New homes in Crete ‘tick all the boxes’ for first buyers

The speed with which buyers were signed up for the first and biggest of the nine new individually-designed homes currently being completed in western Crete by award-winning developer Caversham-Barnes proves the value of detailed market research at the pre-planning stage.

That is the view of Said Marie, founder of the Berkshire-based business which recently won the award for ‘Best Developer, Newcomer’ in the annual award scheme run by the Association of International Property Professionals (AIPP), the industry body established to provide a ‘kitemark’ for the entire overseas property market.

Key findings in the independent research undertaken for the company among discerning Britons seeking comfortable lifestyles abroad indicate that:

expenses-paid inspection trips do little to encourage genuine would-be buyers;

purchasers prefer to make their decisions only after they have inspected the property which is to become their second or retirement home, rather than buy off-plan;

if the person showing them around is honest rather than ‘pushy,’ they are more likely to buy;
preferred properties have a private heated pool, big sun terrace and air-conditioning as well as central heating for the brief winter period, secure garages and gardens.

“These and other findings dictated our approach to planning, design and marketing of our Litsarda Villas scheme in Crete, so we were not too surprised when the first potential buyers to see it recognised that it ‘ticked all the boxes’ and decided to buy there and then,” says Said.

Cambridgeshire prison officer Bill Siddons and his partner Delia Pluckrose, an administrator at Cambridge University, are the first purchasers. The 1.6 hectare (four-acre) rural development with panoramic views of the White Mountains and the Mediterranean is 40 minutes by road from Crete’s Chania International Airport and two kilometres from the shops and healthcare facilities in the small town of Vamos.

The couple are selling their two detached properties in the town of March to fund their purchase and make a new life in western Crete.

They paid €379,000 for their three-bedroom detached villa. Its floor area of 150 sq m includes a self-contained lower ground floor in which they plan to create two additional guests bedrooms. The property occupies a plot of just over half an acre planted with olive and fruit trees.

“We love the location, the low-density nature of the development, and the proximity of the unspoilt, tourist-free village,” says Delia.

Now the couple can’t wait to get there. Says Bill: “We are both working beyond retirement age and when we leave our jobs, cost of living will become an even more important consideration for us. Our move to Crete will mean a lower cost of living and an improved lifestyle in a brand new home with no mortgage.”

Prices at Litsarda Villas start at €249,900 for a two-bedroom villa with a floor area of 108 sq m, including a self-contained lower ground floor. For more information, visit caversham-barnes.com