Technically no, but you’d be foolish not to on so many levels. But I would say that wouldn’t I because I have a vested interest – I’m a Chartered Building Surveyor and carry out building surveys as part of my business. Let me explain my reasoning so that you can make up your own mind:-
Buying or leasing a property, whether residential, industrial or commercial, is a major financial step for you and your company to take and it is most important that every precaution is taken before you make the decision. A survey is one way that you can ensure that the building you are proposing to buy or lease is all that you think it is. All buildings, domestic or commercial, will suffer defects at some stage or other and it is important that you are fully aware of the ramifications of rectifying any problems and that you will not have to face unexpected costs in complying with the terms of your lease or simply preserving your building.
The purchase of most buildings will involve a valuation on behalf of your bank or building society. This is to satisfy the mortgagee (lender) that the amount of the loan is secured in the value of the property. It is dangerous to rely entirely upon this type of inspection. Even though the report may be disclosed to you, there may be defects which do not affect the mortgage or devalue the property to the extent that the security is prejudiced. Therefore your own private survey is of the utmost importance. For example; the bank probably won’t be worried if the heating isn’t working properly because it doesn’t affect the value and they don’t have to live in the house! But to you it’s important. If the boiler needs replacing or the system needs an upgrade it could cost thousands of pounds which the valuation report won’t necessarily tell you about. Similarly, if there’s a minor roof leak it might not be noticed by the valuer, or might not be significant enough to affect the value but you can be assured that it will cost money for you to resolve. Wouldn’t it be better to know these issues before you buy the house, so that you know what you’re letting yourself in for.
A large proportion of purchasers don’t have a survey carried out and for many they have no problems, but for some they find that the house is not all that it seems to be and becomes the proverbial “money pit”. What is likely to be the biggest purchase of your life? Answer – Your house, and not only that but it’s likely to cost you hundreds of thousands of pounds in today’s market. In the scheme of things, is it worth saving a few hundred pounds on a survey to be without an insurance policy on this level of outlay.
Secondly, interest rates are lower than ever right now. During the 3rd week of October 2010 they were 3.75% for a fixed rate 30 year loan from one of our lenders. Shocking in a good way, isn’t it? If rates do go a little lower it will not save that much money on a monthly payment but if they don’t and they climb back up, we can quickly start to lose out. (I thought a recent rate of 4.25% for 30 years was great.) Now, I have to tell you, anything under 4.0% is unbelievably fantastic.
Whatever the ideas are for this or other regions, God forbid if these projects are undertaken by the Governmental Departments/Civil Servants. This job requires private enterprise with the involvement of the local tour operators/hoteliers/ Municipalities/local authorities.
The creation of a Protaras Promotion Group may be a start and at this initial stage, leadership is what is needed. The Mayor of Paralimni has the first say on this in terms of initiative and it is hoped that others will follow. Regarding the cash needed we do not feel this is not an issue, since Paralimni must be the wealthiest Municipality in Cyprus and the funds available by the Government/E.U./Sport KOA/CTO could help.
So Protaras has very good prospects for an elongated holiday home/permanent living and hopefully the market during 2011 will be better than that of 2010. Much of this will depend on the foreign demand (from the pre recession 50% share, reduced now to 15% of the total) and the state of the Cyprus economy. The region will never realize the demand of the years 2007/2008, but if the Famagusta region plays its cards right, there is no reason why not to have a rebirth at some short period of time.
Paul Amos is an Author living in Sydney, Australia He is interested in reading and creating websites His latest website is about All our holiday homes have charm and character Los juegos de Cuentos
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