Whilst in the long term it is better to own your own property rather than pay "dead" money on rent, I would recommend that you rent for the first 6 months.
You will get to know the area you are living in and will be able to decide if it's the right area for you. At the same time you can get to know other people and other locations/villages etc and you may find a better place! We know many people who wish they had rented before buying as they are now stuck in a location they would rather not be.
EG if you move to a rural village in the hills above Paphos, you may find it too cold in the winter. On the other hand you may find living on the coast too hot in summer.
The resale market is notoriously slow here as there are so many new properties available to buy so if you do end up buying somewhere it may take several years to sell your property unless you are willing to sell it at a loss.
Aug 15, 2009
moving to cyprus by: maureen
Hi Helen, We are thinking of moving to Cyprus,We have been told its better to rent than buy. Because if we want to sell the property we will have to wait a very long time for our money. We are both retired, and we would rather buy, as they money we pay out each month on the rent is just dead money, and we do not a income coming in every week, and it would be eating into our saving.
Oct 24, 2008
Title Deeds in Cyprus by: Helen
Hi Michelle
Title Deeds themselves do not cost much, just a few hundred euros for the actual deeds. But you may find you have to pay a lawyer a reasonable amount to process the transfer of the deeds. Most lawyers charge upwards of ? 2000 euros for property transactions though this can be lower depending on the value of the property purchase. The biggest amount to pay apart from lawyer fees is your property transfer tax which is between 3% and 8% of the property value (3% up to £50,000 and 8% above £100,000)
Be careful if buying a resale property on a development eg block of apartments,as in many cases the title deeds are still held by the developer (none are released until the entire development is completed). You may be asked to pay a high fee to a lawyer just to process the transfer of the title deeds once they become available.
Best advice is to get a good lawyer - contact us if you would like a recommendation for our own lawyer - charges were very fair.
