Completing a Purchase in Cyprus

When your offer has been accepted by the vendor a small deposit is usually paid to take the property off the open market. At this stage the property buyer’s solicitor should begin title and land searches and draw up the purchase contract. As you generally only sign a single purchase contract in Cyprus the buyer should only sign it when all the checks have been conducted satisfactorily. The alternative is to sign a contract which is conditional to all searches being conducted satisfactorily.

For a resale property, both the vendor and buyer will sign the contract at the time of contract closure, which will be notarised and submitted to the land registry in Cyprus. Upon this date the purchase price will need to be paid. If buying off plan property then according to the terms of the contract, various stage payments will need to be made for the property throughout the build process.

The buyer then has a month to make all taxation and fee payments and soon after signing the purchaser contract the buyer’s solicitor will apply to the Council of Ministers in Cyprus for the buyer’s right to own the property. Most of the time, the application for permission is merely a formality

Money Matters
Any buyer of a property in Cyprus must pay extra costs which should be added to the purchase price when budgeting for your property.

Allow for Property Transfer Tax, which is 3% for properties up to 50,000 CYP, 5% for properties up to 100,000 CYP and 8% for properties worth more than 100,000 CYP.

Fees to set up a mortgage will be 1% of the amount secured.

You should also budget for service charges for apartments – usually around 100-300 CYP per year, and ongoing utilities costs, which are around 40 CYP in total every two months for electricity and water.

Legal fees for house buyers will cost around 600 CYP for a standard transaction.

Work Permits
Since Cyprus joined the EU, residency and work permits are no longer required of EU citizens. However, for non-EU citizens, employees of entities in Cyprus require 'Temporary Work and Residence (TRE) Permits', which are issued by the Central Bank.

Rental and maintenance
Rentals in Cyprus will generally yield around 8% gross, minus 1-3% for management fees, changeover costs and general maintenance and repairs and other running costs. With an average mortgage, this can be a very profitable way of making your money – and investment – work for you.

As a general guideline, a two-bedroom property on a development with communal swimming pools can be rented out for 60 CYP a night in summer and a two or three-bedroom villa with a private pool could fetch around 130-150 CYP a night in high season.

Cyprus Furniture Packs
Many people buying a property in Cyprus use a furniture package to make life simple, there are some really good companies who specialise in Cyprus furniture.