We're back from TRNC having checked on progress of our new build. It is well ahead of schedule and all controls (building inspections by our civil engineer) have been passed at each stage of the build so far.
We returned a couple of days ago and I received a comment from someone who has had a bad experience with their builder over there which seems to have tarred his view of the place. This has prompted me to publish some notes of advice on the subject.
Advice is not something I like to give because I believe that everyone is entitled to make their own decisions and indeed is responsible for those decisions whatever the outcome happens to be.
I am aware that there are cases of people having lost money on projects that they have agreed to and I am not about to criticise anyone else for their actions, what I am going to do is write about our first building experience in the TRNC back in 1990 in which we lost an awful lot of hard earned money.
I am not blaming anyone else for our predicament, we ought to have been more sensible, we should have insisted on independant checks, and we should have realised that what seemed too good to be true was exactly that!!!
We ended up spending three times as much as we were quoted for the house, in the first rain of the year we had water coming through the walls, pouring under the doors because the balconies were all slightly slanted towards the house, we had sewage seeping into some walls due to faulty plumbing and numerous other disastrous happenings. The most amazing thing is that the person who was entrusted as the contractor for the build was actually building on top of his house at the same time and guess what? each time we went there I was amazed to see that he had chosen the same tiles, the same windows, the same doors - I'm sure you get the idea - but do you know something? I didn't, of course when I look back I can hardly believe how stupid it was of us not to suspect it but we didn't!
So this time, we have done our homework, steered clear of the 'big boys' who were trying to sell off plan (definite recipe for disaster) and bought our land, engaged an architect, civil engineer, got plans passed and permission to build, etc. then we went to see examples of the builders work and spoke to the people in those houses to see what their experience had been and had everything written into the contracts including that the last payment will be kept back until after we move in and are happy with the whole house.
So people this is the way to buy and build ANYWHERE. Again, I refuse to blame anyone else but once bitten, twice shy and so we are now doing the sensible thing which we should have done in the first place.
As I said in my answer to the comment - the TRNC is still a corner of heaven but the inhabitants are not all angels!
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