Agency Fee

:

The fee that a licensed estate agent charges as a percentage of the selling price, upon completion of a property transaction, which was initiated by him/ her.  This fee is tax deductible when assessing capital gains or income tax on behalf of the seller.  However an equivalent fee charged by a property marketing company is not tax deductible.

Agent/ Estate Agent

:

A person who owns a license to act as a mediator or agent in buying/ selling and renting/ letting property transactions.  A licensed agent will be professionally indemnified against negligence, whereas a non- licensed agent will not.  A mere property marketing company is not a licensed estate agent.  Moreover, the latter's fees are exempted from capital gains costs at your expense!

APS

:

Andreou Property Strategy: Your Real Estate Consultants

Areeba

:

The first private mobile telecommunications service provider to obtain a licence to operate in Cyprus and compete with CYTA following the liberalisation of the mobile telephony market.

Building Density

:

The maximum area allowed to be erected as buildings on a piece of land, with respect to the land's area, (denoted as a percentage).  See also Coverage.

Building Permit

:

The second of two permits (see also Planning Permit) that needs to be obtained from the Planning Authorities or Local Authorities before construction commences.  This is an approval of detailed architectural plans of the targeted construction/ development that meet a number of specific requirements, like the static survey of the proposed structure.

Bungalow

:

One-storey home

Cavity Wall

:

The double- wall of the external envelop of a structure that encloses a vertical void (or cavity), which is filled with insulation for thermal and sound- proofing.  Usually a cavity wall has 25cm thickness (10cm wall + 5cm cavity + 10cm wall)

CEA

:

The Cyprus Electricity Authority or AHK in Greek.

Closing Costs

:

Expenses (over and above the price of the property) incurred by buyers and sellers in transferring ownership of a property. Closing costs normally include: a lawyer's fee, stamp duties, transfer fees, electricity and water supply connection charges. Andreou Property Strategy provides estimates of closing costs to prospective homebuyers.

Contract of Sale

:

An oral or written agreement to buy/ sell a property asset

Coverage

:

The maximum area allowed to be erected as buildings ON THE GROUND FLOOR of a piece of land, with respect to the land's area,  (denoted as a percentage and it cannot exceed the Building Density)

CYTA

:

Cyprus Telecommunication Authority or ATHK in Greek.

Deed

:

The legal document conveying title to a property.

Detached Home

:

A free-standing home.

Developer

:

A person or company whose business is that of turning vacant or underused parcels of land into new building units, such as housing, commercial, office and industrial estates.

Donum (Skala)

:

1.338 m² of land (or approximately 14.400 ft²)

En suite

:

A term usually used to demonstrate the existence of a bathroom (toilet and/ or shower and/ or bathtub and/ or washbasin) in a bedroom.  It is a very common facility of master- bedrooms as well as quest- rooms.

Estate Agents Registration Council

:

The Cyprus council responsible for issuing a licence to a person to practice as a licensed or registered estate agent.  Only persons having a licence are allowed to act as estate agents.  According to the Law anybody else other than a registered agent acting as an agent may be liable to a fine and/ or imprisonment or both.  So beware and avoid such "cowboys" since after all they are not familiar with real property issues and most importantly they are not professionally indemnified!  All property marketing companies, portals and realtors fall into this category.  Always ask for the licence!  Our Licence No. is 378.

ETEK

:

The Cyprus Chamber of Technical Professions.  As the name implies, all technical professions are members.  The Law provides that a person needs to be registered with ETEK in his/ her own branch in order to be able to practice in Cyprus.  So all practicing architects, civil engineers, mechanical/ electrical engineers, quantity surveyors, property valuers etc have a licence to do so.  Ask for the licence to make sure that the person in front of you is indeed eligible to practice.  All Property Valuers at Andreou Property Strategy are members of ETEK.

Final Approval Certificate

:

The last essential document disclosed by the Town Planning Authorities before the last stage of obtaining separate Title Deeds commences.  Denotes that construction took place according to planning permits.

Golf Properties

:

Any kind of property, like houses, bungalows and apartments, which either form part of a golf course or form part of an estate adjacent to it, which at the same time enjoy all or most amenities of the golf course.

Guest WC

:

A guest WC contains only a toilet and a sink (neither shower, nor bath) and is usually found on the ground floor of a two- storey house or near the living- room of a flat, with a prime objective of serving guests to the premises.

Instalment

:

The regular periodic payment that a borrower agrees to make to a lender or seller

LRO

:

Land Registry Office or Lands & Surveys Department.  The Cyprus Government Department responsible for the handling of all property issues that arise with respect to registration, valuation (rating, compulsory acquisitions, transferring of ownership etc), mapping, surveying etc.  Its structure comprises six District Offices (Nicosia, Larnaca, Limassol, Pafos, Famagusta and Kyrenia) and a Head Office in Nicosia.  The Kyrenia and Famagusta Offices operate in Nicosia and Larnaca respectively after the Turkish invasion of 1974 and occupation of the northern part ever since.

Maintenance Costs

:

The expense of keeping a property in a good state of repair.  Usually measured over an annual period.

Maisonette 

:

Residence- usually a townhouse, often including two or three stories, that is connected by one or more common wall(s) or a common part(s) to another residence.

Marina

:

A harbour or dock for pleasure boats or yachts. 

Negotiation

:

The act of discussing an issue between two or more parties with competing interests with an aim of coming to an agreement; what Andreou Property Strategy undertakes on your behalf!

Offer

:

An expression of willingness to purchase a property at a specified price; presenting for acceptance a price for a property unit; the bid price in a real estate transaction.

Offer- Acceptance- Consideration

:

The three vital elements to have a valid contract.

Offer To Purchase

:

A proposal to buy property at a specified price whereupon the seller has the options of accepting or rejecting the offer or making a counteroffer.

Penthouse

:

The dwelling located at the top of a multi- storey building, often luxurious.

Planning Permit

:

The first of two permits (see also Building Permit) that needs to be obtained from the Planning Authority before construction commences.  This is an approval of non- detailed architectural plans of the targeted construction/ development that meet a number of general and specific planning requirements, like the planning restrictions and a Fire Brigade "go- ahead".

Planning Restriction

:

Any Planning Authority regulation that establishes limits and sets boundaries to development so that the latter is beneficial to society and the environment

Planning Zone

:

The spectrum of planning use that the Planning Authorities designates to a region and hence to a property

Possession

:

The state of occupying, controlling, using property to the exclusion of all others, exhibiting one's right or title to property; "possession is ⁹/₁₀ of the Law!"

Power of Attorney

:

A legal document that authorizes another person to act on one's behalf. A power of attorney can grant complete authority or can be limited to certain acts or act and/ or certain periods of time.

Raised Floor

:

A "must" in modern office space as it allows all services (like structured cabling and air- circulation) to flow freely through a horizontal void between the floor finish and floor base (void about 25cm- 30cm tall), thus accomplishing maximum flexibility in internal office space design at all times.

RICS

:

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.  A UK- based international body of property professionals who belong to various divisions such as General Practice (GP), Quantity Surveying (QS), Building Surveying (BS) etc, with clear objectives as to the strengthening of the Property Profession and the promotion of professional excellence worldwide.  Andreou Property Strategy's high rank officials are all full members of RICS.

Semi- detached House

:

A house that is free- standing on one side and connected by a common wall or part to an adjacent house on the other.

Service Charge

:

Charge to a unit holder in a condominium or complex with common areas, for that person's share of costs of keeping the common-use portions of the complex in a good state of repair.  Usually measured over a monthly or an annual period.

Suspended Ceiling

:

Same philosophy as in "raised floor" but usually houses lighting, A/C blowers for VRV and sound speakers.

Terraced House

:

A residence, often including two or three stories, that is connected on both adjacent sides by similar residences, thus creating a terraced formation.

Title (Title Deed)

:

A legal document evidencing a person's ownership of a property.

Topography

:

The form and structure of the surface of land.

Townhouse

:

A residence, often including two or three stories, that is connected by a common wall to another residence.

Valuation

:

The task of assessing the amount of cash consideration that a property would fetch in the open market on the date of valuation provided some assumptions hold.  This task is undertaken by a properly qualified professional person who usually belongs to an international institution such as the RICS.  In Cyprus, this professional person should by law be registered with ETEK (Cyprus Chamber of Technical Professions).

Walk-out Basement

:

Type of basement that allows a door to open into the yard because the basement is at ground level.  Usually seen in split-level houses.

Worth

:

The "value" of an investment property as perceived by an individual investor.