Buying Property in North Cyprus and The Power of TV
You can’t turn on UK tv these days without having a choice of at least two property makeover/renovate/make a fortune programmes on at any one time. The Channel 4 programme “Selling Houses Abroad” which featured the perils of buying off-plan in North Cyprus, was just another in many ways.
I’ve watched enough of these to know that for every tatty property that’s polished and strewn with scatter cushions and sold by smiling participants, there are another three for whom the whole process of investing in property went totally pear-shaped. In the light of some of the ‘doom and gloom’ examples, the North Cyprus edition of “Selling Houses Abroad” was reasonably realistic!
Let’s note the title here, “Selling Houses Abroad”. Not buying, but selling. Quote: “In this popular series property expert Andrew Winter goes on an international rescue mission across Europe to help Brits who are having major problems selling their foreign properties.” It’s about people who want to get out of their current property deals, often because they made such a hash of the buying in the first place! They don’t bill it as a ‘rescue mission’ for nothing!
In the series, we’ve seen Hungarian skiing resorts with electrics so bad they fall out of the wall, a developer sold land in Croatia by someone who didn’t own it, and, worse of all, the poor people who have bought elegant apartments in Marbella, Spain. They really are in deep trouble, as the whole town planning department has been arrested for corruption. Now it transpires that these spanking new apartments have no residential licences. Whole developments sit empty, because it is illegal to live there, and might even have to be demolished. And all this in one of the most expensive and established resorts in Spain.
So, the message is loud and clear; “Caveat emptor – buyer beware”, and just as importantly, “Seller beware”. Anyone who invests in property ANYWHERE without doing proper research is likely to come unstuck. That’s why I love forums such as the one here at Cyprus44: you get real life stories from real buyers, not the ‘edit for effect’ pictures of tv programmes.
Sultanman said: “Programmes like that either show the extremes of good or bad in what they are covering. There will always be problems with house purchase whatever country you are buying in … My experience so far with our purchase in N Cyprus hasn't been as straightforward as initially thought, but on the whole, with help and advice from all parties, (it) has been a rewarding experience.”
Keen Buyer said: “I think if a lot of research is done as to which estate agents are the best, which lawyer, what type of deeds etc. then I don't think the risk is any greater than any other emerging country, i.e problems in Croatia, Montenegro etc, even in Spain.”
Why not join in the debate at the Cyprus44 forum:
http://www.cyprus44.com/forums/show-message.asp?messageID=180
posted by Kathy at 22:28
1 Comments:
Involving the British
By Fanos Droushiotis
Te Greek Cypriots insist in electing mayors for cities which are not under their control. Fine. It is up to them to elect mayors for Siberia if they wish. What I don’t understand however is the fact that whenever they want to make a petition for something, they do it towards the British, as if the British are still here or as if Cyprus is still a British Colony!
It was reported that the “Mayor” of Morphou, today called Guzelyurt, Charalambos Pittas accused the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus of bringing settlers to the town, in an effort to reap political gains.
Speaking at the Greek Cypriot Parliamentary Committee for Refugees, Pittas said that the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is using tricks and blackmail techniques, allocating land and properties not only to Turkish Cypriots but also settlers from Turkey, in order to prevent the return of the town to its citizens in case of a settlement of the long standing political problem of the island.
Pittas further said that the municipality has launched a campaign to prevent this development with contacts with British MPs who will raise the issue at the British parliament and government.
It really makes me wonder if Mr Pittas has realized that the British have left the island in 1960 and that since 1974, the residents of Morphou have been lead by their own leaders, one way or another, to leave from the town because of their own leaders manipulations.
Applying to the British for what? Are they going to react to anything? Have they ever reacted to anything? And why did they not react to anything? I am referring to the complaint that the Greek Cypriots always expressed against the British for not interfering in the Cyprus Issue in 1974 as a Guarantor Power based on the Zurich London Agreements of 1960 as Turkey did. But the Greek Cypriots insist in making petitions to the …British when it comes to searching for “Judges” regarding any political matter that puzzles the island!
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