• Ensure that you have full ownership of the property upon completion, and that the relevant documents are available for the lender.
•  With newly constructed properties, ensure that you know the date that the property will be registered to you. The lender cannot lend on the security of the property until it has been registered.
• Due to the Cypriot legal and administrative system, there may be slight delays on securing your loan, despite the fact that all reasonable steps will be taken to avoid this. So be prepared.
• Make sure you have researched every possible cost that you may incur, whilst purchasing a property in Cyprus . Note, you may be charged by the government in addition to the lenders legal costs (the Lenders costs however are usually specified when the Lender offers you the mortgage).
• Unless you are very experienced in purchasing abroad, it is very important that you seek some sort of legal advice before signing the contract for a property or paying a deposit. The Lender will require a copy of these signed documents together with an application form, however you will be able to sign these documents 'subject to mortgage finance', once the contract is signed it is legally binding, so if you do not state this and the Lender does not wish to do business with you, this could be a huge problem.
• Legal advice may be costly, so ensure that you receive a complete quote, incorporating all costs, before applying for a loan.
• A Cypriot bank account will be required.
• It is advisable that a life assurance policy is set up on all mortgages.
• And remember: E-mail us for all information about Cyprus properties for sale.
• Properties in Cyprus can be purchased by an individual or in joint names.

Common Mistakes

Some of the common mistakes that we’ve seen buyers make are as follows:

• Buying off-plan property that does not have building permits and thus failing to retain title deeds. (This causes huge problems due to the fact that it’s almost impossible to sell a property without deeds. And it’s possible that the actual property will have to be demolished).
• Putting a non-refundable deposit down on the first property a buyer views later to realise that they could have purchased a similar property for much less.
• Signing a contract of sale without ensuring that the top 8 elements to protect the buyer are present.
• Unknowingly buying a property from a developer that is known to be late in delivery or provide poor quality construction.
• Failing to understand the various taxes and fees involved and underestimating the true cost of the property.
• Committing to purchase a property at the value of XYZ and not realising that the price of the property changes every day due to currency fluctuations. In some cases a property may cost £10,000 more than you originally budgeted for due to a fluctuation in the Cypriot Pound against Sterling.
• Buyers are unaware that many solicitors work for the developers interests and not the buyers.
• Not knowing the difference between buying straight from a developer, through a registered (and legal) estate agent or buying from a marketing company (illegal) and what option will provide you with the best service for the best price.
• Wrongly believing that you’ll be able to buy a property off-plan and then easily sell it on or before completion.
• Wrongly believing that you’ll be able to get enough money in rental income to easily cover your yearly mortgage payments.