i would like to by property in Cyprus or Greece islands how can i do it?

Question

first of all, i would like to thank everyone who answered to my question about by property abroad.
i was adviced, that i have to give more information and will be more specific to get better answers.
I would like to by property in Cyprus or Greece islands. please help me how it is better to do?do i have to look for the agent?where i can take a mortgage in UK or in that country, where i would like to by property?how to do all paper work?is this ussually agent responsibility or i should find a solicitor?how do i know that this agent is not fake?Maybe someone already bouth property in this countries and can explain me step by step?!
thank you in advance.
thank you in advance

Answer 1

First of all, you choose where you want to buy, and try to think what you want to buy (a new house, an old house, a piece of land, etc.). Then you should visit the plaace and look around and ask around, to find exactly what you want. You can ask a local real estate agent, and they can look for something to match your criteria and let you know. But they are not responsible to check the papers etc. of the property. Many of them are not very honest either. So what you need to do as soon as you find something you like, before paying anything, is find a trustworthy lawyer who will be responsible to check all the contracts and deeds of the property, and let you know if it is clear, not mortgaged, if you can build on it, etc. Once the lawyer has checked everything, the rest is easy, you go to a notary with the lawyer and the seller and you make the contracts. If you want to find a trustworthy lawyer and notary in Greece feel free to contact me, I have many friends. But you need to have found the property you are interested to buy first. Also, if you are interested in buying an old house and restoring it, do contact me, because that is what I do (conservation of historic buildings). Good luck.

Oh yes, make sure you don't buy sth. in the occupied Northern Cyprus, deeds etc. there are very complicated, plus it is not a recognised state nor part of the EU, so you'll be in trouble.

Answer 2

Alan gave some good info about Cyprus. I am from North Cyprus. What he said is mostly true, though you might not get into trouble so easily and not in all cases. But you have to be careful about the people who sell it. Namely the agents and contractors. However, prices are relatively low in the north.
A newly built 3-4 b.room villa in the south may cost up to 3-4 hundred thousand UK pounds, while in the north it will be around 100-150 thousand pounds. And that with a sound legal title deed. Check on the internet. Contact some expats in Cyprus. You will find a lot of honest real estate agents and builders. Check the plans of the building, the foundation etc.

Answer 3

The only bit of advice that I will give you when buying a property abroad is make sure that you can take the money back out of the country if you need to. Some countries welcome you buying there but then if you needed to sell the property for some reason in the future, they have very strict laws about the amount of money you can take out of the country so you may be stuck with a load of wonga to which you have no real access.

Secondly, check, check and then check again who the current legal owners are of the property before you buy. The laws on succession/inheritance are very different abroad. It may well be the case that the property is owned by the government, the church or hundreds of descendants of the original owner, in which case there will be grave difficulties in finding out who they all are and getting their permission to buy the house. You don't want a herd of people turning up in a couple of years' time claiming to be the rightful owners.

That was two bits of advice, but oh well....

Answer 4

I would be very careful buying a property in Cyprus as since the breakup of the island into Turkish and Greek zones there is a lot of problems with land ownership. There are 3 different types of deeds.

The best type is is the deed that predates the break up of the island into Greek and Turkish zones; if the land comes with this deed then it is being sold by the original owners.

The second type of deed is an land exchange type deed; this is a deed for people that owned land in the other zone that has been exchanged for land in this zone i.e. if the land was in the Turkish zone the Turk who is selling the land once owned land in the Greek zone and it has been swooped for Greek owned land in the Turkish zone. However there could still be problems with this land at a later date.

The last type of deed is for land that has been taken from a Greek or a Turk at the time of the break up and the original owners have not recived any payment for the land. This type of land is very dodgy indeed and should be shyed away from at all costs.

Answer 5

Be careful not to buy home in the turkish occupied part of Cyprus, because its property of Greeks, they might sue you.

Answer 6

Hello dear!
If you are serious and have the prompt capital, I can direct you to prompt agent!

Answer 7

try findaproperty.com they have properties all over the world