At a Glance
Names: Mike and Kathy McGuire
Ages: Mike is 61 and Kathy is 50
Jobs: Retired decorator and a resort representative
Contact: Leptos Estates (www.leptosestates.com
Budget: £31,000 and £58,500
Kathy and Mike McGuire had been visiting Cyprus for over 16 years, and for the start of the new millennium they decided to buy a holiday home from Leptos Estates. The property they chose was situated in the tourist area of Kato, Paphos, on a development called Paradise Gardens.
Mike comments, “After holidaying in Cyprus for many years, we finally made the decision to buy here and looked at a couple of properties on our own. We then went into Leptos Estates’ head office in Paphos. We were taken by a sales representative to Paradise Gardens Phase 1, and we saw the resort residence and the style of the properties being built on Phase II. We had a look round and made a purchase. The location suited us perfectly, as when we come to Cyprus we don’t always want to rent a car and you can walk to the harbour, bars and restaurant from Paradise Gardens. It’s also on a bus route, so if we wanted to go further afield, we could do so without too much trouble.”
The McGuires bought a one-bedroom apartment off-plan for £31,000 (paying half up-front and financing the rest as a loan from the UK), and were confident, having seen the standard and finishes Leptos Estates worked to on other developments, that they wouldn’t be disappointed. “It took us no time at all,” says Mike. “On the first trip to the island with a view to buying, we bought, so you could say that within a week we had bought our first Cypriot home.”
As soon as the apartment was ready, the couple went out there on holiday, and they’ve used the apartment at every opportunity. Mike says, “It was always our intention to move to Cyprus when we retired, but once the apartment was finished and we were coming to Cyprus more regularly, at the end of every trip it became harder and harder to leave.”
During 2004, Kathy knew that she was going to be made redundant in the near future, and so they took the opportunity to come to Cyprus to purchase another property from Leptos Estates. “Our second property was bought on another visit to Cyprus. We were being taken to Leptos Kamares Club for lunch with our sales representative, Andreas, whom we had become very friendly with over the years. On the way to Kamares, Andreas pointed out where they would be building the next phase of the Tala Hills project and suggested that we take a look at the plans for future investment. Having had no intention of buying anything else, we suddenly found ourselves making a decision to buy our next property there and then!
“We had already decided that we were eventually going to move to Cyprus to live and knew that we would want to be out of the tourist area and nearer to the local culture and the people of Cyprus themselves. We bought our property – a larger one-bedroom apartment with large balcony, views of Paphos and communal pool – at Tala Hills [for £58,500] for exactly that reason. We can still walk to the village from our property and we have the advantage of being only 15 minutes from town. We loved our apartment in Paradise Gardens but we wanted to be able to integrate with the local community. Tala was where we wanted to be, and knowing how good the Leptos product was, we had no reason to look elsewhere.”
Mike and Kathy used Leptos Estates for the purchase of both their properties. Mike says, “We were very happy with the way we were treated, the professionalism of the sales representative, the payment structure and the ease of buying. They made everything easy; they have an in-house solicitor and the contract is written in plain English. Buying properties off-plan makes it easier to finance, and dealing with a large and reputable developer gives you the security of knowing that when you give them your money, you’ll receive all the necessary paperwork to confirm receipt, and at the end of the day, your property will be there.
In March 2005, Kathy was made redundant and by April, they were in Cyprus. Within four weeks, Kathy was working as a customer relations officer, and although Mike was taking the opportunity to start enjoying his retirement, he was keeping his hand in with the odd bit of painting and decorating, which had been his profession while in the UK.”
Their apartment at Tala Hills was ready for Christmas 2005, and once it was completed, they moved in. ”We’re completely settled. We have our home in an area we love, Kathy has a new job with a leading holiday company as a resort representative, and we’ve made lots of friends, both Cypriot and English."
Mike and Kathy recently sold their first property in Paradise Gardens (again through Leptos Estates), but did manage to rent it out for nine months every year, keeping the rental relatively low – anything from £100 to £200 per week, depending on the time of year. As Mike says, “To start with it was more difficult to find tenants and manage the property, but after a year, we were having recommendations. Most of our bookings came from word of mouth. We gave details to friends, and then friends of friends would come, and so on. We did use an agent for bookings as well, but we kept control of the property. We employed people we knew locally to do the cleaning and the laundry, then when we moved permanently to Cyprus we did everything ourselves, including picking up our guests from the airport – providing it wasn’t one of those 3am flights!”
The McGuires love everything about Cyprus, including the friendly locals, the weather and the relaxed atmosphere. As Kathy says, “If Mike was laid-back before, he’s now in danger of falling over!” With the exception of being further away from family, they have and have no regrets, apart from wishing they’d made the move sooner. “The children come and see us, and if we wanted to, we could always go back and see them,” Kathy reveals. “Since we moved to Cyprus, we haven’t been back to the UK once, and I think that says it all.”