Real Life Stories Buying Case Study: Cyprus

Date Published:

18/06/2008

Sam Boyd and his family love living in sunny, Brit-friendly Cyprus. And they even have three-pin plugs there!

Interview Robin Christie

My name is Sam Boyd. I'm 39 years old and I live in Tala, in the Paphos region of Cyprus. I moved here in August 2005 with my partner Mary, 43, and our son Daniel, 15. I'm originally from Northern Ireland, and Mary's from Fareham in Hampshire, which is where we met.

We initially decided to look for a holiday home in Spain, but realised that it wasn't for us. Then Mary's brother, who had bought an apartment in Paralimni in Cyprus, suggested we take a look at the island - so we flew out there in April 2004. It was the first time we'd been to Cyprus and we had a fantastic time. We had a look at a few houses in Limassol and really liked the island, but we needed a school for Daniel so Paphos seemed better.

We'd done a lot of research before we went, and travelled out there independently so we could investigate a range of properties through several estate agents and developers.

The three-bedroom bungalow we bought was actually the first place we saw. We came back to look at it four times, three with the agents BuySell and then once again by ourselves. When we went into Tala village to see what it was like, everyone was very friendly. It was the house that ticked the most boxes out of the 30 houses we viewed during our week here. It was the oldest house we had viewed, but had the largest plot and the best views. It just felt right for us, so we bought it for CY£220,000 - around £250,000 at the time.

We're 1,000 feet above sea level, and we have amazing sea views from the pool, the garden, lounge, master bedroom and the kitchen. We look down over the west side of Paphos, towards Coral Bay, Kissonerga and Chlorakas.

We planned to take early retirement, but once we'd spent a few months working on the house we were drumming our fingers and getting bored. I used to do electronic designs for missile systems and had become adept at computing, so I thought I'd try to do some website designs and Internet advertising over here. The business has taken off very well.

Daniel didn't particularly want to come over here, so we said we'd try it for a year and if he didn't like it we could go back. After three weeks we asked him and he said, 'I'm not going back'. He has gone on to have a brilliant time.

There are many reasons why we decided to live out here - it's not just because of the great climate. The Cypriot people are wonderful, everyone is so friendly. While 90 per cent of them speak good English, you can make yourself understood to the rest by using basic Greek and sign language - and have a good laugh in the process.

There are other things that feel comfortable and familiar, like the fact they drive on the left-hand side of the road and use three-pin plugs. On the other hand, unlike in the UK, you can drive from one side of the island to the other hardly seeing another car. I certainly don't miss sitting in traffic on a British motorway for over an hour on the way to work.

The Cypriots have been absolutely fantastic. I would advise anyone who's thinking about moving to Cyprus to do a lot of research, make the effort to integrate with the locals and do try to use a little bit of Greek - it's appreciated.

For further information on Cypriot property, contact BuySell Real Estate on 0800 496 5115 or visit www.buysellcyprus.com.

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