Cyprus Property Forum for Buyers, Sellers & Investors

moving on from the build costs question posed earlier....we own a plot and have the title deed. Thinking is for a 3/4 bed detached villa. I have around half the estimate build costs available and would need to borrow the remainder.

Getting the land and planning permission was relatively easy. A few questions:

- Should we proceed with building a villa or buy a re-sale and flog the land as it is to help fund a re-sale?
- Is is still possible to borrow money in Cyprus?
- This is for leisure and we will continue to live in the UK. What would you do?

Cheers,

Terry

Hi Terry,

The option of least risk is to sell the land and buy a resale property that has already been issued with a Title Deed.

Regards,

Hi Terry,

infact what you are asking is a personal question. Building your own, custom villa does not compare with a resale and really only you can decide which route you should take. I will however point out a few things.

If you only have half the money then it would be fair to say, that you may not have enough for a resale either. But this depends on what you call half. A 3/4 bed cutom villa could easily be in the 00's of 000's of euros, but we don't know any figures.
Assuming you go for the resale, if you don't have enough money, you may need to borrow anyway.
Fine to sell the land, but I can tell you land sales now are very few and far between iunless you are literally giving it away.
The question is how did you intend to finance this project anyway, even if you took a mortgage, you would need to make repayments. As these are quite personal things only you can know what to do. Whatever you do is going to be a risk, you just have to weigh up which one suits you best.

I doubt anyone can really give any real advice based on the limited info supplied.

Whatever, good luck.

Pan

T_erry wrote:Should we proceed with building a villa

If you do decide to build a villa, I strongly suggest that you remain in Cyprus while it is being built to monitor progress.

Regards,

Interesting....thank you for your comments.

We have decided that a buying a re-sale is not for us. Our principle reasons are that firstly we would be limited to what is available (obviously) and if we narrow that search to those that have title deeds then it reduces the available pool even further. Secondly I also have some specific wants that are highly unlikely to be incorporated into the design unless by accident. Finally, having stayed in many villas from Limassol to Paphos, I have generally been unimpressed with the finished product; damp is a recurring observation, lack of central heating provision (in the hills), poor wet room ventilation, lack of interior lighting innovation, kitchen design and fittings. I concede that many these points could be addressed through refurbishment and would form part of a sale negotiation.

With an estimated build cost of around Eu500k (the estimate has been through two QS's) we would need to borrow around Eu200k. I have a week in my diary for June to visit to discuss financing but have only made contact with one bank (Laiki). Any comments or advice on the financing side of this project?

BTW - Living in Cyprus during the build would not be possible.

Cheers,

Terry

What location are you considering building in?? As the land costs could vary dramatically.
Is your 500k just the construction costs?? or the toal cost??

As far as banks are concerned, I suggest you go in there with a plan. Some figures, give them some idea what you are trying to acheive. The may give you a mortgage but it will be paid in stages according to the architect/engineer stage completion certificates. The important thing in any lending is being able to prove the ability to repay the loan. You age will play a major role as here the mortage is upto the age of 70. (as we do not know how old you are :) ) your repayments will be based upon that.

Good luck.

T_erry wrote:Living in Cyprus during the build would not be possible.

Let me ask you a question. Would you have an extension put on your present home without being there to oversee the work?

Regards,

Firstly, the land is mine. I own the plot outright. I have the title deed. The plot is in Paphos.
Secondly, I would need to pay the mortgage back in 15 years since I'm 55. What rate could I get? I guess the main question on finance is; are the banks willing to lend? If they're not, they won't be banks for very much longer.

Nigel - probably not but I work in London and simply cannot stop working. There must be at least one architect that can be relied upon somewhere in Cyprus?

Cheers,

Terry

My personal opinion on this topic is that I would refuse building a villa at this time! It's difficult to get money and maybe you won't get back the same money as you've invested. I think buying a finished one would be a better idea and a better investment for a long term.

alba wrote: ↑13 Apr 2012 14:28 My personal opinion on this topic is that I would refuse building a villa at this time! It's difficult to get money and maybe you won't get back the same money as you've invested. I think buying a finished one would be a better idea and a better investment for a long term.

The key is not spending time but investing in it