Nightmares in Cyprus

[Gammon]

Well its been a trying year so far Alpha Bank chasing defaulters and Alpha Panareti chasing none payers, and they are using the sharks in the UK in the no win no fee outfits, not to mention all the sharks dealing with Cyprus Property,never has the saying been more appropriate than Buyer Beware anyone who has property in Cyprus miss-sold to them by that trusting agent should be very aware, they will try again to sell you more property in the caribbean, they will tell you what you want to hear mega profits two years rental guaranteed and so on, basically they are letting you have some of your own money back so you think you got a deal of a lifetime,cant blame those selling can you they are getting 10% not bad!!so don't fall for SIPPS thing that's another way they earn more money from your very bad investment, unfotunatly Im a victim of most of the above.Regards.... :rofl::s:

 

[David C]

Investment/purchase gone wrong

:itsme:

It never ceases to amaze me to hear how many people have been mis sold property and particularly investment property in Cyprus. The reality of the matter is that there are only a select few investment prospects on the entire island. Until the legal system and developers becomes more accountable this will not change quickly. Unfortunately, it seems that greed is the byword for modern society.

 

[Veronica]

This is why we always recommend that people buy resales with title deeds if at all possible.
Unfortunately much of the misselling is down to greedy financial advisors based in the Uk who led their clients by the noses and told them they could buy properties off plan and sell them when they were finished for a big profit. The developers were more than happy to go along with it and promise to resell the properties but in fact have only ever been interested in selling more off plan to new unsuspecting clients.
Once the flood of Brits buying dried up they turned their attention to the Russians and now that lcash cow has dried up they are targeting the chinese.
Because Chinese have to spend at least 300K the developers are putting up the prices of 2 bedroom apartments which are worth no more than 150K and selling them to chinese. Its a scandal.
We recently sold a 3 bedroom detached villa with pool and large gardens to a Chinese couple for the same amount that other Chinese are paying for pokey 2 bed apartments.

 

[David C]

I wholeheartedly agree with everything you say however, there are a FEW exciting off plan developments in Cyprus which offer good investment potential. In my opinion you are looking at around less than 15 in the (whole of Cyprus) which offer exceptional value/location/specification. When you consider the amount of developers here it is a reality check to potential investors. Equally for resale investments of a decent calibre it is like the proverbial needle in the haystack.

 

[Veronica]

I have yet to come across one single off plan development which is not vastly overpriced and therefore offering no investment potential at all.
The more 'exciting' a development claims to be the more overpriced the properties are.

 

[Lysos]

David C - are any of these "exciting" developments in Paphos District ?. Perhaps you could list them ?.

I find it difficult to differentiate betwen so-called off-plan and 'abandoned' or 'semi derelict'.

 

[Veronica]

David C - are any of these "exciting" developments in Paphos District ?. Perhaps you could list them ?.

I find it difficult to differentiate betwen so-called off-plan and 'abandoned' or 'semi derelict'.

A certain developer bought a lot of half finished projects to finish them to sell to the Chinese. Since then this same developer has fallen out of favour big style with the Chinese when they realised they were being ripped off. In fact there has been a huge bust up in their offices with Chinese agents which resulted in the police being called:biggrin:
I wonder what will now happen to these developments and other developments which the developer has started aimed especially at the chinese market.:wink:

 

[David C]

I understand the property market in Cyprus surprisingly well and most particularly what some developers get away with, there is no doubt that it is simply disgraceful. I agree with both of your comments and appreciate the fact that you both have a huge deal of experience within Cyprus.

My opinion is, that, the only way to discover good investment property is to compare location, specification and price as well as the previous build history/quality/delivery standards. It matters not whether it is resale or off-plan in my opinion. The reason I say this is that I come from a family of British tradesmen including myself and am not easily impressed by (generally) low building standards offering poor value.