40 replies to this topic

[santo]

On $1000 a month, that's currently around 769 euros your going to be ok.

I assume your visit will be to look at where you hope to live, and as such if your in Crete on the 26th May 2007 you are certainly invited to an "explorecrete members" party being held in Matala (Dinny has all the information, as it's an annual event).

good luck and good hunting.

[Antoinette]

Dear Santo,
My plan is to be in Crete from May 16 thru the 30th. Is a laptop necessary? I know that may seem like a silly question, but I have become quite addicted to email. Looking forward to clean air, good weather and nice people. Antoinette

[santo]

Antoinette regarding a Laptop it's really up to you, the last thing I think about is e-mailing but only because I use one all year round and quite enjoy escaping for a while.
besides I'm too busy socialising to find time for e-mails lol.

[Retired in Crete]

Antoinette,

If you will only use the laptop for e-mail I would not bother to bring it as there are "internet cafes" in most towns and villages. The charges for internet use at these cafes is around one euro per hour.

Hope this helps

John

[Pam]

Antoinette, the last thing I would do is bring my laptop with me, though mainly because it's used for work and the last thing I'm going to do on holiday is log on! As John says, there's loads of internet cafes to use if you want to check e-mail or access great web-sites like this!

Great that you're over last 2 weeks of May - Santo and Bob & myself will be there at the same time - any idea where you'll be staying? Also, do hope you can make the get-together on the 26th, it was great fun last year.

[Antoinette]

Thanks fellas for the information. No laptop; one less thing to drag along. I have learned from experience the benefits of traveling LIGHT. If I can't carry something comfortably that something stays at home. Have no idea where I will be staying and am open to suggestions. Plan to rent a car in order to have independence and mobility. Would also like to do some sailing, if that is a possibility. I was last on Crete as a teenager some 30 odd years ago, so haven't the foggest as what to expect. Just remember the island as being bright and beautiful Thanks, A

[Laid Back Lil]

Arthur Daley - we went out to look with New Centure Homes. I liked their homes but was told by many people in Crete that it would be better to buy a home that is insulated and theirs wasn't unless I wanted to pay extra.
I am new to this site - found it today - we are purchasing in Kokkino Choria. hoping to complete just after Christmas. If we hadn't have done it now - we wouldn't be able to afford to later on. We are both still working but we fell in love with Crete on a recent holiday and my brother lives part time in Gavalahori (excuse spelling) so has given us a wealth of information.
I can't remember who on this topic said about the electricity bills - thank you - that was really useful to us - our property is about the same size as yours, 84 sqm so that gives us some indication of what to expect. Looking forward to chatting to you all and getting to know you better.

[Arthur Daley]

Lil,

Many thanks for the info. We too are considering buying with New Century Homes. Although when I looked up their building spec - it seemed that their construction process is identical to the others we looked at; (Domisi, CTH, Hellenic, etc) They all seem to specify two layers of bricks separated by a 'ventilation' gap. Apparently to keep the homes cool in summer and warm in winter. We narrrowly missed out on a NC house in Kokkino Chorio but thought it excellent value with a terrific view.. A lovely place to live! I have also found a lot of interesting facts about various housebuilders on the Interkriti forums - you just type the name into the search window. Particularly NC & CTH. We are planning another visit soon to hopefully tie up something.. I would be interested to know what you purchased in the end.. New or Used? We have been offered a couple of used homes (2 or 3 years old), but are concerned about any possible problems..
Note to all: Any constructive advice about homes/builders on here would be useful as we have now set a time frame for our move.

[Laid Back Lil]

Hi Arthur Daley - we bought through Euroland on the Gallini Gardens development - you can see them on their website. Extremely pleased with our purchase and everything's included, air con, central heating, boiler, storage under the house, designer kitchen/bathroom - fireplace, have a look and let me know what you think too.

[Laid Back Lil]

Arthur - CTH - there were 2 men, who ran this company. Had problems and rows and parted, NC was created by one of the 2 men. They are the biggest builder admittedly, but that's not everything. We watched the Channel 4 programme Pay Off Your Mortgage where the 2 men had houses built by NC at Kokkino Choria - for an extremely cheap price. Look on the websites - there is absolutely no way can you buy a house with a view like that and an amazing pool like that for that money - it's just not real! They were going to sell the houses - now they are renting them out trying to cash in on the programme, for an extortionate amount of money !!! (maybe they couldn't sell???) Let me know your views too - I'd be interested. Bye 4 now

[Arthur Daley]

Lil,

Yes, there's lots to read about New Century on interkriti & I watched (and saved) the prog on ch4. The programme was apparently actually made in 2004/5 and I gather land & houses were quite a bit cheaper then.. I Have also watched the other ch4 series (A Place in Greece) and it's clear that a lot of stuff is tailored to 'watchability' - I'm an avid viewer of all of these sorts of programmes - and amazingly enough, no-one ever fails and loses all their money do they? Perhaps I should call a tv company before we buy as I might get a better deal?!!

Anyway, I think your house is lovely - super spec - it's the only house I've seen advertised with 'insulation' - and that lovely view. The NC one we nearly bought was further 'up' in KC but still with a similar view - just further away.. but it was ¤80k cheaper! Like you we need to do it before we can't afford anything!!

[Laid Back Lil]

Hi Arthur - Who knows - do it soon and we could be neighbours! If you don't mind me asking - are you retiring or planning for the future?

[Arthur Daley]

Lil,

Retire... If only!! No, I'm not as old as the real Arthur.. We're moving for the climate, lifestyle, food and all the other good things! and we both have to keep working, in order to fund our new life. My partner currenty has her own Ironing/cleaning housesitting business/here in the UK and would like to do something similar in Crete. We hope to make our next visit late November.

[Retired in Crete]

For those who are looking to buy a house in Crete there is a new website which lists all the builders (well most of them) and invites comments on their performance. The site is here:

http://www.cretepropertyuncovered.com/

The site is very new so not many comments have been posted yet, but hopefully it will improve with age!

Hope this helps & good hunting

John

[Arthur Daley]

We are returning at the end on November to view more properties and have widened our 'possibles' net to include Kefalas. Does anyone have any advice/recommendations? - as we were unable to visit it last time around and there doesn't seem as much info on the web as for the more 'established' 'expat' areas...

[Laid Back Lil]

Arthur - we viewed back in early July too and almost bought a traditional (really traditional) stone house being built by a small builder in Kefalas. He was building 3 and 2 had already gone. When I enquired if the house was still available it wasn't. However, I was told that he was going to build another few someone near Neo Horia in the not too distant future - the house was lovely by the way. Kefalas - lovely inland views where we were, quite a big place, few cafenions (can't spell today too early), 2 tavernas, will be a cake shop - and I suspect in a few years time will have lots more If that helps?

[Arthur Daley]

Stupid question I know Lil, but can you see the sea from inside of the village? My one stipulation is that I MUST have a reasonable seaview - and 'er indoors can't be somewhere too isolated..

[Laid Back Lil]

Not a silly question! No, we couldn't see the sea. Lovely view, but we thought it quite a way from coast, and there's no direct road if you look at the map - it's back through Plaka if I remember - might be wrong... had a lot of vino and late nights since that visit.... Where else you looking? What's the budget if you don't mind me asking - I'll keep an eye open for you with various agents....

[Lesley]

Hi Everyone, I am new to the forum. My partner and I will be moving to Crete in March/April 2007.
We purchased a property in Kournas 2 years ago . The renovations should be complete in December. We will be over for a visit in January.
We are so looking forward to living in Crete. We have met quite a few people over the last 2 years, everyon is so nice and very helpful.
We know a couple who live in Plaka, they moved over there this year and used a shipping company called Nomad. They were very pleased with the move, the people who did the packing were excellent so we will use them also.
We have been advised by several people to ship our furniture because to replace it all in Crete would be expensive so we will ship most of our stuff.
We will also be bringing our 3 Japanese Akita dogs with us. Not quite sure yet how we will transport them, we may drive over with the dogs. We will also be bringing a 34ft Bayliner speed boat, again, not sure how we'll transpot that either. One option will be to hire a luton van & drive over towing the boat.
Any suggestions/advice will be much appreciated
Lesley

[GTN1707]

Hello All,

Would be grateful for any thoughts on the following, my partner and I are planning on moving to Crete in September, we fell in love with the island about 5 years ago and have been back several times since.
As we are not retired (both in our thirties) we are hoping to scratch out a living maybe teaching English, and have both booked TEFL courses, however I am aware that neither of us have either teaching experience or a degree. The TEFL providers claim that a degree is not needed and a TEFL certificate would be a sufficient qualification to teach English in an after school centre, is this true and is there lots of work of this nature?

I am a web developer (ASP) and specialise in building online Recruitment, Community & Real Estate programs and websites, is there a market for people with the skills that I have?

We've seen apartments for rent for 300€ monthly is this about right? outside of this (having paid the rent) we were planning on an income £12,000 NET 17,500€ from our business in the UK, for the two of us to live off, with any teaching or development work, giving us a little extra, would we be able to survive on this if we were unsuccessful in finding teaching/development work?

Many thanks