Initial Costs

[MacManiac]

I am absolutely sure you are right. Even six years after taking early retirement, my instinct is planning, planning and then check the planning. The whole point of retirement and then returning to Cyprus is to completely relax and adapt to a slower pace of life. But life in the army, followed by running a school, leaves an indelible mark. Sitting on the balcony in sunny Bexhill, and my goodness the weather is lovely, was relaxing until a seagull (more accurate than a Stuka) scored a direct hit and forced an early shower.

Hope to speak to you after the weekend. Have a good journey back.

Martin

[Miss Daisy]

Originally Posted by Veronica

A deposit for electricity is not required when buying a property but for rentals it is always required.

This is not true in my case. My villa is completely paid for (I am the owner) and I live here permanently (not a holiday home) and I was still required to provide a (100 Euro or so) deposit in 2010. Earlier this year I asked about the deposit and was told that I do not get it back until I close the account. In the US, you get your deposit back after several years of on-time payments, so I was wondering if the same applied here. I was told no.

[DavidCYP]

Originally Posted by Miss Daisy

This is not true in my case. My villa is completely paid for (I am the owner) and I live here permanently (not a holiday home) and I was still required to provide a (100 Euro or so) deposit in 2010. Earlier this year I asked about the deposit and was told that I do not get it back until I close the account. In the US, you get your deposit back after several years of on-time payments, so I was wondering if the same applied here. I was told no.

Hi, I've lived here 15 years they tried that with me when i bough my place 5 years ago. Its a remnant from pre european membership. It was the same for phones, in the end i did not have to pay it but i am almost sure unless you have a European passport they can pretty much make the rules up as they like ...... And they do.

[haymarket]

Originally Posted by Pam n Dave

If your looking for accommodation then 6 months tends to be the boundary between long term and short term rental and the price drops after 6 months.

Utilities are sometimes a bit of a minefield, we had a friend who moved twice and found that the initial bill included some of the previous tenants usage so it may be wise to check the meters and be prepared to do battle when your first bill arrives. You may also need copies of the rental agreements to change the names from the previous people to yours. We did not need a deposit to transfer the water or electricity.

Many people seem to just use mobiles rather than have a fixed line, especially if they use communal internet or WiFi.

Easy Car seem to have a good reputation and we have used them on several occasions without a problem, their charges are reasonable. They deliver to the airport and in our case gave us a couple of days to sort out the paperwork. We were grateful for this as the first day or so can be a little hectic sorting out food etc.

When we moved out immigration charges were minimal but someone else may give you an up to date figure.

Our council charges are payable at the beginning of the year and are around 120 euro. In theory you should not have to worry until next January. We paid ours in April because the board hadn’t met to decide the charges.

You will need to set up a bank account here so that you can get money from the UK, also consider a Currency Fair account to transfer funds across, as I’m typing this you can get 1.2759 which is pretty good.

Bear in mind that although you are bringing furniture that some items may be a problem. Curtains may not fit and you will probably need blackout blinds for the summer.

It’s likely that the new property will have an oven and a hob so you may need to ditch the cooker.

Clothes and electrical goods are more expensive here so we did some shopping before we left and replaced the older electrical items and bought more summer clothes, especially the £5 tee shirts and shorts.

I’ve also sent a PM about accommodation.

No doubt the others will pile in and make a few additions.

Hi, Sorry to barge in but my husband and I have been reading these posts as they apply to us also. We are arriving on the 1st November this year, and looking for long term rental too.
We noticed all your good tips and advice, (duly noted) and that you sent a pm about accomodation. We would be really grateful to know what it is as we too need somewhere to live until we find our new home. As macmanic said, it has to be open ended as one might find their future home quicker than expected and then we would have two contracts to deal with. Have you any advice on this subject? Reading this forum is a godsend, as so many people have gone before us and faced all the pitfalls of relocating.