Paphos People

D.Fitzgerald Marketing marketed an apartment to me that resulted in a 10 MONTH conveyancing period due to there still being a mortgage on the property.

During those 10 months I lost over £3,000 in unearned share income waiting month after month with money in a Euro account. Never said a word about it and I had to find out through my (rather slow) lawyer.

Ignorance is no excuse for a supposedly "professional" company. If the seller didn't say anything about it, as part of the procedure and due diligence of a professional estate agent they should have asked the seller before marketing the property!!

Also when I eventually took ownership of the apartment, on arrival I found the washing machine pulled out from the wall and broken. D Fitzgerald Marketing were the only people to have possession of the keys during the 10 months yet they bizarrely offered the ludicrous excuse that either the seller came back and did it (why???) or a former tenant did it (for no apparent logical reason and no gain!!) - Probably one of Fitzgerald's staff knew it was broken when I viewed the apartment in November 2018 and didn't say anything to Daryl Fitzgerald. They might be "big hitters" in the Paphos real estate business but they are NOT at all professional. At least not in my experience. If they want to sue or threaten to sue....I don't care. The facts speak for themselves.

Update : I now have the property cleaned, fitted out and ready to rent out.

Sorry that you had problems buying your property

I am glad though that all is now sorted and you are ready for renting out ASAP

Wish you luck for your future rentals

Thanks migmogs

We avoided them when selling our property, for many reasons.

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And the Oscar goes to........

After viewing the apartment on the way back in the car just out of curiosity I asked Lisa (Fitzgerald Marketing employee) what percentage they charge to market a property if I was selling it. She said 5%. One good reason I wouldn't approach them. ( I wouldn't anyway after my experience of buying )

Property Canvas charge 4%. Not sure what others charge, but 4-5% sounds a lot. Certainly a lot compared with UK which it typically 1%.

For anyone selling all they really need is somewhere inexpensive to advertise and someone to conduct the viewings for a small fee per viewing. I suppose if you have a neighbour you can trust that solves the later but where to advertise ? There are the forums and Bazaraki ...and maybe Rightmove Overseas but I'm just wondering where else ?

Having read your posts, and with no prior knowledge about the estate agent or the (in your words) ''rather slow lawyer', I feel the duties of the agent and lawyer have become blurred in that it was up to the lawyer to keep you informed about any conveyancing issues and the delay was due to the system rather than being let down by one party although perhaps prolonged by the 'rather slow lawyer'.

Five per cent fee for selling a property is an amount I have seen many times over the years and in fact is the amount we were quoted when we wanted to sell our apartment over 10 years ago. Perhaps best to ask around a few agents to see what the ballpark figure is at the current time - after all that is what we do whenever similar fees come up each year eg car insurance, house and contents insurance.

No point comparing prices in Cyprus to those in the UK - a completely different economy.

Hello Alexis,

No, the fault lies squarely with the estate agent.

They took my deposit of 10% without stating anything about a loan or mortgage existing on the apartment. It was their duty to tell me about that, or if they didn't know to ask the seller "is there a loan or mortgage or other hinderance on the property" as one of the questions they re supposed to ask as a registered professional estate agency.

All my lawyer did was report back to me what information came from the seller's lawyer and make the necessary checks well into the conveyancing. She was sometimes slow but it was not her fault.

Once the Estate Agent (Fitgeralds) had my deposit I was committed to buying or to lose my deposit. The lawyer is not going to check ANYTHING until you sign an agreement to pay them 1% plus tax and that's only AFTER the deposit is paid ....so it's not her fault.

John

John, sorry. The first part re the deposit, an agreement should have been drawn dictating the conduct expected of both sides, ie disclosure, timing etc etc so that is not the case. Secondly the lawyer (I don't know who it is/was) if you weren't happy with that condition (and I wouldn't have been) then you should have used another lawyer. Initial searches are provided by the Sellers lawyer and would have shown any encumbrances.

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Straight talking, no Gimmicks.

Live your dreams.

The first part re the deposit, an agreement should have been drawn dictating the conduct expected of both sides, ie disclosure, timing etc etc so that is not the case.


Hello Tanny,

No I'm sorry but you are wrong.

As an 'ignorant' buyer off the street am I supposed to already know before approaching the estate agent that an agreement ought to be drawn up dictating the conduct expected of both sides, disclosure, timing etc. when the estate agent is a 'professional' with years of experience in the Paphos property market ? I hardly think so. A so called professional experienced registered estate agent is bound by a certain code of ethics and protocols anyway. Any encumbrances should be made known to a prospective buyer before the deposit is paid.

I was driven to Fitzgerald's office where I made an offer. A counter offer was presented to me by Daryl Fitzgerald on a piece of paper which was still less than the asking price. I accepted and the deposit was paid there and then, binding and committal. From that point on I was committed to buying or to losing my deposit. Fitzgerlds never at any point suggested any agreement dictating conduct and disclosure either before, during or after the deposit was paid. That was a couple of hours before being driven to see my lawyer.
As a professional registered estate agent it was THEIR responsibility to tell me about any encumbrances relating to the property - OR like you say THEIR responsibility to raise the subject of an agreement regarding conduct and disclosure prior to the deposit being paid.
Otherwise what you have in effect is entrapment.

Hi John.
Did the property have full title deeds as well.

Can I ask why you are adamant that the agent is responsible here? Do you have something in writing from them stating that they will provide you with the results of searches?

Tanny is right that the seller, normally through their lawyer, provides the searches that would show any outstanding mortgages on the property. The agent does not do this.

As to your agreement with the agent, surely it is your responsibility to check the terms of your agreement with them and to query/make alterations, as necessary, with reference to your own lawyer if appropriate?

I have no allegiance to any agent or lawyer, but it does seem as if you are damning them for something that they would not be expected to do here.

''I was driven to Fitzgerald's office where I made an offer. A counter offer was presented to me by Daryl Fitzgerald on a piece of paper which was still less than the asking price. I accepted and the deposit was paid there and then, binding and committal''.

Therein lies the problem - you paid the deposit there and then without taking any legal advice.

Ordinarily we would only accept a non-refundable reservation/holding/commitment fee paid via the buyers solicitors office, which would clearly be made after certain assumptions and cursory phone calls are made and conditions applied. Part of the agreement to payment is the conduct of the sellers is also assured and ideally all payments would be made either through the solicitor or in conjunction with the solicitor.

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Straight talking, no Gimmicks.

Live your dreams.

" Therein lies the problem - you paid the deposit there and then without taking any legal advice."

Alexis - the agent still has professional responsibilities regarding revealing hidden costs, status of the property etc and can not simply walk away from that and claim it's all the buyers responsibility to find those things out. The potential buyer does not even know the identity of the seller or the seller's lawyer. Withholding vital info. can constitute miss-selling.

Anyway, the sale is done and dusted and I have no ongoing dispute. The main point of this post was to advise all to avoid Fitzgeralds.

John

Hi, there is a common misconception by Brits coming to Cyprus in that 'professionals' (legal or others) perform in the same manner as those in the UK.

You are in Cyprus where things are actually done a different way.

Lose your preconceived expectations & learn the way things are done, or suffer the consequences!

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I'll be back!

Actually my lawyer in Paphos who specialises in property agreed with me, so obviously she knows the professional and legal responsibilities of an estate agent.

The only reason she advised me not to sue was because it's time consuming and the amount won might not be worth it in relation to the costs.