A Look at the Payment Process for Home Buying in Cyprus

If you have located a property abroad in Cyprus that you wish to purchase as your new home you should familiarize your self with the payment process for purchasing property as it is likely to be different than what you experience in your home country. If the property that you are interested in purchasing is an already constructed home that is not new then is it considered a "resale" property. Otherwise what you will be purchasing is a new home or an off plan home.

If the property that you are interested in purchasing is resale property you are able to go ahead and move on into the home. Once you do this you will need to make the payment that you have agreed on with the seller at this point in the transaction. The payment that you make to the seller can be a full payment minus any deposit you had previously made to the seller or it can be a deposit of the sale price. This deposit can be as little at 10 percent of the sale price of the home. If you opt for this method, you are expected to pay the remaining balance of the purchase price within a month. If you are buying off plan and the property is under construction you will need to make your stage payment according to the stage of construction that the property is in as referenced by your sale contract. Usually this amount is around 30 percent of the cost of the property.

After the deposit and any mortgage is deducted the amount remaining due, which can be fees and taxes, is not due to be paid until you get the title deed. When that takes place you have to pay the remaining balance by either bank draft or bank transfer only.

You can make your payments in any currency but the sale contract must have the sale price and taxes listed in local currency amounts. The norm for making payments is by wire transfer into the seller's account which is held by a lawyer. Sometimes transfers can take a long time to process so bank drafts are increasing in popularity for payments. The advantage of paying by bank draft is that the money is under your direct control which means that you can withhold it if you need to for a problem to be resolved.

At the time of the signing of the sale contract the buyer and the seller must agree that the payment has been made in full and in what currency is was made in. If payment was made in a foreign currency then it will be held by an independent party until the contract is signed and complete.