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| Cyprus Buying Guide Newsletter |
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| How are you doing? Anything exciting going on? Well…I returned to the UK last Thursday and WOW was I in for a temperature shock. In Cyprus I was accustomed to 35 degrees during the day and wonderful warm, balmy evenings. Upon my return to London, I instantly felt a shiver and wanted to jump back on the plane. My trip was excellent – I had around five to eight meetings per day and was able to see many Cyprus Buying Guide readers, tonnes of agents, developers, and solicitors…and a few Smart Currency clients. I enjoyed a couple meze’s, many salads and dined at a couple restaurants for the first time. Over the weekend, I went cliff jumping at Cape Greco, rode the banana boat in front of Protaras beach, played 18 holes of mini golf and devoured a fantastic meal at my favourite Japanese in Ayia Napa. Other than that, I went for a nice Harley Davidson ride with my buddy Lionel and visited with many other friends. I started out in Famagusta and then spent time in Larnaca, Limassol…a bit of time in Paphos and for my very first time, I stayed three nights in Pissouri. The highlight of my entire trip was the Cypriot/Greek night in Pissouri village. Oh-my-gosh…it was so awesome. Martin – the new Smart Currency Cyprus representative - booked a table for me, Lionel, and two other couples. If you haven’t been to Pissouri, I cannot recommend this evening enough. Three or four tavernas line the village ‘high street’ and all of them participate. The streets are filled with tables and it’s quite an old village so you really feel like you’re immersed in the Cypriot culture. During the evening, there is Greek and modern music, dancers, audience participation AND there is a crazy dude that balances glasses and other items on his head. I am not kidding when I say this – the Cypriot glass balancer had 8 glasses of water, two water jugs, a tray of 9 champagne flutes and then a beer bottle on top of another beer bottle (held together with a cork). I’m really bummed as I did take pictures for you however I was a bit intoxicated and couldn’t stop my hand from shaking…The pictures came out too blurry. Shame! Anyway – this Cypriot/Greek night is every Wednesday from May to Mid-October, so next year, make plans to check it out! And if you need a place to stay – I stayed in a little 2-bed cottage right on the beach at Pissouri Bay. It was only £35/night… NOT BAD. On to other things…There were two big topics for discussion during my travels:
I’ll cover these in my main feature section below. Also, within this month’s newsletter, we have an article from Charles Purdy about getting your money to Cyprus along with the CYPound rate. We have information on ensuring your property is looked after when you’re not in Cyprus and some stuff on emigrating. As always, I hope you enjoy my newsletter and find it helpful. If there is anything I or my associates can help you with concerning your plans to buy in Cyprus, PLEASE CONTACT US! We’re here to help. To list some of the resources we have available…
Happy reading! Kim |
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The Cypriot £ to Euro Change OverOn January 1st 2008 the Cypriot Pound will no longer be an active currency in Cyprus. You will still be able to use the pound, however you’ll get Euros when getting change. The biggest issue that developers and agents mentioned to me is that clients were worried whether they need to send Cypriot Pounds or Euros for their staged payments. This issue need not concern anyone as there is no way a buyer can make a mistake. If you transfer money before the New Year, your currency exchange provider or bank will instruct you to send Cypriot Pounds. If you need to transfer money after the New Year and are buying it today (or in the near future), your currency specialist or bank will instruct you to buy Euros.. However…even if your bank fails to remember that the CY£ is changing to Euros and sends CY£ after January 1 2008 there is still NO ISSUE. Once the money gets to Cyprus it will be changed from CY£ to Euro at NO COST to you. For full details on the CY£ to Euro change over, check out the information from Smart Currency Exchange http://www.smartcurrencycyprus.com/Cypriot-Pound.htm During my many visits almost every developer, agent and solicitor commented that they’re seriously frustrated by the change in mortgage policy. In the past, buyers could pay a 20% deposit and then get a 80% mortgage from a Cyprus bank. Due to a recent change in bank policy, buyers are now offered a 60% mortgage and need to get a 40% deposit. On £100,000 this means the buyer needs to cough up £40,000 rather than £20,000. BIG DIFFERENCE! As you can imagine, this kind of change will force many would-be-investors to look anywhere other than Cyprus. Investors are interested in putting down the least amount of money for the greatest amount of return. Well…if you’re an investor, other areas of the world will now be much more attractive… This is what a solicitor told me:
My conclusion… Ask what the situation is before you buy! If you’re a first time buyer and plan on becoming a resident you can get an 80% mortgage. Otherwise, it seems to me that you’re going to have to find a 40% deposit! Inflation is to blame for this change in banking policy…Due to the fact that the Euro is coming in at the New Year, the bank can no longer play with interest rates. In order to stop the property building madness and outrageous increase in prices, they’ve altered the lending policy. One large developer told me that he was happy about the change…He said, ‘Kim, this change also affects the developers – they have to come up with a 40% deposit to buy the land. By requesting such a large amount, it will cause many of the small developers to pull out due to lack of money.” There is a presidential election in February and many people feel that the Bank cannot uphold this change in policy for very long. Who knows what the future holds… On a side note, many people buying in Cyprus simply re-mortgage their UK property, pull out the full amount needed and pay for the Cyprus property outright. This avoids any hassle, dealing with overseas lenders and worrying if everything is going to work out. I do have a very good contact that helps people buying in Cyprus – he helps with people that are emigrating and need to know about tax issues, pensions, mortgages and how to arrange finances. His name is Antony and he’s been able to assist many CBG readers. If you want to talk with him, send me your phone number and I’ll have him ring you. |
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Getting Your Money to Your Destinationby Smart Currency’s Charles Purdy.There are a lot of advantages to using a currency company such as Smart Currency Exchange; better rates, a one to one service, proactive management of currency requirements. The list goes on. But one of the major advantages sometimes overlooked is that as well as being experts in foreign currency Smart Currency Exchange are also experts in transferring money. This may not seem such a big deal but getting a transfer wrong can be a hugely time consuming and frustrating experience to rectify. The details required for transfers seem to vary from continent to continent and as such we, as a norm, have a clear understanding of what is required. If there is something unclear or lacking we would ask our client to clarify. Better to get it right the first time. Transfers of the Euro have become much easier with the advent of what is called the IBAN number. This number is unique for a specific bank account and it can be checked before sending the funds for validity. The only time I have experienced a problem was when a client’s lawyer gave him the wrong but valid IBAN number. Thankfully this was realised very soon after the transfer and we were able to correct with no loss of time. Time is also an important element when making a transfer. The whole banking system is based on a time period of two days for transfers. The reason for this seems to be one of logistics and coordination between the banks [or am I being naïve and it is really a way for them to make more money ?!! ]. This two day period still applies to most transfers but for the US$ and Euro we can now transfer with a same day value. Needless to say there is a cost, but we absorb it – no hidden charges at Smart! I hope the above is of help. It is the unglamorous side of the business but a key component in ensuring that our clients are properly serviced. And what is happening with the Currency Rates? Sterling lost a little bit of ground against most currencies last week – thus it was NOT a good week. There is no clear reason why this was the case and I think it was more likely a situation of better news elsewhere. The UK housing market seems to be slowing which will affect consumer confidence. We also wait for the Bank of England minutes which will, hopefully, give a clearer picture of how they view the economy, inflation and interest rates. I suppose we should be pleased that there have been no further “Northern Rocks” this week. The Cypriot £, which is pegged to the Euro, sits at an inter bank rate of Cy.£0.835/£1 and continues to benefit from strong economic data and not just from Germany. French and Italian industrial data has also been good. It has to be remembered that a lot of exports head east rather than west. The economies of India, Russia and China are all on the up and as such imports from Euro land are not, at this stage, being unduly influenced by what is happening to the US$/Euro exchange rate. The Cypriot £ is likely to have the upper hand for a while and seems like a good time to bring funds back. To get a Better-than-Bank
go to: http://www.smartCurrencyExchange.com/smartsquotation.htm
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The promised ‘Bits ‘n Bobs’ of your move to Cyprus – what to bear in mind BEFORE you leave and then what to do ONCE THERE!By Carol Dunning, The Overseas Guides Company It’s not so much that you aren’t going to remember to do everything, but what I found was that it took about ten times as long as I thought it would do to get it all done!! For me the thorniest issue when I moved from South Africa was winding up my tax. Not, sadly, that I had oodles of cash, but that the paperwork involved had a remorseless way of just rolling along and taking its own sweet time. Any attempt to hurry it was in vain…until I finally found the man of my dreams – a man who listened, acted and knew how to hurry those recalcitrant papers along as if they were being blown along by an extremely high wind!! I have said this time and time to my children (can you see me wagging my finger at them?!!) It is always worth going in person and being pleasant – at least initially…Sometimes, as time gets short, that has to change…But just bear in mind that everything seems to take longer than you expect it to. Another stumbling block: my furniture and other multitudinous pieces collected on various travels… There was no way in the world that I was going to leave my collection of hundreds of books, masks, ornaments and weird wooden statues of Burmese, African and Nepalese Gods behind – what would they do without me? So….in came a charming lady, ran a practised eye over all my possessions, quoted me a humungous figure for which I could probably have bought all the stuff twice over…And before you could say ‘knife’ it was all packed away, next to be seen at my new home far over the sea. Or so I thought. A phone call put paid to that. They had misquoted me, and I would either have to pay a whole bunch more money, or leave some of it behind. Reproachfully two coffee tables, three bookcases and a bed gazed woefully at me from the warehouse of the removal company as I abandoned them… Lesson? Make sure that your removal people are sure of their facts and/ or that you know what you want to leave and where it is packed if you too need to make this difficult decision and extract it. In the Worksheet section of the Cyprus Buying Guide there is one called ‘Your Emigration Reminder List’ and personally I think that if you only got this list for the price you pay for the guide it would be worth it. Well….yes, I did write the list myself….but seriously – this is the list that I compiled when I left my lifetime home to return to the land of my birth …and I still think that I thought of just about everything! It includes headings like:
To get the Cyprus Buying Guide that has the full emigration list amongst several other valuable resources, please read more here: http://www.CyprusBuyingGuide.com/guide.htm We at the Cyprus Buying Guides have sourced people who can help you with some of these, namely Independent Financial advisors, mortgage experts, legal advice….just go to the form at: http://www.cyprusbuyingguide.com/resources.htm You need all the
help you can get at a time like this – believe me, I know what
I am talking about here!! |
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How can I ensure my holiday home will be ok when I am not there?Ah, well here is where your good neighbours come in! Once you are established in your new home and community, you should be able to find someone local who will pop in occasionally. As far as the practicalities go, here is what a friend of mine does. She has her bills such as water, electricity and phone on direct debit with her local bank. She lets her friends know they are welcome to visit so, if she is away for longish periods, the time is broken by others using the house - only those friends that she trusts with her life she hastened to add!! Whenever she visits she has a huge spring clean, leaves windows open etc. and attends to anything that has gone wrong in her absence which of course, from time to time, it inevitably does! But there is of course nothing to beat a friendly neighbour keeping a watchful eye out for you. As my friend says, the best thing really is to have someone such as a neighbour or friend to look in on your house, perhaps take the post in, and generally keep an eye open from time to time. You will need someone to do a general tidy up if you have a garden, sweep the veranda if you have one and generally keep the place from looking utterly deserted in your absence. It’s all down to friendly relationships, and frankly I must say that for me that is the thing I love about Cyprus – the warmth and friendliness of the people and the open hearted way they welcome you to their country. Chances are you will not have to look too far for a friendly helping hand. I actually spoke to someone who had bought on a Greek island and he said that initially he had retained a managing agent but that his neighbours had said that they were not doing a good job. Upshot was that the neighbour took over the duties – without expecting to be paid!! Do you have any
suggestions? Why not post them on the Cyprus Buying Guide Forum? Http://www.CBG-Forum.com | ||
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Have an absolutely excellent day, week, month and I look forward to hearing from you. Big smiles,
Kim |
