North Cyprus Apartment – your NEW guide on how to choose.

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North Cyprus apartments come in a wide range of qualities, designs, sizes and apartment locations.  You may have already decided what size of apartment you want, how many bedrooms, which on-site facilities you want – and your maximum budget.   But there are other important factors which you may not have fully considered in your North Cyprus apartment selection.  This new NCI apartment selection guide takes you step by step through those factors to help you choose the RIGHT apartment whether it’s for investment, relocation or your own lifestyle and North Cyprus holidays. 

Whether you are searching for a North Cyprus villa or an apartment, in conventional property search sites like Rightmove or Zoopla, you can search only by price, area and number of bedrooms.  We at North Cyprus International have come up with 5 equally important questions for you to think about which will help you draw up the right initial property shortlist and avoid wasted viewing time “on island”, and worse  – avoid buying an apartment which is not right or is unaffordable for you to own long-term!

1. Which Payment Plan and Price Range?
2. Which location: City or Coast for your apartment?
3. Which facilities do you need onsite or nearby?
4. Budget or quality finish for your apartment?
5. Which type: penthouse, ground floor apartment or other?

1. North Cyprus Apartments: Which Payment Plan and Price Range?

The first and most important questions to ask yourself are 

If you are a cash buyer you can choose to purchase EITHER one of our resale apartments or brand new apartments (either completed, under construction or off plan).   If you are seeking a cash bargain, then some of the resale properties will include items such as white goods, air conditioning units and even furniture – offering a saving of up to £4-7,000 on what these items would cost you new.  In addition, if you are buying a North Cyprus apartment from a private individual with title deed already in the buyer’s name, you will be exempt from the 5% VAT on a new “professional sale” from a North Cyprus developer.

The advantages of a brand new North Cyprus apartment over a resale, despite some extra costs involved are as follows: usually a 1 year internal and 5 year building warranty, company aftercare (which can include help with furnishing, helping you get all your services connected, snagging etc.) and of course the opportunity with some new apartments to get a short term or long term company payment plan.

If you are a payment plan buyer – this article on North Cyprus Mortgages will explain what these plans involve.  Payment Plan Deposits (what you have to put down in cash) vary from only 20% up to 50% of the property value and the payment periods vary from 3 up to 12 years.    These loans can be paid off at any time with no penalty.  So by using some kind of payment plan, you may find you can afford to buy, say, a larger two bedroom apartment in Northern Cyprus rather than a one bedroom unit which may be more suitable for you in the long term.

If you wish to have your property earn you cash whilst you are not using it, a very few North Cyprus beachfront apartments offer a guaranteed rental return each year as well as a 70% payment plan although more commonly, rental guarantees are only available for cash purchases.  This type of plan may enable you to earn cash each year to help you pay costs like your apartment site management fees (which range from £25 – £60 per month depending upon site facilities) and also to help to pay the mortgage itself. 

It is important to note that in North Cyprus unless you put down at least 50% of the value of the property up front, the shorter payment periods and higher interest rates do not allow for conventional “buy to let” schemes where the rental income pays ALL the monthly payments.

City centre Kyrenia properties, whilst not usually giving rental guarantees in the contract, are more or less guaranteed to rent out easily due to location and demand and are the apartments of choice for investors despite not being near the beach, yielding up to 9% p.a.

Contact our NCI Property Specialists for a no obligation chat about which payment plan, rental income and therefore which North Cyprus apartment would be right for you – North Cyprus International are the North Cyprus Mortgage, Payment Plan and property investment specialists.

2. Which location: City or Coast for your North Cyprus apartment?

Every week in our London or North Cyprus NCI Offices, we have enquirers asking for “a City apartment with easy access to a beach” – or “an apartment on a beach with a shopping Mall nearby – I don’t want to have to hire a car each time I visit”. 

Here is an important piece of information for all would-be North Cyprus apartment owners: in North Cyprus you need to choose between having a beachfront (or close to the beach) property OR having an apartment close to the main shops!

To decide whether coast or city is best for you, let’s, therefore, take a closer look at WHY you are buying the property. If you are a lifestyle purchaser (buying primarily for your own use) then at North Cyprus International when conducting a property inspection trip we first ask clients to examine their own lifestyle needs.    If city life is really important for you there are, for example, apartments in or just above Kyrenia which have swimming pools and balconies with sea views and BBQs.  Would you be better buying one of these and then hiring a car or taking a short taxi ride to the beach when needed?  Or if you have a family and/or really want to walk out of your front door and on to a sandy beach, it is important to be realistic that in North Cyprus you are going to need to hire a car for trips to the supermarkets.The two main tourist towns: Kyrenia (Girne) and Famagusta (Gazimagusa), both of which have excellent shopping facilities, do not have beaches IN the town, unlike venues like Dubai or even South of Cyprus. Our NCI beachfront properties may well have small shops onsite or within walking distance (to minimart type facilities and possibly a restaurant) but it is really only our Kyrenia apartments where an owner can be guaranteed to walk out of their front door and directly into shops and restaurants.

On the other hand, if you are primarily a North Cyprus property investor, then your apartment purchase should be made with rental incomes in mind.  If you are seeking all year rental property, then central Kyrenia apartments win hands down every time.  If you are seeking to use your apartment for 4 weeks or less per year and still get a rental return from holiday-makers when you are not using it, there are some beachfront options which can provide rental guarantees AND allow you to use the property for a few weeks per year.    Why not click on the LIVE CHAT button below and let our advisors guide you to the properties which offer this option?

3. North Cyprus apartments: which facilities do you need onsite or nearby?

During an NCI Property Inspection Visit or day viewing, one important factor always taken into consideration is what facilities a lifestyle buyer needs either onsite or nearby.

Because we have over 16 years’ experience and know every inch of North Cyprus we know exactly what each apartment site offers and what other facilities are available near to each apartment complex.

Here are some of the questions we ask our would-be property owners: 

Some of the hotel-style facilities which some sites include are: golf practice area, mini golf, petang court, volleyball court, tennis court, semi-Olympic pools, children’s pools, gym, bike hire, café/restaurant, beach bar, site shop, beauty salon/treatments, sauna, yoga classes, water-sports club, diving lessons, children’s play area, kid’s club (seasonal), onsite management and lettings, taxi rank, internet café, pool/table tennis/games/TV room, launderette …let us know if you hear of others!

If you would like a pre-trip property consultation including a “virtual tour” of our properties (using Skype or live chat) with one of our experts, just request Live Chat or drop us an email with your details.  This can help you draw up your pre-trip viewing list.

4. Budget quality or luxury North Cyprus apartment?

Another regular comment which we at North Cyprus International hear each week from our website visitors is “we’ve seen a 3 bedroom property on Rightmove for only £ X,000 yet a lot of yours are more expensive – why is that?”  There is a simple answer to this: searching purely by the price and number of bedrooms does not in any way help you understand the HUGE choice of North Cyprus apartment designs and qualities.  At North Cyprus International we like to provide our customers with a choice: so we offer a good range of budget (though well built) properties as well as the more luxury end of the market such as luxury golf course apartments or luxury beachfront apartments.

The brand new apartments in North Cyprus on luxury sites now tend to be built to a much more ultra-modern standard with a higher quality of interior fixtures and fittings as well as site facilities which were perhaps unavailable 5 years ago.  They are therefore more expensive.   We at NCI ask our customers questions like: 

• Do you want a plastic kitchen worktop or a granite marble one? 
• Do you want a state of the art building with elevators, 24 hour staff, aluminium fittings and intercom or an older property on a budget site with more basic interior? 
• How important are luxury on-site facilities to you like site staff and restaurants? 

In North Cyprus the prices you see for properties tend to reflect the quality, the views/location, the facilities and the size of the property – there are generally not short cuts to this.  If you see a North Cyprus apartment advertised really cheaply, there is generally a very good reason for the low price.   True, you will get occasional bargains with resales if an owner wishes to sell quickly for personal reasons, but you must make sure you are comparing “like with like”.

5. Which North Cyprus apartment type: penthouse, ground floor, garden or other?

Be realistic about your lifestyle – and your physical abilities!

Many would-be North Cyprus apartment owners call us at NCI keen to own a penthouse apartment.  The word “penthouse” rightly tends to convey an image of extensive views, fabulous roof terrace and luxury lifestyle.  However, one word of caution: not all North Cyprus apartments have elevators – in fact, lifts are very much the exception rather than the rule.  If you are sprightly and liable to remain so, not caring that you will carry your shopping up the stairs on a daily basis, then purchase a penthouse.  Otherwise, make sure in your mind that the 3 flights of stairs and 3^rd or 4^th floor position is appropriate for you as get older – or if you have young children.   Having said that – we at NCI have a great selection of penthouse apartments, many with panoramic roof terraces and some beachfront and city properties with views and elevators.  If you have disabilities or special needs, we will be glad to advise you of the best properties for you.

Ground floor apartments are often known as “garden” apartments in North Cyprus and can represent better value, pound per m2 covered area as the price for penthouses tend to be higher.  Some of our NCI garden apartments are duplex with internal staircases with bedrooms on both levels and are almost like mini maisonettes.  If you have small children, want more space for your money in some cases, or even a private garden area of your own (in one case up to 400m2 garden with space for a private pool), we will be happy to advise you.

For an informal chat or online “virtual property tour” using skype or Live Chat – click the Live Chat button or add us to your skype: nciLondon .  Our North Cyprus International Advisors can be reached on +44 207 112 8086 or +90 548 861 0600 and are waiting for your call.

ADDENDUM – COSTS OF BUYING YOUR NORTH CYPRUS APARTMENT

Do remember when budgeting for your new North Cyprus apartment that you need to allow funds with all North Cyprus property purchases for; 

• the legal fees and
• the 0.5% stamp duty at the time of the purchase as well as
• the transfer of title fee (currently 3% for first time purchases) once the title is available for you. 

In addition, with new properties you need to allow;

• the 5% VAT to the North Cyprus government within a reasonable time period after completion and
• possibly the costs of white goods, air con units and furniture (depending on the package on offer). 

Annual site fees will vary from around £25 per month for some resale city centre apartments with fewer facilities, up to £60 per month for luxury beachfront apartments with facilities like indoor heated swimming pools.   There may be extra initial service connection fees too – we can make sure you are supplied with all the pre-purchase details.