Paphos People

Hi there, moving diary coming up, will try not to bore you all rigid!

BACKGROUND

We had never thought about visiting Cyprus, it just hadn’t featured on our radar at all, until 2000. We were into Greek Islands, Lesvos and Crete mainly but in 2000 we booked a holiday with friends for mid July in Kefalonia, and a week in Paris in August to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary. On July 14, 2000 I went to work feeling a bit dizzy, which began to get worse so I drove (yes drove) to the doctor who said Labyrinthitis it will clear up in a few days. By the time I left the doctor I couldn’t drive the car so my husband had to come and get me, by the afternoon I was too dizzy to walk and was crawling across the floor and throwing up every 10 minutes. By the evening I was in hospital where I stayed for a week while they ruled out strokes etc. It was indeed Labyrinthitis but a very bad case, so both holidays were cancelled, and by some horrible irony the doctor who treated me in the hospital was due to be on the same plane to Kefalonia! Anyway, by September I could walk about and just about manage, so we went off to the travel agent to find a holiday destination which would be not too far, as we had no idea how flying would affect the residual dizziness, and somewhere that would still be hot. So Cyprus it was.

When we arrived at Paphos airport and drove from the airport to the hotel in the TOKR, we were unimpressed after being used to beautiful, calm, uncommercial Greek Islands here we were driving past such venues as Ye Olde English Sheepdog Pub, we thought what have we come to. The next couple of days we hated, then slowly we began to find the beautiful places and realised that a bit of commercialism was actually quite good, and that after a day on the beach, or sight seeing, to wander along the seafront and into the odd gift shop made the evening more enjoyable than just sitting in a taverna on Lesvos watching the world go by. By the end of the holiday we were hooked.

Over the next few years we visited Cyprus once a year and began to think about the possibilities of early retirement, I am 55, Richard 61. I started researching all aspects of living and buying in Cyprus and by 2006 we took the plunge and bought a resale townhouse on a small development in Peyia, it was very scary. The main reason we bought then was because over the previous few years we had seen house prices go up steadily and thought that if we waited much longer we would only be able to afford a rabbit hutch. Although not absolutely dependent on rental to help fund the purchase (we had remortgaged our UK home to buy the Cyprus one) we felt that renting out the property would be helpful, but as it was fully furnished and in a beautiful condition, we feared that holiday lets would spoil it, so, despite knowing it would prevent us from staying in the property, we put it with an agent who found us long term tenants who have had it ever since, they leave this coming April. Imagine how frustrating it has been to go on holiday to Cyprus and not to be able to stay in our own place!

MOVING ON

We live in an Edwardian house that we bought as two very tatty flats 16 years ago, and over the years Richard (husband) has renovated it, when he had the time and when we had the money. So our next problem was to complete the renovations speedily and get the house on the market. Since last March we have spent every evening and every weekend working on the house, I have painted six rooms and the hall and landing while Richard knocked the rooms at the back of the house into one big new kitchen. Just before Christmas we put the house on the market, despite the fact that the old kitchen needed converting into a downstairs loo and utility room, which Richard is working on as I type! Anyway, we have a buyer and solicitors have been instructed.

THE FUTURE

The plan now, assuming the sale goes through, is to rent a property for six months with our eldest son, who had moved back home, while he waits for some money from shares which will come in August, in order for him to put a deposit down and get a mortgage, at which point we will make the final move. The logistics are dreadful, the removal men will have to put in store the stuff we want to take to Cyprus, also my son’s stuff to go to his new house, but this must be kept separate, take to the rental house our personal possessions which will then have to go to Cyprus, and take my son’s personal possessions which will have to go to his new house. The possibilities for a monumental cockup are endless!

To be continued………………….

Cheers

Milly

Great reading Milly. It is good to see another Moving Diary. I can see how you have a logistic nightmare; makes our move seem straightforward, inspite of having a lot of Sam's (daughter) stuff in boxes at both our house and my sisters, all of which will have to come out with ours now that she has made the move.

Very best of luck and fingers crossed (as are ours) that nothing goes wrong with the house sale.

Look forward to the next installment.

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Tina
xxxx

Hi Milly

Great to see another moving diary started.You are just down the road from us as we are in rainham.We too are looking forward to moving some time in future.As long as inventory all sorted i am sure it will all go smothly.

You are over first hurdle by making decision.

All the best

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Hi Milly I was even closer to you than Frank as I used to live in Whitstable. Your story is very similar to ours, its strange how that far away island can get such a hold on you!

Good luck with your sale we should be on the market by the end of next week all being well (fingers crossed)

Good luck

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Maid Marion:)

Hi Tina - thanks for your good wishes.

Hi Cypriotsid - hopefully prices will stay good in this end of the country, it's a worry for those yet to sell. We hope ours goes through before the recession.

Hi Maid marion - Goodness it's a small world. It's strange we were convinced our ideal holiday location was a quiet Greek Islan until we tried something else! And of course what is ideal for a holiday is not necessarily right to live in all year round.

Best of luck to all of you, hope to see you in Paphos one day

Cheers

Milly

Good Luck Milly!

It is so interesting to see how the pieces fit into the jigsaw, to make up the picture of how we all decide to move to Cyprus.

Pam

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Pam

Life is what happens when you are busy making other plans

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Thanks Frank, if they would just stop talking about a recession, maybe we would squeeze by in time I am very aware that there is a first time buyer at the start of our chain who may struggle to get a mortgage or maybe decide to wait until prices drop, but of course if they are renting that will be lost money....

Solicitor came round the other week with all the nasty paperwork to fill in (didn't realise solicitors did house calls). Anyway, it turns out that since my husband installed our new windows after April, 2002, we have to get the blinking council round to inspect them and give us a FENSA certificate, at great expense. Just another way to get more money out of the public

Cheers

Milly

Milly this is britain where we are used to getting ripped off and we lay back and say nothing.Think ahead of where you will be

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Hi Frank, Twosox,

To add to that expense our buyer's mortgage valuer came round and stuck his head in the loft and said he could see beetle infestation, well, we had the whole house treated before we moved in 16 years ago and I doubt if he could tell if it's live by just looking. Anyway, now we are having to get somone round to give a professional opinion, and that is costing around £60. And as for the HIP, £400 odd quick and no one is in the slightest bit interested in looking at it. It has not facilitated the sale in any way, just a total waste of our money!

I am trying hard not to think too much about giving up work and living in the sun as it will be sooooo disappointing if it all goes wrong.

Cheers

Milly

Dont worry Milly, you are not alone, we all go through it. Just keep thinking positive and you will get there in the end.

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Molly

Treat others as you want to be treated

Thanks Molly, yes, positive thinking, I have to admit I am not know for it, but I am getting better. My other half is an optimist but as I point out to him he is regularly disappointed, whereas if you are a pessimist, you either get the satisfaction of saying I told you so, or you're pleasantly surprised, either way it's a win/win situation

Cheers

Milly

What can I say to that Milly

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Molly

Treat others as you want to be treated

Great to read the updates Milly. I hope everything goes according to plan and we see you there soon. I wouldn't worry about the positive thinking - there are enough of us on here sending out positive vibes for you

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Tina
xxxx

Hi Milly

I agree with what you say as holes after infestation remain.If the person is worth his salt he will know.I am also C.T.I.S and there are ways of checking.Other ways are to cover hole areas with paper pasted on and if next year holes appear it is still live.Lets me know how you get on.

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Hi Frank

Well, we asked a company to come round and tell us whether the infestation was live or not, and he said it wasn't, so we asked him to give us a letter saying that. When the darned letter came it just said there was evidence of infestation and that they recommended spraying and giving a quote for over £400! So my other half rang them and said, we didn't pay you £55 to come and tell us what we already knew, and not mention that the infestation was historic. The guy waffled on that he knew no mortgage company would accept anything but a respray as there was no guarantee (OH got a guy from a company to do it on the side for cash 16 years age, as we were hard up!). So now we have told the buyer to knock £400 off the asking price and get it done themselves as it will be easier to do when the loft is empty.

But it's frustrating that everyone is angling for business and covering their backs and it's just costing us more and more money, what with window certificates and electrical certificates and indemnity policies!!!!

cheers

Milly

Milly

If buyers are serious then get it written into contract for retention so if they save £400 pounds they will still have to get it done.Also it is misuse of chemicals even if water based or not.

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Life is short! Break the rules! Forgive quickly!
Love truly, Laugh uncontrollably
And never regret anything that made you smile Warning Internet forums may contain nuts

Hi there! Things beginning to move a bit. We had the contracts to sign yesterday and OH took them to the solicitor today, he reckons we might be able to exchange at the end of next week or early the following week and then complete two or three weeks later. So I felt quite upbeat when I came home from a very boring day at work. I work in a university and it's vacation so there are no students and most of the academics are on leave, so it's a bit dreary, anyway, got home, husband feeling tired and grumpy, son feeling even grumpier as he thinks he may have to rent due to having less of a deposit because the share option that is going to mature in August has obviously dropped with the lousy economic climate. All this could be easily solved if he would buy with his brother which was the original intention, but as he's has decided he can't live with his brother's girlfriend that has gone out of the window, so that is his choice and I'll be bu*****d if I am going to feel guilty because of it.

We are both worried about leaving our 25 year old and 27 year old sons, yes I did say 25 and 27, how ridiculous is that, we have done everything we can for them all these years, and I think we have probably done too much for them and it will be a shock for them not to have dad on hand to fix the car etc, but I keep telling myself we will only be four and a half hours away, and on the end of the phone and internet, so that will have to be good enough. To be fair they have never made any criticism of our decision to go, but I just felt a bit peeved tonight when I was finally allowing myself to feel a tad excited and no one shared my mood.

We are still anxious that the first time buyer at the beginning of the chain might get cold feet but as our solicitor pointed out, if they let their mortgage offer go they might have trouble getting another one later on and will most likely not get as good a rate, so it's not just about falling house prices.

Cheers

Milly

Milly I can feel your reserved excitement. I know the feeling well. You want to let it all go but thee are the worries about the actual exchange not happening and the natural worries about your sons. That's just mothers for you. Luckily (or maybe unlucky ) fo me, my daughter is already in Cyprus so I don't have the worries of leaving her behind but we had already decided to go before she did, and I was worried about it then. As you say they are older now but you will worry about them forever; they will always be your babies. My mum used to say that she worried about me more when I was 40 that she did when I was 4.

Take each day as it comes and I am sure it will be fine. Let us know when you exchange and we can celebrate along with you. It is a great feeling.

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Tina
xxxx

Milly

We have our fingers crossed for you at the last run.It is true they would be wise to take the moortgage while it is on offer.Keep us updated.

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Life is short! Break the rules! Forgive quickly!
Love truly, Laugh uncontrollably
And never regret anything that made you smile Warning Internet forums may contain nuts

Hi Tina

Your mum is so right! When my boys were children I could solve all their problems for them, but now that they are adults, most of the time all I can do is worry, and give sympathy when necessary. I almost feel it would be bad luck to get excited, but the tension is awful, as you very well know. How lovely to have your daughter with you, we would love the boys to come but only if they could get UK paid jobs and that isn't likely. Both my son and OH have apologised for being grumps last night and I have told my son that we will help him with the deposit once we know what our final expenses are. There seem to be so many bills coming from all directions!!! M & S have been in touch and are sending someone to give us a quote, but the loft still beckons

Hi Sid,

Thanks for the good vibes!

Cheers

Milly

Milly I've got my fingers crossed for you too.

Hope everyone keeps to their part of the bargain. Keep us updated.

Pam

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Pam

Life is what happens when you are busy making other plans

Hang in there Milly its never easy money, and familys, so much happing at once but sure you will get there .Dont get stuck to long in loft.
Tricia

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new me new life, , never forget my cyprus life and friends .

Milly

Don't worry just take it one step at a time and it will all come together

_________________
Life is short! Break the rules! Forgive quickly!
Love truly, Laugh uncontrollably
And never regret anything that made you smile Warning Internet forums may contain nuts

Thanks for the positive messages guys, much appreciated, the weekends seem very long because nothing can happen house selling wise, and I have had two migraines. , oh the stress....!

The last time we rented a house was about 20 years ago when we were attempting to go to Australia, but the housing crash spoiled that (are you beginning to see a pattern here?) anyway, the houses we saw then were furnished, and stupidly we assumed they would be now, we have just found out that they are not, having told our buyers that they can have all the curtains! Well, we certainly won't be buying any, just for six months so we will just have to make do. Also we didn't realise what a performance we will probably have to go through to register with agents and be checked out before they will let us rent, how times have changed, so we need to get on with that side of things fairly soon. An unfurnished house will make life a lot less complicated because we can move all our stuff in and there won't be storage fees, then we can move our son and his bits into his place ourselves, and that will just leave our stuff to ship.

Obviously we will have to rent for six months, but if it turns out we are ready to go before that we will just write off the rent.

Cheers

Milly

Hi all, update time! We very nearly got to exchange contracts! Then the first time buyer at the bottom of the chain (as my husband had predicted) asked for a price reduction of £5000, so the three of us above have had to split the cost between us, this is quite a common trick to do this just before exchange when everyone has their plans made and don't want to see the chain collapse. Apparently it doesn't require new contracts or new mortgage offers the solicitors sort it out between them, anyway my OH has made it clear that this is a one off and if they come back for more he will tell them where they can go. I know house prices have fallen but not in real terms in this area and certainly not by £5000! The new exchange date is by next Friday, fingers crossed!

We have had a quote from the removers and we will be spending the weekend in the loft clearing out rubbish. My younger son is splitting up with his girlfriend so my two boys will be buying a house/flat together, my elder son had refused to live with the younger one's girlfriend, but not a problem now and not why they are splitting up I hasten to add! My OH and I feel a lot better about leaving them now that they will be living together and can afford to buy relatively comfortably with both their salaries and still have a life.

Cheers

Milly

Hi Milly

Such a great update and seems best way to go to split it as it keeps it moving,I agree with what you say in kent house prices are not dropping and i see loads of for sale and sold signs.Glad to read that your sons are sharing best way to go in my opinion.

Look forwar to your next instalment.

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Life is short! Break the rules! Forgive quickly!
Love truly, Laugh uncontrollably
And never regret anything that made you smile Warning Internet forums may contain nuts

Oh well Milly. You thought this may happen but I agree that slitting the £5000 was very sensible to stop the chain collapsing. At the end of the day if you had to start all over again it would probably end up costing you more in real terms. Fingers crossed for next Friday then and hope to see you soon.

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Tina
xxxx

Milly I have never heard of the bottom of the chain demanding a reduction just before signing! Thanks for telling us that - if it happens to us then it will not be such a shock, but I suppose £5000 shared out is not too bad.

It just goes to show how some people will take advantage of the present economic situation.

Good luck for next Friday, I'll keep my fingers crossed.

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Pam

Life is what happens when you are busy making other plans

Thanks Pam, Tina and Frank for your replies, yes £1666 is not so bad, it's just the annoyance of being manipulated, as they had a pretty good idea that we would all think that amount is not too much and they would get away with it. Oh well, it's business I suppose, as long as it goes through eventually, though I may be a basket case by then

We went out today to see what is available to rent that will accommodate all of us, and there wasn't much at all, plenty of 1 and two bed properties but not much that was bigger, and the rents!!! the most suitable one was £1195 a month!!!! But whatever it costs as long as we get to Cyprus

We wanted a pension forecast to see if we needed to pay any more stamps now that you only need 30 years, so I looked on their website and it said that the website forecaster was being updated and wouldn't be available until the Autumn and that you have to download a form and send it in if you want a forecast, so I did that for both myself and OH and sent them off. We each had letters from them today saying that the website forecaster was being updated and wouldn't be available until the Autumn.

Cheers

Milly

Hooray! After weeks and weeks of stress and wondering if our chain would collapse, we have finally exchanged contracts!!! The relief is tremendous. We think we have found a suitable house over here to rent, so, on 28th May we move. Then hopefully my boys will find a property to buy and within six months Cyprus here we come!!! I can't believe it's actually happening after years of longing and hoping.

Cheers

Milly

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Molly

Treat others as you want to be treated

good news Milly, all the best with plans
Tricia

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new me new life, , never forget my cyprus life and friends .

_________________
Life is short! Break the rules! Forgive quickly!
Love truly, Laugh uncontrollably
And never regret anything that made you smile Warning Internet forums may contain nuts

Really pleased for you both. You deserve it after all the ups and owns you have gone through.

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Lyn

Tough times dont last long but tough people do

Milly



Jackie

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If it has tyres or testicals you are going to have problems with it!

Fantastic news Milly. I will be looking forward to seeing you in Cyprus.

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Tina
xxxx

Great news you can both start counting down now, Cyprus is that little bit nearer.

Jan

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ALWAYS MOVE FORWARD

Thanks everyone for the lovely messages. We are very relieved, we feared we may have missed the boat and would be engulfed by the recession before we could get a good price. We think we have found a nice house to rent for the next few months, so once our boys have bought a place and are settled, Cyprus here we come

Some of the time I feel like a rabbit caught in the headlights, not quite knowing where to start with all the things you have to do when you move, it's been 17 years since we last moved I want to start packing but obviously it's far too early, and as for all the people we have to inform.... still I am certainly not complaining! I am so looking forward to handing in my notice and being free

Cheers

Milly

Hope that everything is plain sailing from here on in x

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Dawn
~Never drive faster than your guardian angel can fly~

Hi there, quick mini update, we are in the process of trying to rent a house, we move in less than two weeks!!! Why does everything take so long!!!! We have had to fill in long forms for credit checks that cost £65 each! And, all four of us have had to have these. blooming ripoff! Anyway, we now have to wait three working days for the results, so we still can't make definite plans regarding giving out the address to the removal firm, or utilities etc. exasperating and scary!

My sons are making my head spin. They are going to live together, then they aren't going to live together. Let's see, it's Thursday, so today maybe they are going to live together. I feel wicked taking away their family home and possibly forcing one or other into a bedsit. But part of me wonders whether it will be good for them to grow up and stand on their own two feet! But I know I will miss them terribly

Every day the papers are talking gloom and doom about falling house prices, rising costs of everything, and impending recession, so we feel incredibly lucky to have sold our house and be on the move!

Our house in Cyprus is with a management company and we have now told them we don't intend to let it anymore, and that our neighbour is going to collect the keys and check on it occasionally until we get there. I don't know what will happen about bills, as we are not there to set up direct debits, and the electricity has been turned off and we can't get it back on until we go out there or give our solicitor power of attorney, so we may have to stay in a hotel until it gets turned back on, I don't know how long that may take. So many problems and so few answers!!!

Cheers

Milly

Hi there!

We have just moved house!!! We have been frazzled, exhausted, depressed, elated, excited, and we are just about on an even keel now! We were very sad to say goodbye to our lovely house, and now we have moved into a similar sized house but in nowhere near such a good decorative order. The biggest problem has been the lack of built in wardrobes as we had them at the old house and apart from a dress rail all our clothes are in bags and suitcases. Still, we will manage, have only just got the computer up and running today. The built in fridge and freezer are extremely small and we may have to get ours going in the garage.

Back to work tomorrow, and normality, if you can call work that! Will have to go a bit earlier as we now live further away, hope I remember to go the right way home!!

Anyway, we have a much bigger bank balance now and can look forward to the next phase, that is, our sons getting settled in their own place and then, bye bye job and hello Cyprus

Cheers

Milly

Milly
You have just completed one phase of your move to cyprus well done

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Life is short! Break the rules! Forgive quickly!
Love truly, Laugh uncontrollably
And never regret anything that made you smile Warning Internet forums may contain nuts

Looks like good news for yet another PP member

I'm sure you're over the moon Milly & so you should be, your dream is coming true

Thanks Frank & Pete

We have just watched panorama which was all about the problems of the property market and what people in a variety of situations should do and we realise how very, very lucky we have been to sell before things got too bad, it's going to get a lot worse here before it gets better. We in the south east are a bit better off than many areas but even here there seem to be a lot of properties on the market and not a lot selling.

Anyway, as I say we have been very fortunate and are now looking forward to making the final move in the not too dim and distant.

Cheers

Milly

Well done Milly - you have done the hard part now and you are that much nearer to moving to Cyprus. I agree with the property market problems - we are both so lucky to have sold our houses.

I will look forward to your final move and will keep a long-awaited coffee date for you.

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Tina
xxxx

It's a date Tina! Mine's a frappe, milky with lots of sugar Hope we can get there before the end of this year's hot weather!

Cheers

Milly

Gosh, have I really not written anything since June, where has the time gone! Today I handed in my notice at work, it was a wonderful feeling, a bit scary, but great now it's done. We are in the final stages of helping our sons to decorate their new flat. I finish work on 31 October, then my OH has a hernia op on 3rd of November, fingers crossed it all goes well with no probs, then on 20th November our stuff is being shipped, and we will move in with our sons for a week, then Cyprus here we come! I am excited and scared all at once. It's not the best time of year to move country, but as long as we get there that's fine. It will be our first Christmas without our sons, they can't afford to come out to us with all the expenses of a new place, and we want to be a bit careful to start with and don't wish to fly back for Christmas having only just got there! I am sure it won't particularly bother them, but I shall miss them a lot at Christmas.

cheers

Milly

All going well for you at last ,all the best to hubby when he has his op . you will be feeling better seeing the boys settaled, we all miss family more so at xmas, you will be so busy the day will pass We arrive 10th oct hope to get sortd by xmas..
Tricia

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new me new life, , never forget my cyprus life and friends .

Thanks Tricia, and all the best for your big move, that is scarily close now, I hope you are on top of things, there is so much to do and think about and organise, and so much of it can't be done until almost the last minute

Cheers

Milly