to buy or to build?

[pee_kay]

Hi, new to this forum so thanks for any advice...

My wife and I would like to have a holiday home in Cyprus, probably in the Paphos / Limassol region
We're in no hurry to find the right property, and perhaps building our dream holiday villa is on the cards as well...

There are lots of villas and quite a few plots for sale, and our budget is around 500k euro

We're looking at the relative pros and cons for buy Vs build

PROS - Buying a property:
- Least hassle
- Usually no further building work in neighborhood

CONS - Buying a property:
- Variable build quality
- Decoration and design may not be to our taste

PROS - Building:
- Bespoke design, control over decoration and finishes
- Potentially cheaper / get more for same budget

CONS - Building:
- Potential nightmare with planners and developer
- Unexpected costs

So the questions I have are:
What is a typical build cost, per sq metre?
Have any of you done a self-build, would you do it again?
Is it possible to find honest developers / project managers?

I should mention that my family are from Cyprus and I speak Greek fluently
Thanks for any advice!!
PK

[Nigel Howarth]

Hello PK and welcome to the forum.

Take a look at my Free Guide to Cyprus Property - use the menu on the right to look at the pros and cons of each of the options you describe.

We had our house built to our design and requirements - very few hassles. We had an excellent architect and building contractor.

One tip if you do want to build to your own design - DO NOT use the person who sold you the land build your property.

Regards,

[pee_kay]

Thanks Nigel
Since we can't spend too much time away from the UK, a project manager is essential
The trouble is finding someone who is independent and trustworthy

The first step is to view some plots and re-sale villas initially, and we're doing that next month

Thanks once again!
PK

[Pantheman]

Thanks Nigel
Since we can't spend too much time away from the UK, a project manager is essential
The trouble is finding someone who is independent and trustworthy

The first step is to view some plots and re-sale villas initially, and we're doing that next month

Thanks once again!
PK

What area are you considerng?

[pee_kay]

Somewhere between paphos and Limassol ideally
PK

[andreasch]

Dear,

Hope my email reach you well.
In this post i will try to answer tour quenstions.
A typical cost to build a house is between 200 euro until to 320. However this amount can change is depend from your expectations. You can build cheaper or ever more expences.


If i had build a house by my seld... no i dont. However i am working at developer company that we build over 2000 properties the last 15 years, some of them is the more luxury properties in the east medeteranian. Our company can provide you with properties new one or resale in any price that you want .... we have got plenty of choice. Moreover we can provide you with plots in order to build your house as you want and we gonna take all the constractiions procedures with profesionals project managers....

Please if you want further infomations please contact me to the following details:
00357 99786603

Best Regards

[pee_kay]

Hi Andrea, thanks for your comments.

What we have in mind is a more tailored project.
We would like to source a plot, and use an independent set of contractors to carry out the phases of the build.
Ideally, we would prefer completely independent professionals - eg architect, builders, carpenters, plumbers etc.

As we're not in a hurry we can put the work out to tender and let the best bids emerge.

We will almost definitely need a project manager to organise all this - but as I said, we're not in a hurry and would rather get the right people. Payments can be made on a piecemeal basis upon satisfactory completion of work, or other arrangement.

We have already shortlisted 5 plots to take a look at when we visit later this month.
With thanks
PK

[andreasch]

Hi,

We can arrange a meeting in cyprus if you want to show you some of our plots. However as company we have a lot of projects at the moment and this give us the power to negotiate lowest prices from the suppliers so i believe the best that we can do is to arrange a meeting to discuss what exactly you are looking for and share some opinions about this subject

Best Regards

Andreas Christoodulou

[Pantheman]

A typical cost to build a house is between 200 euro until to 320.

I am guessing you mean 200,000 to 320,000 euro to build a house??

or you mean 200 - 320 euro /m2?? Because I find this very hard to believe.

[pee_kay]

I think he meant 200,000 to 320,000...
It's more useful to quote cost per square metre perhaps, since the overall size of the dwelling can vary dramatically.
My own research suggests a cost of 800 to 1500 per square metre, depending on the choice of materials and quality of finish
What do you think?

[Pantheman]

I think he meant 200,000 to 320,000...
It's more useful to quote cost per square metre perhaps, since the overall size of the dwelling can vary dramatically.
My own research suggests a cost of 800 to 1500 per square metre, depending on the choice of materials and quality of finish
What do you think?

€800 per m2 should be your minimum for s basic quality level property.
Of course the upper end is totally open to you and depends on taste and content.
At €1500 / m2 will give you a good quality build if you have the money to do it.
Here's a little tip, for your kitchen and batheroom sinks, taps and such like, buy the good quality, its worth the extra trust me. The water here will kill the cheaper taps for sure and as they are an everyday, all the time necesity you will be glad you done it.

[JohnI]

I'm building at the moment. We bought a piece of land close to Limassol 2 years ago and we should complete the project in another 6 months.

My advice is as follows:

Be VERY careful when buying land - so many pitfalls. Make sure the land has ONE owner listed on one title deed and it is not a 'merithion', or share of a bigger plot. If it is, then walk away. Make sure there is electricity and water on site or very nearby, as bringing electricity especially can be very costly. Make sure there is a registered road. If there isn't, then walk away. Note I say a REGISTERED road, not an actual physical road. We saw one piece of land where the owner had actually constructed an illegal but paved road along one side of his plot in order to trick people - when we checked with the Poleodomia we were told that this road did not exist. Make sure the land has a high enough co-efficient to allow you to build. if it is less than 15%, forget it. Finally, make sure the land is flat or relatively so. Avoid hillsides or sites that need a lot of excavation and clearance. Excavations are more costly than you could possibly imagine, and a lot of earth fill means retaining walls, which are also horribly expensive. We have a relatively flat plot and it still cost us over 10k to level it off. And our retaining walls did not come cheap either.

Find a good architect, he is the key to everything. We are using a guy in limassol who came recommended by friends, and we are very happy with him. His fees are reasonable, he is open minded and communicative, and he tries to save us money when and where possible.

When you design the house, make it as small as you can get away with. Despite the crisis building costs are still very high and contractors are trying to squeeze more money out of fewer clients, as is usually the case in Cyprus. We are building in the traditional way, with a concrete skeleton, but if I could do it again I would build a much smaller house, possibly a bungalow, and I would probably go for steel frame. Concrete is costly, messy and takes a long time to erect. Steel frame and OSB with an external skin of stone or brick is a good way to go. Or you can tie ytong block to steel frame in a number of ways that avoids cracking. We looked at timer houses/ SIPS as well, and while the company we visited was very good and professional we decided it wasn't for us. But I regret not looking closer at steel frame. Anyway what's done is done.

Allow around 10k for unexpected expenses such as water/ electricity connection, license fees, etc etc.

Choose your contractor wisely. Along with the architect and civil engineer, he is going to make or break you. Everyone we spoke to who had ever built in Cyprus was unhappy with their contractor, so we chose ours with a GREAT deal of care and deliberation (this is a long story - email me if you want the details). So far so good. He gave us a lot of flexibility to bring in our own subcontractors/ workmen and did not mind coordinating them for a small fee. It's saving us a heck of a lot of money - around 180k in total.

Cost-wise you should budget for 1000 Euro per square metre for something reasonable but not extravagant. This is just for the house, you need to budget any retaining walls/ outside works/ pool/ garden/ landscaping etc as extra. Remember, materials are cheap, it's the labour that is expensive.

Building a house is a massive commitment. Once you break ground, there is no turning back.

Am I glad we are doing it ? Yes, because we bought the land in cash and we sold another property to free up so money so we do not have to borrow a lot of money to build. But it is very stressful and costly and you should keep this in mind.

Any questions, feel free.

[Nigel Howarth]

Hi JohnI and welcome to the forum,

We purchased our plot of land in 1992 - an ikopedo (building plot) with 90% density - and went on to build in 2002 when we moved to Cyprus permanently.

Everything went fine - one or two minor niggles during the build, but our architect soon sorted them out. Like you, we went for a reinforced concrete structure with brick infill.

All went according to plan (and budget) and we're very happy with the result.

Cheers,

[JohnI]

Hi Nigel

That's great - So I guess I have to retract my statement, as I now know of one person happy with their contractor ! ;)

[Pantheman]

JohnI, welcome, thats an excellent post and well articulated.

My builder was also very excellent, infact all the tradesmen were AA standard, the only person who let us down was the aluminium man, and he was a very close family friend. Stay away from family and friends trades people, as you may find it hard to rollock them if the time comes and possibly even fall out.

Good luck.

Pan