Moving to Corfu - Case Study

Curt and partner Shelley had long wanted somewhere sunny to escape to. Holidays were spent as far away as Thailand, but when it came time to actually buying, they settled for Corfu.

“When it came to choosing a place to buy abroad it was a long process, all in all I think it took us a couple of years to finally pinpoint Corfu.” Shelley recalls. “We always knew we wanted to live abroad in a better climate with a better way of life. But of all of the places we have been to, the Greek Islands were always towards the top of the list.

“So we talked about what exactly we wanted from our surroundings and particularly about the sort of life we wanted to lead. There were disagreements along the way, for instance climate. Curt would prefer tropical, year round sun and sea with coral reefs, I wanted somewhere with seasons, but we both wanted long, sunny summers and short winters” laughs Shelley.

Both agreed too that they wanted peace and quiet, with enough land to be able to grow their own veggies and for Shelley to have a garden. “We wanted a safe place with a low or non existent crime rate and we also wanted to live a more environmentally sustainable way, plus in a place that preferably had English as a native language” explains Shelley. But finding somewhere with everything wasn't going to be easy and, in the end, compromises had to be made.

“Thailand is our first love, we adore it there, but the uncertain political situation and the difficulty in non-nationals buying out there put even Curt off” laughs Shelley. “We also considered the Caribbean, but I was adamant that I wasn't going to live somewhere where my house could be demolished annually by a passing hurricane.

“Following that we looked at a couple of different states in America, Florida and Arizona. Curt is American by birth and could go to live there tomorrow and work without it being an issue. We have many friends who own property in Florida and they are totally amazed that we have not chosen to go there” adds Shelley, “but the constant threat of crime, the humid weather and our friend’s horror stories about rattle snakes and alligators in their gardens made it unsuitable.”

Finally it was down to Spain or Greece. A few holidays to a number of Greek islands, including time spent zipping around Corfu on a motorbike, finally decided them. The north western corner was a definite contender; nicer, quieter and greener, with many lovely villages. After a lot of thought, Curt and Shelley settled for Sidari, 45 km from Corfu Town and the airport.

Sidari is a family orientated town where there are quite a number of expats. “It’s a bit chaotic for us in summer” said Curt, “but I have a swimming pool business and I am thinking of doing that in Corfu, so there needs to be some sort of market for that.”

Out of season there are very few people there. “We popped up to a small local café in December and the sum total of people there were six Brits” laughed Curt. “It is pretty chaotic in season and we may avoid it in the heart of summer, but by the end of the season it turns into a small, friendly town.”

“We got chatting to agents in Corfu about our dream home, and they very honestly said it wasn’t going to happen” confesses Shelley: “We wanted an old house to do up, away from any roads, near a good beach, sea views, close to a town, in the centre of its own ground of about 2 acres.”

Curt liked the agent’s suggestion of buying a piece of land and building a house from scratch in a traditional style. Wisely they decided to go with advice from local people: “Even so,” says Curt, “you do still need to keep an eye on what’s going on and basically use your own common sense too.”

Shelley admits “I wasn't happy about it, but Curt was all for it so we started looking at some of the plots they had on their books. We didn't really intend to buy anywhere on that visit, just pinpoint an area and go back later to investigate further, but on the last day, the very last plot they took us to was perfect. I mean perfect....distant sea views, tucked away on a hillside at the back of Sidari so no one will ever find us - let alone bother us - but only a five minute drive into a town with a supermarket, dentist and doctors”.

They rushed back to the estate agent’s offices to try and get the ball rolling only to come up against the first hurdle: Curt’s nationality prevented him from owning property in Greece. With the help of their estate agent and a good lawyer, even this hurdle was overcome, and about 3 months later, after many phone calls, emails and faxes the deeds arrived. Just before Christmas, Shelley became the sole owner of a couple of acres of Greek hillside.

“I have to admit I have handed most of the process of sorting all of this over to Curt, and opted out, and to be honest I couldn't quite believe we had done it” laughs Shelley. That was not quite the end of the problems though.

Paying for the property became the next issue. Newsletters from the Greece Buying Guide had made mention of Smart Currency Exchange and Curt decided to investigate this option. Talking to dealers, he found that not only were their exchange rates far better than his high street bank but that transfer costs were eliminated too.

Curt continues: “After my initial money transfer, the follow up at the currency company was excellent. I spoke to various individuals, all of whom were friendly and to the point. All my initial concerns were answered and I found the actual process extremely easy. They talked me through the whole process, even advising on the wisdom of ‘forward buying’ – locking the currency in at that day’s rate for a time in the future.”

As to the future, Curt and Shelley can’t wait to move ahead, but the UK property market downturn is holding up their plans. “So far we are only at the stage of erecting the concrete frame. We went out for a week in December to see the progress and for the first time stood on what is going to be our patio. Unfortunately this is as far as we can go until we sell our house here in the UK, which is proving difficult, to say the least!” says Curt.

But Shelley is optimistic: “With the fantastic help we get from our estate agent, our local builder, our lawyer and, of course, our currency company - Smart Currency Exchange - we know we can trust all of them to do all they can to take care of the nasty, boring end of the transition, so that Curt and I can concentrate on the adventure ahead. Bring it on, I say.”