THE PROPERTY BUYING PROCESS IN NORTHERN CYPRUS

When buying properites in North Cyprus, firstly a client selects a North Cyprus property to buy, a price and payment terms are verbally agreed with the vendor.

A non-refundable £1000 holding deposit is paid to and held by the North Cyprus estate agent or the buyers solicitor to show the buyers good will so that the property is removed from the market. For apartments or smaller properties in Northern Cyprus this deposit can be reduced to £500. This deposit is almost always paid for by credit / debit card or cash, in all cases a receipt is issued and the deposit is always included in the contract of sale as part of the payment.

The propety vendor must produce a copy of the North Cyprus property title deeds so that the buyers solicitor can make a full ‘search’ to ensure that they are indeed the owners of the said title deed and there is no money owed or mortgage on the property and that it is completely unencumbered. It is not necessary that this search be made before the contract of property sale is signed as no monies are paid to the vendor before the search is complete. In the case of there being any problem or encumberance of the property in North Cyprus then the initial holding deposit will be immediately refunded in full and any contract will be void.

Vendors of properties in North Cyprus do not need to instruct a solicitor when selling their properties, the whole transaction is processed by the buyers solicitor. There are cases of property developers insisting that buyers use the developers own solicitor, we strongly advise people against this and we do not market properties for such developers. Solicitors must be registered with the Bench in North Cyprus, there are a number of qualified solicitors who speak fluent English who we can recommend to our clients – fees for processing an entire purchase from start to finish vary between £1000 and £1500 and are not paid until a contract is drawn up and signed.

The contract of property sale in North Cyprus is drawn up by the solicitor and its contents agreed with both the property buyer and vendor, the contract should clearly state the exact plot number of the Northern Cyprus property (as identified on the title deed), payments amounts, the dates or time-frame in which the payments are to be made and should include the initial holding deposit as part payment. The contract is signed in the presence of the solicitor by the buyer, the vendor and an independant witness (usually a member of Korinias staff who is assisting the buyer).

In the case of a property buyer not being able to be present when a contract is signed (people often make the decision to purchase on the last day or two of their visit) then they can leave Power of Attorney with their solicitor or a trustee so that he/she can sign on their behalf when buying properties in Northern Cyprus; in this case the contract will not be signed without the property buyer approving the contents of the contract either by fax, post or email to their solicitor.

Payments when buying properties in North Cyprus

Payments are made via bank transfer through the North Cyprus estate agents customer account or sometimes through the buyers solicitor.

With re-sale properties or newly built properties, payment terms are often a full single payment by bank transfer but sometimes are split into payments over 2 or 3 months, especially for larger Northern Cyprus properties. Possesion of the property is given only when full payment has been made, handing over of keys can be made at either ours or the solicitors offices.

North Cyprus off-plan properties usually come with a basic payment plan from the developer which can often be altered by negotiation before being included in the contract of sale. Payments are often requested by the stage of construction i.e. ‘upon completion of the concrete foundations £10,000 to be paid within 14 days’ and at these stages Korinia Estate Agency will take photographs of the progress and send them via email for approval before clients make the payment transfer. Sometimes North Cyprus property developers request payments on a simple monthly basis which some clients prefer but we advise that payments be made by the construction stage for clients security and peace of mind that the work is commencing to schedule. A final payment is always with-held by the buyer until the Nortern Cyprus property has been personally inspected and any ‘snags’ dealt with.

A date for completion of the construction is always included in the contract of property sale (usually 12 to 18 months from start to finish) and often includes a 2 to 4 months ‘grace period’ to cover any delays in the construction not controllable by the North Cyprus property developer, after which time there is often a penalty payable by the developer for each month that completion is late, this penalty is usually subtracted from the final payment that the buyer is with-holding.