I am looking to invest in Southern Cyrus, I am purely looking to make money on the property not use it for a holiday home, I am considering a 1/2 bed apartment, is there still money to be made if I buy now or have I missed the boat???. I am talking to a local overseas sales company who are offering me a 1 bed apartment in larnaca/Limissol for £140.000 off plan to be completed in 2010; they are predicting I will see a 20-30% return over the next 3-5 years. They are also telling me I will cover my mortgage payments over the next 3-5 years from rental income.
I have read some other threads where there seems to be mixed views, some say get in now there’s still good money to be made, some say the bubbles about to burst, I would really appreciate some good advice from somebody who knows the market I am very concerned about making the wrong investment.


Thank you

James

If you search online you will see prices are falling there - best to get on the ground and if have cash you will pick up a bargain.

I am currently being offered a 1 bed apartment on a high quality site for £140k, i am concern thats to high to make money on? are you saying prices are going down not up?

Not necessarily up nor down, but dont allowed yourself to be "sold". You should be "buying" on your terms. The numbers quoted are all on the high side, check out nigels website, or pm me.
cheers

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Straight talking No Gimmicks www.newhomecyprus.co.uk

would love to know more, whats my best move into southern cypus or should i look elsewhere? i have property in southern spain but its now saturated

As I said have a look on the ground - You will pick up some bargains as many Brits are moving out. The price you said appears very high to me.

There is a glut of new build apartments. If you really want to invest then as has been said before, get your a@~e over there and check things out on the ground. You should be looking at long term rental potential, not short term holiday lets. There are thousands of properties for sale, so choose carefully and go for a resale (with title deals). Ignore all agent's claims about R.O.I.

You need to appreciate that some people will promise you the earth to achieve a sale - unfortunately, some value the money in their bank account rather than their good name and reputation. See if you can persuade them to guarantee that amount in your contract of sale - you'll get a different story

Forget the short-term holiday market – there are too many properties chasing too few holiday makers; focus on the long-term market (one year or more).

Look at apartments in residential areas that are relatively central, not densely developed with apartments, reasonably quiet and close to local amenities such as schools, shops, etc. And avoid buying an apartment in a block with shops on the ground floor. Budget on spending around 175,000 sterling for a decent 3 bedroom 150 sqm apartment.

Cheers,

Hi. Im Sonia. I joined this site to gather information regarding investment in Egypt but was looking though the Cyprus thread and wanted to let you know how I got on with my Cyprus investment. I bought a 1 bed apartment in Limassol at the end of 2003 for approx £40,000. It was a resale apartment and not a new build, but was in excellent condition and was sold fully furnished. The first year I attempted holiday rentals and got no-where - I think we had only 3 bookings that year and two of those were family members! The second year we contacted a couple of agents and offered the apartment for long term rental - within a week we had a tenant (who has now been there for 3 years) who pays us approx £250 per month - although this is not a fotune it costs us nothing to keep the apartment - all bills are covered by the tenant except service charge/maintenance but the rental covers this. We had the apartment valued by a couple of local agents this year who said the price would now be approx £60-65,000. It is clear that locals can afford to rent the apartments provided you understand that it will be for a minimal amount - albeit sufficient to cover your own outgoings... obviously larger amounts of money can be made from holiday rentals but in my experience these are both difficult to obtain and more hassle than they are worth - for example there is the cost and inconvenience of having to get the apartment cleaned every time it is rented. And you are of course then responsible for all your own bills (including electricity and when the air con is switched on constantly in the summer months this is not cheap!!). Im not an expert on the property market however I can offer advice on some of the more basic things like rental and the buying process if anyone wants to PM me

Hi Sonia

You're getting a good rental on your 1-bed apartment.

We moved over here in 2002 and rented a 3-bedroom house in Episkopi (about 15 mins out of Limassol) for two years while ours was being built. We were paying CYP 250/month (excluding utility bills).

I don't know if you're planning to sell your apartment, but one of the property advertising agencies here says it has 25,000 on its books (that's more than they build here in a year). It's OK having a paper value of £60-65,000, but whether you'll be able to find someone willing to offer you that amount is another question.

The only European counties that saw property prices rise last year were Malta & Cyprus. One of the local pundits predicts a 20% reduction in Brits buying property here in 2008 and a slight drop in prices by around 10%.

Some of the developers are getting pretty desperate. One in Paphos is offering buyers a 'free' car - others are offering 'guaranteed rental' (both of which have of course been factored into the buying price).

The property marketing companies are spreading their nets even wider. As well as Russia, I've recently been contacted by potential buyers living in South Africa, Singapore and Australia!

Cheers,