Earth moving costs

[lotus]

Hi Jeba,let's hope your agent is telling the truth,a km away should be fine although you might still get bit of traffic noise esp if wind is blowing your way,150 m would obviously be like living next door to the road which will be quite busy at times,but that probably won't be for a few years yet!!,has your agent got proof about the distance?,I would get independent proof of where excactly the new road is going,again try the Muktar?

[jeba]

,has your agent got proof about the distance?,

I´m waiting for that.

[jeba]

After finally having received final info from the land registry department about where the new motorway will run I decided to not proceed with the purchase of the plot in Stroumpi I was interested in (thanks again for making me aware of it). Im now considering a plot in Polemi. When I asked an architect for a quote to give a professional opinion I received the following:

I can provide you with information regarding The PLOT you have sent me in POLEMI VILLAGE:

The zoning of the plot - to make sure it is on the residential & not rural area.
The Building coefficient (how many square meters you can build)
The coverage coefficient (how many square meters you can cover)
The number of floors allowed in the plot. ( if residential zoning it is usually 2 floors in that area)
What height you are allowed ( how many meters high you can go ).

For this work i charge 200 euro plus 19%VAT - you can have the answer by tomorrow sometime in the afternoon.
If for any reason you need to know urgently by tonight i will charge an additional amount of 50 euro plus 19% VAT.

Note that this is all info I already have and provided to her (I have a copy of the deeds). Is that kind of rip-off to be expected?

[Sadie]

Does it have to be a new build?
What is your budget?
There are some bungalows built in the village already with title deeds
Have a look on primelocation website

[Paulo]

Rip Off? €200 for a professional opinion that may save you a lot of problems further down the line seems a fair price.

If you think this is expensive then maybe a self build is not the way forward for you, as there will be lots of professional fees to be paid out and unforeseen costs are a given.
Do you expect people to give up their time for free? Or to do you a favour?

[WHL]

After finally having received final info from the land registry department about where the new motorway will run I decided to not proceed with the purchase of the plot in Stroumpi I was interested in (thanks again for making me aware of it). Im now considering a plot in Polemi. When I asked an architect for a quote to give a professional opinion I received the following:

I can provide you with information regarding The PLOT you have sent me in POLEMI VILLAGE:

The zoning of the plot - to make sure it is on the residential & not rural area.
The Building coefficient (how many square meters you can build)
The coverage coefficient (how many square meters you can cover)
The number of floors allowed in the plot. ( if residential zoning it is usually 2 floors in that area)
What height you are allowed ( how many meters high you can go ).

For this work i charge 200 euro plus 19%VAT - you can have the answer by tomorrow sometime in the afternoon.
If for any reason you need to know urgently by tonight i will charge an additional amount of 50 euro plus 19% VAT.

Note that this is all info I already have and provided to her (I have a copy of the deeds). Is that kind of rip-off to be expected?

If you have all the info already, then why are you asking another architect?

If I was asking an architect for the information you have listed, the a fee of 200 euro seems a fair price, and not a rip off.

[jeba]

Hi Jeba,let's hope your agent is telling the truth,a km away should be fine although you might still get bit of traffic noise esp if wind is blowing your way,150 m would obviously be like living next door to the road which will be quite busy at times,but that probably won't be for a few years yet!!,has your agent got proof about the distance?,I would get independent proof of where excactly the new road is going,again try the Muktar?

The agent was not telling the truth even though I repeatedly asked whether they were sure about the distance. Initially they said the new motorway was 1 km away and when I asked for proof they didn´t come up with any but said they checked again and it was 500 m. When I finally received a plan from the land department it turned out to be 150 m.

[trevnhil]

jeba, I may be wrong but I think at present you live in the Eastern end of the island..

Have you actually been to look at the plots of land in Stoumbi and indeed at the one in Polemi, the village where I live..
You can also get a lot of information from visiting the village offices..

[jeba]

Yes, I'm living near Larnaca. However, I took my time to look at the plots I found online. I also spoke to who'd be future neighbours but would still like to have an expert opinion on potential problems. But I don't want to become a victim of daylight robbery like the one I posted above.

[Kili01]

Penny pinching comes to mind. If you want professional advice you have to pay for it. Otherwise look at the resale market.

Dee

[Dominic]

Why are you asking for a professional opinion if you already know the answer? Do you want them to be accountable if the information turns out to be incorrect? Why should that accountability be free?

If it isn't about accountability, what on Earth is it about? If you want expert knowledge, you should expect to pay for it.

[Devil]

Simply, caveat emptor!

[trevnhil]

Simply, caveat emptor!

I will agree with Devil on this one. Check, check and check again.
When we bought land in Polemi to build on we used a well-recommended solicitor. We signed all the papers and paid the money and the sale went through.. Then of course we had plans drawn up and our second architect alerted us to the fact that we could not build "at the moment"

We contacted the solicitor who checked up with the staff.. Then we were told that the person handling our sale had told us "It may be 10 years before you can build on the plot you are buying"

That was devastating news... We managed to get things moving a lot quicker than that, although there was a delay..

Another point is our plot of land did not have electricity 'Passing by' So, of course, I applied for electricity to be brought to the plot. I remember the day well when I took the forms into the old office in the centre of Paphos.. The lady behind the desk said, "You should apply early". I thought she meant earlier in the morning. But she went on to explain that it takes "Many Years" to get an electricity supply.
A friendly Cypriot person helped us speed up the application, and the finished house build and electric supply arrived at the same time..

There certainly is a LOT to be aware of..

[jeba]

Simply, caveat emptor!

I will agree with Devil on this one. Check, check and check again.
When we bought land in Polemi to build on we used a well-recommended solicitor. We signed all the papers and paid the money and the sale went through.. Then of course we had plans drawn up and our second architect alerted us to the fact that we could not build "at the moment"

We contacted the solicitor who checked up with the staff.. Then we were told that the person handling our sale had told us "It may be 10 years before you can build on the plot you are buying"

That was devastating news... We managed to get things moving a lot quicker than that, although there was a delay..

Another point is our plot of land did not have electricity 'Passing by' So, of course, I applied for electricity to be brought to the plot. I remember the day well when I took the forms into the old office in the centre of Paphos.. The lady behind the desk said, "You should apply early". I thought she meant earlier in the morning. But she went on to explain that it takes "Many Years" to get an electricity supply.
A friendly Cypriot person helped us speed up the application, and the finished house build and electric supply arrived at the same time..

There certainly is a LOT to be aware of..

Would you mind sharing what was the reason why you were supposed to wait 10 years?

Of course, for checking things like that I would be prepared to pay. But not for info I already have. When I had my lease contract checked by a German speaking lawyer from the list of the German embassy his hourly rate was € 150.-. Which seems reasonable to me. But € 200 for information which she could take from what I emailed to her within 2 minutes? No way.

[trevnhil]

Jeba, we are living in a bungalow built in an area outside the village. The access is down a 500mt concrete track... On the plans of the area, the track was shown as a double dotted line (public access), except where it passed two other plots of land. There it only had a single dotted line. (not public access).
However, we had pieces of paper to show that the owners of those plots of land would let us as landowners go past.. But one of the papers was not signed.. So it just needed signing... but for months maybe years, they would not sign. All turned out well in the end..

It all hinged on having public access to our plot of land..

[Dominic]

Simply, caveat emptor!

I will agree with Devil on this one. Check, check and check again.
When we bought land in Polemi to build on we used a well-recommended solicitor. We signed all the papers and paid the money and the sale went through.. Then of course we had plans drawn up and our second architect alerted us to the fact that we could not build "at the moment"

We contacted the solicitor who checked up with the staff.. Then we were told that the person handling our sale had told us "It may be 10 years before you can build on the plot you are buying"

That was devastating news... We managed to get things moving a lot quicker than that, although there was a delay..

Another point is our plot of land did not have electricity 'Passing by' So, of course, I applied for electricity to be brought to the plot. I remember the day well when I took the forms into the old office in the centre of Paphos.. The lady behind the desk said, "You should apply early". I thought she meant earlier in the morning. But she went on to explain that it takes "Many Years" to get an electricity supply.
A friendly Cypriot person helped us speed up the application, and the finished house build and electric supply arrived at the same time..

There certainly is a LOT to be aware of..

Would you mind sharing what was the reason why you were supposed to wait 10 years?

Of course, for checking things like that I would be prepared to pay. But not for info I already have. When I had my lease contract checked by a German speaking lawyer from the list of the German embassy his hourly rate was € 150.-. Which seems reasonable to me. But € 200 for information which she could take from what I emailed to her within 2 minutes? No way.

You didn't answer my question. If you already know the answer, why are you asking? If you want the person you are asking to take some liability for their answer, then that will cost money.

[jeba]

You didn't answer my question. If you already know the answer, why are you asking? If you want the person you are asking to take some liability for their answer, then that will cost money.

I hadn´t asked the questions she offered to answer. Those answers were to be taken from what I had emailed her. I wanted an assessment of the suitability of the plot for my purposes and a check for problems I might not be aware of. But, given that she had the cheek to ask for € 200 + VAT for info I provided myself to her I wonder what she would charge for any further steps. I told her I won´t proceed with her and am now waiting for a quote from someone else (btw. from your directory).

[WHL]

You didn't answer my question. If you already know the answer, why are you asking? If you want the person you are asking to take some liability for their answer, then that will cost money.

I hadn´t asked the questions she offered to answer. Those answers were to be taken from what I had emailed her. I wanted an assessment of the suitability of the plot for my purposes and a check for problems I might not be aware of. But, given that she had the cheek to ask for € 200 + VAT for info I provided myself to her I wonder what she would charge for any further steps. I told her I won´t proceed with her and am now waiting for a quote from someone else (btw. from your directory).

Just because you emailed her some information,, She would still have to do search's to confirm the suitability of the plot, 200 euro is not a rip off, I payed much more back in the 70s, for that sort of info,,, following your posts on here, you seem to want to rely on members answering your questions, when no one on here is qualified to do so, people on here can only speculate and guess, im guessing this project will be costing several hundreds of thousands of euros, do yourself a favor and don't try to do things on the cheap, pay for ''Expert'' advice, and save yourself from possible problems in the future.

[jeba]

She would still have to do search's to confirm the suitability of the plot

Exactly. Problem is that this not included in her quote. The guy whose quote I´m waiting for now is currently on his way to the plot before he´ll give me his quote. Sounds much more trustworthy to me.

[trevnhil]

One thing he probably won't comment on is 'Barking Dogs' But that problem may not be there depending upon where the plot is. We have lived right in the centre of the village, on Keriakou Street