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A Place in the Sun.

We aren't the first and won't be the last; we went on holiday and unexpectedly ended up buying our own place in the sun! This is a personal diary of how it started. More will be added after each visit or as events unfold.

Background:

As travel writers and photographers, we feel very privileged to have travelled extensively and visited a good number of countries  Although we have always had the idea of a place in the sun in the back of our minds, only in recent years has it received any serious thought. Like countless others, we enjoy checking house prices in foreign parts if only to dream but it does provide a yardstick when you start to look more seriously at properties. Our travel background has given us some idea of the places where we might like to live.

The two chief reasons for buying abroad are for investment, for rental income and capital growth, or for a place to live either wholly or partially. Ours was the second reason, an escape into sunshine from the misery of our dismal English winters and a place where we can write in peace without too much interruption.

May 2007: a life-changing holiday.

Off we went to North Cyprus for nothing more than a holiday. Our first visit was in 1993 and we fell in love with the place then but somehow never managed a return visit until now. Things had changed but the rugged limestone mountains, the Crusader castles and the beaches were just as endearing. Most obvious change was the building in progress and the increase in the volume of traffic.

Although we went off to North Cyprus with no real intention of buying a property, I had sneaked a look at properties on the internet to get some idea of prices. What a delight! The prices are at least 10 years behind the rest of Europe. This was a huge attraction which really stimulated our search.

We stayed at Riverside Holiday Village at Alsancak and on our first visit to Kyrenia (known also by the Turkish name of Girne) we were soon looking in estate agents windows. Just for fun, of course, only for fun at this stage, we were inside picking up house and apartment leaflets to study back at base. 'Lets see what the properties are really like' I suggested to Eileen.  Above: Kyrenia harbour

Villa or Apartment?

Nobody seems to mind if you enter half-built properties to have a look around. Health and safety is not an issue yet! Inspecting an almost complete villa, we agreed the value was outstanding but, looking at the swimming pool in the garden, we realised a villa was not for us. Unless the plan is to live there permanently, a swimming pool represents a responsibility. It needs maintenance and there is a safety issue when absent, especially should there be children around. So we switched our attention to apartments. There was an excellent selection on offer at prices somewhere from £30,000 to £70,000, oddly enough, all the house prices are quoted in pounds sterling.

Where?

Driving back and forth along the coastal strip of North Cyprus, we quickly decided the areas where we might wish to live. For us it was west of Kyrenia. Lots of building is taking place in the east, especially with a new golf course opening, but there is a lack of supermarkets for the moment and bus connections are as yet poor. It all seemed very sterile. This will no doubt change as it becomes more populous. The west, especially with long established villages like Lapta and Alsancak, felt lived-in and more appealing. So the search concentrated. Right: the beautiful Bellapais Abbey

When?

By the time our second week arrived, we looked back with enjoyment on visiting places, especially bursting our lungs climbing up through the various levels in St Hilarion castle and admiring the spring display of flowers on the walls and rocks. Even so, we had managed to fit in a good deal of research and our ideas were firming up. There was never a feeling that we had to buy before we went home but it did happen. One leaflet we picked up from an estate agent was for a development of apartments near to where we were staying, in Alsancak. It looked good on paper and they knocked us out completely when we visited. There was a finished apartment to inspect. Everything we dreamed of was there before our eyes. A spacious (125sq m), three bedroom, one en-suite, large bathroom two balconies, good kitchen and excellent living area. They looked good too from the outside. Three floors high, two apartments side by side on each floor, and with a roof parapet to hide all the roof fittings, water tanks, solar panels etc. Outside was a large communal swimming pool and coffee bar. They instantly received a double vote of approval. An amazing price at just £55,000. Phase 1 left and below, now almost complete. The view here shows the large front balcony curving around from the front to the side and the side balcony off the third bedroom. The picture below shows the front with the central entrance. Although there are two apartments on each floor, they are separated by the stair well at the front and the service well at the back so the only common wall is the main bathroom.

Talk, talk, talk!

Now it all felt serious and we wanted to talk about it with anyone who would listen and what a valuable exercise it proved to be. In no time we were falling over others who had bought or were in the process of buying. Advice poured out by the bucket load and all of it good. Check the land title we were advised it might be Greek owned since there are many different types of land titles in North Cyprus. Run a mile if it is Greek owned! Make sure you get a good reliable builder who is not going to go bust on you. Get yourself a good solicitor. Make sure that electricity and water are connected to the site. There were many pieces of good advice too for later stages in the buying process. In these days of the internet, it is relatively easy to research whilst on holiday. A search on North Cyprus land titles soon gave us a basic understanding.

Falling into Place.

Suddenly everything started to fall into place and it is thanks largely to Riverside Holiday Village. It is a charming, family run complex which we found very relaxing and we loved their villas set in the lemon groves. A gin & tonic tastes so much better when you have gathered a fresh lemon leaning off the balcony! The family were very friendly and often on duty in reception. Asking their advice was the best thing we did. We know Kavanlar, the builder, he is good. Go there and talk directly, it is better than working through estate agents. They actually took us. We talked about the process of buying, obtained full specifications and a specimen contract. The chief architect agreed to meet us in the apartments to discuss building detail and we spent more than an hour talking in detail. Phase 1 of this Kavanlar development was all sold but a few apartments were available on the larger phase 2, more on phases 3 & 4. We favoured a south facing apartment on the second floor of block 9, looking at the hills from the front and with a view of the sea from the bedrooms. The sea is about 1km away. All the top floor 'penthouse' apartments were sold in every phase.

Which solicitor?

With only days to go, it was getting close to make-your-mind-up time! We still needed a solicitor. Here Riverside came to the rescue. Try Doratli, they said, he has done work for us and it not connected with the builder. Furthermore he was born and trained in London. Visiting his office near the Law Courts, he agreed in the first instance to do a land search and have that ready for us by Monday, our last day!

A weekend of doubt.

Do we, don't we, I think we spent all weekend suffering wild mood swings. One minute we were basking in the prospects of life in the sun and the next were gloomily contemplating all that might go wrong. Buying a house, even in your own country, can be fraught with difficulties but the hurdles seem bigger and more uncertain away from home. At the end of the day it is buyer beware. You have to decide whether you are prepared to put the effort in to studying local laws and requirements to protect your own interests. Several visits to the apartments took place that weekend and we met another English couple there, mother and daughter, in the same boat as ourselves and at the same stage. The apartment we had chosen was just a concrete shell but we were able to stand inside and absorb the view of the world around us. Middle floor, left, is our place which we were able to wander around at will without hard hats! This shows the side view, front to the left facing towards the pool and the mountains. The rear looks through phase 1 towards the sea.

Monday mourning?

We went into our meeting with the solicitor around 95% certain we were going to buy provided he had no nasty shocks in store. He had completed the land searches and established that they were 'exchange' titles. This is where previously Greek owned land has been exchanged for Turkish owned land in the south according to the UN Annan plan for Cyprus settlement. This is totally legal and safe, we were assured.  So far so good.

The contract existed only in English. There was no Turkish equivalent so nothing hidden in translation. All the clauses were written in clear English without too much legalese. The contract included stage payments, for completion of the concrete work, the brick work, plastering, floor tiling, doors & windows with the final payment on completion after inspection. The solicitor's fee is a fixed fee £1,000, payable immediately. We agreed to buy.

Champagne moment!

We signed the contract and not without trepidation!. Kavanlar himself came into the solicitors office to sign for the builder. Our chosen apartment was agreed with a tentative completion date for the end of 2007. The decision made, the deed done and suddenly all thoughts turn to the future. We have the freedom to choose our floor and wall tiles and kitchen fittings but all that can be sorted out on our next visit.

If anybody wishes to follow in our footsteps and would like advice, do email us. We are pleased that we are dealing directly with the builder and glad there is no estate agent acting as a third party. As we explain in the later episodes of this diary, we have had the opportunity to go with the builder and show exactly where we would like extra power sockets and we have his ear for any changes we want to make. He also very kindly sent us pictures by email as the site developed. Maybe with another builder an estate agent might be preferable, we haven't the experience to comment in general terms.

We can recommend our builder, Kavanlar,  at least up to now! He takes a pride in his designs, in the appearance of the properties he  builds, whether villas or apartments, and is constantly seeking improvements in his fittings. The architect, for example, will allow air conditioning units only on the back wall  of our apartments, not  the sides because they look unsightly. There is even some environmental awareness since the waste water from the site is recycled to irrigate the garden areas. He gives good value for money.

Read now the next page of this diary following our September visit (parts 2 & 2a)

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