Cyprus Property Forum for Buyers, Sellers & Investors

Hi, my name is Sue and am very glad I have found this forum. At present in the early stages of looking at Cyprus. Went out last year, stayed at Kissonerga, loved it, going again in August, Paphos area again - village called Kathikas this time, anyone know it?

Both Pete (my husband) and myself have carried out lots of research via reading, internet sites, agents, exhibitions etc and quite frankly would really like to buy but want to avoid any pitfalls. There seems to be so many do's and don'ts which makes it quite a frightening experience.

We were initially looking at an investment property in Mandria - Waterside development or the King Alexander development. Does anyone know of McLaren International properties, we have spoken with them about their investment properties and what returns we can expect on them. Reading your threads at the forum has made me think again. We wanted an investment property as we cannot go out to live for a couple of years yet and thought we could make some money - sell up when the time is right and buy somewhere to live. I would be interested to know what others think. Is this right or not.

I eagerly await any replies.

Regards

Sue x

Hi Sue (and Pete) and welcome to the forum.

McLaren International Properties cover a number of countries, including Cyprus - and I believe they have an office here.

Mandria is about 2km from Paphos airport, which is currently being redeveloped with a new terminal, access road and other facilities. There's also a new road planned that will run from the airport to Paphos along the coast (but they'll have to build a tunnel under the airport runway).

I'd be interested to know what ROI figures you've been quoted. Unless you buy something that really stands out from the zillions of other jet-to-let properties, the best you can expect is a 4% return (gross). Out of this you'll need to pay insurance, management charges, repairs & maintenance, utility bills, breakages, council tax, etc. And don't expect to rent it out for more than 14 weeks a year.

Another issue that you'll have when you come to live in the property is that you'll have no permanent neighbours - so making friends may be difficult - and partying tourists can be quite a nuisance.

A better investment strategy is to buy something in a residential area, where there's a constant demand for long-term rentals (one year or more) from businesses, etc. Although the weekly rate you get will be lower, overall your return will be higher because of the high occupancy rate.

And take a look at my 'Top 10 Property Investment Tips' in my property news magazine.

Regards,

Hi Sue

My wife and I recently purchased a re-sale property by all accounts much less possible problems as you can see what you are buying and all the snags hopefully sorted. Like you it will be a couple of years before we come out but we decided against buying in a tourist area then selling on to buy in a residential area. As you may know there are thousands of properties in tourist areas so could be a problem to sell at a decent price when the time comes. Instead we bought in a residential area from the outset and as Nigel suggested may go in for long term rental as opposed to short term holiday lets.

When buying to live in permanently we reasoned that the novelty of having a pool would soon wear off and there is a fair amount of maintainance work and costs this coupled with the water shortages (long term?) made our minds up ---no pool!. My advice is, if your circumstances allow, buy your long term dream property in a residential area near but not in the tourist area and let long term to defray some of your costs.

Best wishes, redhot

Buying in Kathikas. Lovely village up in the hills. Wonderful if you are fit and healthy and dont mind a reasonably long drive to the nearest big supermarket. We had friends who luckily rented there but they found it rather lonely in the winter and not much fun constantly driving into Peyia or Paphos if you have forgotten something for dinner and have guests coming.
You also have the winery and the restaurant. How long the winery will last is another question. So many are closing due to competition from French, Italian and South African cheaper and better imports. Also many wineries just simply cannot afford the upgrade they will have to make to the winery to meet EU regulations. We considered kathikas six years ago but rejected it and moved to Peyia where I can walk to get papers each day and a supermarket, restaurants and bakery. So glad I did now. Anyway thats our story for what it is worth. Finally please, please don't buy without title deeds you are only asking for trouble, hopefuly you have already found that out on this and other sites.

Good luck,

Clive