Cyprus-Forum.com

[flavell5]

Hi, I wonder if anyone can help us. We have seen a property in Cyprus - a new-build villa in Paphos (Konia area) that is nearing completion (Jan 2008). We have reserved the property and have yet to agree a price. They came back to us and offered us £2000 cypriot discount. Is this amount normal as we expected a much larger discount for a quick sale. Or like in the UK are they open to negotioating on a much larger scale? The man who showed us round let slip that the property was 50000 cheaper off plan last year. The developer has chosen the tiles, kithcen etc... and it is half completed. It is the last property on the development to sell.

Any advice would be welcome!! as we don't want to pay over the odds if we don't have to

Many thanks
Claire

[Clive]

Hello Claire
When you say you have reserved the property - do you mean with payment - if this is the case, surely the best way would have been to make your offer before reservation!!
Clive

[flavell5]

No we paid £1000 UK to reserve a property as such but not to commit. This included a viewing trip to Cyprus and can be used against any property that we buy from them although it is not refundable. They reserved the property in Konia for us but we are not committed to buying that one if we change our mind. Hope this makes sense. We found the property at a property show in the UK.

Claire

[Peterc]

hi claire, lets see if i can help, but i do need more info. who was the man who showed you around? was he an agent, is he getting commission or was it directly with the developer? a foreign agents commission can be up to 15% therefore if you have gone direct, you should be able to negotiate up to 15% less. if its a local agent then, they charge up to 5%. however, there are many pitfuls if you do not use a licensed cypriot estate agent as they can advise you regarding contracts. unfortunately for you its a bit of a minefield, so perhaps investigate more clearly what neighbouring properties have sold for. any queries ask away?

[flavell5]

Thanks for you swift replies! It was directly with the developer (one of the biggest ones in Cyprus)

Thanks again

Claire

[Peterc]

in between writing the above, i realise you have come on an inspection trip, you are probably paying 15% more than you should be. i will try and find a link for you to read, bear with me

[Peterc]

oh, did it again, the inspection trip was direct with the developer, got it!

[flavell5]

Yes the developers seem really nice and have said that they will include air-conditioning in four rooms and kitchen appliances but for all we know this may be the norm in addition to the £2000 Cypriot discount they have offered us on the purchase price (not even 0.75%!!!!). Developers in the UK are very negotiable but we have never come across Cypriot developers before. We watched a programme on buying in Cyprus ands they said that it was a buyers market over there....

Claire

[Peterc]

it is a buyers market and you are like gold dust, and they will negotiate, especially if there are many units left. start at 15% as they pay that to overseas agents. just out of curiosity, have you gone elsewhere too, or just viewed with this developer?

[flavell5]

Have just viewed with this developer because we loved the property. They showed us round their other developments but none of them interested us. We haven't looked at any other developers as we researched them and they came out as one of the best ones to buy from for quality etc...

Claire