Property #5

Customer Comments

We have been looking for a property in Corfu for a couple of years. We had looked at agents' websites and considered buying land and building. We decided against a renovation project as we could have ended up with a money pit. We also heard no end of horror stories of how many people bought for fifty to eighty thousand euros and we told you will only need to spend fifty to sixty thousand euros and you will have a luxury home. Funny, no agent will put that in writing.

In July 2006 I was introduced to Stamatis through a friend I was talking to, and mentioned that I wanted a builder who had the land and would complete a house on it. Stamatis explained that had plots of land and would arrange planning permission and build the property to our plan which we would agree with him and the engineer/architect.

In August 2006, we were shown two plots of land, one of which we fell in love with and decided that this was the plot for us. We agreed the price for a property of 110sqm (this does not include balconies) and a swimming pool of 40sqm.

Now the fun started, we were taken on a Saturday to see the engineer/architect (yes they work Saturdays). His first question was, "what do you want?". We were a little shocked as we assumed that he would show us lot of plans for us to choose from. No, he never builds two the same. We talked through the basics, three bedrooms, open plan lounge and kitchen, square or oblong shape with two floors. Word of advice: listen to them as they do know what is best.

We were going to appoint a lawyer who was recommended, only for Stamatis to ask me to listen to another of his clients who had used this lawyer and had experienced problems, he even phoned them for me. I used another lawyer - it pays to listen.

We returned to England and the plans came by e-mail, neither square nor oblong (they know best) but we liked them and agreed to go ahead.

We returned to Corfu the last week in October and things started to move at a pace. We had a meeting with our lawyer who had been busy checking all laws to ensure the land is clear, and the engineer went to visit the plot. The next day at the another meeting with our lawyer, we paid our deposit and signed the contract to next visit the Notary Office. Always listen to your lawyer, it is what you pay them for.

It is advisable to have a greek bank account opened and commercial foreign exchange accounts set up and have some money in it as when things move, they move. We used Alpha Bank and Moneycorp.

Planning permission was approved by the following March 2007 and we paid the agreed stage payments as each stage was completed. Stamatis has an English secretary, Karen, who keeps you informed of what is going on and ensures you have progress photos throughout the process. On future visits, we chose tiles, kitchen units, colours for walls etc. We found the whole process to be uncomplicated, you just have to listen.

Our house was completed on time and we stayed in it the end of March 2008. Overall we are very pleased with it and have no hesitation in recommending Stamatis and his company CDC. We can be contacted at mmartinhawkins@aol.com if you want to ask us any questions.