Paphos Life

I have replied by private message to your question about lawyers fees.

Certainly transactions can be in sterling if both parties agree, though the deposit may have to be in euros if the agent or lawyer doesn't have a sterling a/c. I made use of direct transfers of funds when both selling & buying.

I know solicitors in the UK do open an escrow account to protect large sums in property transactions, though I'm not aware of that happening in Cyprus.

Estate agents do charge a lot here; 3-4% for sole agency & 5% for multi agency. I marketed my apartment using multi-agency, but managed to sell it myself allowing a reduction in the sold price.

Good luck

I was aware of Estate agents charging a 3 to 5 percentage charge. But until reading on here I had no idea that Lawyers charged €10,000 plus VAT at (I think) 20%

Hi Sadie,
I sold my villa here last December and moved somewhere smaller. I used Ruth Hadjiiannou as my solicitor.. She is very good and will explain everything to you. But selling a house in Cyprus is much more expensive than in the UK in terms of the fees charged by both solicitors and agents.
You can save on the agents fees if you can sell the place yourself. But I didn’t want to do that being on my own,
There is no set scale of fees for solicitors here, so you are right to ask them questions first before deciding. But you need a really good, honest solicitor who will advise you and do all the necessary work, as selling here can throw up unexpected problems. Your solicitor will handle the money side for you and explain the procedure. I found Ruth very good and as an English person communication was easy.
As far as I know you have to have the funds from your sale paid through your solicitor who opens a client account for this.
If you are paid in euros, but want to convert funds to sterling, you need a currency exchange specialist. I used Currency Solution.
For me the whole selling process was a steep learning curve!
Dee

Sadie pm sent

I used a guy called marios he trades as dempro office opposite government office where land registry is 3 percent sold quickly he gave good advice, good marketing

solicitors fees were 800.00 euros + vat. The very good solicitor I used was Haris Kalogirou & Co who I have used on a number of occasions over the last 20 years and would certainly recommend.

This sounds exactly right. Most lawyers have a set fee for conveyancing of 1% of the sale price + VAT + actual costs (stamps, POA, transfer fees/stamp duty etc. for buyers).

Jeanne

We sold in JAN this year. 1% + VAT. Don't forget you can negotiate now. They are not bound by Cyprus Bar fees anymore! Find a different lawyer!

I find it sort of bizarre that lawyers charge a % fee as surely the work is very similar whatever the value of the house!