is it safe to buiy in north cyprus

pazzarchi


Joined: 31/05/2010
Posts: 1

Message Posted:
10/06/2010 16:11

is it safe to buy in north cyprus with all these court cases going on.

high light with full details.



thank you forum.



pazz

Dusterbruce


Joined: 03/08/2007
Posts: 1125

Message Posted:
10/06/2010 16:22

safe to buy in north cyprus?



ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha !!!!!!!

robinhood


Joined: 06/05/2009
Posts: 71

Message Posted:
10/06/2010 16:28

ask your lawyer or friendly estate agent.....for imparcial advice

Tenakoutou



Joined: 27/07/2009
Posts: 4110

Message Posted:
10/06/2010 16:37

First, I suggest you Google 'Priest Off' - after you've watched that [U Tube], then Google 'Cyp Off'!!!

Carndi


Joined: 12/06/2009
Posts: 613

Message Posted:
10/06/2010 16:43

At the moment it would be best to rent for a year.

You will then be able to look around and get advice from the expats who live here and learn about ' permission to buy 'etc etc.

This advice applies to most countries at the moment. People are being swindled here,in the South, Spain etc

so it pays to be careful.

There are good estate agents and builders but the laws here make it easy for the cowboy builders and con men to operate.

Bob

jimmyG


Joined: 14/08/2008
Posts: 900

Message Posted:
10/06/2010 16:48

Pazzarchi -If you look for a good quality build resale with all services connected and a Kocan in the seller's name then you should be OK. There are plenty of horror stories you will find on here but there are many who've had few problems at all. Please don't be tempted to buy off plan. Research is key & good luck if you decide to go for your place in the sun.

nareik


Joined: 26/01/2009
Posts: 113

Message Posted:
10/06/2010 16:52

Now is not a good time to buy in North Cyprus. The whole system is against you, even the law. Look at some of the threads on the forum about builders, banks, estate agents, advocates (lawyers) and various court cases (Geoff and Mary) and auctions (Akfinans Bank).

The price may be right but the potential pitfalls are enormous and plentiful.

Until some of these major issues are resolved by the TRNC government, my advice is to exercise extreme caution.

Rental properties are numerous and excellent value - go down that route initially.

Dusterbruce


Joined: 03/08/2007
Posts: 1125

Message Posted:
10/06/2010 17:01

In my case, 4 years of sleepless nights, lies, lies and more lies from builder, lawyer and site management, an initial intended spend of around £35,000 which is now £60,000 and rising.



Oh yes I paid £400 extra to have the property registered so a charge could not be put on the development. That law prevents the builder putting a charge on it, but does not prevent anyone else.



OK I have an apartment, but cannot live in it because the mains electricity that was promised last August still has to materialise, and the stupid water system that was installed is controlled by electricity. No electricity equals no water. Living without these would be really going back to basics.

yorgozlu



Joined: 16/06/2009
Posts: 4437

Message Posted:
10/06/2010 17:03

You do your homework like everywhere else in the world and YES it is safe to buy anywhere let alone Cyprus.

However,in respect of allowing yourself some time to live here,I also agree with msg 7.Then again,thats no diffrent then moving anywhere else in the world.

But,if the intention is to start slagging off TRNC yet again,I could do the same about UK,I had lived there long enough after all,and beleive me it is not all rosei there either.

Have a nice day.

StGeorgeI


Joined: 27/08/2009
Posts: 973

Message Posted:
10/06/2010 17:07

If you do your homework it's a great time to buy. You can get a resale property, all taxes paid and deeds in owners name, for less then the builders can build them off-plan!!



Or you can rent and throw your money away!!



GOOD LUCK,

G

Blackpoolfan


Joined: 03/12/2008
Posts: 1568

Message Posted:
10/06/2010 17:19

Caveat Emptor !!! A lovely place to holiday though and the locals are amongst the friendliest and most sincere i have ever met.

The government needs to remove the blinkers, get their fingers from up their ass and start implementing some laws to protect honest hard working people who invest their money into the economy from being screwed by the crooks sorry builders etc who inhabit the island

malsancak


Joined: 23/08/2009
Posts: 2874

Message Posted:
10/06/2010 17:20

it's safe to buy here as long as you follow the unusual UK practice of not paying for something until you own it.

walkerscott


Joined: 13/08/2009
Posts: 901

Message Posted:
10/06/2010 17:25

It all depends on your perspective.



If you can't afford to lose any hard earned life savings / assets and don't want any stress then stick purely to the proven pre-74 title deeded properties ...



If you can afford to take risks and don't give a toss about stress related property and political issues then go for re-sales with deeds, clear of any encumberances, which have water and electrical connections.



Never buy off plan. Only buy from developers who will guarantee 100% build quality, not only against their incorporated company but also against their personal assets anywhere in the world! I think you'd find it difficult to find any confident enough to give you such a guarantee



Be cautious but don't be put off and don't pay for over priced properties; make sure you have a recognised surveyor and valuer on your side.

malsancak


Joined: 23/08/2009
Posts: 2874

Message Posted:
10/06/2010 18:34

out of interest walkerscott, do you have your kocan?

Bradus


Joined: 25/02/2007
Posts: 2641

Message Posted:
10/06/2010 19:32

Do you also not follow the advice of HBPG and lots of other forum members, that foreigners will not get PTP on pre74

walkerscott


Joined: 13/08/2009
Posts: 901

Message Posted:
10/06/2010 19:47

Pazz,



Bradus, message 15 of 15, has given good advice and direction:



http://www.hbpg-trnc.net/



they certainly highlight the major issues.

No1Doyen


Joined: 04/07/2008
Posts: 16617

Message Posted:
10/06/2010 20:31

Safe! It's as safe as....err... forget what I just said.

Bradus


Joined: 25/02/2007
Posts: 2641

Message Posted:
10/06/2010 20:41

From HBPG

On Sunday the 13th July at 10am seven apartments which were built by Tutuska Construction and paid for and occupied by buyers will be auctioned by the District Land Registry to pay for Memorandums in favour of ------ and --------. The auction will take place in the coffee shop opposite the Girne Courts. Please turn up to show you support for these victims - next time it could be your home.



Can I say that all those people that are suggesting that as long as you do your homework you will be safe, have not done their homework.If you had truly done some homework you would not do any of the following:

Enter into any form of contract or hand over any money until you had PTP.

Pay only upon. Title deed transfer.

Only by doing the above would it be safe. However you cannot follow the above because the system does not allow this. If you deviated from the above then you left yourself wide open, making it luck rather than home work that allowed a safe purchase.

nilmoney


Joined: 29/12/2008
Posts: 122

Message Posted:
10/06/2010 20:55

Afraid not.



Try and follow some of the threads already running regarding buying a property.

Just rent for a while till this goverment gets it act together and puts to bed all of the current issues.

At the moment the trust level for the profesional bodies is low to nil.



good luck my freind

girne 29


Joined: 06/12/2007
Posts: 1488

Message Posted:
10/06/2010 21:35

pazzarchi





You must have read about whats been going on ,so what do you think.?

Dont compare with elsewhere, its here you are buying so just bother about the risk here. You cant make comparisons anyway. There are probaly more swindles in Spain but for every one brit owning a house in NC there are over 100 in Spain.



As for being swindled in other countries, sure it happens, but at least it is considered a crime,and not accepted , you would have recourse to the law the same as you would if you were mugged.



Nowhere is completely safe, but in some places the risk is disproportionate to the level of sales.



Rent and wait for the law to change,or restrict yourself to a smaller choice of proven safe properties.



The risks are greater in NC, but in knowing that ,you have already gone halfway to minimise that risk and you can learn from the mistakes others have made.

wynyardman



Joined: 15/12/2007
Posts: 4580

Message Posted:
10/06/2010 21:49

No!



wyn

rowlo



Joined: 12/10/2008
Posts: 4796

Message Posted:
10/06/2010 22:03

yes , rowlo .

DONTY


Joined: 07/06/2007
Posts: 534

Message Posted:
10/06/2010 22:31

Some of the people got robbed and are unhappy. Many of them are on here venting their spleens which is quite understandable.

Some of the people bought perfectly good property. They are at the Harbour/bar/restaurant/poolside drinking cocktails and dont come on here too often so dont expect to get too many responses from them here.



For a balanced view ask people in person when you get here. Dont be shy to ask people you see in restaurants etc (avoid talking to the red nosed ones in the pubs).

rowlo



Joined: 12/10/2008
Posts: 4796

Message Posted:
10/06/2010 22:36

dont part with your hard earned cash until you see the house in front of you ,

Bradus


Joined: 25/02/2007
Posts: 2641

Message Posted:
10/06/2010 22:49

Stick to government guidelines get PDP first and when you have this, handover your money and get your title deeds simultaneously. If the developer will not run with this ask yourself why?



After all the government is promoting this as the correct procedure and guaranteed safe way to buy and saying that if you do not follow these guidelines.......you only have yourself to blame.



Seeing the house in front of you does not make it safe, having the title deeds in your hands is what makes it safe.

Chelpet


Joined: 10/03/2010
Posts: 253

Message Posted:
10/06/2010 22:50

We bought a place that was completed in a complex of 7 and ours was the only place unoccupied and had been left empty for 2 years while the guy who owned made up his mind what he was going to do with it, he incidently still lives next door us, I have no imagination when it comes to buying off-plan, when we were looking for a place we were offered the world which comprised of plots of scrub land, large expanses of flat concrete and and half finished blocks which would not have looked out of place in the Gorbals, so far apart from the crap low quality products used to build our villa we have not had too many problems, have just learned to accept the standard of TC workmanship and go away and do it properly ourselves, its starting to come together, and are looking forward to round 4 in a fortnights time, might even squeeze a few days leisure time in.

cyprusishome


Joined: 31/03/2007
Posts: 2381

Message Posted:
10/06/2010 23:14

This is fascinating reading.



Many answers to a wind up question!!!!!



Hopefully the answers generated from an unexpected source will benefit many other people.



DO NOT BUY OFF PLAN IN NORTHERN CYPRUS OR INDEED ANYWHERE IN CYPRUS.

cyprusjoker


Joined: 29/08/2009
Posts: 1107

Message Posted:
10/06/2010 23:23

Yes and No!



Cyprusjoker..

blinky



Joined: 07/12/2008
Posts: 187

Message Posted:
10/06/2010 23:36

We all know what we are doing weather we buy in NC or not, i got slated here for asking the same question, however there are good points raised and some not so good advice. i am still waiting for my place to be completed, not holding my breath but, i can wait.....

but then again i wish i listened to some of the advice given on this site. if you need any help or advice on what i did, right or wrong!!! please e-mail me.



Dave

Blackbird



Joined: 11/08/2009
Posts: 1432

Message Posted:
10/06/2010 23:57

pazzarch - from what I have seen over the past fifteen years or so ...ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!!

Which is a shame 'cos it really is a lovely place, with fabulous people...

cyprusjoker


Joined: 29/08/2009
Posts: 1107

Message Posted:
11/06/2010 00:15

If you can afford too then why not



He who dares Rodney!