Is there an alternative

Dear All,

had a week away in the sun, quite relaxing.

No balcony dogs, no dogs in evidence, no mess, no noise.

No tower cranes, lots of "villas" all with their own pools.

No security fencing or bars or gates, good beaches, good restaurants, good wine.

Sensible driving no one trying to drive over you.

Friendly people, lots of Brits around.

Quite a good break with no muggings or fear.

Perhaps a place to buy if ever savings are returned?

Viva Cyprus.

Regards

Norman

If that's how you feel, then you should do your own thing.

When we were in Cyprus most of the roads needed repairing. Lots of buildings were falling down. It's still a divided country.

I don't know what part of Cyprus you were in but the drivers were lunatics in Paphos!

EVERYONE is friendly here - we have made more friends in the last 6 months than we had in years in the UK. We've found people go out of their way to help

We have not been burgled or mugged.

A friend lost her purse on the beach and it was returned two days later by a lovely Spanish lady who was shocked to be offered any reward.

Oh and in Cyprus it's cats - they're everywhere and they are generally very mangy looking.

Overall, we're delighted we chose Spain and you can keep Cyprus! The best thing about our trip was George's Fun Bus: that was a complete hoot.

Irene

 Normansand,

Glad you enjoyed Cyprus. We like it too.

We can all voice our opinions but let's not distort truth.

Many, many of us are delighted that we set foot in Spain.

We had a great agent, excellent solicitor,have beautiful villa in a quiet residential area beside a welcoming Spanish town, made friends and have plenty of people to chat to, can drive or take a bus to miles of totally unspoilt sandy beaches and have nothing to complain about!

Ofcourse it does help that we lived for 3 years in Venezuela and  were attracted to, and knew something of the Spanish culture before we made our decision to buy and make a new life among the Spanish people.

Love all the helpful and positive people who contribute to make this site my daily 'diet' too !

Best wishes

There are many who wouldn't necessarily agree with you, normansands.

Check out this link and see what Conor O'Dwyer has to say about how much he has lost in Cyprus property!   And you don't hear of too many property investors getting brutally beaten up in Spain by a developer!!

"And you don't hear of too many property investors getting brutally beaten up in Spain by a developer!!"

This may be true Pitby, but I do know people who were seriously intimidated by the developer causing them a lot of distress.

Norman, glad you had a good holiday in Cyprus but from what I have seen and read property buying in Cyprus can be a bit fraught too so even there it's a case of 'buyer beware' .

Regards, Poppyseed

Dear All,

thanks for the warning, but as most will say the crooks in Spain have it all their own way, so I am unlikely to get any savings back for further buying.

No one is offering "no win - no fee" and my enormous 30% deposit must seem paltry in comparison to the paper chase legal costs being incurred by such as Goodstitch in the likely vain fight he is having with the "system".

As to the assault, on balance if that was the price of getting my savings back, I would be tempted, especially if I could give some account in return.

I did drive in Paphos and noticed nothing untoward or anywhere else. The roads were generally excellent from one end to the other. The border area we saw was a bit grim and we were not allowed in with the hire car's insurance.

What makes a "mangy" cat? On reflection there were plenty around the remoter beach restaurants looking thin and being fed tit-bits by some diners.

"The majority of property deals in the Republic of Cyprus pass without any problems, but increasingly ex-pats are being ripped off either through unscrupulous developers or via local lawyers, and according to a local journalist "being too trusting"."

If you cannot trust a lawyer, who can you trust? If Goodstitch is right not even a judge in Spain.

Here, not even a politician at any level. Professional crime seems to be a pandemic.

Still it was a good break with absolutely no sign of security being required, unless you include the "penny" padlock on the garden shed that contained the pool paraphernalia. Even the villa keys were outside on the wall in a tin box with a code.

From my selfish point of view I think it would be great if the ordinary satisfied ex-pats would feature themselves on the forum and name names and places.

Regards

Norman

Hi Norman, this is Costas at EOS... i come from Cyprus so I'm glad you liked it. Obviously there's bad aspects as I'm sure you'll discover in time! But yes, in general we are a bit calmer over there about things... so far! :-)

Stray cats are better than domesticated anyday! They keep the place rat- and snake-free.

Anyway, given that I live in Spain it would be difficult for me to explain why I left, but anyway, let's just blame it on too much ambition.

Geia sou! :-)

Dear All,

The heat wave continues here and it is great, but we can go out and about and even work with a bit of protection. No need to hide until night time. Some are even venturing into the sea (North Sea), too much for me though.

Can this possibly continue, there are even threats of 30 degrees. I for one don't need desert temperatures.

The hay is all in and some rain will give a second crop - global warming or what???

With the politicians all promising new found honesty, will it migrate down to lawyers, agents and other "professionals"???

Is there any real need to move???

Is Spain waning as a destination????

Changes seem to be firming up.

Regards

Norman

Hello Costas,

is it really as good as this?

The Lifestyle in Cyprus

They say in Cyprus, if you spend plenty of time in the sea in the summer then you won't visit the doctor in the winter. Well we have been enjoying the full benefits of the Cypriot lifestyle for the last couple of months now. The weather has been gorgeous and rarely drops below 30o in the daytime. When it goes above 33o (which is almost daily) Alison complains that it's 'too hot!' For about a week it was at 36o every day and in the evenings it didn't drop below 33o until after dark which gave her plenty to moan about. But if she thinks it's hot now then she's in for a shock next month when the temperature should reach 40o and stay there for a couple of months :-)
 

Regards

Norman

.......phew, that's warm!!  Is the sea warm also?

Keep in the shade and drink water!! August Cyprus sun is not to be joked around with!

Glad you're enjoying it - how do you find the fruit there? Better than Spain I think....

Sorry Costas,

that was a quote that I should have highlighted in another colour, my week was over too soon.

It was from Andy Shaw, a multi-multi millionaire "buy to let" investor who sells his system and himself on the Internet. Rather like Justin and Techno are trying to do.

He was based and lived in Southern England but has now moved to Cyprus.

He could obviously live anywhere in the world but chose Cyprus for the potential, lifestyle, safety of children who can play out without constant attendance, lack of crime etc. etc..

He regards the potential as similar to Spain many years ago, with the golf courses and marinas coming fast.

He also assesses the tax and inheritance system as favourable. Part of the potential he sees is the growth possibilities in the holiday trade because local agents are so casual and laid back, not exploiting the potential.

Time to go home perhaps?

Regards

Norman