there will be able to help me.
> My husband and i are looking to re locate to cyprus, we are a couple off years off the big 60, so want to do it now while we have the finances etc.
> i will give a little background
> ...


Never forget that Northern Cyprus is NOT European Union. Nothing of the rights you have as an expat inside EU is valid in the north.

Its a very good idea to come and look, rent first until you feel sure.

Anders


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## wrampling (Sep 3, 2013)

I have e mailed my sister in law who lives in limmersol , not in touch a lot, but this is what she has just e mailed me over, what are your thoughts, also someone else told me this out northern cyprus, would you guys agree

There are one or two negatives at the moment about coming to Cyprus at the moment, I will list them.

!. There are banking problems over here at the moment, the main bank, Bank of Cyprus, is restructuring at the moment, its 30% owned by Russians.

2. House prices are high and they are not selling. The locals would rather leave the propererty's empty.

3. Syria is a problem, nobody knows what is going to happen, the local airbase at Akrotiri is only 1 to 2 hrs away from any point on the island, that is where the British Harrier's are based.

I would not advise moving to the occupied territory . After the invasion by Turkey in 1974 the land owned by Greek Cypriots was used by the invaders for development and subsequently sold with new villas on it . In a test case 2 years ago a Greek Cypriot who owned land there took an English couple ( Mr & Mrs Orams ) who had bought such a villa to court and won . The European court said he can bulldoze the site and evict the couple .
Any Turkish Cypriot land here in the South is not used for building , just left fallow .
The only safe place to buy is in the South .


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

I would agree about everything except house prices being high. Granted in the Limmasol area prices are stupid, but in the Paphos area they have always been much lower than Limmasol and have dropped a lot in the past two years.
Many properties sell for much lower than the asking price.

As for Syria, I might feel a little apprehensive if I lived on the East of the island and even maybe Limassol as Akrotiri is so close to it but I have no fear that we would be affected on the West of the island.


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## PeteandSylv (Sep 24, 2008)

wrampling said:


> I have e mailed my sister in law who lives in limmersol , not in touch a lot, but this is what she has just e mailed me over, what are your thoughts, also someone else told me this out northern cyprus, would you guys agree
> 
> There are one or two negatives at the moment about coming to Cyprus at the moment, I will list them.
> 
> ...


My view:

1. The Bank of Cyprus cannot be said to be owned by Russians and what would it matter if they were the shareholders? Did you ever question who the shareholders of NatWest were when that bank almost crashed and was bailed out by the taxpayers of the UK? BOC is currently in the hands of a receiver technically while the restructuring is sorted out. Deposits up to €100k are covered under EU law in the same way as in the UK. If you are still so fearful of using a Cypriot bank then you can maintain a UK bank account and use ATMs for cash and debit/credit cards for purchases although you may possible have to pay for currency conversions and foreign transactions.

2. Whether house prices are high is always relative to location and conditions and opinion. House prices have dropped substantially since the financial woes began and sales have certainly dropped. As anywhere if an owner decides he does not need to sell and does not want to drop the price the property can remain empty. I do however know of a landlord that has substantially dropped his prices in order to retain income to meet his mortgage payments. I also know of one house a short ride away that has never had occupants despite being offered for rent at below €500 per month and also at a much lowered selling price. It seems reasonably good value for a large 5 bedroom house. As has been said elsewhere on the forum there are some excellent bargains to be found at the moment. Nevertheless I will continue to recommend to anyone coming here to rent at least initially.

3. Syria is a problem. So was Iraq. So was........ The locals wars of the region have never resulted in the Armageddon predictions some people like to produce. I assure you when the dust settles on Syria there will be another Arab country conflict blow up. The strategic significance of Cyprus in the area is long gone and would be a poor target for anyone unless they would wish to have everyone excluding Turkey retaliating.

I quite agree with your opinion on the North which is in parallel with previous posts on this thread. The North is a place to visit most enjoyably and not a place to buy in to.

Finally may I save Veronica the task of pointing out the spelling is Limassol.

Pete


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

PeteandSylv said:


> My view:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Even I spelt it wrong the first time on that post


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## kimonas (Jul 19, 2008)

I would say that the advice of your sister-in-law is sound. There are contested cases of land ownership (although I would note that they are on both sides of the divide, but at least in the south you have legitimacy of a recognised administration, that of the TRNC is NOT recognised except for in Turkey)The south has its financial crisis which is set to get worse before it improves and the whole of the island is well within range of stray missiles and almost certainly will be in the path of the horrendous social and political fall out from the current and probable future escalation of the civil war in Syria which threatens to draw in the bigger powers and is only a short boat trip away. The political situation in Cyprus has always been precarious because of the cultural affiliations of the Greek Cypriots to the Russians (orthodoxy), and the overt support that the previous Cypriot President showed in transporting arms to the Assad regime to pander to their Russian allies who were set to help bail Cyprus out of its financial chaos. If Russia lose their warm water port in Syria through regime change, chances are they are eying up possible options in Cyprus. Refusal to cooperate with UN and NATO in transporting embargoed armaments that were bound for Syria resulted in a catastrophic and highly destructive explosion in the south that wiped out the main power station which resulted in the government robbing everyone to pay for their miss governance. To add to the mix, the Sovereign Base Areas of the UK (at Akrotiri and at Dhekelia) puts Cyprus squarely in the cross hairs of any international confrontations that might result form a deterioration of the situation in the Middle East. In short, the Republic of Cyprus is a safer bet than the TRNC, but 'safer' is relative.


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## David_&_Letitia (Jul 8, 2012)

wrampling said:


> ...If anyone could get us started to thinking on the right road as , your experiences etc we would both be most grateful
> 
> Kind regards
> Ann


Hi Ann - welcome to the Forum.

You have already had some sound advice on this thread. Our situation is not unlike yours in our respective age, circumstances and expectations. Letitia and I own our house in Belfast and although property prices here went ballistic before the bubble burst (the so called 'Celtic Tiger' economy), we would be lucky to achieve 50% of those silly prices now. Nevertheless, property prices tend to be relative, and as has been said, there are some bargains to be had in Cyprus, in the same way that others would view UK property as bargains compared with a few years ago. Like you, we would therefore still be able to purchase a modest 3 bed detached property in Cyprus outright, but fully intend to rent for at least 6 months first - maybe longer. Our sights are set on the Polis area of Cyprus because we love the area, prices are reasonable and we will not need to work after I retire next year. This last point is quite important as jobs seem to be scarce in Cyprus at the moment, and the centres of commerce (eg Limassol and towns/villages within easy commuting distance) tend to command higher prices for the obvious reasons of supply and demand. Northern Cyprus is not a safe investment for your money, so I would certainly agree with the advice against buying there. 

Letitia and I have been married for 39 years, and it has been many years since we last rented (Royal Marines married quarters 1974 - 1989!). However, there are distinct some advantages in renting - especially when making such a life changing move to Cyprus. We love the island and the way of life, but we have not lived there all year round. We think we know the area quite well, but again, living there is different from visiting. To give an example of what I mean, we were house hunting in the Limassol area about 4 years ago with a Cypriot friend who was showing us around. At one particular location near Kolossi, no sooner had we got out of the car - he advised us against the development telling us to sniff the air. Although we smelt nothing at that time, he could detect the smell of goats, which he advised would get worse on certain days when the wind was in the right direction. We saw the goat filed and he was right. Although this is just a seemingly small point, I only mention it to advise the flexibility of renting so that you may detect the noisy neighbours, the yapping dogs or the unpleasant smells of a specific area before commiting your money.


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## wrampling (Sep 3, 2013)

Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to answer my questions, this renting does make total sence, dont like the idea as you cant put down roots, do anything to the property etc, but i guess a small price to pay for a few months to make sure we get it right, another thought we has would be to buy a small motor home and travel around area by area , that would give us a feel of the place , roof over our heads, and we can stay in that as long as we like, dont know what you guys think of that idea, we can always sell it at a later date, 
My heart is set on moving to somewhere sunny, i just have to make this happen

Question to you all if i may, what made you move to Cyprus over say Spain or France


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## PeteandSylv (Sep 24, 2008)

I have not seen many motor homes over here probably because of the cost of importing them and the fact that the island is so small you can travel to and from any location in a day. My preference would be to hire/buy a car with good ground clearance (a 4x4 is not necessary) and use b&b or cheap hotel accommodation. The car will give you access to off-tarmac roads which a motor home may have problems with.

We never considered Spain because I have never liked any of the places I've been to in the South and never considered France because of distance and language. In fact our first choice country for emigration was New Zealand with the kids but the NZ requirements were to onerous and risky. After some research we came to Cyprus partly because of the Greek Mediterranean lifestyle we have enjoyed in the past. We took an exploratory trip travelling around the island just as you are considering, and then decided to come.

Pete


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

We chose Cyprus because my sister lived in Spain for about 18 years and we saw how it changed when ever we went to visit her and in the end she left because it had gone down hill so much. So we changed our minds about going there when our time came to move.
We never considered France because our experiences of the French people in our travels totally put us off them so had no wish to live in their country
Also I had lived in Cyprus many years ago for 3 years with my first husband and fell in love with it then.


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## Geraldine (Jan 3, 2009)

I did two trips to Spain looking at property with my son, I even took Spanish lessons, but it didn't feel right at all, I thought long and hard and decided Cyprus was where we had the best holidays with the nicest Cypriots.

Plus at that time, Spain was just starting in the property debacle, ex pats were losing their homes over mis selling.

I like France but not the people, so that was out.

My mind was made up for me and here I am !!


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