Anyone renting in Cyprus??

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Foxandsot
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Anyone renting in Cyprus??

Post by Foxandsot »

Hello

Anyone renting a property in Cyprus? We get the keys for our house in December of this year and then the fun begins!!

Any tips/advice would be appreciated, especially about managing the property when you live in the UK. Any pitfalls we should be aware of!!

Thanks

Michelle
david a
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Location: Peyia, Cyprus
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Post by david a »

Hello Michelle

We have a property in cyprus which we let out so feel free to ask any questions.

We found a good management company who do everything for us from checking the property weekly and picking up guests at the airport or handing over the keys. It is not cheep but essential and if you find someone reliable worth their wait in gold.

This is our first year so we are still novices but are quite enjoying the whole experience though there are ups and downs.

Any tips we have you will have probable allready read on this site but i would say that if you are going to buy a sofa bed to accommodate more guests its worth spending a little extra on a decent one, it probably won't get much use but they look better
in photos and many of the cheap ones look like dodgy deckchairs

Hope this helps

David

Our cyprus site is
www.cyprusseaviews.co.uk still needs alot of tinkering and content but might give you some ideas
Foxandsot
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Location: Pervolia, cyprus
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Post by Foxandsot »

Hello David

Thanks for your reply.

I've found one property company that could help us but they charge £45cyp per clean and £5 to change a bed! I thought it was a bit steep but have yet to find a company that I can compare with.

Where are you advertising or are you relying solely on your website? I've looked at holiday rentals and owners direct. I am really nervous about the whole thing, think we're not going to get any bookings! I'm also concerned about being so far away and having to rely on others to sort things out. Bit of a control freak me :lol:

Have you had any nightmares or has it all been plain sailing?

Hope to hear back from you.

Michelle
david a
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Post by david a »

Hello Michelle

I must admit we were worried about getting any bookings before we started but so far this year it has gone quite well, We have our own website which hasn't brought any bookings direct but i think it has helped as a referral for any enquirys that we get.

Most of our bookings have come from
www.holidaylettings.co.uk for us they have been excellent you can pay quarterly by dd and their rates are quite good, we also have our management company and www.paphoslettings.com whose website has a lot of good info

The price you have been quoted does sound a bit steep we pay cy£24 for a clean and 50 cents per item for lining i have posted this link of our agents so you can compare prices
www.paphosvillas4u.com/propertymanagement.html
I had a quick look on holiday lettings for your area and noticed there was a property being advertised by a management company and if you google their name they have a website so you could use them as a comparison.

With regard to feeling out of control this is something we worry about so we plan to fit a security box on the outside with the keys so we can at least direct people to the property if for some reason they are stuck in cyprus with no keys and no contact from the agent. However so far so good.

Finally Problems, our very first booking turnt up to a green pool which happened over night so couldn't use the pool for two days. We have had some lining ruined, broken glasses and lamps and on sunday a couple went out and got lost and our agent had to direct them back to the house late at night.I don't think they realised when you book a house it doesn't come with an onsite rep.But so far everyone that has been there have really loved it.

I hope i havn't gone on to much and you find some of this useful


Regards

David

PS whats pervolia like we have only seen our end of cyprus and plan to travel around a bit in the summer
Foxandsot
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Post by Foxandsot »

thanks David, very useful info.

Pervolia is lovely, very quiet. We fell in love with it when we first went there. I wouldn't say it is somewhere you would take a day trip to as there isn't much to do but if you fancy a very quiet day at the beach or an evening meal in the cobblestoned square then it is perfect!

What made the swimming pool turn green? I'm beginning to wish that we never bothered getting one, they seem like a bit of an expense and worry!

Thanks again and I am sure I will be back with more questions!!

Michelle
david a
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Post by david a »

Hi Michelle

I think the pool turning green was something to do with the chemicals not being put in in the right quantities, it was sorted in a couple of days and have had no more problems so far. Our pool is communial so the expence is shared but even if it wasn't we would definatly have one, on a hot day you can't beat it and if you are planning on letting essential.

Regards

David
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Angel
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Post by Angel »

Hi Michelle and David

I've just found this forum and this is my first post.

My place is on the Eastern side near Protaras, so we cover the whole of the RoC between us! It's an apartment which has the use of a big pool which is open to the general public and its associated pool bar, taverna, pub etc. So no worries over green water... or costs.

I've been renting for just over a year and, so far, we've had some lovely guests. Long may it continue.

Angel
david a
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Post by david a »

Hello Angel

Welcome to lay my hat, Haven't been back to LHM for a few days so taken a while to reply, Sorry.

We're of to Cyprus next week for three weeks and absolutely can't wait,while we are there this year we have booked a hotel in Ayia Napa for three days and hope to have a look around Protaras so any tips on the area would be great

This is our first year renting and have been lucky with bookings and guest so far and had some great feedback with many poeple saying they had a exellent time and would go back.

I had a nose at your website and it looks a lovely place, Your website is cool aswell and i like the fact your have been honest about the building work , Do you think this has put anyone of or had the opposite effect

Regards

David
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Angel
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Post by Angel »

Hi David, thanks for responding.

IMHO, Protaras is Blackpool-in-Cyprus which is why our place is about 6km away! Ayia Napa is similar and has the raving nightlife. Depending on your interests, I'd recommend exploring the Cape Grecko national park area and a stroll around Paralimni. The viewpoints of Varosha and Famagusta at Kapparis and Dherynia (where there is an excellent free Cultural Centre about occupied Famagusta) are also worth a visit. There are some excellent beaches and coves too.

Have a look at my www.kapparis.info website for more info and maps of the whole area.

My apartment website is generated by the Villarenters system. I plan to make it much better (don't we all? lol). Honesty is my policy - no surprises - and I do believe it helps to attract enquiries. I've also deliberately targeted the 1-3 guests rather than the people who want to fit 6 people in a 2-bed apartment.

I'm very surprised there aren't lots of Cyprus holiday home owners here as the rental market is so very competitive with supply far outweighing demand.

Cheers, Marion
Foxandsot
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Post by Foxandsot »

Hello Marion

Welcome to LMH.

I'm surprised too that there isn't more people from Cyprus on here!

We haven't started renting our villa out yet as it isn't built!! We are collecting the keys at Christmas and should hopefully have it on one or two of the holiday rental sites shortly after.

Glad your rentals are going well, only hope I can say the same thing this time next year!!

Michelle
david a
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Post by david a »

Hello Marion

Many thanks for the advice and also the link to your website absolutely superb with lots of great info, it must have taken you ages to get all that together (Hats off).I have been looking for a decent map for ages and through your links found one with our road on it, unbelievable the fun we have had trying to direct guests to our place, Can i ask if you had to ask to use the maps or can you just borrow then assuming they won't mind.

Thanks again

your a star

David
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Angel
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Post by Angel »

Hi Michelle... it might be better to get your place on the rental sites (and your website?) way before you're ready for guests. You might get some bookings, but also you'll start to get in the search engines.

Hi David, thank you for your kind words.

We have a big problem re maps for Cyprus. Mapquest, ViaMichelin, Google maps, Multimap etc don't yet go down to a decent level. So the only option is to scan paper maps. I have no qualms doing this as I credit the copyright owner. If they object, they can tell me and I'll remove it!

There's no problem just linking to a map on the web though, that's what the web's all about!

I'm tinkering with Google Earth and will be putting up images and adding info to my sites. Even though my place isn't visible (wasn't built!), it will show how far it is to the beach etc.

Marion (aka Angel)
Hells Bells
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Post by Hells Bells »

I put my place on lots of sites last Summer, and did my website way before the place was finished in December. I do remember having some criticism for doind this, but I think I was justified in doing it. I got some booking for the peak weeks, and by completion date, was quite high up in the searches too.
Foxandsot
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Post by Foxandsot »

What kind of photographs did you put on the listings sites? Our house currently looks like a building site? I do have an artists impression of the back of the house? Someone on this board suggested keeping people updated (via website) regarding the progression of the build. Do you think if I put one photo on the site and then direct people to my own website if they want to see how things are coming along??

I'm in the process of doing our website at the moment but I am struggling as I find it difficult to write about the house when it isn't ready.
Hells Bells
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Post by Hells Bells »

I used some shots of the views and the village in Summer and Winter, and the artists impressions we had of the completed building. Also a page of updates on the building progress.
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