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General Purchasing in Cyprus

Posted: 25 Jan 2017 16:28
by Angela Haley
Hi,
I am hoping to find a house in Paphos initially as a family holiday home I have family that live on the island. I have read the commandments and am a little confused with the process of buying. I'm not quite sure how to locate a surveyor to check the property is structurally sound, I was hoping there was a list on line, also even though its normal to be part of the build up of title deeds and have to wait which seems quite risky what would your solicitor give you to confirm no one could borrow on the property and that this was indeed not a risk, while the deeds are making there way to you, we are looking at properties only with title deeds. however on some sites you have the option of FULL TITLE DEEDS and TITLE DEEDS not sure of the difference.

Is it enough for safe guard that by having an independent solicitor and surveyor and a Real estate agent which are part of the real estate agent association that it cuts down on risk would that be fair to say?

Opening a bank account on Cyprus for transferring utilities and communal charges etc is it ok to walk into any bank to open an account or do
certain rules apply.

Much appreciated for any feedback given.

thanks

Re: General Purchasing in Cyprus

Posted: 26 Jan 2017 18:52
by Nigel Howarth
Hi Angela and welcome to the forum

The good lawyers will have surveyors that they will call on. I happen to know one in Limassol (I'll send you a PM with his contact details.) He has checked out properties all over the island and checked out a number of properties when Holiday Homes from Hell ran a programme about a small British-built development in Paphos.

RICS (Cyprus) has a directory of members that you can find at http://www.rics.org/cy/find-a-member/?s ... n=&ln=&ct=

You will need to instruct your lawyer to carry out a Title Search at the Land Registry to make sure there are no mortgages and other charges preventing you from owning the property. The Land Registry will provide a printed report on the property showing any claims against it (such as a mortgage). Changes to the law in 2011 allow you to repay an element of of any pre-existing mortgage to the bank and the balance to the vendor - in return the bank will relinquish any claim it has on the property. (E.g. If the sale price is €250,000 and there's a mortgage for €20,000 you would pay €20,000 to the bank and €230,000 to the vendor.)

I'm not sure what the differences between 'Title Deeds' and 'Full Title Deeds' are. It could possibly be that 'Full Title Deeds' refers to land with a house built on it and a 'Title Deed' refers to land that has yet to have a house that's been built on it added to the deed. But it's more likely that different companies use different terminologies. (If you have the number of the Title Deed you can check whether the deed includes a house on-line.)

As you plan to buy a family home I suggest you avoid buying a property on a complex where you have to pay communal charges. The law is a mess and when some people don't pay, those who do pay have to cough up the difference.

You shouldn't have any problems opening a bank account, but you may have quite a few forms to complete. (When my wife an I opened a bank account in 2001 - we deposited CYP 1.00 and that was it.)

You can pay electricity, telephone and Internet bills by standing order. But the local authorities send out paper bills for local town/municipality charges and water and you may be able to get these sent to your UK address or a family member living on the island.

Regards,

Re: General Purchasing in Cyprus

Posted: 26 Jan 2017 20:32
by Angela Haley
Hi NIgel thank you so much really helpful will be following all the info on the forum