Cyprus-Forum.com

[aidy]

Hi, as any people that have read my earlier posts will know that i am seriously considering moving to Cyprus.

I have just come back from a week over there, travelling all over the island.

I think that Paphos may be the place for me, however there is a couple of factors that are causing concern for me and any help will be appreciated.

How do you afford to live? to rent a property i am looking at min £300 a month, I am a PC Technician, who is skilled in Servers, networking and solutions. Unless i have been talking to the wrong people, i was told i could only expect around £500-£750 the higher if i am very lucky.

Given that food and other living costs will be 400+ a month that is more than my expected salary, not to mention the running costs of a car, providing i can get a cheap one, i was shocked by the prices of used old cars.


Is this salary true or are potential employers just trying to exploit me?? I would be very interested to speak to anyone that works for MicroNet as i am used to working for very large companies as opposed to corner shops.

I would like to thank everyone that was so helpful to me while i was over there, the island is truely a remarkable place and the people are freindly and help in anyway they could

[andytandreou]

aidy.... Pafos is not exactly the business capital of the world you know!! Larnaka is more progressed economically than Pafos, then comes Limassol and the biggest business center of Cyprus is the capital, Nicosia.

You should really consider living in Limassol or Larnaka so you can have the beach next to you and be close to Nicosia and the rest of Cyprus also. Pafos is truly stunning, but you have to pay the price of living so far from the biggest business areas of Cyprus. You must also pay the price of living in one of the biggest property hotspots in Europe, where tourism is all year round and villas can cost millions.

In Larnaka £700 pounds is the average wage for the type of job you do and the prospects are very good.
Unlike Pafos, rent in Larnaka is fairly low and for £250 you could get yourself a 2 bedroom flat in the center of town. Although you would be just as comfortable in a one-bedroom flat.

I don't have a degree, yet I've been offered jobs with wages of £750 per month, which I had to turn down as I'm still college. My family also has a 2 bedroom apartment which we rent out for £250 in Larnaka and asking anything more than that is considered excessive, unless it was a brand-new apartment.

So really, I have to disagree with the people you spoke to. Also you have to keep in mind that even in New-York there's a MacDonald's and someone has to work there. If you speak to that someone you will get the impression that wages are low in New-York city!!!

[aidy]

andytandreou,

Thanks for your response, In the last week i have been through paphos, larnaka, limassol and Nicosia. I was not comfortable in Larnaca, although the houses out of the 'hustle and bustle' of the city life were very nice.

Nicosia was not appealing to me at all, so to be fair did not spend much if at all any time there.

Limassol is closer to my lifestyle and no doubt there is very nice housing areas. yet when i called into the employment agency, i didn't get a great deal of assistance so was slightly put off.

When i got to Paphos everything seemed to fall into place, everything i did seemed to work out right.

I require a 2 bedroomed house/apartment, preferably a house my family are moving over, my partner and 2 year old daughter.

From what i found in my travels was that most of the places i looked at renting where all similar prices, salaries were all similar too.

[Sotos]

The problem as you already noticed is that in Cyprus we don't have many big companies. A PC technician in Paphos would do things like putting the parts together to make a PC and installing windows XP. Thats a job that a high school kid can do these days. Thats why the salary offered is so low. There is simply very little demand in Paphos for the level of knowledge and experience that you have. In Limassol there are some big companies like Thunderworx and Amdocs, and then everything else is in Nicosia. Good luck!

[Svetlana]

Certainly, renting in larnaca would be cheaper; certainly wages are realtively low here, your best job prospects would be in Limassol or Nicosia. However, I would think that Paphos is the fastest growing economy on the island; just a feeling rather than anything i can substantiate.

Working for yourself serving the rapidly expanding expat community in ppahos might be an option; virtually everyone has a computer to while away their retirement hours!

lana

[aidy]

working for myself is definatly an option i am looking at, maybe in my spare time to increase my income, and work another job during the day, however, i am dont know anything about setting up my own business, with regards to regulations, if anyone has done so and would be so kind to spare me a few mails and 'teach me'/answer any questions please mail me.

Thanks

my view is that if other people have done, why can't I??

[vickyc1973]

Hi aidy,

If you need more information about working in Limassol or even renting a property, pop over to the Limassol board, we have an employment section and property so we can give you all he assistance you may need.
I have been running the board since feb and ive helped many people like yourself find the right job and property and whatever else you may need.
Paphos is lovely but if you want work like others have said Nicosia or Limassol have to be the place for you.
If your interested in Limassol then just click on the www button at the bottom of this message and it will take you to my board. Our aim is to help anyone moving to Limassol to have a smooth move get all the legal info, find you jobs ,homes, schools, doctors ect. There is already an aidy on board but not sure if its you.
Best of luck
Vicky

[voyou]

Hi.. I would be interested in seing that board (maybe it was deleted?).

I have jobs that I want to advertise for my bar too, just in case anyone is interested.

I pay 250 a month for a nice apartment 100 metres from the beach (away from the real tourist strip) and 2 minutes walk from my bar (also 100 metres from the beach so I like it here.

The car prices are a little strange hey! There is an old mark II escort near my place for sale for £700 !! looks terrible too.

Motorbikes/scooters are quite well priced but as I see several accidents a week I will think twice about that! (Stupid people with small whatzits).

I think the setting up on your own would be the way... there is a large ex pat community . I have tried to use local people to do jobs I really have.. but they just do not perform! So I have to use brit workers for anything I want doing wherever possible.. (I would like to use the local workforce)

Good luck with the move Aidy if you make it..

[aidy]

Voyou,

Being a bar owner, while i was there i noticed a lot of pubs are starting to or thinking about setting up a small internet cafe within the pub, a ploy to bring more people in.
If you don't mind me asking:
Is this something you would consider? and if so what price would you be prepared to pay for the setup and installation?
If there is some demand for this it is something i am considering doing in my spare time until i build up a clientel to be stable enough to run my own full time business. As Cyprus is not such a big place I will not be limited to one town/city.

[Sotos]

Internet cafes were popular in the mid and late 90s. Now cafes with WiFi seems to be the new thing.