How are you doing?

Last month when I wrote to you I mentioned my plans to go on holiday in Mexico. Thankfully, I had a fantastic time and returned back to the UK one week before the flu outbreak was announced. I consider myself very fortunate.

The holiday was absolutely fantastic – I relaxed, went to some ruins, enjoyed the night life and in the midst of all this I was able to attend my friends amazing wedding. It was incredible – there were 36 of us all in a gazebo on the beach. Weddings abroad are so romantic!

Enough about me. Right – a MAJOR court ruling came out this week from the European Court of Justice (ECJ) and it’s a huge blow to English expats living in the northern part of Cyprus. The ECJ ruling has ordered British expat couple David and Linda Orams to demolish a house they had built on the Lapithos property of Greek Cypriot refugee Meletis Apostolides.

Anyone that owns a property in the North that was originally owned by a Greek Cypriot (prior to the war) may be facing a similar fate. This case will also have huge ramifications on the peace talks.

If you’ve ever called me or spoken to one of my associates about the North we’ve always stressed the huge risks involved…

A couple years ago one of my friends – originally from Famagusta (in the North), said that his mother went back to their home to see what state it was in. My friend and his family had to flee the North leaving everything behind in 1974. When his mum crossed the boarder and found her house, she noticed it was occupied. She knocked on the door and ask the ‘owner’ how he purchased the house. The ‘owner’ went and collected Title Deeds to show my friends mum… She took one look at them and said, ‘these must be fake - we own this house.’

This ruling may eventually lead to the right for all Greek Cypriots to take back their illegally occupied homes. It’s important to note that this whole issue applies to anyone that buys land too. I cannot stress this more highly – I know that buying in the North is cheap…but there’s a huge risk.

By the way…I think it’s important for me to mention that buying a property in the Republic of Cyprus (South) does not have the same issues. All property/land that was owned by Turkish Cypriots before the war has been maintained by the government and has never been sold onto a third party.

Okay – if you want to find out more, most of the UK newspapers are covering the story (Cherie Blair is the solicitor for the Orams!) Also – you can do a search on the Internet. I've managed to upload a scanned in article from the Daily Mail April 29th. I think the file might be a wee bit large, but it's the best I can do!

Before I sign off and let you get on with the rest of the newsletter, I want to give you access to an article what has been produced by the CBG. The article is all about funerals in Cyprus and is being published by most publications in Cyprus as a 5-part series. I know it’s a morbid subject, but it’s super important for you to understand what happens if a loved one passes on… Our discoveries were no less then shocking! Any way – to get the article, click this link:

http://www.cyprus-buying-guide.com/downloads/FuneralsInCyprus.pdf

If you have any problems getting it, give me a ring and I’ll print a copy out for you and put in the post – 0207 898 0549. Also, my co-worker Kate is always in the Office - she has a family property in Cyprus and is very knowledgable (She is also one of the nicest girls I know!)...Give her a ring any time - Kate loves talking about Cyprus - call 0207 898 0549.

Big love,

Kim

Cyprus Buying Guide
The Overseas Guides Company
Kim@CyprusBuyingGuide.com

Tiffany Mall by Jackie Nicholls

This has probably been one of Limassol’s best kept secrets – until last week, when the announcement was made that a new 150 store retail shopping mall opens to the public on 30 May. Strangely enough, most people in Paphos weren’t aware this mall was even being built! But now we are all really looking forward to the doors opening.

As the largest retail centre on this side of the island, Tiffany Mall will boast 150 exciting and popular retail outlets, with a number of new stores opening in Cyprus for the first time. Built at a cost close to €100m and creating 1,000 new jobs, this is a welcome investment for the Cyprus economy.

In what is deemed to become a major tourist attraction, the mall will house 17 restaurants, banking facilities, a pharmacy and bakers as well as the 150 retail stores. But probably the most exciting attraction of all is an ice skating rink! Add to this a kids-land video games arcade and parking for 1,600 vehicles and it certainly looks like being an amazing day out.

The building itself is very modern in design and has a huge, translucent skylight throughout the mall concourse ensuring plenty of natural light even on a cloudy day. It promises not to disappoint!

Where is it? Located in the Zakaki area, next to the port and just 10 minutes away from the centre of Limassol.

The countdown to opening has commenced – we can’t wait!

And if you want to join us on the island, please call me up for a chat: 0207 898 0549. I really have sourced the most wonderful property professionals who will be of enormous help to you – they have found a number of Cyprus Buying Guide readers the homes of their dreams…

Or fill in the form at:

http://www.CyprusBuyingGuide.com/requirementsform.htm

and I will give you a call to discuss your requirements

Is sterling out of the woods yet?

by Smart Currency’s Charles Purdy.

Is sterling out of the woods yet? A fair question given what we have been through and the vast amounts that have been thrown by our government at the banks and the economy in a desperate attempt to stave off a depression.

My response tends to be conditional. I think most people would agree that sterling is too low against the euro and, even though we may never return to a rate of over €1.50/£1, most consider a rate of €1.20+/£1 feasible.

So what is stopping us getting to this rate? Uncertainty on two fronts. Firstly, we need to see a period of financial stability and a period in which we can see the world economies moving forward not backwards. This is a matter of time and is likely to be measured in months and perhaps even years. Also we need to be sure that the UK does not need to go to the IMF cap in hand for a bailout, given the huge debts and problems we have. Timescales for this scenario are shorter but if it happens then sterling will lose value very quickly and we may look at the current value of sterling as the halcyon days when £1 was worth more than €1.

That is why I always ask clients to have a clear and realistic exchange rate in mind when they are looking to buy currency. Because trying to guess what is going to happen tends to be a fools game with exchange rates doing the exact opposite of what you hope or expect. When this happens great uncertainty arises, leading to increased stress levels as you need to find further money or have less than you expected. Not a great outcome and something that could be avoided or at least minimised by have a partner such as ourselves working with you.

If you haven’t had a chance to discuss in detail what the alternatives are for your currency concerns then please give us a ring and we will be happy to talk about your possible options. To get a Better-than-Bank rate go to: http://www.smartCurrencyExchange.com/smartsquotation.htm
or call on 08081 630 102 freephone.

To read the latest on Serling and the Euro go to: http://www.CyprusBuyingGuide.com/Currency300409.htm

A wonderful property for you

Price: € 260,000

This is a lovely 4 bedroomed villa with private pool and garden, close to local amenities.

If you would like to know more, please phone me at 0207 898 0549 or fill in the form at:

http://www.CyprusBuyingGuide.com/requirementsform.htm

Holiday Lettings by Carol Dunning

I talked about holidaylettings.co.uk last month, suggesting that you access their website about properties abroad in Cyprus and that you ‘try before you buy’.

I had tremendous response, either from people who had rented properties through the website or from people who had properties abroad that they were advertising to let through them. Without exception they were all thrilled with the service they received – in fact, just a glance at their testimonials page will bear me out here.

It occurred to me that this really is the perfect site to advertise your property abroad if you have decided to rent it out. Suffice it to say that holidaylettings.co.uk was ranked in the top 10 of the most visited property websites throughout 2008, ahead of all other UK holiday home letting sites, by Hitwise, the leading online intelligence service.

I went into the website myself and I must say that I found the whole process very professional and easy to set up. Once you log in to place an advert and give your contact details, you are led through the whole process with questions such as property location, how to get there, transport links etc. You then go on to describe the property in your own words.

Once complete, this application then goes through to their Activation Team for payment. What I like is that they also check on whether the property meets the company’s criteria plus that the advert is both grammatically correct and that the content is sufficiently appealing. They do have certain minimum standards which ensure the best performance for not only your individual advert but also the site as a whole. If necessary they will revert to you with suggestions on how to make the advert even more attractive to prospective clients and will suggest anything that needs to be included in order to have the most appeal. Should you doubt your descriptive skills, a member of our Customer Service Team can even set up your advert for a £20 + VAT fee.

The home description is an important part of your advert and is designed to provide an introduction as well as inspire those reading it to pick your property. It should provide a broad and inviting overview of the kind of holiday potential guests could expect to have if they came to stay at your property, without going into too much detail about specific facilities - these can be mentioned later on.

Pictures are the most important aspect of your advert. They are often the first thing people look at and are therefore crucial to forming first impressions of your home. Enticing photos will encourage people to look further into the photo gallery and the rest of your advert; having good photos will help maximise the rental potential for your property and help boost the number of people that view your advert.

Their offering includes the Classic Advert and the more expensive but more comprehensive Premium Advert. There are also many additional extra services available, including Advert access 24/7, Lettings advice, Photo enhancements and Inputting service. Additional marketing services include Spotlights, Late deals, Early bargains and Additional adverts.

Once activated, booking enquiries sent via your advert go straight to you directly and holidaylettings.co.uk can even set up free SMS text messages to ensure you don't miss out on that all important booking – how brilliant is that?!

On holidaylettings.co.uk you really can show off your holiday rentals to their full potential, giving you exposure to more than 2 million holidaymakers visiting the website every month. How do they reach such a large audience? Well, they advertise in over 28 magazines and newspapers monthly, reaching more than 16 million readers. They are also proactive in their marketing and their latest New Year campaign reached millions of people travelling on the London Underground and in cabs around London. They achieve top search engine rankings and invest heavily in online marketing to ensure the highest levels of holidaymaker traffic to the site.

There are really just too many advantages to list here: for instance, to see if your property is appropriately priced you can take a look at other similar properties on the site to see that you are not overcharging. You can also refer to their pricing advice page. You can check on how your advert is performing by clicking on the view enquiries section of your home management page. From here you can see the number of hits (visits to your page) you have had over the past 30 days and the number of enquiries you have had over the course of a year. The advantages are endless. It really is a well thought out and intensely helpful website that should maximise the number of people looking to rent your property.

One of my associates has managed to get a very special deal for Guide Readers on the holidaylettings.co.uk website. If you enter the following promotional code you can get 15 months of advertising (of your property) for the price of 12 months – Code: 45749. Or, just go to: Holiday Lettings – the code will appear automatically.

Cyprus Holiday Property - Starting at Only £150/week

Jared and Sharon Wright, members of the Cyprus buying Guide community, had visited Cyprus frequently over the years. They had dreamed of buying a home on Cyprus for some time – and finally decided to do something about it. “We pretty much started this fully expecting that it would never happen and we would fall at the first hurdle,” says Jared. “but, two months after putting in our offer, and with the help of the Cyprus Buying Guide and Smart Currency Exchange, we had a deposit sorted plus a solicitor and a bank account - and had chosen that all important apartment!”

The property is part of a boutique project of only 12 apartments in the heart of Kato Paphos. Everything you need is within walking distance – and yet so secluded that you wake to hear the birds singing. The swimming pool dominates the communal courtyard with private balconies and patios enjoying the pool outlook – it sounds irresistible doesn’t it?

Jared and Sharon are now letting out the property – and who better to visit it than their fellow Cyprus Buying Guide readers? This lovely two bed-roomed apartment starts from as low as £150 per week – for more information contact Jared on: Jared72@live.co.uk or have a look at his website at:

http://sites.google.com/site/apartmentincyprus/Home

The Cyprus Property Buying Guide

Today, when times are tough financially, it’s even more important to be on your guard and to really research what you are doing, how you are doing it, and who you are using along your overseas property journey to help you to achieve your dreams.

There are many people out there who will bend over backwards to help you and to ensure that things go well for you. However, human nature being what it is, there are also those who will be looking after their own interests with little or no regards for yours, so I would urge you to take care.

The Cyprus Buying Guide outlines the whole property purchase process simply and clearly, pointing out all the do’s and don’ts and all the pitfalls that can await the unwary. It is so easy, in the heat of the moment, to let your heart rule your head – but forewarned is forearmed and, with the Guide by your side, you will have all the information you need to ensure a successful purchase.

What I have found is that normally sensible, lucid people take risks abroad that they would not dream of taking if buying property in the UK. Not retaining their own lawyer but using the vendor’s is a classic example, and the one that I hear the most harrowing and tragic tales about.

Let me say no more: I leave it to the Guide’s readers to do the talking! To get your copy of the Guide, go to:

http://www.CyprusBuyingGuide.com/Guide.htm

Dear Kim
I just received notification that my house in Peyia Cyprus, has completed its contract transfers this afternoon. So I can't thank you enough for your encouragement & helpful tips.

I’ve had a recommendation prepared for a while & passed on your site & forum information to several interested friends over the past months, so please feel free to add to your list of fans.

Having found Kim's forum, subscribing to her free newsletters & purchasing the Overseas Buying Guide to purchasing property in Cyprus, it was amazingly easy using the tips & suggestions, to define my requirements & establish my strategy for what I really wanted.

Then once introduced to Kim's network of friendly helpful associates, everything fell into place, despite some very attractive, but potentially risky alternatives which I could have easily tempted into, had I not had a plan to keep me on track & knowledgeable friends to draw advice from.

I have now successfully purchased a unique property, which I believe I will enjoy during my future retirement in a friendly & more attractive climate than the UK.

Thanks again Kim to you, & all your kind associates & their unique way of working.

Best regards
Brian Dorey

Goodbye for now

Finally, a bit of an object lesson to end with. Moving to Cyprus is a life-long dream for most of us, but how do you cope with the inevitable changes you will experience? The answer is slowly, slowly, slowly!

Here are a few examples from my colleague Jackie, who lives on the island:

“The other day I went to the brand new Paphos Post Office. There were several counters but only one cashier was operating. The queue was out the door and the cashier just carried on chatting away to whoever she was serving, not taking any notice of the number of people waiting. I watched the reactions. The Cypriots just started talking to each other, a few raised their hands, but generally they just passed the time chatting. An ex-pat in the queue became very annoyed and told the Manager to open another counter. The reply was that he couldn’t because he had no more stamps! With this, the ex-pat stalked out, grumbling bitterly.

Now here’s a tip. He will be remembered, and when he wants some help at the Post Office, he’ll find it difficult to get. Cypriots have memories like elephants! Although I waited for almost 15 minutes to get served, when I reached the counter, I was cheerfully greeted, the cashier asked me how I was, and we had a little chat. I learnt very early on you need to adapt, and loosing your temper gets you absolutely nowhere in Cyprus!

The supermarkets are another place where tempers can rise. One of the most common problems is that not all goods are priced. And some are priced incorrectly. And sometimes the card machines take forever to process a transaction. But no-one worries about it. Shoulders are shrugged, and life carries on. The feeling is why worry about it and cause yourself stress? It’ll happen in the end….. and that’s the way of life in Cyprus.

Most people leave the UK for a slower pace of life but then find it difficult to slow down and adapt to a change of culture. Well, you have to here, there’s no choice! Things don’t happen quickly - it’s as simple as that.

But who’s better off? We on Cyprus are of course. Stress on this island barely exists, and it’s all due to the slower pace of life and the relaxed attitude.

Despite a few frustrations, I know where I’d rather be - there’s no contest! Hoping to see you here in Cyprus before too long!”

And I’m sure we all agree with Jackie! Please contact me if you need any assistance at all…this is just the time to look for your dream home on Cyprus. See you next month.

Kind regards,

Kim
Cyprus Buying Guide
The Overseas Guides Company Limited.
mailto:Kim@CyprusBuyingGuide.com