That’s why it’s far better to live near a working village serving the local community, because here, shops remain open and invariably you’ll find places to eat. One of the pleasures in Crete is to eat outdoors, but during the winter you dine inside, which unfortunately can often mean eating under the glare of strip lights, creating all the ambience of a bus station.
From the end of October the weather becomes variable, and while November, December and March remain mild, January and February are the coldest months - but not cold as you know it! For these two months you can expect average daytime temperatures of around 12°c - 16°c - with night time dropping to 5°c - 10°c. However, in January there is invariably one week of hot weather called the Halcyon Days, where temperatures can soar above 20°c.
The worst winter weather you can expect comprises an equal ratio of sunny and rainy grey days during the month and you can bank on there being no frost or snow - except up in the mountains.
Winter in Crete can be grey and gloomy - there can be heavy rain and storms - but you know within a couple of days there will be blue sky and sun. In the UK it begins to get dark in the middle of the afternoon, in Crete night time doesn’t fall until five or six o clock.
In a modern house in Crete - even if you are a chilly mortal - it is rare you’ll feel the need for heating during the day. It’s just not cold enough
TOP TIPS FOR WINTER
As the sun goes down, dusk can bring with it a damp chill. That’s the time to draw the curtains, or close the shutters, before the cold permeates the house. Without this insulation you’ll find the air inside your home will be uncomfortably cool.
The fabric of a house can become quite warm during the day, and as temperatures drop during the night, so air within the house condenses. Our top tip is to invest in a de-humidifier, which costs around 170€ and is very economical to run. Designed to operate only when it senses humidity it removes cold dampness in the air allowing your heating system to operate far more effectively - and economically. Not only that, you feel warmer too.
If you use your home just for the summer, then it is very important to follow a few key points. Seal all clothes in plastic bags to prevent air getting to them. Leave shoes out in the middle of the room. Leave all kitchen cupboards and wardrobe doors open. Pull furniture away from the walls to allow air to circulate. Even better is to arrange for someone to open all the windows on a sunny day - at least once a month - to give the house a good blow through. Follow this procedure and it will minimize black mould forming on walls.
Is winter a problem? No. Crete winters are quite mild - like an April in the UK, but without any frost!
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( 3 / 729 )Credit maybe tight in the UK, but here in Crete mortgages are fairly easy to come by - providing you are led by the hand through all the bureaucratic hurdles.
The first thing you need do is to understand the UK system of applying for a mortgage is different here. In Crete - a whole different criteria applies. In the UK administrative systems are set in tablets of stone, you will find in Greece methodology is always changing - often depending upon who you speak with on a particular day. However, as accurate as it is possible to be, here are the whys and wherefores of applying for a Greek mortgage.
FIRST STEP
You need to fill in a Bank Mortgage Application Form - which will ask for your Greek tax number, the type of loan required and the duration of the loan. This is normally 30 years, or up until aged 70. A Personal Data Form needs to be completed, which allows the bank to apply for references in the UK. You will also need to provide a current P60, a Credit Report from the likes of Experian, a recent pay slip and a UK utility bill.
Armed with all this information the branch will translate all the documents and process all the material, before forwarding the file to Athens. This takes more than a little time! Having gained approval, references are then taken up via a UK branch of the bank in London. Allowing for all the bureaucracy, and information becoming mislaid, or copies asked for, an approval, in principle will be made, that you qualify for a mortgage. Please bear in mind no confirmation letter is issued. You will probably receive an e-mail from your lawyer informing you of the news.
SECOND STEP
Several weeks prior to completion of your house a surveyor from the bank will visit the property for valuation. At this stage the bank will also ask for copies of planning, build license and sales contract and the whole bureaucratic machine creeks into motion - until maybe a document is lost in the system and replacements have to be provided! At this stage you will undoubtedly be asked to again provide recent pay slips and another P60.
Unlike the UK, where a Building Society will keep the deeds, in Crete a bank has to go into court to register their lien on the property - because you keep the deeds. To allow this, you have to do a special Power of Attorney - either in Crete or at the Greek Embassy in London.
Finally, as part of the mortgage arrangements the bank will ask you to take out a structural insurance and a mortgage protection policy. The latter will require filling out yet another form.
At long last the bank goes into court and several days later funds are advanced to your account. Phew!
THINGS TO CONSIDER
The bank will charge for legal, survey and court costs, which, together with insurance cover totals around 2,500€, which is taken off the advanced funds, so you need to budget for this.
There are several bank mortgage options currently available - fixed rate and variable - there’s even an eighteen month holiday option before you need pay a single euro. However, whichever package you opt for, bear in mind there are no horrendous early redemption penalties.
You could even consider a Greek mortgage as a cheap ‘bridging’ loan while you wait for your house in the UK to sell.
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( 2.6 / 1332 )Research just published by the Department of Communities and Local Government reveal that 211,000 people are currently looking to buy property overseas. However, not everyone has the wherewithal with ready cash under their mattress. Most rely on selling their house, downsizing, or borrowing on the equity in their home.
But what with banks in chaos and lending down to a mere trickle - housing market in the doldrums - and the sterling exchange rate on its knees – is that dream of buying a home in Crete slipping away?
It needn’t be, because there is a cunning plan afoot.
Anyone serious on buying a property abroad will normally have sufficient cash for a deposit. The real problem arises on being able to find the balance - which can be more of a problem if the builder is seeking stage payments to finance the build.
When the pound was strong you were probably working on a budget of around £100,000 or so and for that, in Crete, you would expect to buy a reasonable two bedroom detached house. However that same property today would now equate to something like £130,000 PLUS purchase costs.
YOUR PROBLEM IN A NUTSHELL
You need to get round the poor exchange rate and buy more time to allow the UK market to recover.
A CUNNING PLAN
Firstly let’s consider the exchange rate. Take a look at Snobby Homes. As the builder they sell direct and therefore you save the high commission built in for an agent. While the Snobby build specification is extremely high, through strict cost control, two bedroom detached Snobbys are being developed in western Crete for around £100,000 - and that’s an all-inclusive price of furniture, furnishings, fittings AND all legal fees, taxes and purchase costs. In effect you’re paying the same amount of money as you originally budgeted way back in 2007!
On any house purchase you need to put down a deposit. Snobby Homes are the only builder in Crete to legally secure purchasers’ deposits. This means the money you put down is never at risk. The balance only falls due on completion of contract.
Now solving the big problem. Where do you find the balance? OK, you have the money but it’s all tied up in your house, and in the current UK climate it’s bound to be a couple of years before matters begin to move again.
In Crete, Snobby Homes can help you arrange a 75% mortgage on their properties with an eighteen month holiday before you have to pay a single penny. What does this mean? You go to Crete this year and decide to buy a Snobby and put down a deposit. That house will be completed by the end of 2010. The mortgage pays the builder on completion, but you won’t have to pay anything on the loan until mid 2012. That’s nearly three years from now! In effect you have the benefit of an amazingly cheap bridging loan, and what’s more, there is no punitive fee to pay either, when your house in the UK sells and you redeem the Greek mortgage.
So there you have it, a win win scenario allowing you to realise your dream of owning a house in Crete - now - with a bonus of buying it at the equivalent of 2007 prices!
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( 3 / 688 )Research shows for the majority, the prime reason for moving abroad is the weather. Well Crete certainly delivers plenty of sun - some 320 days worth a year. However, it costs money to live in paradise, so how much do you need to live on?
A tin of HP Baked Beans might cost 2€. Convert that into sterling and it virtually costs a whacking great £2. Back home Tesco charge a fraction of that price! If you intend to buy the same food brands as in the UK, and shop only in the tourist areas, then you’ll find no real difference in the cost of living between Crete and the UK. This isn’t due to extortionate prices in Crete, they’ve remained more or less the same. It’s the poor pound that makes everything appear more expensive.
Bearing in mind a typical office worker only takes home around 900€ a month, then you see it should be possible to live on around that figure. Back to the beans again. Culturally, Greeks don’t eat canned baked beans, they cook their own. Importing goods just for tourists is an expensive business you have to pay for. It makes better sense to follow how the locals shop.
You’ll find buying seasonal fresh fruit and vegetables from the greengrocer works out very cheap. In the last few years three Lidl Supermarkets have opened up in the Chania area where a monthly shop of groceries, cleaning supplies and beers or wine will typically cost around 150€ for a couple. Supermarkets such as Champion, Maxi Dia and large IN.KA’s also keep prices low and invariably have a frozen and fresh meat counter.
There is no council tax in Crete, apart from several euros added to each utility bill. Typically, living permanently in Crete in a two bedroom Snobby the annual water bill should be less than 100€ but if you have a pool, it’s more likely to be in the region of 250€. Typically electric should cost an average of 80€ per month. Bear in mind that includes air conditioning, but hot water is FREE for several months of the year.
New cars are around the same price as the UK, but because of a buyer’s and seller’s tax, the price of vehicles 2-4 years old are still relatively high. Car insurance is more expensive than in the UK and most people opt for third party as repairs are relatively cheap. If you want to do the British thing and go fully comp., then this bumps the price up even more. Road tax is based upon engine size and is comparable to what you pay in the UK.
Eating out is still relatively cheap - providing you steer clear of tavernas catering more for tourists. Far better to go to places frequented by locals. Here, dinner with local wine will cost around 12€ per head - unless you opt for fresh fish and then it will more than likely be around 20€.
If you have an income of £12,000 per year, then for this Crete offers a comfortable lifestyle, covering all the bills, running a small car and dining out regularly.
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( 3.2 / 915 )Many people fall in love with Crete and plan to buy a property there, but what with the current UK economy it seems an impossible dream. Everyone we speak to is disillusioned with what’s happening in the UK, wishing they could just up sticks and live their dream. However, all the doom and gloom seems to be blocking every opportunity to make a move for the better.
There are four main stumbling blocks preventing people from buying a property in Crete. Snobby Homes set out to find workable solutions to help find a solution to these problems.
WHICH ONE ARE YOU?
We’re trying to sell our house, down-size and use the balance to buy a house in Crete.
PROBLEM While current indications appear to show a tentative increase in UK house sales, until first-time buyers can be attracted back into the market it would seem there will probably be no significant improvement in the time it takes to sell a house until the end of next year. SOLUTION If you have the deposit, Snobby Homes will give you the time to sell.
Even with the fall in UK property prices there is still collateral in our home, but no bank will grant us a loan.
PROBLEM Despite all the saber rattling, banks are just not lending. SOLUTION If you have the deposit, Snobby Homes can help you arrange finance for the balance with a Greek mortgage.
We have the money but what with the exchange rate we can’t afford anything.
PROBLEM Eighteen months ago a two bedroom detached home in Crete would have cost the equivalent £115,000 and up to 15% on top of that to cover all purchase costs. Today, with a drop in sterling of some 30%, that same house would be costing around a total of £155,000. SOLUTION Snobby two bedroom detached homes are all around your original £115,000 budget - and that figure includes all purchase costs too!
We have enough for a deposit, but can’t find the balance.
PROBLEM Unlike property in the UK, in Crete, prices have not really been effected. The longer you leave it, chances are you could end up chasing a rainbow. SOLUTION Snobby can help you arrange finance for the balance, with a Greek mortgage.
What with everything else we just cannot afford to buy anything at all.
PROBLEM No matter what, you just cannot beg, borrow or steal enough money to buy a home in Crete. SOLUTION Fancy a two bedroom detached Snobby for peanuts? Much is being talked about fractional ownership, but invariably this is quite complex and you end up buying a property with complete strangers. Not so in Crete. Under Greek property law, several buyers can become the legal owners of a single property. That means if you club together with friends, or family members, to buy a Snobby, each individual can legally own a direct percentage of the freehold. What’s more, all the owners can take out a joint Greek mortgage and raise a loan up to 75% of the purchase price. Just think. If there were six owners, you could afford a Snobby for less than £20,000!
Have we helped solve a problem? If you have a question or wish to know more details about the above, just e-mail us at snobbyhomes@yahoo.co.uk
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