|
| Greece Buying Guide Newsletter |
|
||
The New Year is here again – can you believe it? I must say that it was not a great start to my year…My daughter and her family, including my grandchildren, now live in Dubai, after I had moved half a world to be near them. My son was sailing down the Nile, in sunny Egypt, and my lifelong friends live so far away as New Year struck. It’s strange isn’t it, how what Churchill called his ‘Black Dog’ – depression – can suddenly sweep over you? I always find, when this happens, how suddenly something really wonderful happens, out of the blue. That unkind remark, the unfeeling comment, the criticisms…they are suddenly blown away by a kind act, a phone call or a loving email from a friend, a card, a letter…a ring at the door… Just today I was standing at the Sainsbury’s check out counter. I remarked to the young chap in front of me: “That’s the bread I was looking for”. He had one of those nice, plump nutty looking small brown loaves – mine was a kinda floppy big one. Know what I mean? “No worries” he said. “I’ll get you one.” And he did. He took my floppy loaf, scampered down the aisle and reappeared a few minutes later with one like his…how adorable is that? I was reading this by John Donne, and it struck such a cord: “No man is an island, entire of itself…Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.” And so I say to myself that I must remember that there are others feeling just as sad and alone – some with a whole lot more reason than me as mine is a temporary thing - and reach out as others have to me. So that’s my New Year’s resolution – what’s yours? To buy a wonderful home in Greece, where you can put your feet up and relax I hope!
Incidentally,
I am amazed at the number of folk who love the idea of Corfu. It would
be my choice I think, although that’s a difficult one... Please
remember won’t you that if you need any help in finding property,
just go to: http://www.greecebuyingguide.com/property.htm I hope you enjoy the newsletter - Happy Reading! Carol
Dunning |
||
Your New Year’s resolution…check on property insurance…You no doubt heard that an earthquake measuring 6.5 on the Richter scale struck Greece on the 6th January. It shook people out of bed and sent villagers into the streets but there were no casualties or damage. It was mainly centered
on Athens, where people were killed in 1999 by an earthquake measuring
5.9 on the Richter scale. Officials said the epicentre of the quake
was on the Peloponnese peninsula and was about 80 km (50 miles) deep,
which explained why it had not caused serious damage. The 1999 Athens
earthquake was much closer to the earth's surface, plus of course buildings
now have to adhere to certain building standards that can withstand
this kind of quake. Please go to: http://www.greecebuyingguide.com/resources.htm if you need any help here. I had a very interesting conversation with a Greece Buying Guide reader a few days ago. She has bought a property with an old house on it and is adding a new wing to this. She phoned to ask me, given that the old section was possibly not built to anti-seismic standards, if the house as a whole was insurable against earthquake damage. I put the people that we recommend for insurance in Greece in touch with her and this was their response: I thought I would share it with you. “We can look at offering earthquake cover to properties in Corfu however we do apply different loadings to properties built prior to and post 2001. The underwriters have agreed that they will need to know a rough percentage split of new to old within the property as a whole and will then calculate a load in accordance with the split. Cover would be for the whole property on the basis we are getting the right premium for the building as a whole. There will be a 100% load to the premium you had online. This however is subject to change until we go through a full quotation at the time when the building work is complete. There will be a clause applicable, i.e. Clause 911 Earthquake Deductible clause: A specific excess applies to each incident of loss or damage caused by earthquake or volcanic eruption. The amount of this excess is £5,000 (Euros 7,500 if your policy is issued in euros) or 5% of the combined amounts insured for buildings, contents and fine art if this is more. This will obviously be subject to any further risk information at the time of a full submission.” The excess may seem
a lot, but weigh that against the total loss of the property and I guess
it isn’t….! If you want insurance for your Greek property
or indeed have any questions you would like to ask, please email me
on: or go to: |
||
Currency Updateby Smart Currency’s Charles Purdy.Sterling isn’t as friendless as it has been. Still not the 'belle of the ball ' but at least the occasional glimmer of interest. Sterling’s movement has been more influenced by what was happening elsewhere rather than here in the UK. Still significant problems given the parlous state of the UK economy and the Bank of England has a difficult balancing act between fighting inflation and helping the economy. The market still expects the BOE to reduce interest rates to help the economy but the BOE needs to use UK interest rates to fight inflation. The housing market continues to suffer and the retail performance over Christmas was very mixed. Hopefully sterling seems to have found a base against most currencies but my major fear is that something similar to Northern Rock comes out of the woodwork and knocks the stuffing out of sterling again! Overall I would always err on the side of caution and, at the very least, sort out some of your currency requirements whether buying or selling sterling. The US$, which sits at US$1.940/£1 inter bank, had a bad week. The Fed Chairman said that further cuts in US interest rates may be necessary given that the outlook for the US economy had worsened. The market expects 0.50% reduction at the end of the month. This was backed up by the business activity index for the Philadelphia region falling to its lowest level since the last recession. So a US recession is very much on the cards. Will the UK follow suit? However, even given the bad news, we are seeing the US$ strengthen against sterling as there is a forced repatriation of US$’s to cover trading losses plus investors are looking for ‘safe haven’ locations [e.g. US Treasury bonds]. The first chinks are showing in the €’s armour, which is sitting at €1.343/£1 inter bank. Firstly, the head of the Luxembourg Central Bank made a statement that the policy towards euro interest rates needed to be loosened. This statement was quickly withdrawn but I think most would concur that it showed common sense rather than blind faith. Secondly, the Euro land Finance Ministers have started complaining publicly about the strength of the euro and how it is having a significant negative affect on their respective countries economies. Euro land’s growth forecasts are being pulled back from close to 3% to nearer 1.5%. Doesn’t sound much but is a serious change and may well lead to the European Central Bank changing their view on Euro land interest rates. The Euro land Finance Ministers seemed to have pinned their hopes on the US avoiding recession. Not a great hope and not a great sign of confidence in their own economies to go it alone without the support of the US! We are in for turbulent times. Sterling gained some ground against the higher yielding currencies. Nothing major but, given that the Australian economy had some good news, it may indicate a softening in the attitude and downward pressure on sterling. To get a Better-than-Bank
go to: http://www.SmartCurrencyExchange.com/smartsquotation.htm
|
||
Feedback from a ReaderA few kind words about the Greece Buying Guide: “This is impressive! I thought the notes / book you gave were excellent. It is a pity that I have already bought several properties because I could have done with this advice a while ago. I think it is the best I have read. Rob Sheehan” Have you bought
a copy of our wonderful new Greece Buying Guide? It is very comprehensive
and is the result of over a year's work in gathering together all possible
information on the property buying process in Greece. We have also taken
account of the very many questions asked of us over the years and tried
to include the answers to most of them. If you haven’t, just click
on: |
||
ClosingThat’s all folks!! Please let me know if I can be of assistance to you at all. If you are interested in getting in contact with any of the wonderful people that I have sourced for you around Greece to make your search easier, just click on: http://www.greecebuyingguide.com/resources.htm fill in the form and I will respond with the name of someone who will contact you. We at the Overseas Guides Company take pride in the fact that the people we refer you to will look after you and help you make these all important choices. If you want to buy
a property just email me on: or phone me on: 020 7898 0549, Ext. 6064 and let’s have a chat about it. You are welcome to pop in to our offices too for a ‘cuppa’ – just let me know so that I am not out to lunch or suchlike! All the very best to you and your family for the New Year - all best wishes until next time, Carol (and Kim). mailto:Carol@OverseasGuidesCompany.com 1 Lyric Square
| ||
Here’s
the happy ending to the story: I have mentioned that I was in Corfu
in the 60’s (luckily that does not date me!!!) haven’t I?
Huge excitement as my closest friend, the one that I hitch-hiked around
Europe with in my youth, is coming to stay with me in London for a few
days. It will be 40 years on the 1st of May since we first visited Corfu.
We have long held a dream that we would visit the island again together
after so many years. We’ll have to see about that – call
it a long term resolution - but meanwhile, we will raise a glass this
weekend to years of unbroken friendship!
